[Rabelais]

Hi. I recently bought a PAF pro to replace the bridge pickup in a  Basswood body, Maple/Rosewood neck guitar, and I'm looking for a neck pup to match it. I'm looking for maximum clarity and definition under high gain settings so I'm considering another PAF pro, or a PAF Joe, or a PAF master neck, or a HB from hell, or an EJ Custom neck. I also plan to use the neck, or both pickups, for clean playing, so it has to be a very clean pickup as well. I would appreciate if you share your experiences with each pup in the neck position. Thanks.

[greenlion]

Humbucker from Hell. If you want clarity, another Paf Pro in the neck is not the way to go.

[jazzfromhell]

The EJ Custom would work too but it's a very special, stringy sound. Like a HFH but even more tweaked. There are a great video of it somewhere, check it out first.

[DarthPhineas]

Jazz makes a good suggestion.

PAF Pro is an excellent option and a combo used by Vai, Satch, Gilbert, and others. For cleans, wire it to a switch (or push pull) for parallel.

Your amp and your speaker can also help address any clarity issues.

[darkbluemurder]

It was long ago that I had a guitar with the exact same wood combination and a PAF Pro in the bridge. Great combination, wish I had not traded it. Since it was HSS it had two single coils which matched great with the PAF Pro in the bridge so I would support the recommendations for clear low output humbuckers for the neck spot.

Cheers Stephan

[Rabelais]

The EJ Custom would work too but it's a very special, stringy sound. Like a HFH but even more tweaked. There are a great video of it somewhere, check it out first.

Thanks. I saw a video for both EJ Custom neck and HFH. My impression, at least from the video, is that the HFH might pair better with a regular bridge HB. The EJ is very clear, but very very bright.

[Rabelais]

It was long ago that I had a guitar with the exact same wood combination and a PAF Pro in the bridge. Great combination, wish I had not traded it. Since it was HSS it had two single coils which matched great with the PAF Pro in the bridge so I would support the recommendations for clear low output humbuckers for the neck spot.

Cheers Stephan

Thanks. I might also consider a Seymour Duncan Full Shred neck.

[darkbluemurder]

The Duncan Full Shred neck would indeed be a good option. I have one in the neck spot of a dual humbucker tele and it really sounds sweet there. Never played the others mentioned so I cannot give a comparison unfortunately.

Cheers Stephan

[greenlion]

The Paf Pro is not the most powerful bridge pickup. A lot of neck pickups overpower it. I sill think the Humbucker from Hell would be your best bet.

[eggman]

Howdy,

 Why not the Air Classic? Sounds great in my old 335; the most "musical" P/U I've ever had.

[jule7625]

Plus, the Humbucker From Hell's poles will match the PAF Pro's.

[greenlion]

Air Classic would probably work as far as output, but they have a different personality than the Paf Pro. You might like that though.