jwojtysiak wrote:I'm ready to switch my pickups again. Right now I'm using a set of SD Phat Cat p90s. Tell me what you love and why. Please and thank you.
I've got two bucker axes.
My '71 LP Std is loaded with SK Guitar Specialties Dual Tone II's. Actually this is the first pair of the II's he ever made as a custom request for me. They are an alnico 5 SC/ceramic P90 clone combo (kinda like the Duncan P-Rails but these were made before the P-Rails came out). I can run either split to alnico 5 SC, split to a P90 clone coil, or run both coils in parallel for HB tones. GIves me awesome versatility, and sounds great on all settings.
The pickup is hot enough that the SC sounds don't sound wimpy or anemic. The P90 tones have some definite muscle to them, more grunt than my Gibson P90's, with shit loads of raw metallic midrange crunch but the treble isn't as detailed/sweet. The alnico 5 sounds are jaw-droppingly gorgeous, near acoustic in tone/feel with plenty of sweet treble, nice thwack on the bass notes, and a little dip in the mids that sounds so nice and elastic/glassy. The parallel HB tones are killer combining qualities of both the alnico 5 and ceramic P90 coil with a more compressed feel. It's a great sounding HB, more detail and more balls than the Dimarzio Super D's that were in there before. Iirc the bridge is like 16+ k, and the neck like ~12k The neck pickup can also be switched to series HB for a super thick wooly chunk.
My SG is currently loaded with a 498/490 combo. I yanked out the '57s because I wanted a little more chunk/bite, and punch (particularly on the bridge) to match my LP. The 498 is good for now, but I kinda want a little more sweetness out of the neck so I'm thinking about swapping that out for a Live Bucker/Custom Bucker, or Burst Bucker neck.
I loved the '57s for a lot of stuff, but some of the heavier stuff I play needs a bit more tooth in the mids. They're a hair too soft/smooth sounding for some tones IMO.