Duncan 59 - good all round PAF?

Cirrus

TTBZ said:

@ICBM not necessarily, I don't want something bright and weak sounding. Just more of a vintage kinda vibe but still needs to be punchy and powerful. Thinking about it I did have a Custom 5 in here for a bit and found it too scooped/muddy so I'm wondering if the 59 will be too scooped again. 

Once again leaning towards just finding a 2nd hand 498t again! Or maybe my original plan of a BK Mississippi Queen P90 if I can find a 2nd hand one. Won't be a PAF but if it matches the neck one it should sound great.

If you'd go Gibson, have you ever tried a Burstbucker? They really surprised me, looks like they're love/hate based on forum posts, turned out I love them. I've not tried the pro which is apparently quite bright/harsh in the wrong guitar, but I've got a 1 & 2 in my explorer and tried a 3 which was also great. Prefer them to the SD Alnico 2 pros I had in that guitar for 8 years. I've got to say that I personally really didn't like the SD 59 bridge I tried but it was a few years ago now and I guess they're all a bit different + the guitar really matters too. Just found it very plain sounding, it had no give when you dig in (does that make sense?)

guitars4you

Interesting how the market has changed and moved on - There was  a time when Seymour Duncan and Boss where the go to products ie 80's and 90's - Many players had them - This was in the days before 'boutique' - Now they are deemed as a 'Ford Mondeo' by so many - Yet in the case of Boss, they are still to be found on nearly every pedal board and every stage in the world - And Seymour Duncan's can be found on so many guitars

The 59 PAF is still the stable diet for so many 

Whitecat

guitars4you said:

Interesting how the market has changed and moved on - There was  a time when Seymour Duncan and Boss where the go to products ie 80's and 90's - Many players had them - This was in the days before 'boutique' - Now they are deemed as a 'Ford Mondeo' by so many - Yet in the case of Boss, they are still to be found on nearly every pedal board and every stage in the world - And Seymour Duncan's can be found on so many guitars

The 59 PAF is still the stable diet for so many 

Seems it’s mainly guitar forums that have caused this snobbery - because SD makes large quantities and doesn’t charge a lot compared to the small boutique winders then they simply *must* be awful, right? 

Yet they obviously still sell tonnes, both to end users and to the trade (ie, builders - both small and large). 

The snobbery seems to be amplified in a non-relative way...

ICBM

guitars4you said:

The 59 PAF is still the stable diet for so many 

For the neck, yes - the bridge is now more variable, but for years it was always the JB.

The JB is like the V30 speaker of pickups... I fitted dozens of them in the late 80s and 90s, often apparently for no reason other than that it was the only premium pickup the customer had heard of.

guitars4you

ICBM said:

guitars4you said:

The 59 PAF is still the stable diet for so many 

For the neck, yes - the bridge is now more variable, but for years it was always the JB.

The JB is like the V30 speaker of pickups... I fitted dozens of them in the late 80s and 90s, often apparently for no reason other than that it was the only premium pickup the customer had heard of.

I agree that for years the JB was 1st choice for so many in the bridge position - I now prefer the Custom Custom, but so many options now that a host of preferences will apply

For many years I can't really remember stocking any other p/ups other than SD - They certainly took up most of the space in the display cabinet

ICBM

guitars4you said:

I agree that for years the JB was 1st choice for so many in the bridge position - I now prefer the Custom Custom, but so many options now that a host of preferences will apply

Me too - I had them in both my PRSs for years, one with a '59 neck and the other a Pearly Gates. I prefer the slightly softer, less edgy tone. The JB is absolutely brilliant for forced harmonics though, a friend had one in a Charvel with a brass bridge and it was almost hard to *not* get them.

I don't really get the snobbery about them either - for me they've always been consistently good-sounding, well-made and good value for money. (With a very few exceptions - I don't like the L'il 59 at all, but there aren't many others.)

Funkfingers

Stratavarious said:

Tonerider ... Alnico IV Classic. 

Agree.

TRA4C in the neck/Rhythm position of an Epiphone Lucille dished out the Jazz/Blues sounds.

Stratavarious said:

Paying for a name with SD.

Disagree.

I would argue that what customers are paying for is confidence. Confidence that makers such as Mr. Seymour Duncan and Ash at Oil City Pickups* have learned what makes original/vintage pickups tick by dismantling them and making detailed notes. 


