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  • Pups for 12 string electric

I find myself getting curious about what are good pups for making a 12-string electric sound like it ought to - think Page, Harrison and Byrds.
I suppose the Ric sound is a run-of-the-mill toaster, but are there any other (humbucking) alternatives?

See also here (although most links are not working anymore...).
    Anything low wound and bright. Toasters, Filtertrons and most single-coils. I'm currently using Rebel 90s (which are HB-sized P90s), but even they are a bit too fat, so I've fitted a bass cut instead of a normal tone control. I've also been considering something like a low wound version of Fralin's Twangmasters.

    Toasters would probably be a bit dark in many 12-strings, but the all-maple construction of the Rics has bearing.

    A lot of electric 12 players also swear by using compressors - the pumpier, the better. The Janglebox is comp-du-jour - which is modelled after the comp built in to McGuin's Ric. I'm not really a fan though...
      Filtertrons and low output PAF types are what I've heard for humbuckers.
      Most guys prefer single coils (especially 12 strings in Tele format)

      I also once read from one guy who swore by a pearly gates for his 12 string but I'm a bit skeptical about that one. The PG has a fair bit of oomph... A tad more than your traditional PAF
        For an all-maple semi-hollow set neck 12 string guitar with Rosewood fretboard, would TV Jones Classics be too bright? They are only 4-4.8k...
        Also curious about those Twangmasters, are they two coils with only half the slugs in?
          That's working on DC Resistance. Just remember that TV's and Trons use low winds but a double thick double strong magnet to increase the output to around about the same level as a vintage humbucker.
          The twangmasters probably use a dummy coil to cancel the hum but still retain single coil sounds? Something like dimarzio's air coil? (Don't take my word for it I don't know much about these things)
            Gearhead wrote: For an all-maple semi-hollow set neck 12 string guitar with Rosewood fretboard, would TV Jones Classics be too bright? They are only 4-4.8k...
            I think they will work well. They are a bright humbucker, but still a humbucker - i.e. more powerful and slightly smoother than a SC.
            Also curious about those Twangmasters, are they two coils with only half the slugs in?
            Exactly that, yes. Alnico slug polepieces, so they respond more like a fat single-coil, but are still hum-cancelling. I think (but am not sure) that the coils are shorter too, so it's not just a full size humbucker with slug magnets. It's more a split single (like a P-Bass pup or Lindy's Split Rails).
              a month later
              Alan Ratcliffe wrote: The Janglebox is comp-du-jour - which is modelled after the comp built in to McGuin's Ric. I'm not really a fan though...
              Wouldn't want to pay money for one... but what about programming one? It seems to work by simply splitting the signal by frequency, putting the lows into a compressor and leaving the highs like they are?
                Gearhead wrote: what about programming one? It seems to work by simply splitting the signal by frequency, putting the lows into a compressor and leaving the highs like they are?
                Wouldn't need to even program one then - any compressor plugin with a sidechain and filter would do. I quite often use multiband compressor on individual instruments to do the same kind of thing (and they are usually much more controllable than I gather the Janglebox is - it seems to pump quite a lot.)
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