Favorite medium output bridge humbucker

[communarchy]

Looking for help picking out a medium output HB for the bridge in my LP Modern with ebony board.

The stock burstbucker pro is nice and articulate but a bit wimpy in the lows and too honky on single notes. Usually I go for PAF style winds but I’m open to other to other options and would like to experiment in the 9-12k range. Need to be 4 conductor.

I tend to like open and airy uncompressed pickups. My favorite bridge HB I ever have had is the Motor City 2nd Degree Blackbelt. Very punchy and articulate pickup. They seem hard to come by though these days. Another I played that I was extremely impressed with was the Dimarzio Fortitude in an LP Custom.

 

[JDeisel]

My main guitar is a Gibson LP Modern, so I know where you are coming from. My backup is a PRS S2 Custom 24. I actually love the way my LP sounds stock but I did have to upgrade the pickups in my PRS S2.

First I upgraded the wiring harness in the PRS. Then I put in DiMarzio Dark Matter 2 pickups. Once i cranked the volume with a drummer they were too hot and all through rehearsal with the blues band I was turning my volume down trying to get a blues tone but it couldn't happen in that studio. The ceramic DiMarzio pickups were too hot for blues, wrestled with my EQ constantly while rehearsing.

I've been through a few attempts to find a pickup that is soft like Alnico for blues but still hot enough to give me some grit. I am finally happy.... with Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates.

They sound every much like my Gibson Burstbucker Pros but just a little more grit and bluesy/rock grunt.

I'm very precise about what I want to hear from my gear, so I usually find myself "settling" on gear that sounds "good enough". But I can say that these Pearly Gates go beyond "good enough" and well into "AMAZING".

I will wring these out for a few months before I make a final judgement, but I think .... Maybe....(it's hard for me to even admit this)...my PRS with Pearly Gates now sounds as good and sometimes better than my Gibson LP. Give me a few months to finalize that answer.

 

[movingpictures]

Call Wolfe @wolftone

 

[jaxjaxon]

You could try what I have in my jazz box what was in it where Duncan design hot buckers alnico 5 I went to guitar madness and got a set of 57 special under wound alnico 2 uncoverd set they are balanced in tone and out put neck 7.5 bridge 8.2

 

[70 Mach 1]

BB pros with 300/300 pots and a .47k cap set to about 8/64th

I originally tossed them. Tried every paf I can find and decided to give them another shot with the above mods.

Been 15 yrs now. Still happy

 

[Noise Under The Floor]

Looking for help picking out a medium output HB for the bridge in my LP Modern with ebony board.

The stock burstbucker pro is nice and articulate but a bit wimpy in the lows and too honky on single notes. Usually I go for PAF style winds but I’m open to other to other options and would like to experiment in the 9-12k range. Need to be 4 conductor.

I tend to like open and airy uncompressed pickups. My favorite bridge HB I ever have had is the Motor City 2nd Degree Blackbelt. Very punchy and articulate pickup. They seem hard to come by though these days. Another I played that I was extremely impressed with was the Dimarzio Fortitude in an LP Custom.

I was using a Dimarzio Fortitude as well with a 36th Anv neck model, but a Wolftone Marshallhead set replaced them.I got the A2 mag versions. More punch in the lows and low mids, sweeter, slightly softer high end but still very articulate.

 

[zeffbeff]

I love the Dimarzio Norton I just installed in my Strat.

I’ll be installing a SD 59 in the bridge of my Les Paul soon. It’ll be interesting to see how the two guitars compare.

 

[ukslinger]

WCR dark burst

 

[communarchy]

I was using a Dimarzio Fortitude as well with a 36th Anv neck model, but a Wolftone Marshallhead set replaced them.I got the A2 mag versions. More punch in the lows and low mids, sweeter, slightly softer high end but still very articulate.

I had the Marshallhead Mkii and while it was a good pickup, the MCP 2nd degree was just punchier and more “more” for what I was wanting. I’m generally an A5 mag person but I’ve been warming up (no pun intended) to giving A2s a chance again. I often hear the slash A2 pros and Pearly Gates and thing they sound fantastic so make be a A2 marshallhead would be cool. My friend has a Marshallhead/Dr vintage set he offer to let me try.

 

[communarchy]

I had the Marshallhead Mkii and while it was a good pickup, the MCP 2nd degree was just punchier and more “more” for what I was wanting. I’m generally an A5 mag person but I’ve been warming up (no pun intended) to giving A2s a chance again. I often hear the slash A2 pros and Pearly Gates and thing they sound fantastic so make be a A2 marshallhead would be cool. My friend has a Marshallhead/Dr vintage set he offer to let me try.

I love the Dimarzio Norton I just installed in my Strat.

I’ll be installing a SD 59 in the bridge of my Les Paul soon. It’ll be interesting to see how the two guitars compare.

I have liked how 59s sound in LPs, and have considered it, but I feel like it wouldn’t be quite different enough from the BB Pro. I do agree that in my experience the 59 is a better pickup than the BB Pro, but not significantly more low end. A faster low end though at least in the LPs I have tried them in.

 

[Tone chader]

The Lollar Imperial high wind humbucker is rated at 9.2 for the bridge pickup. It is a bit pricey, but worth it.

 

[bettset]

the duncan saturday night special is in several lp's i have for the bridge pickup. i like the 59 in some lp's for the neck pickup, but i do have saturday night special sets in a few others. they can sound hot, but they're not. it's the clarity

 

[JB6464]

SD 59/Custom Hybrid
11.5dc output with just the right amount of mids .

 

[communarchy]

SD 59/Custom Hybrid
11.5dc output with just the right amount of mids .

I was looking at this one. It seems very interesting. I have no idea what a custom sounds like but I do enjoy the clarity and bite of a 59.

 

[datguytim]

Area ‘59 P.A.F.s (from Germany)
Arcane ‘58s
I have both in different LPs of mine & the sound fantastic - very clear and defined while having a classic character of the old school PAFs. From clean to scream and everything between. Can’t go wrong with either.

 

[jiml]

Brobucker

 

[_pete_]

My favorite medium output HB in a Les Paul is a Gibson 498T. They sound 'just right'.

 

[zeffbeff]

My favorite medium output HB in a Les Paul is a Gibson 498T. They sound 'just right'.

I like this pickup too, but I find it to be high output. When recorded through my JCM2000, the 498T sounds eerily similar to the JB!

 

[twoheadedboy]

Looking for help picking out a medium output HB for the bridge in my LP Modern with ebony board.

The stock burstbucker pro is nice and articulate but a bit wimpy in the lows and too honky on single notes. Usually I go for PAF style winds but I’m open to other to other options and would like to experiment in the 9-12k range. Need to be 4 conductor.

I tend to like open and airy uncompressed pickups. My favorite bridge HB I ever have had is the Motor City 2nd Degree Blackbelt. Very punchy and articulate pickup. They seem hard to come by though these days. Another I played that I was extremely impressed with was the Dimarzio Fortitude in an LP Custom.

I love the Duncan Custom 5 in the bridge of a Les Paul with a mid-dominant sound. I had a 1990 Gibson Les Paul Studio with ebony fretboard, with a Custom 5 in the bridge and a '59 in the neck. That was the best sounding electric guitar I've ever owned.

 

[Cragar]

Call Wolfe @wolftone

seconded.