DimarzioForum.Com > The Pickup Place
Neck Humbucker trick for removing mud/boom
RayBarbeeMusic:
I posted this on the SD forum but it bears repeating here. It would be worth trying with a lot of DiMarzios since they have a lot of models with dual adjustable poles:
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I've been on a quest for years to come up with a neck humbucker that wasn't muddy/boomy, and that was articulate and clear for fast picking.
I experimented with variations on 40 ga wire winds, Firebirds hidden under full sized covers, minis hidden under full sized covers, etc. The firebirds do really well, but they seem to have an output limitation. No matter what magnet/wire you use or how you wind them, they don't seem to ever exceed a 'hot single-coil' level of output. In some things that works fine, but with a hotter bridge humbucker there is just too much difference. Adding more wire just makes them darker, using thinner wire shifts the tone a little but that's it, using ceramic makes them a tad brighter but not any louder.
Last night I came up with the closest thing I've heard yet. I started by swapping out a bunch of things through the neck of a Les Paul. That is probably the most demanding application for this, as the neck position on a Les Paul can turn even the brightest/tightest humbucker into a mud ball. After going through about 6 other things, I popped a Full Shred neck in there, which is about the best commercially available solution I've found for a lot of guitars. In the LP, it sounded great up high, but the low strings below about the 7th fret were just muddy and inarticulate.
So I thought about that for a minute, and though that what I really want is that type of high string tone but with a more single-coil response on the low strings. So I yanked the neck side coil pole pieces on ONLY the bottom three strings. That improved it a lot, but then of course the high strings didn't balance with the low strings. I tilted it so that the pickup was farther away on the high strings, then I raised pole pieces on the bridge side coil on each string until I got a balanced output on each string.
Result? AWESOME. That great articulate, chewy/liquid but still fat FSN high string sound is there, and there is no boom/mud at all in the bass. It doesn't thwack like a single coil on the low notes, but it does have single coil articulation when I play down low and balances very well. It reminded me quite a bit of early Yngwie tone he got with the HS-3 necks in that it was fat but very responsive and liquid at the same time. My only complaint is that it could be a little brighter/thwackier like a real single on the low strings, but it is a massive improvement over any other full sized bucker application I've tried, and they are legion.
Of course that can only be done on a bucker with two rows of adjustable screws, unless you want to tap out slugs, but I like the result so much I don't see a reason why I won't do that from now on.
darkbluemurder:
Thanks Ray for sharing this. I need to try this sometime soon.
Cheers Stephan
RayBarbeeMusic:
I tried one today in "Z coil" mode, i.e. 3 screws removed on neck coil low strings, 3 screws removed bridge coil high strings. The difference was subtle, a little brighter/quieter on the high notes. Overall I think I like the feel of the original 3/4 bucker better, but YMMV, its worth a try.
slim_blues_boy:
in last few weeks, I wanted to try something 'new'.
so I ended up bid and won a Bill Lawrence pickup (the real one, Wilde's Bill).
and surprisingly, it's the best solution for me in regards of muddy neck pickup on 24.75" scale with 22 frets guitar.
darkbluemurder:
--- Quote from: slim_blues_boy on May 21, 2015, 03:49:47 AM ---in last few weeks, I wanted to try something 'new'.
so I ended up bid and won a Bill Lawrence pickup (the real one, Wilde's Bill).
and surprisingly, it's the best solution for me in regards of muddy neck pickup on 24.75" scale with 22 frets guitar.
--- End quote ---
Which Bill Lawrence pickup? There are quite many (L-500, L-90, L-600, L-610), and each in different inductance values. For neck pickups I have tried the L-500R, the L-500C and the L-90 2H. I liked the L-500R. It still has a boomy low end which is partly due to the huge output this pickup has. The L-500C is better in that regard. I was not impressed at all by the L-90. The real issue with the L-500 in the neck spot is that most pickup cavities are to shallow for it to fit.
Cheers Stephan
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