Bridge Pickup

[brandon cur]

Hello,

Longtime lurker, firsttime poster. I've made liberal use of the search function too but haven't found any answers specific to my query.

Anyways! I have a nice Gibson SG. 500k pots, PIO caps, 70s T Top in neck, 57 Classic in bridge.

I've decided to move the 57 into the neck slot for more creamy tones, but the t top is weak and almost single coil. Nice for clarity in the neck slot, not much else. The 57 was pretty good but only into a fully ODed amp. Otherwise it's kind of wimpy and just at the verge of icepicky.

I'm looking for good vintage rock tones. Angus, Clapton, Steve Jones, Johnny Thunders, Keith Richards, Pete Townshend... gritty, raw, warm, fat, bright, and raunchy. I'm running this into a 72 50 watt plexi or a 60s Silvertone Tweed into a 2x12 with a vintage G12h30 and an old greenback.

Any thoughts? The important thing is I'm looking for something not too hot, but not shrill with 500k tone pots. Bright is okay but not harsh.

Thanks for any input!

[Jolly_Rancher]

Gibson BB #3

[Kam]

Either a Custom 5 or a '59 would be great. They're both an excellent fit for an SG. Personally I'd go with the C5. It's a bit thicker and fatter with a more solid low-end. They're both like you described up there; bright but not harsh.

Something like a Seth Lover could work too, though I've no personal experience with one so I can't really recommend it.

[brandon cur]

Thanks guys.

I will look into the BB3.

Kam - As for the 59 and the C5, I'm wary. I see the 59 constantly described as ice-picky and scooped, maybe even more so with the 500k set up. And as for the Custom 5 I've had really bad results when using hot pickups. I will look into it more.

Any other suggestions? I'm open to any kind of pickup that isn't boutique. There should be an off the shelf bucker that can pull this off.

[Kam]

Thanks guys.

I will look into the BB3.

Kam - As for the 59 and the C5, I'm wary. I see the 59 constantly described as ice-picky and scooped, maybe even more so with the 500k set up. And as for the Custom 5 I've had really bad results when using hot pickups. I will look into it more.

Any other suggestions? I'm open to any kind of pickup that isn't boutique. There should be an off the shelf bucker that can pull this off.

The '59 can be bright, certainly, but I've never personally found it to be ice-picky. I'd describe it's high end as being warm but sharp. By that I mean that it has plenty of bite, certainly enough for cutting through a mix, but not abrasive or grating. Definitely not harsh. It's always worked very well for me when I want a bright, AC/DC style crunch. It is a little scooped, though, as is the C5. I've always found scooped pickups to sound pretty good in SGs, however. The thin mahogany body tends to be very middy to my ears, so a pickup with a good deep low end and a decent helping of treble can work wonders to balance it out. YMMV, of course.

As for the C5, I've never found it to feel overly hot, despite it's resistance reading. What high output pups have you used in the past? Higher output pickups aimed at hard rock or metal players more often than not have ceramic magnets, so that could be the source of your unhappiness with them. There's a lot of guys here who don't really care for the sound qualities a ceramic magnet can impart upon your tone.

Another interesting option could be the upcoming Custom/'59 hybrid. I have one that was made by a forum bro and it's one of my favourite bridge humbuckers, though I've never tried it in an SG. If you don't like the higher output of the Custom family but you want something a bit thicker and fatter than a regular '59, it could be just the ticket. There's a lot of information about this pickup in the sticky at the top of this rooms front page.

Another low-cost option would be simply changing the pots on the bridge pup to 250k. That can shave off a bit of treble and work to filling out the mids a bit.

[brandon cur]

Hmm... I'll try to see if I can find clips of the 59 with a 500k set up. The problem with changing pot values (for me) is that the clarity and punch just don't sound the same to me, so I'd like to get something that will interact well with that set up, especially because my amps are fairly warm and dark.

