[benjammin420]

I've read online of people using bridge pickups in the neck position (specifically Super Ds, JBs and a FRED), I'm curious about the pros and cons of this kind of configuration from people who use or have used them.

I have a short scale guitar with 24 frets, I'm thinking of upgrading the pickups, and because the neck position doesn't sound like a traditional neck (sounds more like the middle position on a Strat) I started thinking about using a bridge style pickup in that slot. I've had a FRED in the past and thought it might be OK in the neck if I had something hotter and chunkier in the bridge (like a Super Distortion or Super 3)

Any opinions would be appreciated (I know it's a cheap guitar, but I like it enough to invest some money into it)

[corypheus]

Hi,

Used to use JBs in both positions and at the moment have a lester with two SuperDs.

I personally found some to work excellent in neck position for leads of any kind... as long as you back them away enough from the strings. Theyre usually also too dark to sounds good at clean.

FRED is a bit overwound paf pro so shouldnt really be an issue whatsoever.

HTH,
Cory

[Orkhan Julfa]

Steve Vai in his favorite guitar Evo uses Evolution Bridge in both as bridge so in neck position too.

[darkbluemurder]

I personally would not do it since most humbuckers designed for the neck position are too dark for me already but I have seen this quite often, and it can be done with great results depending on how you use the guitar. I remember having read about a guy using a Di Marzio PAF in the bridge and a Super Distortion in the neck which is counterintuitive but he used the bridge for the crunchy rhythm tones liking the tight tone the PAF gave him there, and the neck pickup in humbucking mode (coils in series) for single note leads. He had also a switch on the guitar to split the SD in the neck, and he used that or the middle position (bridge plus split neck) for his clean tones.

Cheers Stephan

[benjammin420]

Thanks for the replies

[DarthPhineas]

I personally would not do it since most humbuckers designed for the neck position are too dark for me

Great point.

There are different schools of thought out there about if the idea behind a "neck position" and a "bridge position" was more about tailoring tone or if it was about selling pickups. lol!

Pickups (especially humbuckers) didn't start out with designations. They were all made the same way and whatever was pulled from the pile was put in whatever position.

Some pickups makers are still cool with that and I think that's what makes a pickups like the PAF Pro (for example) so great.

There was at least one Pickup I remember putting in the neck slot, simply because it was all I had sitting around at the time. It was nothing to write home about.

Probably worth the effort, if you're interested, in just checking out some specs and taking a stab at a few things that you think might work for you. Or maybe not looking at specs...considering that the neck humbuckers in most of the EVH guitars are generally hotter than the bridge. All boils down to your taste and your goals.