I just got the 59 Duncans yesterday and soldered them in, and the tone of my Dot is very much improved. Much more balanced, doesn’t have the boomy/thuddy bass that always bothered me, and overall just more musical sounding. I’m very happy with these pickups.
I didn’t get the Gibson. It turned out to have a cracked neck that had been poorly repaired. But I’m still feeling some GAS pains. Has anyone owned or played a Reverend? They look interesting.
For folks watching at home, I assume you’re referring to your earlier posts about this guitar. Sorry things didn’t work out.
Here’s what an acquaintance of mine says. He sold me an amp a few years ago so he could by a Reverend guitar:
Reverends tend to get positive buzz on web, but I haven’t had the chance to play one. Would like to - I like their basic designs; cool and retro without aping Tele’s, Strats or Jazzmasters - and their layouts look good and playable.
So I’ve been playing my Dot with the new Duncan 59’s in it, and I’m really enjoying the bridge pickup. But I think I’ve decided that the neck pickup is still a little dark for me. It’s not a lot too dark, but I wish it were brighter. I think the semi-hollowness is mellowing it a bit more than I’d like.
So I’m thinking maybe I could move the neck '59 to another guitar of mine and get something else for the Dot. But it doesn’t seem there’s not much that’s brighter out there, that this is as good as it gets. Suggestions? Maybe a Duncan 59 bridge pickup in the neck position of the Dot? Or would that make much difference, or worse be darker?
Two things: try lowering the pole pieces/whole pickup a bit off the strings? Reduces the level of signal the strings impart - can translate to brightness.
Otherwise try a lower output humbucker…or a 'Buckner-sized P-90 like a Duncan phat cat…single coil is a bit brighter…
Thanks, I’ll try that. I’d set the pickup distance to be loudness equivalent to the bridge, maybe I’ll back the neck off a touch.
Yeah, I was mulling that. But wouldn’t that be higher output than 59 == dark? Or would I just back the pickup way the heck away from the strings? And if so, wouldn’t that make the s/n ratio a bit tough?
Also re phat cat, the Duncan description is a bit odd: “Works especially well in balanced instruments with rosewood, ebony or maple fingerboards.” Um, isn’t that almost every guitar? What does “balanced” mean, I wonder?
Also, are Gibson P94T’s well regarded? I was wishing the Phat Cat came in black, and the Gibson is not all black, but close.
No clue; sorry. Dude, improvise: you like the phat cat when you try it? Paint it, black.
ETA: as far as output, here’s what I can say - even though a P-90 type pickup is high output, it is single coil, so it has a brightness or edge that a humbucker sampling two cross-sections of the string don’t seem to have.
Spoken like a true Stones fan. 
Thanks!
If anyone cares, I’m intrigued by these. There are good reviews at the guitar sites where some poo-poo the though of Duncan Phat Cats as not the Real Deal. $80, I may take the plunge as a learning experience if naught else.
If you want a humbucker sized P-90, they look like a good choice. In terms of construction, Duncan Phat Cats are no more or less of a “real deal” than these or any other humbucker sized P-90 that uses an AlNiCo bar magnet, such as the AlNiCo version of the GFS Mean 90, which would be a much cheaper option if you just want to experiment.
Each of those pickups will sound a little different to the others, but which you prefer is a matter of taste. Don’t assume that more money means better sound.
The Mean 90s and Dream 180s were what GFS made their pickup-name on, too. They’re specifically the pickups of GFS’ you’ll find pros using.
Any reason to choose a Mean 90 vs a Dream 90? Or you just using that one as an example?
I specified that particular GFS pickup because it has an AlNiCo magnet.
In guitar pickups, there are two main kinds of magnets commonly used; ceramic and AlNiCo.
As a general rule of thumb, ceramic magnets are cheaper and AlNiCo magnets sound better.
Now, that’s a general rule, and there certainly are well-made ceramic magnet pickups that sound great, but at the less expensive end of the guitar pickup world, AlNiCo magnets are reliably nicer sounding than their ceramic competitors.
Why? Don’t know. I am extremely sceptical of most of the things claimed about guitar hardware on internet forums, but I have personally observed that, to my ears, AlNiCo magnet pickups do reliably sound nicer than ceramic magnet pickups in the cheap-to-medium price ranges. Since the difference in prices isn’t all that great, I recommend only buying AlNiCo-magnet pickups.
Because it’s well-known in the guitar world (and of the few examples where sceptical me agrees with the majority “wisdom” of the guitar world) you can safely assume that if the pickup seller doesn’t specify a magnet type, it’s ceramic. If it’s AlNiCo, they’ll tell you it is because that’s a selling point.
Really, it depends on the sound you want, though. The entire Metal era ran on ceramics stuffed in where AlNiCos once were. That was called ‘hot-rodding’ the pickup.
In fact, if you look at the Mean’s description, which I just did, it pretty much says just that.
I just swapped a ceramic minihumbucker for an alnico minihumbucker, both GFS, roughly equivalent to the dream vs mean in their differences, and I can say I went ‘wow, that’s… warm’ when I tested it out.
http://acapella.harmony-central.com/showthread.php?1826799-Mean-90s-vs.-BG-Pure-90s-in-a-Sheraton-an-honest-opinion.
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/archive/index.php/t-885258.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CB3uowITfg8 (What they sound like)
Seems like a 60-40 split, more or less, with the Pure90s getting slightly better marks. But at twice the price each they should be. Some people say the Means sound better than the Pures but the Pures are more ‘authentic’. Either way, it’s bucketloads better than the cheap pickups the guitar came with.
At that point, it’s your call.
Those Duncan 59s are great. I have one in my Gibson, in the neck slot.
Les Paul’s guitars and gear are going up for auction - drool.
http://www.juliensauctions.com/images/auctions/2012/les-paul/flipbook/icatalog.html
I only got part way through it. There is a mid '20’s Gibson L-5 I would die for…oh, and one or two Les Pauls 
Dude had a LOT of gear.
Wow, you’re not kidding. And they seem to be selling every last thing.
You do enjoy torturing us with this stuff, don’t you?