Seymour Duncan Greenie pickups

[Darksoul24]

Anybody ever tried/tested them on a USA Sunburst? If so, did it make a huge difference?

[RobB]

I’ve not tried the SD Greenies, but I did install a pair of WBs in my Les Paul. Most commercially available h/bs with the “PG mod” sound very similar, and each maker claims to have “the secret” the the Peter Green tone.

There is no real trick to the PG pickup sound. You just take the neck pickup magnet, flip it over and 180-it. This puts the two pickups magnetically out of phase with each other. Early Hamers tried to ape this sound by wiring the pickups OOP electronically. There IS a difference between the two methods, and I prefer the magnet-flip version myself.

There are a lot of sounds to be had with PG p/us by fiddling with the knobs. That said, the sometimes nasal-y sound is not for everyone. I think Hamer’s OOP sound is more akin to a strat/tele than the PG version.

[django49]

^^^^

Agreed. I have a Newport Pro with WCR Green/Moore pups installed. As best I know they are essentially the same thing as their Crossroads set, just with the "flip".

As I think of it, the Newport is not really the best platform......With a single volume and tone, you cannot really dig into the "mix" as much as you could on a Les Paul or even a more typical Hamer with 2 volumes. Still, I DO like those pups a bit better than the stock Seth Lovers.

As above (multiple variations, fiddling with the knobs), I suspect the Duncan versions (custom shop) are in the same ballpark as the other "PAF" types. Being custom shop, they are probably not a whole lot less expensive than some of the "boutique" variations.

[RobB]

As above (multiple variations, fiddling with the knobs), I suspect the Duncan versions (custom shop) are in the same ballpark as the other "PAF" types. Being custom shop, they are probably not a whole lot less expensive than some of the "boutique" variations.

I think one could get away with taking any good set of PAFs (SD, Dimarzio, Fralin, etc...) and flipping the magnet. No reason to spend $300+ for a “custom” set. A pair of SD Seths or ‘59s Or Dimarzio 36th Annivs would work great

At last count, Fralin, WCR, Duncan, ThrowBak, CV Guitars, Bare Knuckles all offer their own version of the “Greeny” set. Beaucoup bucks...

[Darksoul24]

Thanks for the response!

My guitar has the 'out of phase' wiring as a standard, but I always wonder if flipping the magnet makes a real difference. Being non-technical I have no clue if it does. Taking the original h/b's apart is not an option for me, i like to keep them as original as possible.

Think I will go for a set of '59, have the magnet flipped and see what happens.

[Disturber]

Anybody ever tried/tested them on a USA Sunburst? If so, did it make a huge difference?

A pair of Duncans that sound better than a pair of original Dimarzio Hamer PAF's. Don't think so... Might be a huge difference, but it would be for the worse I'd say.

Jol had Greenie/Peter Green in mind when he designed the pickup configuration for the Sunburst guitars. That is why the Sunbursts originally comes with the pickups wired out of phase. The OEM Hamer DImarzio paf's from the late 70's early 80's were the original "Greenie" humbucker set. Lolz. They are my favourite paf's. Hard to beat those old Dimarzio's for vintage tone. With the right amp, an old Hamer Sunburst and the right playing skills you'd be hard to beat for Greanie tone.

And for the record, the old Sunburst's don't have the magnet flipped. They have the lead/ground wires flipped on one of the pups. I think Jol had a chance to check out Greenie for real at one time too, so he should have gotten the real recepie right.