Hot, fat, and smooth neck pickups?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Rex Rocker
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Rex Rocker

Rex Rocker

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I recently went back to passives. I have a 500T in my Les Paul along with a Duncan Distortion Neck.

I love the 500T. I'm not sold on the Distortion Neck. It's a bit too bridge pickup-y. I mean, it's not bad. I love that it's hot enough to keep up with the 500T. I just don't love that under gain, it's not as smooth as I'd like, and clean, it's a bit cold. Almost like an EMG 81 in the neck.

So... thinking about something else.

Priority number 1 is I need it to keep up output-wise with the 500T. PAF-types just don't, so I need something with a bit more copper in it.

Number 2, preferrably, it should match the looks. Gloss black bobbins with nickel slugs/screws setup.

That's it!

I'm also thinking about swapping the magnet in the SH-6N to Alnico 8 before moving to another pickup.

Thoughts?
 
I was thinking maybe the DiMarzio Norton? Not the Air Norton. The regular Norton. Any experience with that in the neck?
 
Try a Railhammer. The BC1 Humcutter is so good. Like a hotter/fat P90 with no noise.
The Kyle Shutt one is a little hotter and also comes in black.
https://railhammer.com/products/humcutter/kyle-shutt-signature-neck/

KNiDoIj.jpg
 
Hot fat and smooth for a Lester style axe??

BKP Holy Divers.

I typically say you can't go wrong with the RebelYells, but when you said "smooth", and "neck", well, the HolyDivers deliver in spades. And their color/design can be completely customizable. Neck 7.9, Bridge 15.9 but the pole/pup height determines ultimate output.
 
Ventura said:
Hot fat and smooth for a Lester style axe??

BKP Holy Divers.

I typically say you can't go wrong with the RebelYells, but when you said "smooth", and "neck", well, the HolyDivers deliver in spades. And their color/design can be completely customizable. Neck 7.9, Bridge 15.9 but the pole/pup height determines ultimate output.
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What worries me is the 7.9K DCR.

I've had the Jazz N and the DiMarzio PAF 36th and even the '59B, and they couldn't keep up with hotter pickups like the BW or the 500T, no matter how much I raised them. I even have problems making the JB/Jazz set work. I guess I could lower the 500T to match, but it would seem almost wrong to me to see the bridge pickup further away from the strings than the Neck pickup, and the other, I like the tone of the 500T at the height I have it set right now. I don't want to compromise the tone of the bridge pickup just to make a lower output pickup work.

I know many people like their neck pickups mellow, and don't mind the mismatch. I personally don't like the disparity. Even if I use a compressor for my clean tone that evens that out or I don't really get a drop in volume in a high-gain tone, it does feel off. The gain tone, for starters, feels much drier and not saturated enough to the point it almost doesn't always punch through my noise gate when using low output pickups matched with high output pickups.

JME.
 
People have used the DiMarzio Super Distortion at the neck. Classic roaring rock tone.
Will be much fatter there than at the bridge, yet the oversized ceramic mag should keep it pretty tight.

DiMarzio Super III is a possibility too - super fat. About as hot as the Super D I think.
Still, it has drastically attenuated treble. Might be too soupy.

Maybe the Duncan JB? I've heard of guys using that at the neck. Plenty of output, and big lows.
IMO its upper mid cut should help retain pick definition. Bet it'd give a great neck lead voice.

Custom Custom is another Duncan that might work, as long as you don't need tight feel.
Warm and smooth, and hot / fat enough to suit this situation. Rather loose in the lows, though.

RioGrande was a good suggestion too. I bet the 16K BBQ would make a smokin' neck to go with a hot bridge.
The Texas Barbeque set came stock in one of my McNaughts; I liked them enough to put a set in the other.
 
eclecticsynergy said:
People have used the DiMarzio Super Distortion at the neck. Classic roaring rock tone.
Will be much fatter there than at the bridge, yet the oversized ceramic mag should keep it pretty tight.

DiMarzio Super III is a possibility too - super fat. About as hot as the Super D I think.
Still, it has drastically attenuated treble. Might be too soupy.

Maybe the Duncan JB? I've heard of guys using that at the neck. Plenty of output, and big lows.
IMO its upper mid cut should help retain pick definition. Bet it'd give a great neck lead voice.

Custom Custom is another Duncan that might work, as long as you don't need tight feel.
Warm and smooth, and hot / fat enough to suit this situation. Rather loose in the lows, though.

RioGrande was a good suggestion too. I bet the 16K BBQ would make a smokin' neck to go with a hot bridge.
The Texas Barbeque set came stock in one of my McNaughts; I liked them enough to put a set in the other.
Click to expand...
I did try the JB in the neck at one point. It was with a Black Winter in the bridge. It was hot, yeah, but REALLY dark. Like REALLY.

I always knew the JB is warmer/fatter than what people usually give it credit for, but in the neck, it was just too much for me.

SomedudeinTX said:
500T/496R
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That would be the most sensible choice, TBH, LOL. But at the same time, I don't want to risk getting another Ceramic pickup and not being pleased with it.
 
Pearly Gates...Parallel Axis Neck..Blues Saraceno Bridge Parallell Axis in the neck..Bare Knuckle Cold Sweat...And a true gem in the neck for me is the Illuminator...super clear/defined but still creamy with nice ouput.
 
The Pearly Gates neck is my favorite Duncan neck pickup. It sounds killer with a Distortion in the bridge. Fat & hot. I hate the PG bridge, but the neck is sweet.
 
They've got matte bobbins and chrome polepieces, but the DiMarzio Air Norton or Gravity Storm will fit the bill.
 
I wouldn't consider the Pearly Gates neck as very hot or fat/smooth sounding.
It's less fat and smooth than the A2Pro for instance.
It's hotter and maybe a tad fatter than a standard PAF-type, but it also has some nice crunchiness in the top end, which means it's not that overly smooth either.
Mind you, I love it in one of my Les Pauls and I enjoy it more than the A2Pro, but that's because I wanted *less* overly smoothness and more upper mid clarity.

You'd be better off with a DiMarzio Air Norton. Maybe a Breed neck too, although as big and thick as that one sounds, it has some upper high mid 'jangle' that doesn't work in every guitar. It was too much in my Charvel So-Cal, but it was exactly right in my Gibson Flying V '67 RI. Since that's an all mahogany guitar (w/ ebony fb) it seemed to tame that jangliness just enough.
 
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