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I just purchased a brand new sg special and the pickups leave a bit to be desired. I've never replaced pickups before, but I was wondering what set would match up nicely with the guitar. I play alot of heavy distortion saturated stuff at the bridge and i need the neck to be warm a smooth both clean and dirty....any suggestions? i'm thinking distortion or dime in the bridge and jazz or pearly gates in the neck...

The original SG Specials all used P-90's. Yours doesn't?


Originally Posted by LewguitarThe original SG Specials all used P-90's. Yours doesn't?

Mine came with a 490r and a 490t.

I recently switched those out for a set of Seths. The Seth bridge was way too bright and lost some of the SG honk. I kept the Seth neck, as the 490r was complete mud (actually, if you lower it way down and raise the screws out of the bobbin, the 490r isn't that bad).

Whatever high output bridge you chose, I would make sure that it is not a bright pickup. Because the bridge pickup in an SG is closer to the bridge in than in other guitars, you'll need a pickup that has plenty of mids and bass, or else it will sound too thin.

For the neck, a Seth neck sound brighter and airier than the 490r, but still has plenty of mids. I'd go for either a Seth, Pearly Gates, or A2Pro neck.

I have an SG faded that origianlly came with the 490 pups, so I know what you mean... They turn muddy on high gain stuff, especially the neck pup.

I dropped in a pair of Gibson Tony Iommi sig pups and that brought the guitar to life. I wanted this guitar to be able to cover lots of styles like AC/DC and Sabbath (naturally) so I gambled on the Iommi pups and I think they're great. The highs are very clear and not shrill at all. It can scream without being peircing. They tone down with a roll of the tone knob very nicely to cover sabbath stuff, but is never muddy. This guitar can also do some really heavy but clear punk stuff like white stripes or Ramones.

Pete Townsend used to use SG Specials. They always had P-90's. So it sounds like now they don't!

Humbuckers now... OK.

I always thought 59's sounded great in SG's, but if the bass of the 59 in the neck is making your tone a little muddy then try a Jazz or maybe better still an alnico 2 neck humbucker.

The Seth Lover that MattPete suggested is a good one.

Or if you want a pickup without a nickel cover than go for the Pearly Gates or Alnico 2 Pro.

For the bridge, if want it heavy, the Distortion or JB would be cool. Or the Dimebucker if you want somehing even heavier.

From the description you've provided, I'd go with a Dime in the bridge and a full shred in the neck.

If you're going to be using a high gain sound, then these pickups will hold together nicely and stay tight under the gain.
They both sound really good in SGs--I have them in Both of mine--and produce some killer tones.

I hope this can help in some way or another.

You might aviod all the indecision and try the new Duncan matched sets. I bet either the 59 set or the Jazz/JB would put a major smile on your face. Question: is there a cost savings when you buy the matched set?