Getting Neck pickup tone from middle pickup?

[murraymurray]

Hey Guys,
My mate has a Kramer nightswan which only has a bridge and middle humbucker, but hes trying to get the tone of a neck pickup for some sweet lead tones but the middle doesnt really cut it.
does anyone know a way to wire it up or set it up so that it imitates a neck pickup tone a bit more without having to use a router?
ive thought about splitting the pickup or trying different value pots etc, but thought someone may have a proper idea before using trial and error, cos i am lazy

[darkbluemurder]

Unfortunately nothing sounds like a neck pickup unless it is a pickup mounted in the neck position of the guitar. Really, the position of the pickup strongly affects the tonal outcome due to the fact that the pickup picks up different string nodes (amplitudes). This is already apparent with 24 frets guitars compared to 22 frets guitars. Even with identical woods, hardware and pickups the neck pickups in these guitars will sound different. So there is not really a realistic chance of getting the middle pickup to sound like a neck pickup. Possible solutions:

1. Have a neck pickup installed in the guitar (non-reversible mod).

2. Does the guitar have a tone control? If so, use the bridge pickup and turn down the tone control. This will probably get you closer than messing with the middle pickup.

Good luck
Stephan

[Ratrod]

Like Stephan said, you can use the tone control.

Another option is to experiment with different caps.

You can also experiment with the pole pieces to EQ the pickup so it will sound more like a neck pickup.

[gwEm]

dark sounding pickup may help

[HTH AMPS]

get it routed for a neck humbucker - thats the only way you're gonna nail the tone, anything else is 'almost' there.

other than that, go with something dark with an alnicoII or IV magnet - maybe a vintage-hot type of neck pickup like the Crawler neck which is essentially a Mule neck pickup wound a little hotter.

[Philly Q]

I don't think there'd be room for a neck humbucker - it's a 24 fret guitar and the existing bridge/middle pickups aren't really close together.  You could probably squeeze in a P-90.

I reckon the best bet would be trying to find two pickups which sound very different from each other.  What were the originals - a Full Shred and JB I think?   I'm not sure how they compare with each other, but the JB isn't a natural "neck" pickup.

[MDV]

You could get a single or

dare I say it

stacked humbucker in the space

Nothings going to sound like a neck cos a neck sounds like a neck because of the wide vibration and its profile through the field

Though....if you dropped string tension down...like, right down, you might get something more like a neck sound from it. But, well, I wouldnt do that - I'd route the $%&#er first.

[gingataff]

As above anything other than a real neck pickup is a compromise but it does depend what kind of tone he'S looking for; If it's fat and chiming then get ready to use the router but if it's just dark and rounded off then a tone control can do that.

Assuming he wants to keep it stock why not try an EQ pedal to roll off the highs and play with the mids on the middle pickup.