|
Post by JChance on May 19, 2006 8:43:15 GMT -7
So I'm to the point now where I'm starting to tweak my el-cheapo Les Paul copy (Agile 3000) to make it a nice little "disposable" guitar to bang around town with. I'm going to put some pickups in it, but can't see spending the $$$ on a cheap guitar to get a set of Lollars or Fralins. So since I have an "in" with Duncan at pro discount, I thought I'd upgrade. Curious to see which of Seymour's 'buckers you folks have had experience with. Here's what I'm after:
-Warm, but clear neck pickup - Fat, slightly darker bridge
I DO NOT want high-output. I'm more of a vintage kind of guy, and just want a nice combo that would match up well with a mahogany Lester rip-off that happens to have an ebony neck. Think more "traditional" HB tones...
So far, I'm looking at the '59, Seth Lover, Alnico II Pro, Pearly Gates, etc.
What do you guys dig?
j
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on May 19, 2006 8:51:57 GMT -7
|
|
|
Post by ke4unr on May 19, 2006 8:58:02 GMT -7
Hi J,
I've enjoyed their '59 in the neck and JB in the bridge positions.
I've used this setup on more than one Les Paul or dual humbucker guitar and really like the warm, vintage sounds.
Btw, I've heard a lot of good things about Agile guitars. I hope to try one sometime.
If you notice my signature, I have a '75 Electra LP copy. It was the first "real, to me" electric I bought new when I started playing seriously. I have a SD '59/JB set in it.
Ray K.
|
|
|
Post by benttop (Steve) on May 19, 2006 9:37:12 GMT -7
I have alwasy liked the Pearly Gates, but it is a bit brighter than a standard humbucker - but for that reason it really excels at pinch-harmonics - think Billy Gibbons tone. Great pickup.
|
|
|
Post by dei305 on May 19, 2006 11:56:22 GMT -7
Jayson, I have had incredible great tone and flexibilty with Lindy's humbuckers. I had em in my PRS and two current LP's. You may want to consider the Fralin Unbucker. I have my Lp's with coil tap and series/parrallel and in/out of phase all using push/pull switches. "Unbucker. In our Unbucker, we wind the screw coil stronger than the slug coil. This makes the pickup sound a little more single coil, but the best reason to do this is for coil tapping. When tapped the stronger coil is active as opposed to half a pickup. Our best selling set of these is 7.5K neck (4.5-3) and 8.5 Bridge (5-3.5) 3 conductor lead with a Vintage Hot reverse middle in-between. (Humb.-single-Humb.). Combining the two coils gives a total ohm reading or approximate output to compare to normal humbuckers". All the best! Rick
|
|
|
Post by guitarman1 on May 19, 2006 13:42:27 GMT -7
Jay, I had a PRS McCarty a few years ago with a DiMarizo Air Norton in the neck and a DiMarzio Fred in the bridge. They were a little hotter than a "classic" type PAF but still were nice and clear. The FRED can also get some nice Gibbon's pinch harmonics if you're into that sound. The Air Norton was warm & fat, but with clarity.
I think the DiMarzios are a few bucks cheaper than Duncans.
|
|
|
Post by frank4001 on May 19, 2006 17:12:30 GMT -7
I like the Dimarzio Virtual paf's and Duncan Seth Lovers....I found both the Duncan '59 and JB muddy except when used together....Your uncle Donald made me great strat neck by the way..
|
|
|
Post by Seńor Verde on May 20, 2006 14:04:08 GMT -7
Aren't Seth Lovers more expensive and approaching boutique prices? I haven't owned a set in quite a while, so maybe I am wrong.
The Gibson Angus Young is a surprisingly good pickup. A wee bit fatter and louder than a regular PAF, but you can always lower it from the strings. Very clear and articulate. I would go with an Angus and Duncan Jazz. If the Angus is too pricey, a set of '59 or '59 and Jazz combo is tough to beat for the price.
|
|
|
Post by guitarhead on May 20, 2006 19:34:39 GMT -7
Seth Lovers are the way to go for "warm"&"clear" in the Duncan line.
|
|
|
Post by oldgoat on May 20, 2006 22:37:09 GMT -7
J,
Does your discount cover the Antiquity pickups? We may be pushing the edge of the boutique area/cost. These are very vintage and a tone and response that I absolutely love. Have these in my LP Standard. To me they have a very open sound. I started using them a few years back playing jazz in a chambered basswood body, Byrdland - Les Paul hybrid. A NYC 4. And with my Standard they give you that vintage LP sound. Think Clapton on the Beano album.
Do be warned I have read that because the pickups are made as close to the original process as they can, there are differences in each pickup. Some people have posted that they have encountered significant ones. But, I haven't seen this. All the ones that I've used have been really good.
Have fun looking.
|
|
|
Post by Hohn on May 22, 2006 5:38:03 GMT -7
I'm surprised there's no mention of the Alnico 2 Pro (duncan) and the PAF Pro (DiMarzio).
Both are great all-around PAF type pickups. Personally, I like the Seth Lovers more than any other HB I've played, but I haven't played them all (or even half), and I'm no expert on this.
Let's just say that a Hamer Artist with the Seth Lover's is perhaps the greatest 335-ish tones I've ever heard. This is was one of those guitars that would have you sell a nut on Ebay to buy it.
