chris77
I need help please. I am doing a bit of a shuffle with a few of my guitars and will have a 2 buckers left when I'm done. Part of the Plan is to swop out the pups on my Epi fat strat. The single coils will be the ones I took out of my mia strat and the bucker should be the seymour duncan sh-1 '59 that I am taking out of the Showmaster. The problem is I liked the Pearly Gates I had in the neck more than the 59. So, apart from the adjustable polepieces, what makes the bridge pup different than a neck pup? The specs seem the same. Is it possible to just pop a neck pup in the bridge or not. Then again maybe the Pearly Gates just sounded better because it was in the neck and the 59 really is the warmer bridge? Any advice?
MikeM
The winding count. The bridge pups are wound hotter as there's less energy so close to the bridge.
Ok.
Pearly gates = Alnico 2.
Neck : 7.3k
59er = Alnico 5.
Bridge : 8.13k
The output will be QUITE a bit lower... However you can make this up by raising the pup a bit. It might be VERY warm. It might be very nicely warm for the bridge ?
Gearhead
You also need to take into account it will be mixed with single coils so if it is a little underpowered for a humbucker it might still be okay. And, if you add the adjustable polepieces you will be able to get the balance right, making the volume less critical.
AlanRatcliffe
The Pearly gates is a fairly bright humbucker - especially the neck model (neck model pickups are usually brighter/lower powered that their bridge counterparts). I think the neck model PG will be a bit harsh/bright in the bridge position, while I know from experience a '59 will work fairly well - particularly with singles in the neck and middle. Then again, either will be fatter than a bridge single-coil. As always, try it and see. If you think you might like the Pearly Gates, try that too - judge with your ears and decide.
