Fitting a neck pickup to my Jackson(Wat pickup should I choose?)

Wessel

When I bought my Jackson a year back the previous owner had already taken out the neck pickup and filled the gap up.He put in a Dimebag Seymour Duncan pick up in the back.(So it's real heavy)

The owner said that he would fit me a neck pickup when ever I wanted seeing that he works in a Music shop.Recently I have wanted to put in a neck pickup to increase the quality of my lead sound and to have more options with my tone.

I play in a Death/Black metal band so I would still like to get a powerfull sound from it when im soloing.I do alott of sweeping and tapping and all that Shred bullshit so it must be well suited to this aswell.

Now the Big Question....Which neck pickup would be the best and most cost effective for me ?

andrewjbryson

Im using a S-D Pearly Gates in the neck , and its great for sweeps , tapping etc... (if you running through a high gain cab simulator or sumfin)

my other options would be

Dimarzio Norton, Air Norton, Air Zone , FRED(works great in the neck aswell)

Manfred-Klose

When it comes to quality the price is usally high.
A good seymour duncan would be about R800, that is cheap if think about it?

Since you have a really high gain Bridge pickup that is a seymour duncan, i would advise you to get another seymour duncan for the bridge postion(You cant mix apples and pears).

I would recommend the "Jazz SH-2 pickup", i heard it in a death metal setup before and it really kicks ass!!!
A lot of Metal guitar players use this pickup for the neck position.

http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/electric/humbucker/progressive/sh2_jazz_model/

Manfred-Klose

Go check out the the site also check out harmony central for reviews.

http://www.seymourduncan.com/

Harmony central for pickup reviews of seymour duncan:
http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Electric+Guitar+Pickup/brand/Seymour+Duncan

cain

Well, think of in one of 2 ways, what does most jacksons use ?

Well, they usually put a seymoar duncan 59 in the neck position. That would obviously give you killer tone.

The other option is, what guitars use your configuration ? Well the only one i know of that has a Dimebucker is the dean razor ( FREAKING AWESUM AXE btw ). Dunno what pickup it is, i think its a dimarzio pickup tho.

AlanRatcliffe

Dimebag himself used a '59 with the Dimebucker. Hard to go wrong with a '59 and they are not expensive as pickups go. Not a high output pickup as humbuckers go, but with the gain available on most amps these days, that's not always an problem.

For a bit more output I'd probably go for the Pearly Gates too. Also +1 on the Air Zone.

Wessel

Cool thanx for the advice!!!Im gonna read up about all the pickups you guys told me about.The Seymour Duncan Jazz could be interesting.Jazz solo's always sounds powerfull to me!

Manfred-Klose

the jazz pickup or the 59' doesnt sound much like a jazz sound, but it gives that fat edge that is needed to rip a guitar solo yngwie malmsteen style. if that could be of any help.

P.S: did you know alexi laiho only has a bridge pickup, weird ? dont know why. but he prefers it that way.

Mr-M

I've got 2 guitars with the Seymour Duncan '59s in the neck position and a friend has a Jazz in the neck of his Ibanez so I can give my opnion on this:

'59 - can be quite dark-sounding with quite a bit of bass and a fairly scooped midrange. It can be a bit muddy with high gain chords or rythm, but that's why I like it because it is such a contrast vs my bridge pickups (JB or SH-5 Custom). Great on clean tones and awesome with blues and classic rock in addition to being great on high gain leads. Not alot of output, but that's what you want from a Neck pup. Basically what they say: A classic PAF. Think improved Les Paul neck pup.

Jazz - Alot brighter and clearer than the '59. Works well with most styles because of it's clarity. I find it a bit too bright for a neck pup IMO, but it depends on what you're after. Cuts through nicely as well, but can be too cutting with high gain, but once again that's me. Still fairly scooped in tone as well.

Pearly Gates - Even brighter and less scooped than a Jazz. Output is relatively similar between all these pickups.

SH-5 Custom - Actually a Bridge 'Bucker, but it works great in the neck position. Just needs careful height adjustment to balance with the bridge pup because it's fairly high output. I tried it once to see what it's like based on what some guys on the SD forum said and it really is a nice neck pup. Basically a '59 on steroids. More midrange more treble and less muddy, but similar in overall tone. An option if you're adventurous. A Super PAF if you like.

Yet another LOOOOOONG post. Sorry....

Wessel

thanx I will check try to test some guitars with the above named neck pickups.I just hope getting the filling out where the pickup should come won't be a problem ☹

AlanRatcliffe

What is it filled with?

If It's a wood filler (unusual, but I've seen it... and worse), It'll come out easy with a chisel. If it's been done properly by glueing in a piece of wood, it's going to mean rerouting properly again.