Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I would be interested to hear from visitors here what make of humbucker in the bridge position best allows for a decent vintage single coil tonality when split.

Pick out the best one here.

Peter, On my homemade neck through I have SD '59 pickups that I have wired series-split-parallel. These do very well. Actually the parallel sound is very close to the split sound, but split has a little more top end and definition. In split the notes really ring clearer. I have put this next to an American Strat and prefer the '59s over the Strat. Keep in mind the construction differences of the two guitars. With the neck split I can get close to the sound of "I Feel Fine". This guitar also has a phase reverse switch, 4-way Tele selector, and a Fishman Power Bridge.

I have considered coil tapping with my 650C but don't want to mess with drilling holes in the pickguard. I don't think that there is enough depth to put in a switched pot but never really measured other than eyeing it.

I don't know that this exactly answers your question but I guess it will point out that I am happy with the results on this particular pickup. I don't doubt that a RIC HB would do just as well either split or in parallel.

Thanks Ken. The SD59 does seem to do a good job of capturing the single coil sound. It would also seem that the SH-4 JB model is a contender. It has a fantastic clean sound.

Well you slipped in an additional post while I was writing. Just so you know I had to special order the '59s with four conductors. It still only took about 2 or 3 weeks. I think you would be happy with these. I used a different wiring schematic than shown by SD. Their drawing has the coil without the pole screws active in split. The one I used keeps the screw coils active.

I had also considered the Alnico II Pro.

Peter, did you mean the JB (Jeff Beck) Model SH-4?

Yes. The Jeff Beck Model SH-4.

Actually, JB does not mean Jeff Beck - this is a common misconception - it means Jazz/Blues.

Good point John. I am wondering why Seymour Duncan hasn't mentioned this common misconception alongside the desription of this pickup? Is it in their FAQ?

I could not find it in their FAQ but I will defer to the pickup experts at Guitargeek.com. You can check out this thread for info:

http://guitargeek.com/chat/showthread.php?s=&threadid=22201&highlight=Seymour+Duncan+Jeff+Beck

Good work John. Thanks for citing chapter and verse.

Regarding split HB's, the geeks have once again got you covered (or uncovered). This thread is mainly about neck pickups, but perhaps you'll find some of the information salient:

http://guitargeek.com/chat/showthread.php?s=&threadid=61364

"Actually, JB does not mean Jeff Beck - this is a common misconception - it means Jazz/Blues."

Thanks for that I always heard it refered to as a Jeff Beck pickup. What was interesting in the thread was the quote (and link to it) by Seymour Duncan himself about the pickup.

"...It’s the same way with Jeff Beck. I call it the JB pickup because of my admiration for Jeff. I never wanted to call it the Jeff Beck because I really never did endorsements or had that stuff before…a custom shop pickup under somebody’s name. I hadn’t really done that, but everybody knew what the JB Stood For.

My neck pick for Jeff Beck was the JM model. That stood for John Milner. John Milner was the character in American Graffiti with the Yellow High Boy ‘32 Ford coupe. I always called the two humbuckers the John Milner and the Jeff Beck. I couldn’t actually call it the Jeff Beck, so I called it the JB and I couldn’t use the John Milner so I called it the JM."

LINK