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The two main classic pairings are Jazz - which will thin out the neck position, or a 59 - which has more low end weight to it and would be closer to a typical 'Gibson' type of tone, at the expense of tightness.
If you hate low end flub the Jazz is the way to go with the JB. I'm very picky about when I like the Jazz as sometimes I feel like it can work against the characteristic of a guitar if it's quite fat sounding naturally, but it depends on what you want.
For an SG, I would try a humbucker-sized P90 or one of Oil City Pickups' naughty Winterizer II Firebird-alikes.
In fairness, the LTD Viper comes in various guises from bolt-on beginner level to an Epiphone killer and near Gibson rival. The inexpensive models probably don't have very much mahogany in them.
DISCLAIMER
To anyone who wonders why I have name-checked OCP but not mentioned Alegree, this is for the simple reason that I have yet to experience any of the latter's products.
I found the Dimarzio PafPro to be an outstanding neck pickup in an SG type guitar.
Depends if you can live with the mid match of pole piece types tho.
I think the PAF/Super Distortion Combo that Dimarzio make is a better fit for an LP (IMO).
I’ve tried the Jazz and the Pearly Gates, and both are just too thin.
The JB is a very marmite pickup, but if you want that aggressive, slightly nasal midrange squawk it’s fantastic. For forced harmonics there’s really nothing quite as good... but it will not do more subtle tones. It’s not meant to.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
No other contenders.
Interesting story: Jazz/Blues is an odd title for a pickup of this character ... the story goes it was initially built for 'Jeff Beck' but for some reason his name doesn't appear on it .... they do an EVH pickup that is apparently 'definitely' not an Edward Van Halen too!
Perhaps I should use the name 'STTPUOTBABEC' for a popular one of my PAF style pickups: Similar To The Pickup Used On The Beano Album By EC' :-)
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
I don't know if SD ultimately clamped down on the "Jeff Beck" terminology, or if we all finally got used to calling it the "JB", but whatever it is it's a remarkably popular pickup.
As for the EVH, it stands for "Evenly Voiced Harmonics". Obviously. Nothing to do with that Dutch bloke. It's now called the 78 model, I don't know if it was ever officially called the EVH.
To the OP: something PAF like for the neck ... a 59 if you are going Duncan.
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
That was oft-discussed in the old days on the Bare Knuckle Pickups forum - every time someone mentioned a JB someone would chirp up "Ah, do you mean the original JB, or the current one?". I have one from around 1985, but I think it's still the "new" formula. There can't be many originals around.
I agree about the SD '59 neck, I didn't like the Jazz, too bright. That said, I've always been curious about the Alnico II neck, but never tried one.
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
I have one that days #2 al v and has a small paf black sticker as well. It has been measure at 8k.
I would be looking at 10-12K upwards (yes I know the DC resistance is only a rough indicator!) and probably not Alnico II, I find that too soft-sounding unless the winding is even bigger - the Duncan Custom Custom (14.5K) is the only Alnico II bridge pickup I like, but may also not have enough definition for you.
I don't think the JB/'59 combination is a bad choice for what you're describing even though it is very much not in fashion now.
[Slight thread diversion] The same is true of V30 speakers. No longer very fashionable, not good for more open, vintage-style tones with low-powered amps - but still a great choice for harder rock sounds at gig volume (especially down-tuned), they have a punch and aggression that just works for that.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein