Brobucker Reviews

[slightly_rude]

So everyone is finding a production Duncan neck pup works well with the brobucker? no huge "clarity" discrepancy when switching from pup to pup?

Barring a 59 (which I've had poor luck with lately) and the Jazz-N (which I've never liked) what would be a good neck match? PG? Seth? AP2? (going in a Les Paul...finally got something I dig enough to keep and slap the Brobucker into!)

I paired one of Brobuckers with a Seth neck in my '57 LP Custom Historic. It's a perfect match for what I'm after. No mud in any of the three settings. The middle setting (both pickups on) has that Jimmy Page thing going on in spades. As for the Brobucker by itself I'm very pleased. The mids are perfect, very strong and clear. The highs are a surpise. Not as glassy as a '59, the notes are fat but with definition especially with plenty of dirt. The only thing I could have asked more of is deep bass. I love the C5, especially in LPs and I'm use to that tight chunky bottom the C5 puts out. The Brobucker has a bit less bass on tap. I'm not disappointed. The bottom is very tight but it decays faster than I'm use to. I think part of this is due to the ebony board on my Custom and partly the 42 ga. wire, which I believe as you wind it hotter the mids increase with treble and bass dipping down somewhat. This thing sounds awesome clean and dirty. I'm not sure where I'm going to put the second Brobucker, maybe my 335 or my LPDC Std. I like what I get out those guitars now but I'm curious what the BB would sound like in either one of those guitars. I agree with the results that others have been experiencing with the BB. I think it's a '59 meets C5 tone monster. It's a success without a doubt. I think it's very cool that we have a great sounding custom wind produced just for us by people that put their customers first. Thanks to everyone at Seymour Duncan and to fellow forum members who all helped make this happen. Time to Rock n' Roll!:

[jeremy]

im using a seth too and in that guitar they match very well

[WITH FULL DISTORTION]

ok, it shouldn´t be called Brobucker, But, if it ever happens to it to have a place in the product line.. it can be called the Vintage Custom.

[Fusion1]

That's a great name for it JP!

[JumpMarine]

That's a damn fine name JP, or even Vintage Hot Custom might work

ok, it shouldn´t be called Brobucker, But, if it ever happens to it to have a place in the product line.. it can be called the Vintage Custom.

[ErikH]

ok, it shouldn´t be called Brobucker, But, if it ever happens to it to have a place in the product line.. it can be called the Vintage Custom.

PERFECT!!! The name is PERFECT!!!

This is of course ONLY if it ever makes it in the production line. If it remains a Custom Shop model, then it has to remain the Brobucker. That's MJ's name that she came up with for it.

[TheArchitect]

I'm really not wanting to see this be a production pup. That would pretty much ruin the vibe as far as I'm concerned. This is what it is. Taking a good idea too far is why we have Britney Spears getting a record deal. Lets learn from the past, not repeat it.

[WITH FULL DISTORTION]

Yah! Thank´s for the kudos.
i also agree with The Architect!

[JeffB]

Thanks guys....

maybe a seth for the neck..what are the odds of getting a double creme or even a Zebra seth if I order online?

[Curly]

Lew or John Wymore could probably do that.
They might have to order it if they don't have it in stock.

[JeffB]

Lew or John Wymore could probably do that.
They might have to order it if they don't have it in stock.

Duh...shoulda thought of that....

Thanks Curly!

[zimmer]

I was thinking about a 59 or a Seth for the neck in a maple semi-hollowbody, to pair with the BB bridge. I suppose a couple of choices would work, but offhand these seem to be the best options.

Or perhaps an Antiquity neck 'bucker.

[dr.barlo]

I haven't heard mine yet. From what I read it looks like I am gonna like it.

I intend to pair it with either a gibson burstbucker 1 (came stock in my R8 wound by SP. I like those pickups, in fact more than seths ), or a 7.70-80K antiquity neck HB with an a3 magnet. If these two don't work I would have to go hotter in the neck, and naturally that'd be a PGb in the neck.

B

[Luke Duke]

Alright I've had my pup in for almost a week now so I think I'm becoming kind of familiar with it.

