Question Pickup suggestions -- EBMM Cutlass HSS

[northvanhalen]

Hi everyone!

I've got a wonderful Ernie Ball Music Man Cutlass that I love. It plays fantastic and it's of special significance to my wife and I, so it's a lifetime keeper.

One problem: I haaaaaaaaate the bridge pickup. It's nasal, muddy and unclear no matter what setup I put it in, but I'm not sure if I'd need to replace all three because of the silent circuit (I know jack about wiring).

Does anyone have any pickup suggestions? I'm looking for a clear-sounding, low output humbucker for the bridge. The stock middle and neck pickups are fine as-is, but if I'm replacing one, I might as well go for all three.

Thanks, gang! Any recommendations are greatly appreciated.

 

[Rbg]

Suhr thornbucker/thornbucker+. Really like those. Less humbucker sounding humbucker I’ve played

 

[Anklelocker]

I like the Porter Overdrive in the neck and Overdrive Plus in the bridge. Have that in 3 guitars and sounds killer.

 

[northvanhalen]

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. Would you suggest I buy a new pickguard to do a swap?

 

[QuietSpike]

The EVH humbucker is best on that guitar. Many people agree. Search the forum as this has been discussed multiple times.

 

[DrKev]

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. Would you suggest I buy a new pickguard to do a swap?

That depends. If you're worried about installing pickups, it's no more difficult with the circuit board design than with anything else, possibly easier). But you could use the opportunity to build a passive wired pickguard with different pickups that you can swap in an out at will.

In my experience, the stock Cutlass humbucker sounds close to a Gibson 57 classic Plus bridge humbucker, PAF-style but hotter. So choose something birghter in tone than that. I'd look at the DiMarzio PAF master or 36th Anniversary. Choose a neck model for a little extra brightness. Get one F-spaced for best pole piece alignment to the strings.

 

[7.62]

I’m in the same boat as you…hate the bridge pickup. However, DrKev gave me some insight. He said that the onboard buffer has a sound to it that mimics the capacitance of a 30-ft guitar cable. That’s quite a bit of high-end loss IMO. I’m considering rewiring the guitar with the stock pickups passively to see if that helps.

Also considering the Fralin Unbucker, and maybe calling up Fralin to see what single coils they recommend with it. Probably will coil split it to make the guitar more versatile. Pretty killer reviews…

Unbucker by Lindy Fralin: The Humbucker That Can Do It All.

The Fralin Unbucker gives you the best of both worlds: fabulous Humbucker Tones, and incredible Single Coil tones when split.

www.fralinpickups.com

 

[NickNihil]

A bit more off the beaten path, the Gemini Pickups Mercury I. I put a set in my ALHH. They're clear, they sound HUGE, and have the most responsive, single coil-like attack I've heard in a humbucker.

 

[7.62]

Just chiming in here…I just replaced the stock bridge with a Suhr Thronbucker, and man, what a difference. So much more open and clear. I’m going to eventually rewire everything passively, so it should get rid of the still slightly choked sound. Here’s a sweet HSS schematic I found with push/pull pots. One turns the neck pickup on and the other splits the humbucker. I believe the humbucker is already split tho in position 2.

https://imgur.com/5XiWFBb