Any pickup suggestions?

[Bluemans335]

So anyways, to get back on topic, the point was that unbalanced coils give humbuckers a nice sound, and you can either buy them like that (BB's, etc) or do it via a spin-a-split pot.

[capmaster]

There's another point just coming to my mind. '57 and BB pickups do all have the same and somehow intermediate string spacing. Therefore strings will match to run next to perpendicularly across the pole pieces only for a center pickup in a three-pickup humbucker design. For a neck pickup they are displaced to the center, and for a bridge pickup to the outer edge. This affects G and D strings least, and E1st and E6th most. The misalignment audibly affects the sound giving a sparkling edge, especially with the pickups adjusted very close to the strings. I checked for it performing bendings. Indeed the tone becomes fatter and rounder when using the bridge pickup as the string is moved towards the the pole pieces, and sleeker and more brittle through the neck pickup since it is bent away from them.

 

For those humbuckers with dedicated bobbin designs for neck and bridge positions, the spacing of the pole pieces is optimized for the particular application. I think this is what gives 490R and 496R at the neck ("Rhythm"), and 490T, 498T, 500T and Dirty Fingers at the bridge ("Treble") position the dense and smooth tone. When bending strings, the tone becomes more edgy as I found out by trying.

 

Interestingly though, the 496R/498T setup in my Gibson Alex Lifeson Les Paul Axcess meets the Fender spacing basically inherent with Floyd Rose systems much better than the Fender Vintage Noiseless and N3 Noiseless of my modded Fender Stratocasters. They obviously are not F spaced despite of being offered by the original instrument manufacturer. The effect becomes extreme for these types bridge pickups due to the slanted mounting. In contrary, the Bill Lawrence designed Fender SCN (Samarium Cobalt Noiseless) pickups provide three different spacings exactly matching their mounting positions including slanting. These differences make for basically the same change in tone, but even more obvious differences than with the differently spaced Gibson pickups: The SCNs give a round, clear and full tone of all strings in all positions while the disaligned ones put out a sparkling, brittle tone of the outer strings which increases with decreased space between strings and pickups.