I echo what other guys have said. The pup has fantastic balance. The lows and highs seem very evenly balanced although the mids are scooped (as with all PAF style buckers) it isn't as noticeable with the Brobucker. My guess is that this is due to the overwinding giving a noticeable mid boost. This pup has significantly more bass than the A2P it replaced; and being that the pup is A5 based (although de-gaussed) it has a firmer low end. The A2P bridge is now in the neck slot, which works great.

Clean the Brobucker has a crystalline tone that you could feasibly play country with. The lows jump out of my BF Vibro-Champ. The highs fly out smoother than your typical A5 based pups allow. There is a bell like quality to highs, but as someone else stated I wouldn't call it glassy.

Dirty the Brobucker's tonality is very similar, but I would say that tube amp breakup does increase the prominence of the mids, lots of texture in the mids. The low end is pretty tight even if the amp is dimed, also the grind that it provides sounds very nice. I'd say the pup has a focused character that the gain brings out.

For someone who isn't going to play a guitar with one I would describe it as JB Lite meets a C5 Lite with more clarity....yes I spelled it Lite because I am thinking about beer!


Luke

[skyydogg01]

wow, I wish i would have had the money to jump on this bandwagon.

i may have to start selling some sperm and plasma to get this pickup. I'm really impressed with what i'm reading.

great work MJ and forum bro's.

Luke Duke - what guitar did you try it in?

[pinto79]

I put mine in mt Kramer F1000, Alder or basswood body with maple/rosewood neck, Floyd Rose and only the bridge bucker, on a slant.

I find it tight but not compressed with great top-end. As stated before, it really bridges the gap between vintage and modern.

I can't say if it will stay where I put it, but it will probably always have a home in one of my guitars.

Trevor

[Luke Duke]

Luke Duke - what guitar did you try it in?

I put mine in my Heritage H150 (LP) with tonepros hardware.

Luke

[JeffB]

I put mine in my Heritage H150 (LP) with tonepros hardware.

Luke

Luke...you swapped out the Schaller bridge on yours? Or did yours even have it to begin with? How was the improvement? (sorry for the hijack)

[Luke Duke]

Luke...you swapped out the Schaller bridge on yours? Or did yours even have it to begin with? How was the improvement? (sorry for the hijack)

I swapped it out for a tonepros slotted bridge, and matching aluminum TP.

I thought it made a pretty big difference. The Schaller hardware is made of zinc IIRC like the regular line Gibson stuff, very VERY heavy. I'd almost say stiflingly heavy. I like the idea behind the roller bridge, but on a stop bar guitar is seems kind of unnecessary.

After putting on the tone pros the first thing I noticed was an improvement in presence (like amp knob presence) which could translate to jangle to some folks ears. It makes the guitar more useableto tone shaping....for lack of a better term. To clarify, in my opinion the more you can control a guitar more more you can personally shape the tone you get from it. I think you have more sustain potential (lots is in the hands of course) because there is less mass for the energy to overcome.

I'm sure that's real convoluted, and as clear as mud.

Luke

[JeffB]

I swapped it out for a tonepros slotted bridge, and matching aluminum TP.

I thought it made a pretty big difference. The Schaller hardware is made of zinc IIRC like the regular line Gibson stuff, very VERY heavy. I'd almost say stiflingly heavy. I like the idea behind the roller bridge, but on a stop bar guitar is seems kind of unnecessary.

After putting on the tone pros the first thing I noticed was an improvement in presence (like amp knob presence) which could translate to jangle to some folks ears. It makes the guitar more useableto tone shaping....for lack of a better term. To clarify, in my opinion the more you can control a guitar more more you can personally shape the tone you get from it. I think you have more sustain potential (lots is in the hands of course) because there is less mass for the energy to overcome.

I'm sure that's real convoluted, and as clear as mud.

Luke

Totally understand what you mean (how scary is that? ) In essence (IMO)...It's easy to minimize that frequency/characteristic you spoke of when present if need be, but there is no way to add it if it's not there to begin with.