Looking for a new neck for my SG (ABomb bridge), and what for a LP ?

[BigB]

Hi there guys...

As some of you may know I recently got myself a nice '91 LP Studio. My first plan was to transplant my SG's A-bomb into it and load the SG with the RR (currently in the Hofner...), now yesterday I rehearsed with the SG instead of the LP (broken string and no spare left), and well... The SG/A-bomb bridge just make for the ultimate heavy rock machine :mrgreen:.  But the Mule neck, while sounding great, doesn't really match the Abomb wrt/ output and voicing. That was ok when I only had a couple guitars and was looking for versatility but now I have a few more toys I find myself favoring consistency, so I'm looking for something that would be a better match.

I'd like a clear, punchy (really dig the RR neck on the Hofner) yet fluid and singing tone, will mainly use the neck for leads, mid to hi gain settings, no shred nor modern metal stuff - basically hard-rock in fact but with a modern edge. The Cold Sweat neck seems to be praised for it's fluid tone and to be often used with HD and NB but most clips I found where mostly metal / shred so I'm not sure how I'd like it. Other possible candidates so far would be the NB neck (but I fear it would be to dark - or is that a misconception ?) and the Emerald which is supposed to be quite bright but as much as I like AIV neck pups (Mule and Crawler) I'm not sure it would be punchy enough.


Now for the LP... Seems well balanced (deep lows, snappy highs) and has great sustain, I like it but the combination of the fat neck, heavy strings (I use 11/52) and rather high action (because that's the way I like it) means I'll never be able to play fast on it, and the upper frets access is... well, it's a Les Paul, 'nuff said, so I will mainly use it for more bluesy / blue-rock stuff.  I never had truly vintage 'buckers except for the RR - which are on the late PAF side - and I wondered how I'd like really really vintage pups - something like SM, PG Blues or unpotted Mules. I'd like something with maximum touch sensitivity, really lush, 3D clean / about to breakup tones but that still would work with a cranked up / boosted amp (think british blues / very early hard rock vibe).   

Opinions, gentlemen ?

[Kiichi]

On the neck thing: When people are talking about how bright the emerald is they mean the bridge. I donīt think the neck actually is bright. Dunno how it fares with nailbomb, but sides that it sounds very much like something you would like. I even recon it would work nicely with the NB, although it will be very sweet and singing, so not really like the NB.

For the LP, for what you describe I would say either unpotted Stormys or PG Blues. I would actually go more towards the stormy. That should really give you full on vintage for really sensitive tones.
I donīt know how far they can be cranked though, but I think I recall clips of both doing a wonderfull early hard rock things.
The mule would of course be on the saver side for being able to go with gain, but I really think either Stormys or PGs would get you the better all in all picture for mostly low gain stuff.
Or just get the anniversary PUs, those should be even better.

[Telerocker]

The CS-neck should perform well in an SG and match with the NB. So would the NB-neck, otherwise it wouldn't be a matched set. I read the NB-neck is quite bright compared to other contemporary neckpickups, maybe owners can chime in for further comment. If you're looking for consistency I would peek in the contemporary section, although the Emerald-neck is oftend paired with HD and NB. According to Slarti it's a littler fatter and has more vintagevibe then the CS-neck.

For you Les Paul: you can't go wrong with Mules in a LP. Even the potted ones have plenty of mojo. They are are lush, open, threedimensional, vocal and well balanced with a nice crispiness to it. But, as Kiichi suggests, the new Anniversary pickups could be the ticket for you, if you like the character of AII-magnets. They would make your Studio quite special, wouldn't they?

[Dave Sloven]

The Cold Sweat does seem well matched for output to the NB.

I chose it over the NB set as I wanted something a little smoother for lead work and cleans.  Like you I don't use the neck pickup for rhythm stuff.  You can get a decent sound out of the two blended together though.

[BigB]

I read the NB-neck is quite bright compared to other contemporary neckpickups, maybe owners can chime in for further comment.

Doing my homework I indeed found out that the NB neck was most often described a quite clear and bright. If any owner cared to confirm (or infirm) this ? I don't know why I always thought it was a fat/dark pickup  :?.

FWIW thanks to Jonny "The soundclips archivist" and Dheim "Pickups shootout man" I found this rather comprehensive comparator (thanks Dheim for the great job you did here), and while the CS neck is quite sweet I think I prefer the more bitey tone of the NB neck... 

So would the NB-neck, otherwise it wouldn't be a matched set.

Yes indeed... Strange how we humans have an innate ability to make simple things overly complicated sometimes  :?

For the LP, for what you describe I would say either unpotted Stormys or PG Blues. I would actually go more towards the stormy. That should really give you full on vintage for really sensitive tones.

For you Les Paul: you can't go wrong with Mules in a LP. Even the potted ones have plenty of mojo. They are are lush, open, threedimensional, vocal and well balanced with a nice crispiness to it.

Well, I should have a spare Mule neck anytime soon so I guess I'll first give it a try  :lol:  But while Mules would indeed be the safest choice I'm still thinking I have to try the even more vintage side of the range. 

wrt/ the anniversary PUs : the description sounds really appealing but I can't afford to spend that much money atm, and I have to say I'm not sure I like the etching that much  :?

Anyway... Problem solved for the SG neck AFAICT (NB first choice, CS second choice if the NB doesn't cut it for me), still undecided about what to put in the LP but since this will probably have to wait until fall I have a couple months left to change my mind twice a day :mrgreen:

Thanks everyone for your insights 8)