Wondering -can any HB sound good for rock AND clean?

I just haven't found one yet. Is it possible? If so, which one(s)? Right now, I'm just thinking I'll have to use 2 seperate guitars.

I have a seth lover in the neck position of my chambered mahogany USACG tele. One of the best, cleanest, richest sounding pups I've heard. Of course, thats IMO, YMMV and all other disclaimers. That said, I use that pickup 90% of the time and like it so well, I'm routing the bridge out for another one! The Seth is a low output, true PAF type humbucker. It's capable of very sweet clean tones and with a tad of grit....well, I'll just say I really like it. Since I already have a nice 71 Tele, I don't feel at all guilty for making this into a dual h/b guitar. I figure by having another seth in the bridge, I actually may use the bridge pickup more!

I agree with Brad..I have a Seth Lover in my Asat Blues Boy and it's the best HB I've ever heard or played....

Any PAF-type humbucker should be able to do what you want. My favorites are the Tom Holmes, but Duncan Antiquities, Fralins, Gibson 57 Classics and a few others are in that same general tonal ballpark. PAF type humbuckers have more highs and sparkle and less mids than overwound modern pickups, because of the magnets used and less windings on the coils than the higher gain "modern" type humbuckers.

Thanks to Wayne, Brad and bluesdon for your input, but I have to throw the wrench into the gears now. I owned Seths for around 2 years in my Les Payl, and they did what they do very well. You're about the clean sounds being good. However, the lack of potting and low power don't cut it for the rock tones I'm referring to. I know, I should have specified. But I want to know about those real heavier sock 'buckers like the JB, Lawrence XL-500, etc. My Rio Grande's are quite toneful for clean, and drive right up to the door of heavy metal, but that's as close as I've seen for versatile!

When all else fails...get Gibson Burstbuckers....I have them in all my SG's and they are great...they come in 3 flavors....1-2-3 from warmest to hottest..I like the 1&3 combo for blues...for rock ya probably want 2 & 3...don

Definitely look into BL's L-500XL in the bridge position, with series-parallel switching and/or BL's Q-Filter tone circuit to "tame" it for clean sounds. You can really cover the gamut with that pickup if you put in the right circuitry to support it ,and imo no PAF-style 'bucker can touch that kind of setup for versatility.

You might consider the Dimarzio Humbucker from Hell. A single coil sound in a humbucking pickup. Dimarzio's Bluesbucker is a P-90 type single coil tone in bucker. I have not personally tried either one, so I can't give you my impressions, but the info on them sounds pretty cool. What amp were you runnig your seths into to get the squeal? I've had my amp cranked with a Drivetrain running into Vox Valve tone. While I was able to get incredible controlled feedback, I never had a squeal problem.

I've got a Seymour Duncan Screamin Demon which has a lot of clean twang. It's really bright. The name makes it seem like it's a really raunchy sounding pup but it's only medium output and sounds good clean or cranked.

Lawrence L-500s got the nod. I'll give you the lowdown on the upside, dig?

Jury is still out, but I am really digging the Burstbuckers in a 57 ri goldtop that came recently. Love the clean tones so far, and they seem like they got enough to rock.

Nathan,

I replaced my 1980 Gibson ES-335's godawful stock p/u's ( "Dirtyfingers"..yuck!) with SD '59s and it's good for clean sounds. Think: "Proud Mary" or "Bad Moon Rising" and you'll get the picture.
Of course for gettin my "Ya-Ya's Out" it's fantastic. Cranked through my '65 Princeton she'll do "Hot Legs" type tones all day. If you are still in the market for replacement HBers, give 'em a look.
Of course as has been posted here already, Seth Lovers come highly recommended as well for a little more money.

Respectfully,
Eggman

Hello,

I have a set of WCR Fillmore's in a '61 reissue Sg that sound absolutely great clean, overdriven and distorted. They're pretty expensive, in fact they're in Barden territory pricewise but they really were worth it. They sound incredibly balanced and clear and really harmonically rich.

Put some "Dark Burst" WCRs in my les paul. They sound great! Got the four conductor option and have them on two push pulls. One pot makes 'em single coil and another pot puts them out of phase. Me like!

Just when I was thinking that no one here at the TDPRI knew about Wagner pickups, two guys prove me wrong. I put Fillmores in my PRS McCarty and Darkbursts in a PRS Hollowbody II. Both sound great...very bright and clear, but also full. They clean up incredibly well with the volume control. I particularly like how well the Fillmores split. I get great single coil tones out of that guitar...much more so than the stock PRS pickups. I'd love to try a Wagner pickup in the neck position of a Tele. Shoot, let's put two of them in a Thinline!

John

http://www.crcoils.com

Nathan, have you tried a good Filtertron PU?
Nothing sounds better, clean or overdriven, than a TVClassic.

You realize this thread was started over two years ago, I doubt the poster still feels the question relevant. :lol: