41

The Pickup Place / Re: Pickups for dark guitar

« Last post by nienturi on July 06, 2024, 04:59:38 AM »

I remember that chart and all of the Nazgûls being 666 mV. I also remember questioning the Full Shred Neck at 709 mV. I don’t have much confidence in any of it, to be honest. I’m not confident about SD’s published resonant frequency specifications either.

The list is not something you can trust fully. But it still is moething at least Nothing more.

The magnet, wire gauge and TPL are far more critical than DCR. DCR needs to die a slow painful death.

If it dies, pickup companies can't give any data. That's all they serve, unfortunately even for Dimarzio.

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The Pickup Place / Re: Pickups for dark guitar

« Last post by HeyNorton! on July 06, 2024, 01:01:50 AM »

Full shred set, most definitely.

I bought a set that was useless to me until I tried it in my rg520qs (sapele body), and my ltd ec256.

The fuller and fatter mahogany signature balances with the full shreds nicely. 

You'll not be happy with them until you boost the bass at your amp a bit.  Doing this makes them thump and be super tight as the same time.

This is a great set of pickups.

43

The Pickup Place / Re: Pickups for dark guitar

« Last post by gregr on July 05, 2024, 11:50:53 AM »

I remember that chart and all of the Nazgûls being 666 mV. I also remember questioning the Full Shred Neck at 709 mV. I don’t have much confidence in any of it, to be honest. I’m not confident about SD’s published resonant frequency specifications either.

With that in mind I’m willing to believe that the PATB-3 is warmer than the SH-1 (and the TB-59 as well). I can’t believe it is less suitable than a Full Shred, however, especially considering the OP is interested in the cleaner end of the spectrum.

The magnet, wire, and wind are far more critical than DCR. DCR needs to die a slow painful death.

44

The Pickup Place / Re: Pickups for dark guitar

« Last post by nienturi on July 05, 2024, 07:10:40 AM »

Just to be clear, the PATB-3 is the lowest output version of the three bridge models. The published specs show 9.8k DCR (42AWG) and 6kHz resonant frequency (same Fr as the SH-1 59B).

Hey buddy, PATB-3 has more output than 59. Okay not the double of '59 but still has more meat than the '59
There was once a project at Duncan about achieving output values in milivolts;
https://www.tonejourney.com/post/output-levels-of-seymour-duncan-in-milivolts
According to the values published (which i accept the result table is not all okay) TB-59 has 593 milivolts and PATB-3 has 694 milivolts.

And in search for a bright pickup, lower the DCR, higher the res. freq., better the results

45

The Pickup Place / Re: Pickups for dark guitar

« Last post by gregr on July 04, 2024, 01:12:05 PM »

Just to be clear, the PATB-3 is the lowest output version of the three bridge models. The published specs show 9.8k DCR (42AWG) and 6kHz resonant frequency (same Fr as the SH-1 59B).

46

The Pickup Place / Re: PAF pickups that are close in brightness to singles?

« Last post by greenlion on July 01, 2024, 11:19:25 PM »

I don't know. I have the Air Classic set in 2 guitars, one Les Paul and one Paul Gilbert Ibanez RG. That humbucker set is very bright in both guitars, rivaling the single coils in my Strat.
Have you checked the pot values in your guitar with a multimeter?

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The Pickup Place / Re: PAF pickups that are close in brightness to singles?

« Last post by gregr on July 01, 2024, 07:34:57 PM »

Bridge EJ seems to be nearly identical specs and EQ of neck AC according to Dimarzio website, aside from being brighter, so was wondering how both would work together, but neck EJ probably does sound like a natural fit.

The EJs were designed to sound like Filtertrons but in a humbucker route. The neck and bridge are the same basic recipe, just calibrated for each respective position. Personally, I would not look to the EJ Custom if I wanted the sound of a full-size humbucker, at least not in the bridge position. If you’re happy with the Air Classic Neck in the bridge I would stick with that.

It was mentioned that a 1M tone pot can be useful in getting more brightness out of a pickup. Choosing a smaller tone cap can also make a marked difference, even with a 500k pot turned all the way up, I would try 15nF or 10nF.

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The Pickup Place / Re: PAF pickups that are close in brightness to singles?

« Last post by andrus108 on July 01, 2024, 05:19:08 PM »

Definitely "Humbucker from Hell". But it has slightly higher output so you may take it to the bridge or put HFH with lower distance from the strings.

Unfortunately, due to screw type it won't take gold covers, and it's a must that it takes gold covers........ 

I haven’t used the EJ Custom Bridge but I imagine it would excel in the neck position with a somewhat hotter pickup in the bridge. Pairing one with a HFH in the bridge would be interesting, though I can’t see myself ever doing that. With the lower resonant frequency I bet the EJ Bridge would provide a lot of cut in the neck position. But with an Air Classic Neck in the bridge I would recomnend the EJ Classic Neck in the neck.

Thanks for the suggestion! Bridge EJ seems to be nearly identical specs and EQ of neck AC according to Dimarzio website, aside from being brighter, so was wondering how both would work together, but neck EJ probably does sound like a natural fit.

I've used 1M pots with underwound/low-output PAFs for a more strident, single coil-like top end. My first Vigier Shawn Lane used Air Classics with those pot values. Because it used a FS-1 single in a splitting HSH configuration, I subsequently auditioned resistors of various values (332k, 470k, etc.) in parallel with the FS-1 to try to tune the pot loads in the 2 and 4 positions.

For production PAFs which have a lot of single coil character, I've found the Suhr Thornbuckers, Zhangbucker Telebucker and Woodbuckers, and Fralin Unbuckers to get in the ballpark. For Dimarzio offerings, a Bluesbucker in parallel will sound more single coil-like than in series (which is between a P-90 and a PAF), while sounding much like a Fender Texas Special in split mode.

I don't know where you can still find them, but they make pickup rings that allowed you to put a single coil pickup in the middle of where the humbucker usually sits without modifying the guitar. I used to have one in the neck of a 2-humbucker Jackson because I could never find a neck humbucker I liked for it. If you are really into the single coil sound, that might be the way to go.

I still want the humbucker guitar to sound like it has humbuckers in it, at least the bridge pickup  My aim is to have distinctive sounds, however if possible not requiring adjusting the amp when switching between them, and I found neck Air Classic in the bridge to still be HB-ey enough, so it's just a matter of finding a neck pickup that fits the role.

49

The Pickup Place / Re: Pickups for dark guitar

« Last post by greenlion on July 01, 2024, 04:20:26 PM »

Well, the PATB-3 isn't going to fix your problem. Probably not the Custom5 either. If you want brighter tone, the Duncan Jazz Set, or Full shred set. In Dimarzios, the Fred, or Paf Pro for the bridge and a Humbucker from Hell for the neck.

50

The Pickup Place / Re: PAF pickups that are close in brightness to singles?

« Last post by greenlion on July 01, 2024, 04:14:08 PM »

I don't know where you can still find them, but they make pickup rings that allowed you to put a single coil pickup in the middle of where the humbucker usually sits without modifying the guitar. I used to have one in the neck of a 2-humbucker Jackson because I could never find a neck humbucker I liked for it. If you are really into the single coil sound, that might be the way to go.