Opinions on Seymour Duncan SH-1 59 pickups as a set

stonevibe

Looking for a set of not too high output pickups for a mahogany bodied guitar.

These seem to be pretty popular and so I thought I'd get some opinions on them before I bit the bullet and got a set.

citizen68

Had one in the neck of my Edwards Jimmy Page LP - I thought it was pretty good until I tried these Deacci ones (previously RD Pickups)

http://deacci.com/product/pure-vintage-one/

It's a friend of mine that builds them but it really was the old cliche thing about lifting a blanket off the amp. The clarity difference is unreal. Good news is he's reduced his prices in an extended sale. Well worth giving him a shout and tell him what you're after tone wise. 

ICBM

I love the 59 Neck - it's possibly my favourite neck humbucker ever, the perfect balance of power, solidity and clarity, but it's slightly 'tighter' than a true vintage-type - but for me the 59 Bridge is too bright and not quite beefy enough, even though it's slightly hotter than the neck.

stonevibe

Interesting. I've seen a lot of people pair the neck with something slightly hotter.

Just I don't want anything too OTT in there, I have plenty of guitars that do that already. So was looking for a classic PAF like medium output.

Plus there is a guy locally selling a pair for reasonable money.

So thought I might take the plunge and try them out.

fretmeister

I really like the Pearly Gates in a mahogany guitar, in the bridge position, with an Alnico 2 Pro at the neck.

Very versatile with sweet cleans but still excellent when driven.

ICBM

stonevibe said:

Interesting. I've seen a lot of people pair the neck with something slightly hotter.

Just I don't want anything too OTT in there, I have plenty of guitars that do that already. So was looking for a classic PAF like medium output.

Plus there is a guy locally selling a pair for reasonable money.

So thought I might take the plunge and try them out.

Definitely try them if they're cheap - you can always change the bridge later... and you might like it anyway.

The 59s are a very good benchmark - if you know you don't like them (and why) it will be much easier to pick something you do first go next time.

fretmeister said:

I really like the Pearly Gates in a mahogany guitar, in the bridge position, with an Alnico 2 Pro at the neck.

Very versatile with sweet cleans but still excellent when driven.

Showing how personal it is, I find both of those too thin and bright, even in a mahogany guitar. They don't have the boldness of the 59s.

stonevibe

Cool. 

Cheers for the opinions. Sound like they may work in this guitar.

Going to get them tomorrow and then try them out for a while and see what I think.

Dave_Mc

I like the '59 neck. I haven't tried the bridge version.

stonevibe

Dave_Mc said:

I like the '59 neck. I haven't tried the bridge version.

Well I'll let you know what I think.

Dave_Mc

Thanks

EdGrip

I've currently got a '59 bridge pickup in the neck of my Epiphone Les Paul. It sounds good there. It's spent most of its life in the bridge position of that guitar, though - my first ever guitar upgrade. I didn't know much about pickups - or anything - I just knew that the pickups in the Epiphone were shit and I mainly used the bridge pickup so I needed something "proper" there. I did some Harmony Central reading* and someone on some review of something somewhere said "The best pickups Seymour Duncan make are the ones without Seymour Duncan written on them". So I bought one of them - an SH1. It sounded fine and has served me well for the best part of a decade. 

*HA! Remember Harmony Central? "RELIABILITY: 9/10. It's a pickup, but I've taken a point off because it hasn't got a cover."

FelineGuitars

I always liked the '59 although I too may have liked something a bit fruitier in the bridge.

I have a gold top Tiger (PRS type ) with a pair in - very nice - does what it says on the tin.

However you are spoilt these days for choice....

Recent other options that I have tried and liked maybe a bit more have been Bare Knuckle and more recently ASL 

BKP's mule is a great pickup, and the Riff Raff too.

With the ASL - I would of course nominate the Tour 84 for the bridge with a Bean-o Dyna-mite or Sid neck.

Tour '84 is a nice hotter crunchy yet still open sound (8.4k ohm with an Alnico 5, so similar bt a touch hotter than the 59 bridge)

guitarfishbay

Had them in an Epi Dot. It was a nice upgrade actually. I also tried a Custom 5/Jazz neck combo very briefly beforehand and massively preferred the 59s, the neck was fatter and bridge sweeter. Worth a try for sure.

stonevibe

I've got BK Mules, Stormy Mondays, Steve Stevens & Nailbombs in a few of my guitars.

I've tried BK Black Dogs, Emeralds, War Pigs and Abraxas.

So looking for something different, tried loads of SD pickups in true past except these ones.

Done everything from SH-4, JBs to Invaders etc.

The guitar isn't a singlecut, so looking for something not to OTT and something that can handle being cleaned up with a volume control.

mike257

I've got a JB bridge and '59 neck combo in my Edwards LP. I can take or leave the JB but I find the 59 wonderful. Warm, full and fat. The pickup switch very rarely leaves the neck position!

stonevibe

I've found the JB to be a bit 'meh' myself.

Voxman

I put a pair of SD SH1-59's in my Epiphone Sheraton MkII....sound really great, lovely warm neck tone and plenty of beef in the bridge without being OTT  - my Epi is now just about as tonally close to a Gibson 335 as you can get without dropping £2.5k!   

Dave_Mc

EdGrip said:

I've currently got a '59 bridge pickup in the neck of my Epiphone Les Paul. It sounds good there. It's spent most of its life in the bridge position of that guitar, though - my first ever guitar upgrade. I didn't know much about pickups - or anything - I just knew that the pickups in the Epiphone were shit and I mainly used the bridge pickup so I needed something "proper" there. I did some Harmony Central reading* and someone on some review of something somewhere said "The best pickups Seymour Duncan make are the ones without Seymour Duncan written on them". So I bought one of them - an SH1. It sounded fine and has served me well for the best part of a decade. 

*HA! Remember Harmony Central? "RELIABILITY: 9/10. It's a pickup, but I've taken a point off because it hasn't got a cover."

LOL

mike257 said:

I've got a JB bridge and '59 neck combo in my Edwards LP. I can take or leave the JB but I find the 59 wonderful. Warm, full and fat. The pickup switch very rarely leaves the neck position!

Yeah same here. I don't dislike the JB as much as I used to, but it's just totally the wrong style of pickup for that type of guitar. I have one in a charvel and it suits that style of guitar a lot better, if you ask me.

siraxeman

^JB is wrong for a LP ? Seymour often cited his fave for a LP was a JB and a Jazz!

Anyway better Q is which wins in a fight...59 or Jazz in teh neck?

guitarfishbay

siraxeman said:

Anyway better Q is which wins in a fight...59 or Jazz in teh neck?

59 for me, unless you specifically want a thinner tone.  The only time I preferred the Jazz neck was on an Ibanez RG.  Since the Jazz is a bit brighter with less low end it works really well for shred leads.

Ironically I really did not like the jazz neck in my Epi dot, but if you went off names you'd expect it to work. it just wasn't warm enough and didn't play to the strengths of the instrument IMO.

stonevibe

Well they got dropped into me at work today. 

 So I will wire them in at some point this week and report back my findings. Just waiting for some 500k CTS pots and a PIO cap to arrive, so I can re-do the whole thing.