Does anyone feel like splitting hairs on humbuckers?

[srinivassa]

Well, it's just this. I am trying to set up my LP Studio with a perfect pair. I have gone through a few.

I liked the stock pickups pretty well, the 490R and 498T. I preferred the neck. I did a lot of rolloff on the neck, and used the bridge for solos. Middle position was a brash, ballsy, mix-cutting kind of rythm/lead.

I wanted to go more PAFish with the pups since I liked the underwound 490R better. I put a pair of SH-1, SD '59 blues pickups on. Now, I'm a pretty good blues players, and it just screams for blues. It can rock out, but I really really miss that middle position. There is no more thick, meaty, ballsy, killer rock/rythm/lead sound.

So, I am thinking I need something more agressive in the bridge. I don't want the super-trebly sound of the 498T though. I'd rather have something that can do meaty, single note solos, without all that bite and treble. That's why I STARTED buying new pickups, because that I didn't like that pup. Here is where I need advice.

I am going to try a D-Sonic in the bridge tonight, inverted. It's just lying around free, so I might as well try it. I am going to take the BRIDGE SH-1 and put it in the neck inverted, just to see if I can get a little more bite and clarity there. I always rolloff of the bridge anyway when I want darker and/or quieter. Does anyone have any wisdom about using a bridge pickup in the neck and vice versa?

One of the pickups I am thinking of for the bridge is the Air Norton, which is primarily a neck pickup. It's supposed to be a beefier, meatier high output humbucker. I think it is worth a try because it stays more true to the idea of having a PAF set. It's way overwound, but it's still Alnico V. I think it would have more subdued treble compared to the 498T, without going all the way lava hot like ceramics (D-Sonic).

Are there any other players with dual-humbucker axes that go for that KILLER rock/blues pair? What's your pair? What kind of stuff did you go through to get there? Any advice for mixing agressive with more open pups? Specific windings you like? Ceramic, Alnico V, Alnico II? Ever run a HOT neck in the bridge and an OPEN bridge in the neck? I can probably stumble my way toward the answer I seek, but I thought I'd seek some information as a shortcut.

 

[King Loudness]

My LP has the stock '57 Classic and '57 Classic Plus in there right now. I didn't think when I bought the guitar that I would end up keeping them in there very long... but it's going on 11 months now and still they remain. The nice thing about a lower output pickup like those is that you can always add your gain from the amp or pedals... I find with higher output pickups sometimes that clarity of tone can get lost. That being said... if I was to swap them out... I would definitely pursue something a little bit hotter in the bridge just for that push over the edge... and then mix that with a nice vintage voiced neck pickup, finalizing it with 500k pots for better volume and tone taper and installing a coil split to allow some more jangly tones as well.

 

[srinivassa]

Well, tonight's experiement was intersting.

The SH-1 bridge humbucker sounds crazy good in the neck. Exactly what I want. That is a keeper for good.

I struggled a little with the D-Sonic. It sounded pretty tuurrribble inverted in the bridge. It was billed as being less trebly inverted, but it just had no tight crunch and too much bass. Stripe down, on the other hand, it sounds golden. I'm not saying I wouldn't still experiment with an agressive Alnico V humbucker bridge, but the ceramic sounds pretty good.

I dig what you are saying Loudness about the stock pups. Really, I want to believe what I've done sounds better than the 490R and 498T, but it is very similar. LP Studio is already a great rock/blues guitar stock. You have to really work to beat it. I think I may have tightened up the bridge a little and sucked out a little unwanted treble. The neck is definitely better for blues, without a doubt, and it has a great vintage crunch. All in all, I think the middle position is restored to the stock sound, which I really liked. Rolloffs on the neck are very similar to the 490R, which is good. I used rolloff neck a lot.

It's a pretty slick axe now, but I would not recommend this kind of thing to someone without free time and money. I'm really just being picky for the fun of being picky. If a stock LP Studio was my backup axe, no way more than one audience member notices the difference in an A/B.