Bridge Humbucker?

[exalted]

I have an alder Jazzmaster routed for two humbuckers with a maple/rosewood neck.

Originally, I had a DiMarzio Super Distortion in the bridge and a PAF Joe in the neck. I really liked the neck pickup...the bridge pickup didn't do anything for me.

A few weeks ago, I rewired it with some new pickups...a Seymour Duncan JB/Jazz set. Again, I am absolutely in love with the neck pickup, but the JB in the bridge - to my ear - sounds worthless. Even the middle position is just 'meh'.

Originally I had 500k/500k pots for the DiMarzios and the SD's; earlier this week I switched to a single concentric pot that's 500k/250k. I don't think the change did much for my tone either way.

Any thoughts on how to wrangle a more usable sound out of the bridge? Is it the wood choices? Is this how all humbucker-equipped guitars are? (This is my first one)

It just sounds so...dull. Flat.

 

[tfarny]

Search GoDrex's threads on swapping out magnets in humbuckers. Really interesting. You may need a more traditional alnico magnet in your bridge to make you happy - the two humbuckers you''ve hated are both high-output ceramic magnet metal friendly pups, and the neck ones you like are both moderate wind alnico magnets. Also try swapping the neck and bridge pickups, just to confirm that it's not the location of the pickup but instead the type of humbucker you're putting there, as I suspect. Maybe you just need a '59 or something in that bridge spot.

I also have never met a high-output ceramic HB that I liked, and yes, the pot /cap value doesn't really do much.

 

[dbw]

First of all you're using distortion pickups, which just have a shitety clean sound no matter what you do.  Try the PAF in the bridge.

Second the bridge position is just different from the neck position.  More highs, lots more harmonics, lower volume (which is why you use a hotter pickup), less acoustic-sounding.

(edit: dammit Tim)

 

[blue313]

The JB is an A5 in it's stock form.  Both pickups you mention, like dbw is saying, have scooped mids and are great for distortion.  You may want to try something with an A2.

Actually...if it were me in your situation, I'd try an A2 or A3 in the JB.  It'll give more mids and less highs for an overall fuller sound, but lower output so you'll have to raise it up a bit.  It may not be what you want in the end, but it'll give you a better idea of what direction to go in.  Plus, its FAR cheaper than buying new pickups.

 

[exalted]

Thanks for the advice, guys!

I was expecting 'meh' clean sounds from both bridge pups. I usually play with overdrive, but I don't think either sounds good even like that. The neck pup just seems to sing with some moderate OD.

I was hoping to get some Weezer/Nirvana type of distorted tones out of the Super Distortion, but it just never happened.

I might try a magnet swap. It looks a little scary, but might be worthwhile. I still have the  PAF Joe (waiting for the eBay buyer to pay me), so I might put that in the bridge for now to see how it improves the sound.

Also knowing that it's mids that are being scooped out, I'll try cranking the mids on my amp all the way up, and see if that helps balance it out a bit.

 

[dbw]

Thanks for the advice, guys!

I was expecting 'meh' clean sounds from both bridge pups. I usually play with overdrive, but I don't think either sounds good. The neck pup just seems to sing with some moderate OD.

I might try a magnet swap. It looks a little scary, but might be worthwhile. I still have the  PAF Joe (waiting for the eBay buyer to pay me), so I might put that in the bridge for now to see how it improves the sound.

Definitely try the PAF before you try a magnet swap, which is fairly involved.  Also try swapping the pups, that'll tell you real quick if it's the location or the pickup.

 

[exalted]

Based on what you three are saying, I'm thinking it might be a little bit of both, but we'll see. Hopefully I'll have some time this weekend to play around with it.

 

[blue313]

I might try a magnet swap. It looks a little scary, but might be worthwhile.

Quite seriously, a magnet swap is very easy.  You don't even have to desolder the pickup. 

Try that PAF Joe but don't sweat a mag swap if it doesn't do it for you, it just looks intimidating.

 

[GoDrex]

The JB needs a 250K pot. It's also very picky about what guitar it's in. Sounds good in some and not so good in others. It's a unique pickup that's not everyone's cup of tea. I doubt that magnet swaps will help you in this situation, but you didn't really say what you don't like about it. The JB should be anything but dull and flat. Also the JB is not lacking in mids - it's known for it's high-mids spike. It's also known for having great harmonics. The JB was used by all kinds of metal players for years. Maybe you've not got it wired right or not close enough to the strings.

