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Terry Kath loved to solo on his neck p/u and got a great, fat tone - the way I think a neck HB should sound. Here are a few examples, pulled from his extended solos on the Carnegie Hall album (each about a minute long and ~2 MB).

Sing a Mean Tune Kid
South California Purples (beginning of solo)
South California Purples (coda)

I love how the higher notes are round and smooth, and everything from the A string on down goes WOOF, but without farting. It's also one of those classic sounds with days of sustain and effortless feedback, but a lot less overdrive than you'd first think. You can still hear the guitar through the pickups and amp, if you know what I mean. I'm pretty sure Kath was playing his Les Paul Professional on these cuts, an all-mahogany LP with those oval-shaped low-impedance pickups.

I'm thinking about new pups for my alder-bodied, maple necked Schecter PT project guitar, and I'd like to get a neck position tone similar to Kath's. I don't think I've ever owned a pickup that got this sound, so... what do you think? 59N?

The 59 will woof out, I think. Your best bet is something loaded with Alnico II's. I think my Pearly's have more cut than that; maybe a Seth or an APH would get you there.
Now that I think about it, the Pearly Gates bridge unit can get pretty close to that tone when used as a neck pickup.

a jazz with 250k pots will get you close as well.

I don't know much about Terry Kath. Only that he was a underated great player. One of my old bands covered 25 or 6 to 4. I got pretty close w/t a LP Alnico II neck PuP. I could swear he used a 335 on that tune? I think I use to roll my tone knob back a Lil' to get that fat Woof? Or maybe I used my Wah to find the sweet spot, And just left it there? I don't remember.

I think I might actually want it to quot;woof outquot;, though I'm not sure we all attach the same meaning to the term. There are brief examples of my idea of woof in the Sing... clip at 0:20 and 0:58, in the 1st ...Purples clip at 0:24, and in the Coda at 1:00. The low notes just seem to be louder, without giving the impression that he picks harder.

Wow, his playing and tone are really good. What year was that done? I would suggest the Seth for that. Out of every neck SD I've played, the Seth had that tube friendly roundness that still retained clarity like that. I had mine in a solid mahogany body with 500k pots, and it sang.

If you´re not afraid to try a high gain pickup in teh neck, the JB will do that perfectly and give you a great split single coil tone for versatility


Originally Posted by schcullyWow, his playing and tone are really good. What year was that done? I would suggest the Seth for that. Out of every neck SD I've played, the Seth had that tube friendly roundness that still retained clarity like that. I had mine in a solid mahogany body with 500k pots, and it sang.

Chicago at Carnegie Hall was recorded in April 1971. To me, his tone is the all-time best, and he was a ferocious player. Jimi Hendrix is reported to have said that KAth was quot;better than me.quot;Originally Posted by ZerberusIf you´re not afraid to try a high gain pickup in teh neck, the JB will do that perfectly and give you a great split single coil tone for versatility

Thanks for the suggestion Zerb. The JB is a leading contender for the bridge in this axe, so maybe I'll pop it in the neck spot first and give it a go.

Terry Kath used a 70's Les Paul Recording Model guitar with low impedence single coil pickups and he used a Knight-kit hi-fi amp as a pre-amp to boost the signal in front of his regular guitar amp. I used to do the same thing with an old tube-type Wollensak Tape Recorder as a pre-amp as did Richie Blackmore of Deep Purple. I don't think there is a stock humbucker neck pickup that will get that exact tone as what you're hearing is the Les Paul designed low impedence pickups and the unique amp set-up Terry Kath used. You might get close with a Strat single coil boosted by a DS-1 or Duncan Pickup Booster. The Duncan Jazz model neck humbucker might be a good alternative in a humbucker.

the jb in the neck is a cool tone for sure. big and round