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I acquired a A4 by Fralin thru Lew's Guitar.
The old DiMarzios had no bridge or neck version, so you have to use the same8.1k A5 pup in both slots. In the neck you have a bass, which tend to be muddy, but overall the sound has good mids and clear highs. The neck lacks volume compared to the neck slot, but has clear and trebly voice. Not bad since the neck could be tweaked until the bass was quite alright.
The idea was to bring the mids and volume up in the bridge. I did that with a rewind of the bridge on the screw coil up to 5k. This is now a Unbucker (4k/5k). It has the same clearness as before but more mids and more volume. Humbucker wind (.5k) on both coils would have sacrified the the clearness IMO. I can even think a unbucker of 4k/5.5k would be great too (this seems to be Lews fav).
To fight the bass muddiness i tried a Alnico 4 in the neck. Bingo! Less bass and the mids are improved too. The highs are quite the same but even a little clearer. Now the neck pup can be used without tilting in the frame. The A4 does not smooth the highs like A3 and a2 does. Since i will go to a 4 strand wiring on the pup i can do the single coil option too.
This is now a very clear combo - great for jazz and blues, even country (if you like hums there).
BTW a lot of folks complain of the '59Ns muddiness - maybe a A4 could be the cure.

Yes absolutely an alnico4 could be a good cure to the weeknesses of both sh1 and tb14 .


Originally Posted by hamerfanBTW a lot of folks complain of the '59Ns muddiness - maybe a A4 could be the cure.
Maybe somebody has already done this. I can't stand the '59N....it's muddy in every guitar I've ever put it in due to the overwhelming bass IMO. I don't understand how this pickup is so popular in the neck compared to some of Duncans other offerings.


Originally Posted by hamerfanBTW a lot of folks complain of the '59Ns muddiness - maybe a A4 could be the cure.

I agree. I have a Bare Knuckle Mule set with Alnico IV. It's a PAF, so similar to the '59, and it's perfectly balanced in my Artist. Very pleasing sound.

Interesting...

I hafta say now that I'm playing some 59s again , I can understand some of the quot;muddyquot; comments in the neck position. I don't find it boomy at all in my Hamer...and I'm not sure I'd even call it quot;muddyquot;...but there is a quot;hazequot; over the lows and low mids..the highs are fairly clear and defined...It still works very good for high gain quot;liquidquot; soloing ala Gary Moore/John Sykes, but I much prefer the BB pro...it doesnt quite have the top end clarity or quot;openenessquot;, but it's thicker/warmer and still has that great Sykes/Moore tone.

In the bridge the BB Pro, IMO outguns the 59 even more (again, the 59 is a bit clearer and more open, but it doesn't have the thick raunchy, rock and roll sound, and really craps out under similar gain levels)

If I wasn't selling it, I'd pull the BB pros out of my Paula and slap 'em in the Hamer.