Suhr Pickups to Replace Anderson

[Genghis]

Hi, I'm a long-time user of Tom Anderson pickups and have found that I really like the H3 in the bridge and the H1- in the neck. It really gives me the balance and full tone that I like. I have one guitar, a Brian Moore with mahogany body, maple neck, and rosewood fingerboard, that has an H3+ in the bridge and an H1 in the neck that I'm not 100% satisfied with and I was thinking of trying something a little different. Both of these pickups are just like a little too much gain and a little too thick and tend to sound a bit muddy and compressed compared to my other setups.

I've been looking at the Suhr line and wondering what might make a good set for me. I'd like to come close to matching the gain and spectrum of tone I get from the H3 and H1- combo in my other main guitars, but have a little different overall tone character so that I have some variety when I layer in parts. Naturally the Aldrich caught my eye, at least for the bridge position, but I wanted to get some opinions from the GAS board.

I'm primarily a hard rock and metal gain player. (For tones think anything from 80's metal on up to the newer stuff like Arch Enemy and Children of Bodom.) I do want something that will clean up fairly well also. I also prefer my neck pickups to be a little less aggressive pairing for the bridge pickup. (Most people prefer the balance of the Anderson H1 to pair with an H3 and I prefer the H1- which is a bit cleaner and less thick for example.)

I play through either an Egnater Tweaker with pedals (Riot, Triple Wreck, etc.) or an Axe-FX II to give you an idea of what I have on that end. Both setups seem to respond fairly well to differences in pickups and guitars.

Thanks!

 

[Dompax]

Maybe you should consider HF pickups if you want to stay in a TA tone camp. They are way open, more punchy and less compressed than H series. I have HF1+ at the bridge position of my LP and love it.

 

[JDouglee]

SSH+ or Aldrich in the bridge and a SSV in the neck would work great

 

[Genghis]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I did some more searching for reviews and clips, and I read a bit about the HF series too. I might have to check those out in the future, but first I want to try at least one or two of different brands. Been using Anderson pickups in most of my guitars since the late 80's so maybe it's time to see what else I might like for a little different flavor. The only others I've tried for any length of time are the popular Seymour Duncan combo of a JB in the bridge and '59 in the neck and I really didn't bond with them at all. Might have been the axe they were in too, but they were all mids and not very pleasant sounding to me.

I called up a few stores and the one place I found that sells both said that the best way he could describe the difference was that the Aldrich is a bit grainier (and not in a bad way) than the Anderson.

I haven't yet decided on what to do with the Brian Moore, but I also remembered that I have an old SG that has an H2 in the bridge and needs some wiring work anyway, so I ordered an Aldrich for the bridge on that one so I could hear what they sound like. Looking forward to checking it out.