* No disrespect to other UK pickup makers. I can not compliment products that I have not (yet) tried.

roberty

I am into A4 with coil offests for both modern and vintage winds. They are very neutral sounding mags, almost bland at home but perfect for me when cranked up and playing with a band. The offset helps the top end cut through

Dunno if the toneriders are offset but I'd probably go for them too with your budget

rossi

iI its any help I had a set of Tonerider a2 's in an alder Strat and Gibson Burstbuckers in my Midtown .They sounded very similar on most settings .Not completely identical but got that similar tone .I would shove a set of tonerider Rocksongs in probably.put a set in my Dot and wow they really hit the spot .

10thumbs

Schnozz said:

BUT!!

DOES ANYBODY KNOW HOW TO GET RID OF THE SILVER LOGO??

If its a 59 , you are asking about ,they don't have a logo.

Stevepage

10thumbs said:

Schnozz said:

BUT!!

DOES ANYBODY KNOW HOW TO GET RID OF THE SILVER LOGO??

If its a 59 , you are asking about ,they don't have a logo.

Mine did, but the website says it doesn't come with one. Weird

TTBZ

I haven't tried the Burstbuckers but 2 neck and 3 bridge sounds like it might do the job for me. the 490R/498T are the only Gibson pickups I've tried. The 490R sounded great to me and not sure why I got rid really! The 498T is good for heavier stuff but has a kinda grainy quality that I remember got a bit annoying after a while, but other than that was pretty good for that loud nasty SG kinda thing. Something like that tonality but a bit more refined would be cool. People say the Custom 5 is that but it sounded a lot more scooped to me. Could try a ceramic Custom or a Custom 8 again possibly.

NPP

I was going to ask the same question at some point - I have one in my Epi Sheraton from way back in the 90s when the only replacement pickup brands I had heard of were Di Marzio, Bill Lawrence and SD. 

I quite like it - possibly because they are bright. My main guitar is a Strat with a Tele pickup in the bridge and I set my amps / modeller for this so any pickup that's very warm wouldn't work (and I like my tone brash rather than warm anyway)

steamabacus

Stevepage said:

10thumbs said:

Schnozz said:

BUT!!

DOES ANYBODY KNOW HOW TO GET RID OF THE SILVER LOGO??

If its a 59 , you are asking about ,they don't have a logo.

Mine did, but the website says it doesn't come with one. Weird

OEM versions have the logo.

Funkfingers

OEM examples often come with the shorter elevator screw lugs too.

normula1

The Burstbucker 2 in the bridge if my SG is probably my favourite bridge sound so much so I put one in my PRS.
I didn't rate the BB3, the BB1 is quite nice in the neck position.
I've an old Duncan '59 in the neck of my SG that sounds fantastic in any guitar I've put it in.

timmypix

FWIW, I had a 59 in the neck of my LTD and swapped it along with the JB for a BKP Holydiver set. 

Much as the Holydiver neck is an excellent pickup, the 59 neck was more to my taste. Less bright, fuller low end and very smooth mids. A very versatile pickup.

TTBZ

So it sounds like a 59 neck is definitely the way to go if I go back to humbuckers. Just got to find a suitable bridge to match with more mids.

Zoolooter

ICBM said:

It might be inappropriate for me to comment in case it’s my one you’re looking at , but I think it will do what you want .

The ‘59 is more even-sounding, a bit chunkier and less ‘airy’ than a real PAF-type, although it’s in the same ballpark. The bridge one is just a tiny bit overwound, enough to help with balancing it with the neck but without really changing the character. It is quite bright, but it’s also potted which helps with higher-gain sounds compared to a true vintage PAF copy. Basically it’s a good modern version of a PAF without the drawbacks, but also without quite the same ‘magic’... if that makes sense!

@ICBM you mention ‘airy’, I’d be interested to know which PAF’s you’ve come across that are airy without being thin or harsh.

Funkfingers

guitarmangler said:

Allan Holdsworth used the neck 59, in the bridge, but with double screws. 

You appear to be describing the Carvin/Kiesel humbucker that AH used in the latter part of his career.

The Seymour Duncan SHAH-1 Holdsworth signature humbucker from the Eighties was more akin to an SH-4 JB with twelve screw polepieces and an A2 bar magnet. (This can still be ordered from the Custom Shop. A magnet swap on a JB gets pretty close for a lot less money.)

The specifications of the Ibanez humbuckers in the AH-1 and AH-2 guitars are probably available somewhere on t’Interweb.