I'll read up more on the Custom 5. BTW the hot pickups I've used in the past were the Custom Custom (just didn't do it for me, then again neither did the guitar), duncan JB (not a lot of dynamics and just sounded... bad to me), and a duncan distortion (just too much). You're right about the AlNiCO thing though. I've definitely learned that I vastly prefer the tone of AlNiCo mag pickups for what I do.

[STRATDELUXER97]

The 59 isn't always the right pickup in the bridge of an SG,as they normally do need something beefier there....I Like a Custom there,but I actually use a Brobucker...Alot of guys like the C5 or even a C8 there.

[symptom]

Right now in my SG, I have a 59 in the neck position and a Custom 5 with a Unoriented A5 magnet in the bridge.

[STRATDELUXER97]

Right now in my SG, I have a 59 in the neck position and a Custom 5 with a Unoriented A5 magnet in the bridge.

And I have a DMZ VPAF N and an A5 Brobucker B..

[brandon cur]

Symptom & Strat - What kind of pot layout do you use? 500k all around?

[Gunny47]

+1 for Gibson BB3 - incredible bridge pickup. I have a Duncan Antiquity neck/Gibson BB3 in my 335 and it's a great combination. I'm thinking something with A2 mags for your situation. I've never had a problem with them not being bright enough and if you are worried about pickups being too scooped or toppy, A2-loaded pups will be a sure bet. Antiquity, Seth Lover, Pearly Gates, Gibson non-Pro Burstbucker, SD Custom Custom (edit: you said you didn't dig that one). Any of those should be great. Plus you won't have to mess with pots either (500k is cool from my experience).

[o.p-i.v]

Custom 5 sounds like its for you

[AlexR]

For AC/DC, I've had good luck with......drumroll....Gibson Angus Young Signature. Its at about 9.5k, which is in overwound PAF territory. Its got plenty of the rich bright spank that Angus' tone is famous for, but has body too due to the amount of wire on the coils.

The Custom 5, whilst being much 'hotter' from a K rating perspective, owes a lot of that to the thinner wire, hence 10-11k would be the equivalent if you were looking at the same type of wire.

You'll have a great pickup with either of these choices.

[blueman335]

The 59 isn't always the right pickup in the bridge of an SG,as they normally do need something beefier there....I Like a Custom there,but I actually use a Brobucker...Alot of guys like the C5 or even a C8 there.

A '59B with an UOA5 or A8 has some beef. C8 is very popular here in SG's; an UOA5 in that is also very good.

[Khriss Bliss]

Pearly Gates,or better yet Antiquity. Or Seth but the feedback possibilty
may not thrill you so request a bit wax potting if u please.

But C5, C8 do sound great on the youtube demos.

[brandon cur]

Gunny - I might look into those Gibsons, although I gotta admit I'm tempted by the prospect of mag-swapping a less expensive 59 or something.

Blueman I am really tempted by the thought of putting an UOA5 mag in a 59B. My only real concern with a stock 59B was the scooped mids. I tend to like a roaring midrange in my sound because I play in a 3 piece and need to fill up those mids. How's the bass response on it? I don't want too much bass as I have a nice full/dark sounding amp already.

AlexR - I was thinking about the Angus... but I really wanna see if I can find a good demo of the C5 with 500ks through a Marshally rig or just any tube amp.

[chris_tw21]

An sg,plexi and 2x12 should work great.Try a dean time capsule bridge.Here is some info about dimarzio vs duncan.Dimarzio vintage pickups have more mids then duncans,like the 36th anny vs 59 for instance,so try dimarzio and dean.Also wax potted pickups are warm so maybe your unpotted 57's are bright because there not wax potted.

[Kam]

Also wax potted pickups are warm...

Well, they have to heat them up to melt the wax into them but other than that, I don't think that's a very accurate statement.

[chris_tw21]

Wax potted pickups are warmer.

[Kam]

Oh! Okay, it makes sense now.