Clear humbuckers WITH character...Suhr? Fralin?

I was REALLY impressed with the WCR Crossroads in a '61 SG RI. Great clarity and a classic humbucker sound to boot.

 

I've been through a lot of humbuckers ( Duncan, Dimarizo, Armstrong, Wagner ) in the past few years. While all are excellent pickups and have their own tonal niche, for articulation and clarity, the handwound beauties Jon Moore did for me are un-equalled. Mine are unpotted, unbalanced coils, A-3 mags. 7.75 neck, 8.3 bridge.

They reside in a custom made semi-hollow, mahogany bodied guitar. A great match of guitar and pickups.

I can not stress highly enough how incredible these pickups are. Clean or with overdrive, they allow the natural voice of the guitar to shine though.....along with flaws in ones technique........by allowing every subtle nuance to come through.

I realize this style of pickup is not for everyone. But, if you require clarity, articulation, touch response and definition, these will do a fantastic job.

Jons email is rhonjon@sympatico.ca If you're itnerested, contact him for further information. No affiliation....just very satisfied with an outstanding product. Jon nailed the tone I was after.

 

I would reccomend Bare Knuckle for clarity, truly inspiring pickups. I haven't tried the Monday personally though, I tried the Mule and VH2 buckers.

 

As a single coil guy myself, I'd recomend a set of Joe Barden's Twin-tone humbuckers. They have more dynamic range than normal humbuckers...you can "dig-in" without the sound compressing - but they have tons of output to drive the front of your amp (so let the amp compress instead). They give a very piano-like sound, with the added high-end that [I think] is needed with a rosewood-necked guitar. They can be split to sound like his strat pups too.

You can find them on ebay, and if you don't like them, they'll be easy to resell without losing much (if anything).

One word of caution: the string-height adjustment is very critical, so be prepared to spend several hours "dialing" it in to be just want you want to hear.

 

i know EXACTLY what you're talking about H, cause that's what i look for in my humbuckers.

for cleans, Seth Lovers arent too bad. but can at times, be a bit uninspiring.

the Crossroads are like a Seth with a bit more magic dust sprinkled atop. but a tad anemic depending on the guitar.

the Goodwoods are actually pretty nice, with a wide open top end, but the lower mids do have a touch of plumpness, which sorta offsets that. still, its a terrific humbucker that sounds great in my McCarty, which has FINALLY solved that guitar's humbuckers conundrum.

the Fralins w/ a lower impedence have that clarity. the regular 8/9K's are usually a tad fat and dark.

 

Lollar's Imperial humbuckers. Get a pair - you'll thank yourself for it! More articulation than most humbuckers could dream of. Of the above, I've played the Fralin Unbucker bridge - which is good, but Imperials have the widest tonal palette from my experience, and to my ears' liking.

 

In addition, the Lollars are the punchiest pickups I've played.

 

Having tried or heard just about every humbucker around, two stand out for clarity.

For clean, Tom Short pickups. Especially if you like single coil like clean. Lots of chime & spank. These bloom better than any other pickup I've heard.

For dirty, Jon Moore pickups. Great clean too.

 

Unbuckers. Love 'em...!

 

If you are singles guy, would you think about the HD Z-90? I think that might fix the bill for clarity with Punchi-ness. I've also heard that they sound great with Rosewood necks.

cmn

 

Z-90 is an aggressive pickup. Sound great with a hollow body.

 

WCR Crossroads...

your guitar will be dripping with harmonics...

 

Agreed! The Unbucker (and the Lollar Imperial for true PAF tone) is fantastic. The Unbucker is brighter (to me) and has more mids.

 

Another Z90 suggestion. In my experience they deliver that rare "best of both worlds" combination -- humbucker like punch and crunch plus single coil sensitivity, articulation, and chime.

- DB

 

I think the key is to go with unbalanced coils.

That said, I am very happy with the burstbuckers in my LP standards.

 

I agree! The hummers I've used with unbalanced coils all had a much sweeter, single coil tone.

 

I would look at the Lindy Fralin "P92"
I spoke with Lindy about them and he says they sound like P90's. They are sized exactly like (PAF) Humbuckers, but he said the wound strings are clearer....like a P90.
http://www.fralinpickups.com/humbuckers.asp

 

I'd recommend a TvJones TVClassic or Tvtron