Neck humbucker for guys that hate neck humbuckers?

[fdesalvo]

Ha!

I'm a HSS Superstratman at heart, but have the option to build a HH mahogany bolt-on.  Here's my beef with neck humbuckers:

1.  I hate muffled, over-rounded, muted, flubby, or otherwise indistinct neck tones.  I typically love singlecoils for the sparkle, definition, and dynamics.
2.  Refer to #1.

What's a guy to do, then?  I'm looking for beautiful clean tones (hated the SD Jazz in my other guitars bc I found it sterile in every application) and dynamic and sharper lead tones that don't ut me in Slash territory.

I had a nice thread going earlier, where the RYs, Crawler, and even the Jugg was suggested to get me amazing lead tones with the option for splitting into beautiful sparkly cleans.  Have I lost my mind?  Are there calibrated sets or combos that play nice together?

[AnnunakiMassacr]

Ha!

I'm a HSS Superstratman at heart, but have the option to build a HH mahogany bolt-on.  Here's my beef with neck humbuckers:

1.  I hate muffled, over-rounded, muted, flubby, or otherwise indistinct neck tones.  I typically love singlecoils for the sparkle, definition, and dynamics.
2.  Refer to #1.

What's a guy to do, then?  I'm looking for beautiful clean tones (hated the SD Jazz in my other guitars bc I found it sterile in every application) and dynamic and sharper lead tones that don't ut me in Slash territory.

I had a nice thread going earlier, where the RYs, Crawler, and even the Jugg was suggested to get me amazing lead tones with the option for splitting into beautiful sparkly cleans.  Have I lost my mind?  Are there calibrated sets or combos that play nice together?

Have you ever thought of a HSP90?

[fdesalvo]

Yes.  I used to run P90s in a LP DC, but found them too round.

[Lucas]

the only thing that comes up to my mind is Nailbomb or Painkiller neck, but both might be too 'metal' I`m afraid. It depends what style of music they are meant to be used for.

[AnnunakiMassacr]

Try looking at BKPs range of the humbucker sized P90s. They have some pretty bright ones. But the Nailbomb neck to my ears has a pretty nice woody tone. I believe the brightest neck humbucker is the Riff Raff neck, though. Closest to a Duncan 59, I think :)

[fdesalvo]

the only thing that comes up to my mind is Nailbomb or Painkiller neck, but both might be too 'metal' I`m afraid. It depends what style of music they are meant to be used for.

Really just looking for something that can do clean to rock with excellence (and play nice with a RY or Crawler perhaps).  I have no clue what this body is going to sound like.

Thanks for the suggestions so far, guys.

[Dave Sloven]

I would probably pair the RR neck with the RY bridge

I have the NB neck and it would fit the bill except it is probably too hot for the RY

I don't like the usual neck pickup sound either

[Telerocker]

Several options here:
- Mules-set. Very balanced, open and dynamic.
- RR-set (a tad brighter compared to Mules).
- Nantucket-bridge - Bluenote-neck (less boomy than the Nantucket- and MQ-neck)
- RY-bridge - Mule- or RR-neck, HSP90.

[fdesalvo]

Hmm,

How do the RY/RR play together in position 2?  Do either of these coil split as well as the Crawler/Abraxas?  Thanks.

I would probably pair the RR neck with the RY bridge

I have the NB neck and it would fit the bill except it is probably too hot for the RY

I don't like the usual neck pickup sound either

Several options here:
- Mules-set. Very balanced, open and dynamic.
- RR-set (a tad brighter compared to Mules).
- Nantucket-bridge - Bluenote-neck (less boomy than the Nantucket- and MQ-neck)
- RY-bridge - Mule- or RR-neck, HSP90.

[Dave Sloven]

The RY is similar in many ways to the RR bridge, so they middle position with a RY/RR guitar should be fine.

[fdesalvo]

Thank you

[AnnunakiMassacr]

The RY is similar in many ways to the RR bridge, so they middle position with a RY/RR guitar should be fine.

I would have to disagree with this as I loved my Rebel Yell, but I didn't get on too well with the Riff Raff. I can see if you mean the upper mid focus. But the Rebel Yell has a lot more punch, and is a lot more muscular. It might've been an output problem I had with the Riff Raff tbh, and it wasn't thick enough, so I went for a Black Dog. But I had no problems with the Rebel Yell :)

I wouldn't go for the Mule neck btw. I have it, and it is warm. Definitely not the sound you're after. I'm still in 2 minds about it at the mule neck at the moment to be honest. I do really like it, but I want something with the same feel, just brighter. But not aggressively bright, kind of sweet and bright

[fdesalvo]

I just found another review that leads me to believe the Crawler Bridge and VHII Neck might be the ticket.

The RY is similar in many ways to the RR bridge, so they middle position with a RY/RR guitar should be fine.

I would have to disagree with this as I loved my Rebel Yell, but I didn't get on too well with the Riff Raff. I can see if you mean the upper mid focus. But the Rebel Yell has a lot more punch, and is a lot more muscular. It might've been an output problem I had with the Riff Raff tbh, and it wasn't thick enough, so I went for a Black Dog. But I had no problems with the Rebel Yell :)

I wouldn't go for the Mule neck btw. I have it, and it is warm. Definitely not the sound you're after. I'm still in 2 minds about it at the mule neck at the moment to be honest. I do really like it, but I want something with the same feel, just brighter. But not aggressively bright, kind of sweet and bright

[AnnunakiMassacr]

The VHII neck is something I've really wanted to try. Also, if you want something like the VHII, but with more output, look at the Juggernaut. Misha says he thought the VHII was the perfect pickup, but the balance just wasn't right with the higher output models, so the decided the make it hotter to balance for his set

[Telerocker]

Crawler is very thick due it's huge midrange. Treble cuts enough for me, but it's rounder than say an RY. The neck-VHII might be too dark and fluid for the OP's taste.