Neck Pickups for Higher Gain - w/o wooly/woofy tone.

[mavrick102000]

Ok, so something has been eluding me for a bit.

With PAF's, Med Output PAF's, or single coil equivalents I can get a good "vintage" neck pickup sound on cleans and with various types of high gain.

What I'm looking for now is a neck pickup that will give me less "wooly/woofiness". more clarity on the lower strings. I've listened to more modern players and they still get the roundness to the notes without the woof while soloing, single notes, legato or tremelo picking.

Is this a magnet choice, or a combination of factors like 24 fret vs. 22 fret pickup location, dialing in the amp, magnet choice, technique etc?

If I were to buy a new guitar I want to solve this tonal issue with that particular instrument, but I'm not sure how to solve what I'm hearing.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[Blix]

I would look at what those player you mention are using, and yes the neck humbucker position on a 24-fret guitar helps a lot to combat the woof.

 

[metropolis_4]

I love the SD Jazz for these qualities. I don’t know why that pickup is called “Jazz”, it’s got a lot of clarity without the wooly/woofyness.

I’ve also heard good things about the DiMarzio Humbucker from Hell, but I’ve never tried one

 

[Cirrus]

There's too many variables to point to one thing. I know exactly what you mean - I like distorted neck pickup tones where the thick strings are spanky*/ punchy sounding. But at the same time I do want them to have some warmth and thickness when clean. What I don't like is low strings getting lost in whompy bass/low mid murk.

What I have found: Some guitars are just better for it. I've had the same pickup in different guitars, even with same scale length etc, and one's been spanky and the other's been muddy. Also, the angle and position you hit those low strings does matter. Sometimes I try to pluck outwards to deliberately slap the string off the frets, that kills some low end straight away.

Beyond that... all else being equal A3 is quite good for it, some overdrives are tighter in the bass than others, and if you have a modelling rig you can literally do anything you want to adjust what frequencies are hitting the distorting stages.


*kind of like when you rail on a strat single coil neck, you get that big percussive attack but the bass stays tight

 

[Eagle]

Humbucker from hell is a single coil sound or at least an attempt at it . I would say any decent PAF style will work for this.

 

[la szum]

Easy thing to do is flip that pickup around so the poles are a few inches closer to the
bridge than the neck. It can work in a pinch and costs $0.

 

[FuzzyAce]

Humbucker from hell is a single coil sound or at least an attempt at it .

It really doesn't sound like one though. It is brighter relative to most other humbuckers but it really sings in a nice way that isn't brittle or harsh.
I have it in my '77 Artist and it's like it was always meant to be there. The EJ neck is nice too.

 

[Jarick]

Duncan Jazz or Dimarzio 36th would be worth a try. I also find that regardless of pickup my Les Paul just has way more bass in the neck than any other guitar.

 

[mavrick102000]

I have the Suhr SSV which is essentially the Jazz and it's woofy for distored tones (to me) nearly fully decked against the body.

I'm starting to think it's a bit more "fingers/technique" and dialing the amp in a little bit differently.

 

[Jarick]

I have the Suhr SSV which is essentially the Jazz and it's woofy for distored tones (to me) nearly fully decked against the body.

I'm starting to think it's a bit more "fingers/technique" and dialing the amp in a little bit differently.

Yeah I think a big part is amp but a big part is guitar too. In my Les Paul I have a low 7k alnico 2 paf and it sounds quite bassy. In my 335 I have a low 8k Burstbucker paf and it’s balanced. Lowering bass on the amp helps for sure.

 

[LCW]

What’s helps in the neck for clarity is an Alnico 5 (V)… but pickup height too for the neck position especially.

 

[HomespunEffects]

I never used the neck pickup in my Les Paul until I tried this: https://www.seymourduncan.com/blog/tips-and-tricks/mod-squad-muddy-sounding-neck-pickup

It took out the boominess. I’m rethinking the master volume, master tone, bass cut wiring. I’m probably going to go back to 50s style wiring.

 

[Jarick]

I never used the neck pickup in my Les Paul until I tried this: https://www.seymourduncan.com/blog/tips-and-tricks/mod-squad-muddy-sounding-neck-pickup

It took out the boominess. I’m rethinking the master volume, master tone, bass cut wiring. I’m probably going to go back to 50s style wiring.

I tried 50s wiring a few times and don't like it. I prefer modern wiring with a treble bleed. The PRS circuit I think is 180 or 280 pf but that cuts a lot of bass as you roll down, which makes it almost more single coil like. I like that more than the dark sound of turning down volume.