JH
|
|
|
Post by JChance on May 22, 2006 16:58:00 GMT -7
I like the Dimarzio Virtual paf's and Duncan Seth Lovers....I found both the Duncan '59 and JB muddy except when used together....Your uncle Donald made me great strat neck by the way.. A great Strat neck from "the Don?" No way..... Couldn't be the same guy I'm thinking of..... ;D Thanks for all the suggestions guys. As I said, I just can't see spending big bucks for a cheap, knock-around axe. So the Duncans or the Dimarzios are probably the direction I'm heading in... Just trying to figure out exactly what I want to try to get out of that guitar... J
|
|
|
Post by hdahs143 on May 22, 2006 17:31:53 GMT -7
Anything Duncan makes with an Alnico II magnet sounds good to me! I've Got a Custom-Custom in an old Kramer that has a nice vintage sound, but with more oomph. And Duncan Alnico II pro single coils are my favorites. Very warm and sweet!
|
|
|
Post by BW on May 22, 2006 18:43:12 GMT -7
|
|
|
Post by jatmosphere on May 23, 2006 13:41:13 GMT -7
for not too much more $, i'd highly recommend the rio grande texas/bbq set. smokin' vintage tone @ 8-9 on the volume knob, then roll it up to 10-(11!) for that extra push over the cliff! great pups! riograndepickups.com/4.html#Fspace
|
|
|
Post by amakitalo on May 23, 2006 15:57:57 GMT -7
Not generally a fan of Gibson pickups, but Classic 57's are great. Have them in my Yamaha semihollow and I like them more than Seth Lovers, Duncan 59s or PRS McCartys. Most people just skip them as another tired Gibson product...
|
|
|
Post by Lefty on May 24, 2006 8:22:58 GMT -7
I'm in the same boat Jayson. I love my Fender guitars so much that it's a hard conversion to a humbucker guitar, and the pups in my Tokai Lester just don't do ANYTHING for me. So much I don't play it much. And spending mucho $$ on pups on a guitar that I may not use all that much is silly. I just want good tones at a good price. So I just ordered a set of Dimarzio Air Classics (neck and bridge) for my Tokai Lester...more news as it happens. I havn't used Dimarzio pups since my "big hair" days. And back then I was diggin the Tone Zone in my Ibanez shredder guitar. Sounded great then, but I'm sure my ears have changed. Now I'm in my "no hair" days.
|
|
|
Post by janinedoubly on May 24, 2006 13:56:46 GMT -7
I think, bang for the buck, a Dimarzio Virtual PAF set will do nicely. They list for $99.00 a piece and if you don't like them, Dimarzio is great about swapping pickups.
|
|
|
Post by seaking on May 24, 2006 18:19:45 GMT -7
I'm waiting on a set of buckers for my tele (with coil tap) from Jon at tonefordays. Using Seymour Duncans as a starting point, he's going take half a Seth lover and match it to half a Jb and run a tap off the screw coil. These coils are seriously mismatched so rather than evenly splitting a humbucker for a weak single coil you end up with a full single coil + a vintage bucker. A compromise definitely, but I've grown very accustomed to the versatility of a coil split rig. After weeks of 2-way e-mailing, we agreed on the specs and a price of 168.00 USD shipped. While i know this is not your setup, Jon does however, hand wind double coil pickups to whatever sound your looking for. If your not happy with the results he will rewind to a different spec at no additional charge (within 30 days of receipt i believe). I found having a pretty good idea of what you want really helps things along with ordering. Not being too sure about the way to go slowed the process with me, but Jon provided me with enough assistance to make me feel comfortable with placing an order. (some reviews have made comparisons of his sound quality to loller pickups) . Another option to consider perhaps? Check out Zdogma's thread below regarding.... drzamplifiers.proboards41.com/index.cgi?board=strings&action=display&thread=1143064875
|
|
|
Post by tele1962 on May 31, 2006 16:05:32 GMT -7
JC, you're a good enough player, and have played with good enough people, you shouldn't have to be playing any " wannabes"!
|
|
|
Post by JChance on Jun 2, 2006 15:03:51 GMT -7
JC, you're a good enough player, and have played with good enough people, you shouldn't have to be playing any " wannabes"! Well, here's the scoop. I'm technically "between" Lesters right now. And by that, I mean a high end axe. I sold two Les Pauls last year because they just didn't "trip my trigger,' and as a working player sometimes I can use the extra $$$ if an axe isn't exactly what I want. I gots babies to feed, ya know! With all that in mind, I'm progressing towards a really good Paul that I'll actually keep. I just haven't decided if I'll get another Gibby, a boutique job, or have one custom built for me by my guitar guy. That's the long-term option, but definitely not cheap! So I got this Agile to get me by for a little while, and I think it has enough potential to be a decent little axe until I get what I really want. The Grosh guitars look pretty interesting, by the way...
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2006 15:32:34 GMT -7
Hi J, you should check out Koll Guitars when you have a chance. I am having a guitar (superglide almighty) built by Saul and I can't wait. I'll post pics when it is finished. Any day now..... www.kollguitars.com/
|
|
|
Post by LeftyLang on Jun 6, 2006 21:28:04 GMT -7
Hi J, you should check out Koll Guitars when you have a chance. I am having a guitar (superglide almighty) built by Saul and I can't wait. I'll post pics when it is finished. Any day now..... www.kollguitars.com/Arun...how's it going ? Nice guitar coming your way
|
|
|
Post by LeftyLang on Jun 6, 2006 21:31:20 GMT -7
J..I like Seth Lovers and 59's
|
|