neck pick up to go with an SD custom custom

[markD]

hey all. i have a hamer diablo that is getting the mike learn treatment (pics to come upon arrival), and i am putting new pick ups in it. i need an adequate neck pick up to go with the duncan custom custom i am putting in the bridge position.

here is what i like to hear from a neck pick up:

* smooth
* not too bassy/boomy
* vowel-like attack when doing pre-bends
* low output enough to help "clean up" the sound when both pick ups are on

here are my quirky requirements:

* no coil tapping
* MUST be a duncan pick up (i try to keep each guitar as close to original spec as possible)
* no actives

i have a custom custom/'59 como in my hamer vector V, and it is cool, but...i am curious about the jazz and any other suggestions you might have...

thanks.

[Hellbat]

I love the jazz but they can be a bit boomy in the lower midrange at time. The Pearly Gates can give you almost single coil tones out of a humbucker.

[markD]

do they make a pearly gates neck, or is it still the bridge pick up just put in the neck?

[Hellbat]

I have one I bought in the last 2 years labelled SHPG-1N and the packaging mentions neck and bridge models so I'm assuming it's a neck model.

[cvansickle]

Pearly Gates neck, FTW! I put one in my So-Cal, with a Custom Custom bridge. The PG neck has plenty of attack, never mushy like some neck pickups can get. Not too hot, but still spicey! And it sounds great blended with the CC too.

[6string40]

One more vote for the Pearly Gates in the neck...I have one matched with a Duncan Custom in my Dominion.

[Newc]

JB. You'd be surprised how clean it can be in the neck.

Though I do suggest you at least wire it in parallel (green+bare+white to ground, red+black to hot) if you don't want to use a splitter.
A TripleShot ring on it would be best.

[toejam]

The Jazz or a '59 are hard to beat as neck pups, but the Jazz is brighter and slightly cleaner.

[Dreamland_Rebel]

I say Jazz or PG. I personnaly find the 59 to have more highs, the Jazz seems rounder more vowel like to me.

[markD]

cool. thanks, all. i ended up getting a jazz because i found a super cheap one on ebay with a BIN of 35.00. i was leaning toward the PG, but with paying mike learn to refinish the guitar (it is gonna be AWESOME!!), i didn't wanna drop another 100 on a neck pickup.

[roodyrocker]

markD, what are you having Mike Learn paint for you? I just shipped off a Rhoads to him to paint today
On the pickups, any of those choices are good, I've tried them all in the neck position (59, Pearly Gates, Jazz, and yes even the JB as Newc suggested). I have no complaints about any of them. In my Rhoads that just went out to Mike Learn I'm going with a Dimarzio Tone Zone in the bridge and looking for an Air Norton for the neck. It originally had Jackson J-80 and J-50 pickups in it. I'm not a fan of any of the Jackson pickups for the most part.

[markD]

rudy, mike is painting my hamer with ghost/hot rod flames. the base color is black with a lilac pearl mixed in, and the flames will be blue and candy purple. i am getting excited!! what are you having done?

[straycat]

The jazz is a great choice.I have used the seymorizer which is a distortion just the neck version and its a great neck position pick up.
Very clean if you keep it a bit lower not woofie at all.

[Shawn Lutz]

Jazz or a 59 are my favorite neck SD neck positin pickups

[roodyrocker]

rudy, mike is painting my hamer with ghost/hot rod flames. the base color is black with a lilac pearl mixed in, and the flames will be blue and candy purple. i am getting excited!! what are you having done?

I picked up a San Dimas Rhoads right here on JCF that was already stripped down. It was originally Ivory but I'm considering some Mike Learn evil skulls/flames type treatment Purple is my favorite color so there might have to be some purple flamage involved. I'm going to swap out the original Jackson pickups for a Dimarzio Tone Zone and an Air Norton.