Bridge Humbucker for Fender Mustang Reissue

Teledude44

I'm trying to replace the Seymour Duncan JB in my mustang, the clean sound is just abysmal. I need something that has that big humbucker sound without having a muddy low end. Any suggestions?

Alex

This is a bit strange as most people love the JB because it sounds both pretty good clean and pretty good under heavy distortion. It is nearly impossible to find a humbucker that will sound great under high gain and pure warm clean tone.

I like the JB for it's decent clean tone so can't make a recommendation. I can only make that annoying recommendation of trying out as many as possible with your setup to find what you like! 😀

LumpyWaters

Take a look at Bill Lawrence "Wilde" pickups (NOT the other guy doing business as Bill Lawrence USA, ripping off the good man's name), in particular the L90. I use L45's in my Mustang and they sound great clean or dirty- really Hi-Fi. They're twin blade humbuckers in a single coil size, based on the L90. The L90 is a regular humbucker size PU. If you don't mind a little Vietnamese, this video showcase the clean sound pretty good I think.

http://youtu.be/H9Vh9r7LzRE

Teledude44

I already went and put a Dimarzio 36th anniversary bridge pickup in there, sounds great! I also had a coil tap installed, it sounds great as a single coil as well.

LumpyWaters

Sweet! That 36th anniversary PU is basically a PAF reproduction with some modern enhancement. I was actually at first thinking of suggesting a PAF copy of some sort because the first thing your first post made me think of was the Tim Shaw PAF replica's that are in my 80's Gibson SG '62 Reissue. Not the Tim Shaw versions specifically- they are uncommon and appear for stupid high prices on Ebay and I'm sure the Dimarzio PAF and Seymour Duncan PAF copies are just as good if not better. If I had a Kurt Cobain Mustang I'd seriously consider replacing the JB with the 36th anniversary like you did, though I do also have a thing for the Bill Lawrence PU's I mentioned.

Teledude44

It's funny I got the JB hoping to get that nice fat twangy sound that kurt has on the beginning of "Drain You" and it turned out that the JB in my particular guitar sounded like a fart when you play the low strings. I think I am more of a single coil guy, but I definitely believe certain songs HAVE to have a humbucker sound to sound right.