 

[seagulc]

Don't mean to hijack the thread, but I also need to choose a bridge humbucker. The alnico II gibson humbucker on my les paul sounds very trebly and has no presence or body to it, and is far too "biting" for my taste. I'll be building a jazz hollowbody soon with a maple body and neck with rosewood top, fretboard and headstock and need to choose a humbucker for the bridge position. Since I won't be using it much, i'm not sure exactly what kind of sound i'm even looking for. I guess the bridge pickup could be good for some comping or chord melody work?

 

[GoDrex]

Don't mean to hijack the thread, but I also need to choose a bridge humbucker. The alnico II gibson humbucker on my les paul sounds very trebly and has no presence or body to it, and is far too "biting" for my taste. I'll be building a jazz hollowbody soon with a maple body and neck with rosewood top, fretboard and headstock and need to choose a humbucker for the bridge position. Since I won't be using it much, i'm not sure exactly what kind of sound i'm even looking for. I guess the bridge pickup could be good for some comping or chord melody work?

have you tried using your tone knob to kill some of that treble and bite? Pretty much all bridge humbuckers are going to sound way trebly compared to the neck humbucker. That's just how they are. You end up needing that treble if you play with a lot of distortion.

Some people have advocated the alnico 4 magnet for LP bridge humbuckers, to cure some of the ills of the alnico 2. It's supposed to have a more flat eq response - less highs, less bass and more mids.

 

[exalted]

The JB needs a 250K pot. It's also very picky about what guitar it's in. Sounds good in some and not so good in others. It's a unique pickup that's not everyone's cup of tea. I doubt that magnet swaps will help you in this situation, but you didn't really say what you don't like about it. The JB should be anything but dull and flat. Also the JB is not lacking in mids - it's known for it's high-mids spike. It's also known for having great harmonics. The JB was used by all kinds of metal players for years. Maybe you've not got it wired right or not close enough to the strings.

It just seems to be a dull sound. Very little articulation. It's tough to describe, but it feels like it doesn't have any character.

It could be that it isn't close enough to the strings, but I'm confident it's wired properly...I just have it running straight into a three-way switch. No fancy wiring on this one anymore. 

 

[seagulc]

I've tried rolling the tone off but it just winds up sounding like a muddy, less characterized neck pickup. I don't play with distortion. The only thing I could think of using a bridge pickup for is more of an acoustic kind of trebly tone I guess, for chord work. Any pickups good for that kind of sound?

 

[nathan a]

I was hoping to get some Weezer/Nirvana type of distorted tones out of the Super Distortion, but it just never happened.

Interesting... Kurt Cobain used both duncan JB and dimarzio SD pickups.

 

[rockskate4x]

I was hoping to get some Weezer/Nirvana type of distorted tones out of the Super Distortion, but it just never happened.

Interesting... Kurt Cobain used both duncan JB and dimarzio SD pickups.

than the problem is obviously in your rig... although I wouldn't worry too much about recreating THAT tone...

 

[GoDrex]

here's a short demo of what the bridge pickup of my Warmoth LP sounds like clean:

clean demo

at around 51 seconds I switch to the neck pickup for some contrast. At 1:28 I switch back to the bridge. The amp is my Fender Cyber Deluxe on a Fender Blackface setting with a small about of delay and reverb and some compression. I've found that it sounds great (to me) even through my tube amp with just my Carbon Copy delay.

The pickup is a Duncan '59/Custom5 hybrid that I made. But I think a '59 or Custom 5 on their own would give similar results. Especially the '59 sounds nice clean. The neck pickup is a Duncan Jazz.

My guitar is especially warm (all mahogany and chambered) so bright pickups sound good in it, IMO.

 

[seagulc]

Nice tone on that bridge pup, Drex. Maybe I should consider the '59, gotta consider that my guitar is a maple body/neck though.

 

[GoDrex]

Nice tone on that bridge pup, Drex. Maybe I should consider the '59, gotta consider that my guitar is a maple body/neck though.

Thanks. I don't think it sounds as nice as the neck pickup, clean - but I don't expect it to.

The '59 is pretty bright, but most low output pickups are. I would consider using 250K pots.

 

[seagulc]

I'm planning on using the benedetto a-6 in the neck which is very dark sounding apparantly. Already got a 500k concentric pot so I'd rather not switch to 250k unless it's absolutely neccesary. Do you think the 1/4'' rosewood top, fretboard and headstock laminate might make up for the brightness of maple? Flatwound high gauge strings also and semi hollow body.

 

[GoDrex]

I think it will probably be fine. The '59 is going to work well in just about any guitar, IMO

I would rather have a guitar that's really bright sounding, than one that is not bright enough. You can always do things to make it less bright, but you can't add what isn't there.