Seymour Duncan 59 Pickups

**gary mitchell** · 06-17-2011, 11:45 AM

I really love my new Prestige Heritage Standard LP as you all know. It has a Seymour Duncan 59 in the neck. I really like it , but the JB in the bridge I,am not sure. I am thinking about swapping the JB out for another 59, and would like to see what you guys think. Have any of you used are heard of 59s being use both neck and bridge. What kind of sound do you think I would get. Also I want the chrome cover on it like the neck. Every place I've look they always pair the 59 and JB together.

**mr. beaumont** · 06-17-2011, 11:49 AM

What's coming stock in Les Pauls now? (I imagine that's all over the board, since there's so many models...)

A friend of mine has a SD Phat Cat (I think that's what it's called--Humbucker sized P90) in the bridge of his LP, and I know that's way different from what you're looking at, but I always think his guitar sounds awesome, clean or dirty.

**kambor** · 06-17-2011, 12:06 PM

Mark Morton of Lamb of God has a pair of 59's. He plays metal, but he wanted his signature to be versatile enough to play his blues gigs too

**burchyk** · 06-17-2011, 12:23 PM

'59 has a bridge and neck versions. SD website lists Robben Ford using neck & bridge versions. Bridge is wired slightly hotter to balance the volume difference. They should work well in pair

**burchyk** · 06-17-2011, 12:25 PM

Also what makes you not like the JB?

**kamlapati** · 06-17-2011, 12:58 PM

My Guild Bluesbird has '59's in both positions and I love it. Perfect IMO.

**djelley** · 06-17-2011, 01:00 PM

I just got a Les Paul Traditional and it comes with Gibson Classic 57's in both positions.

One of my guitars has Duncan 59's in both positions and I really like the sound. The JB is a little too aggressive for jazz and blues IMHO, so the '59 is a great alternative - very smooth.

**gary mitchell** · 06-17-2011, 01:16 PM

Yes I have a love hate thing when it comes to the JB. I agree it is aggressive, I don't use the bridge pickup alot. But one of my favorite sounds is a good warm reverb and both pickups, when I am playing lead on some songs. Maybe its just me, but the 59 and JB together for my style is lacking something.

**burchyk** · 06-17-2011, 01:18 PM

maybe you just need a lower output, smoother sounding bridge pickup

**kamlapati** · 06-17-2011, 09:09 PM

Originally Posted by burchyk

maybe you just need a lower output, smoother sounding bridge pickup

The '59 would be it!

**gary mitchell** · 06-18-2011, 01:51 AM

Me thinks that to.

**Elias Graves** · 06-18-2011, 11:04 AM

My son has a 59 in the bridge of his Epi Les Paul. I use a Duncan seth lover model in my Gibson Jr. Both he and I agree the Seth Lover is a more complex, smoother sounding pickup all around. The 59 sounds rather one dimensional by comparison. The 59 is way better than most pickups out there without getting into boutique stuff, but the Seth lover beats it by a long shot.

EG

**burchyk** · 06-18-2011, 11:17 AM

I replaced neck '59 with Seth Lover on my tele recently; both pickups sound nice yet have different (even opposite) tonal qualities to me when compared: '59 has chunky lows and brilliant highs with slightly reduced upper mids, that gives it a bit of single coil vibe; the Seth has more midrange emphasis and withstands more tone knob roll-off. Both pickups sound well balanced to me and have similar output level. Seth has richer mids while '59 has richer highs. Seth lows are clearer while '59 are chunkier and fatter

**bborzell** · 06-18-2011, 11:54 AM

I have one guitar with a SH-1 ('59) in the neck and a SH-4 (JB) in the bridge. Another has a SH-2 (Jazz) in the neck and a JB in the bridge.

The former is a thin line HB (335 ish) and the latter is a much smaller overall HB (think PRS hollow body). Bottom line is that comparing PU sounds between these two guitars is really a mixed bag of fruit. That said, the SH-2 doesn't seem as hot as the SH-1 in the neck position. I actually like the SH-4s in the bridge position on both guitars, but most of my time is spent in other than the distinct bridge position.

BTW, according to Seymour, Ben Harper uses '59s front and rear.

**whiskey02** · 06-21-2011, 06:04 AM

Have played around with the pup height? This can make a huge difference in tone, not just volume. Lowering a pup can drastically improve tone, sweetening the highs and removing "boom" from the bass. It can also effect sustain as the closer the pup is to the strings, the more the magnet pulls at them. You should spend some time playing around with the height before spending $$ on new pups.

TH · 06-21-2011, 06:58 AM

Real good advice on that pickup height posting. No matter what anybody says, remember that pickups will vary a huge amount from guitar to guitar depending on the material, body type, gauge of strings, type of pick you use (or fingers and how you trim your nails) and your amp and especially your own ears. Add to this your attack and the music you play. All this is obvious, I'm sorry to state the obvious but I recently installed a pickup and the reaction was "It's not at all like it was described from this forum online."
All that being said, 59 all around is nice as you move across the spectrum of warmth. 59 and JB is a nice generic setup because it covers such a wide range, especially in situations where you combine pickups in the middle toggle position. It comes down to how wide you need your spice rack to be.
Good luck -David

**gary mitchell** · 06-21-2011, 11:29 AM

Thanks everyone, I will play around with the Jeff Beck for a while. I'am not in no hurry. I am going to try lowering it first.

**Gitarguy** · 06-21-2011, 12:48 PM

I put 59s in my Explorer to replace the stock heavy metal pickups. They sound great. They have a full-range frequency response, which the others did not.

**gary mitchell** · 06-21-2011, 05:29 PM

I jack around for about an hour today ajusting the height on the JB, and it just was lacking for me. Like that ice pick sound people talk about no girth. That might sound crazy. Could be my amp but I don't think so.

**burchyk** · 06-21-2011, 05:31 PM

adjusting pickup sure does help but does not change the fundamental pickup tone in my experience

**Gitarguy** · 06-21-2011, 05:33 PM

Originally Posted by gary mitchell

I jack around for about an hour today ajusting the height on the JB, and it just was lacking for me. Like that ice pick sound people talk about no girth. That might sound crazy. Could be my amp but I don't think so.

That's what I didn't like about the stock Gibson 496R/500T pickups. When I went to the 59s, I got a full-range sound that I can adapt as I need to, but you can't dial in what's not there.

**bborzell** · 06-21-2011, 06:29 PM

I have no idea if my experience applies here, but I replaced my stock wiring, pots, capacitors with a custom harness and the effect on both the SD Jazz (neck) as well as the JB bridge was pretty significant. Better overall tone as well as tone control.