Neck pickups

[Nebulous]

So I've been thinking about neck pickups lately, since a mate is looking at swapping his out (Cort X11).

What's the deal with traditional neck pickups being a lower output? eg, Evo neck, Jazz/ '69, etc.

I generally don't like the sound of neck pickups because they are either hollow or too middy, but always undergained and don't feel balanced with the bridge.

Then on the other hand, there's the EMG side of things, where you'll have the 707 pair or 85/81 pair, either of which can be put into both positions.

Is there a reason that lower output pickups go into the neck, or is that just a traditional thing that can be ignored in modern high gain metal?

Has anyone tried putting a high gain passive pickup that's specified as "bridge" into the neck position? eg, SD Custom, D sonic/ Evo, etc

Any experiance shared would be greatly appreciated!

 

[JeffTD]

Usually just a tradition thing... kinda like how LP's have a "rhythm/lead" label to the pickup selector. Traditionally, the lower output, bassier tone was used for rhythm strumming, while the brighter, louder, more aggressive bridge pickup was used for playing lead lines.

I really don't like low output neck buckers. My favorite passive ones are the DiMarzio Evo (not low output for a neck pickup, surprisingly enough), Full Shred bridge, Screamin' Demon bridge, JB bridge, and Jazz bridge.

 

[TravisW]

Best neck tone I ever had was from a Duncan Custom.

 

[JonWormwood]

For metal I'd always put a bridge pickup in the position due to the nature of a traditional 'neck' pickup.

 

[Omega_Void]

Is there a reason that lower output pickups go into the neck, or is that just a traditional thing that can be ignored in modern high gain metal?

I'm guessing it's to compensate for the fact that the string movement is greater the closer you are to the middle of the string. More string movement = more output voltage.

 

[Nebulous]

Best neck tone I ever had was from a Duncan Custom.

This is something I've thought of for a while. My current ax has one in the bridge and it's tone has always wanted me to put it in the neck.

 

[JBroll]

That itself can be compensated for, since neck pickups are also usually farther from the strings.

Also keep in mind that these traditions came into being before we had master-volume heads and when channel-switching was still done with a knob on the front of the telly.

You don't need to have a low-output pickup for the neck - match the tone, and then if you want to play with the volume you have other options. One is to just wire a resistor between hot and ground, so it'll be like you have the volume knob always a little lower (of course, you could just leave the knob a little lower, but that would be too simple), another is to use active boosts (I'd use one for each, just for balance's sake, but with outputs set to match up right) before the knobs and switches get touched.

One of my sixes has a D Activator in the bridge and a Super Distortion in the neck. Fun stuff, no complaints.

Jeff

 

[greyskull]

the only neck pickup tone i like is from my telecaster

Tom Morello tastic

 

[MT01]

I tried putting an EMG 81 in to the neck of my RG and for leads it sounded very thin and brittle sounding, which certainly wasn't to my taste.

The real surprise was the 81 in the neck together with the 85 in bridge which when clean-ish gave me quite a nice SRV tone (considering it's a pair of humbuckers) through a tubescreamer and plexi on Guitar Rig.

81 Bridge, 85 neck for the win!

 

[Nebulous]

Thanks for the replies so far guys.

 

[Ermz]

To be honest, from my perspective, I've never put all that much thought into the neck pickup. Just put in something that sounds right to you. Most of the tone is achieved from the position rather than the pickup itself (IMO). You can have an 81 in the bridge and one in the neck and they'll both sound quite different to each other. You either like the neck tone or you don't really - the pickup just augments and shapes it in a way that's hopefully beneficial to you.

So far my 707s have been working great in both positions. I'll be doing some amp shoot-outs soon with the Hellraiser, covering some Nevermore, so you'll hear it all in action.

My fave for clean electric tones is the Duncan '59. So textured and rich in the mids. Lots of nice harmonics. The 707 is much cleaner than most, so it doesn't give as much flavor, but it won't break up as much either.

Regarding the level, I just adjust the pickup height until the bridge and neck are the same in output volume.

 

[Metaltastic]

I've really never cared too much about my neck pickup - I know that I absolutely DESPISE the 85 there, cuz IMO the tone is already inherently thick enough there without needing a dark pickup for it, but all I really care is that it's cutting and clean to compensate for the fatness of the spot (case in point, I love the 81 in the neck )

This is all talking from a high-gain perspective though; I very rarely play clean, so I'm sure if I did then I'd care more

 

[Nebulous]

Yeah, we're talking high gain here, and for what it's worth, I don't use the neck for high gain anyway. I'm just asking around to help out a friend make up his mind. He shares similar views to myself when it comes to the neck pickup, but would actually like to use it.

Ermin: I complete agree that most of the neck tone comes from the position rather than the pickup. That's why I don't like or use it for high gain playing. It completely exagerates and butchers the tone IMO.

 

[ConspiracyBass]

One of the best (if not the best) neck pickups I've used has been the GFS Crunchy PAT. It has just the right amount of bass to it. Plus its cheap as shit, like $22.

 

[nowherecatastrophe]

dimarzio air norton in the neck works well for that stereotypical neck PU lead sound for me..