Musicman petrucci neck pickup suggestions?

[jdow4069]

Hey guys I finally righted my past wronging of selling my fully loaded mystic dream petrucci and am now back in the saddle. I love the d sonic, but am less impressed by the neck pickup, which I am finding to be a little sterile. Im looking for a kind of Andy Timmons tone in the neck and since the cruiser can only fit in a single coil slot, I was wondering what suggestions you guys might have ( or if you had any suggestions in general ). O and i was also considering installing a coil tap on whatever neck pickup I ended up getting.

 

[emanon]

Sweet! It looks like I can be the first! Here it goes:

Why would you want to change the neck pickup? JP picked it out himself! It is the perfect neck pickup for that guitar and I couldn't ever imagine changing mine.

How did I do?

 

[bkrumme]

Definitely check out the Liquifire. Probably the best neck pickup I've heard.

 

[agt]

If you are looking for a single coil tone in a neck humbucker, investigate the Dimarzio Humbucker From Hell. I've never tried it, but supposedly that is the application for which it is intended. Good luck.

 

[ProtoChicken]

Definitely check out the Liquifire. Probably the best neck pickup I've heard.

BK, he said he'd like to get something similar to Timmons' tone, the Liquifier is the not the pickup for that sound, though off the top of my head I'm not sure what is that would fit into the HB rout.

 

[jdow4069]

hahaha, ya man he is our God, so he must have some taste. I have been hearing some pretty good things about the liquifire and i think im gonna be putting it on the possible list. Ive also been checking out the humbucker from hell which seems to have about the same stats as the cruiser on the dimarzio site. anyone have any experience with it? (thanks for the replies guys!)

 

[jdow4069]

thanks agt, thats what i like to hear! (check my above post =) )

 

[Hendog]

BK, he said he'd like to get something similar to Timmons' tone, the Liquifier is the not the pickup for that sound, though off the top of my head I'm not sure what is that would fit into the HB rout.

Timmons uses a Dimarzio humbucker.

 

[ProtoChicken]

Timmons uses a Dimarzio humbucker.

Nope. The Cruiser is more of single coil sound with hum canceling.

 

[Hendog]

Nope. The Cruiser is more of single coil sound with hum canceling.

Nope. Its a humbucker.

 

[Hendog]

Dimarzio AT-1

 

[ProtoChicken]

Nope. Its a humbucker.

From Dimarzio

If you’re a serious traditional Strat® player, you probably won’t want to know about pickups with side - by - side coils. But if you’re the player who’s up for something more modern with no 60-cycle hum, string drop-outs or sustain-killing magnet pull, we designed The Cruiser® for you. Harmonic overtones are right where you expect them to be from a “true” single-coil, and the mid-range is open and vocal-sounding. It’s hotter than the traditional single-coil, and the bass strings have a bit more chunk; this is an excellent pickup to combine with medium-output humbuckers, and it maintains its tonal identity with high-gain amps and multiple effects.

 

[Hendog]

From Dimarzio

"A player’s player" is a perfect description for Andy Timmons. He has great touch, phrasing, and tone. Since 2001, he has been playing a DiMarzio custom bridge humbucker that has only been available on his signature Ibanez® guitar, and it has been his first-line pickup ever since. The outstanding characteristics of the DiMarzio AT-1™ are balance, warmth, and clarity. It achieves this blend with the same patented technology as the PAF® 36th Anniversary, but the sound is hotter and the focus is rock.

 

[jdow4069]

to clear this up, he uses an HSS configuration and im interested in getting the sound from his neck singlecoil position, the cruiser, which is essetially a humbucker in singlecoil size. So technically you're both right =)

 

[ProtoChicken]

Hendog you misunderstood me. First of all we are talking about the neck not the bridge pickup, second while it's not a "true" single coil, it retains many of the properties of single coil.

This is probably a more accurate description.

No humbucking pickup sounds exactly like a vintage single-coil, but the Cruiser is about the closest you can come. We make one coil the woofer, and the other the tweeter. This extends the range of the noise-canceling design, and allows us to enhance the best qualities of each coil while fine-tuning the output. DiMarzio calls this their dual-resonance design, and it's patented. There is less magnetic pull, and it still sounds clean, clear, and bright.

 

[Hendog]

to clear this up, he uses an HSS configuration and im interested in getting the sound from his neck singlecoil position, the cruiser, which is essetially a humbucker in singlecoil size. So technically you're both right =)

Sorry, jdow... PChick worked me up a bit with his "Nope."

Sorry to hijack your thread. Proceed.

 

[ProtoChicken]

Sorry, jdow... PChick worked me up a bit with his "Nope."

Sorry to hijack your thread. Proceed.

Well, you were wrong as my last description makes abundantly clear.

Edit: Crap I meant to write J/K but I hit reply too soon. Honestly sorry.

I think your best bet is going with the coil tap, the only problem you run into there are some HB's obviously sound better split then others. Dimarzio is pretty friendly, give them a call and ask them what HB would sound closet to the cruiser when split I bet they'll help you out.

 

[jdow4069]

haha not a problem, i have been looking at youtube (not the best resource for pickup testing, but its a start) and the clips on the dimarzio site and the humbucker from hell seems to be my best shot. If anyone could maybe provide some personal experience with this pickup or maybe a suggestion for another pickup, im all ears.

 

[ProtoChicken]

Not sure if this would work for you but but how about the Seymour Duncan ’59 neck pickup? I think Alex Skolnick uses this for his playing in his jazz trio.

 

[mbgreene]

haha not a problem, i have been looking at youtube (not the best resource for pickup testing, but its a start) and the clips on the dimarzio site and the humbucker from hell seems to be my best shot. If anyone could maybe provide some personal experience with this pickup or maybe a suggestion for another pickup, im all ears.

Try a search for posts involving the HFH by a member named radrock, iirc he's a big fan has has posted a number of times about it