Dual Humbuckers

Kerry Brown

Kerry Brown

Ambassador of the Great Northern Bar Jams
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When I'm changing pickups I usually go with a matched pair from the same manufacturer. Lately I've been thinking I would get more variety from the same guitar with a mismatched pair. Say a creamy A2 PAF in one position and a high gain ceramic in the other. Does any one have a setup like this? How do you like it? I'm thinking high gain in the bridge but has anyone tried it the other way?
 
I got only single pickup guitars but i have or have had all flavors of pickups in them. My favorite at the moment is my Jimi Strat with a Duncan Antiquities hummy in it. 8.3 k ohms A 2 magnets. perfect. i got a Tele with a early 70s DiMarzio Super D in it. Ceramic magnet. great for high gain metal , detuned stuff ect. Then i got a EVH Frainkinstien pup in a Strat Parts caster i built. think its a A2 mag but pretty high output. my second favorite pups. makes a difference what pickup is going in what i dont care what you read about that. Ive tried um all in all. 20200624_044930.jpg20200701_165536.jpg
 
Kerry Brown said:
When I'm changing pickups I usually go with a matched pair from the same manufacturer. Lately I've been thinking I would get more variety from the same guitar with a mismatched pair. Say a creamy A2 PAF in one position and a high gain ceramic in the other. Does any one have a setup like this? How do you like it? I'm thinking high gain in the bridge but has anyone tried it the other way?
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I've "mismatched" pickups a few times, and have tried the higher-output one in the neck before. One of my all-time favorite setups was a '61 in the neck with a Dirty Fingers in the bridge. (of an SG) I also put a hot A-5 humbucker in the neck with a vintage-output PAF-style one in the bridge on a Les Paul and thought the combination was great; kept the low end tight and defined in the neck and softened up the brightness of the bridge a bit. To be honest, I don't worry about relative output or balancing them as much as trying to optimize each for the best tone - I can balance them with the volume and tone knobs if need be.
 
Hmmmmmmmmmmm.....mismatched pickups you say.....
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I gigged this set of pickups from 1997 to 2012. They are: Bridge- A5 loaded Seymour Duncan Screamin Demon, and Neck- A2 loaded Seymour Duncan Seth Lover. They work well together IMO. I originally had installed them in a LTD Horizon, but that guitar is now retired, and they live on now in this Bullet Mustang.
I guess that this set could be considered a bit of a mismatch, but my experience has been a positive one.

edit: re-reading the end of the original post @Kerry Brown ....I’ve only seen it done the other way once....it was not horrible, but not easy to adapt to. The person that brought it to me asked me to “fix” it.
 
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gball said:
I hear ya. Since I am constantly fiddling with my knobs (not a euphemism) I don't think too much about it, and I find the louder my amp is the less perceived difference between the pickups.
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I struggle with hearing my amp distinctly when the stage volumes are really high, but on some songs, i know a certain pickup or combination of pickups is needed on a particular song, so i switch to them "in the blind" even if i cannot hear the nuances.

We rehearse in a meadow in Forest Falls, Ca., and neighbors come from all around to watch and we are continually complimented on our tone, so i am guessing that it sounds good out past 25 or 30 feet or so, even if i am not hearing all the "details" on the stage.

The Weber beam blocker has been a nice addition to my amps and kind of helps eliminate that "lazer beam" effect, although it doesn't make it any easier to hear when yiu are standing next to it.

Running a second EQ for volume boost (solos) has also given great results. I'm running it through the FX loop, so the boost doesn't increase gain, but it also allows me to create a huge, fat lead tone, then drop back to a more 'conservative' rhythm tone with no tweaking of the knobs.

I cannot hear - nor process - the need for fine adjustments to my guitar while playing, so knobs are generally always up...

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I miss match poop all the time---
recently.............
a gfs Dream 90 in the neck and a Dimarzzio 36th Anv. Paf in the bridge.....
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Hell the SGJ didnt COME with P90's! --
my Peavey Patriot didnt come with GuitarMadness Dirty Digits.....

HELL Ive even shoe horned a GIBSON P90 into the MIDDLE position of a STRAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(i aint right)
Strat p-90.jpg


BUWAHAHAHAHAHAHA
 
It actually didnt sound bad......
But hey --- I do odd poop all the time--
currently I just ran my VHT-i-16 hybrid guitar head into the hartke bass cab.....and plugged a Jazz in......
it would work in a pinch -- for "mix cutting" clangish bass (think Steve Harris--Iron Maiden) at low volumes-- (i.e. at home) -- but not whatI would want as a "daily drive" bass amp speaking
 
JohnnyGoo said:
I got only single pickup guitars but i have or have had all flavors of pickups in them. My favorite at the moment is my Jimi Strat with a Duncan Antiquities hummy in it. 8.3 k ohms A 2 magnets. perfect. i got a Tele with a early 70s DiMarzio Super D in it. Ceramic magnet. great for high gain metal , detuned stuff ect. Then i got a EVH Frainkinstien pup in a Strat Parts caster i built. think its a A2 mag but pretty high output. my second favorite pups. makes a difference what pickup is going in what i dont care what you read about that. Ive tried um all in all. View attachment 46585View attachment 46586
Click to expand...


You only need one pickup and a Volume Control :)



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2019-11-06 23-15-53.jpg
 
Kerry Brown said:
When I'm changing pickups I usually go with a matched pair from the same manufacturer. Lately I've been thinking I would get more variety from the same guitar with a mismatched pair. Say a creamy A2 PAF in one position and a high gain ceramic in the other. Does any one have a setup like this? How do you like it? I'm thinking high gain in the bridge but has anyone tried it the other way?
Click to expand...
I have put a SD hotrails in the neck of 2 different strats and loved them there.
Mitch
 
The only bridge pickup I ever ran in the neck position was a Dimarzio Tone Zone and I never warmed to it.
It was partnered with an X2N, so there were no volume drop issues.
This pairing was sold to me by a guitar shop in 1991 when I was building my first 6-string and I said it was going to be for Thrash Metal (ahhh…..youth).
I think their recommendation was something between matching outputs and selling me whatever they had in stock.
I later found out that this is the pairing favoured by Michael Romeo from Symphony X.
I'm still not sure if I beat him to it. :unsure:

The Tone Zone is now in the bridge of a Charvel Fusion and is a revelation there.
The X2N now pairs with a D Activator-X Neck pickup.
 
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