Seymour Duncan 59 vs. 59 Custom Hybrid vs. Seth Lover vs. Bare Knuckle Old Guard vs Suhr Thornbucker

This is a shootout between five low/medium outpick bridge humbucker pickups. These are: Seymour Duncan SH-1 59 Model, SH-16 59 Custom Hybrid, SH-55 Seth Lover, Bare Knuckle Old Guard, Suhr Thornbucker (Pete Thorn Signature pickup)
Other gear used:
Solidbody Les Paul with mahogany body, mahogany neck & rosewood fretboard.
I only use quality electronics/cables by the likes of Allparts, Switchcraft and DiMarzio.
The strings are always fresh (D'Addario EXL145), pick is always the same brand.
Pickup distance is always the same: exactly 3mm from the top and bottom pole piece when pressing the strings down at the 12th fret.
Volume differences are a result of the pickups.
Guitar tuning is Drop C. There are no FX on these samples - no compression, no noise gate, no EQ etc. etc. - all of those would slightly change the characteristics of these pickups. I did however add a touch of reverb to give the sound a little bit of space to breath.
ALWAYS REMEMBER: Distortion is the great equalizer - the more gain you add, the smaller the sonic differences between these pickup become!
Please note: the songs aren't mixed or mastered and I didn't edit the samples to perfection - editing them in that detail would take far too much time! I hope you can still appreciate the effort ;-)
There are a LOT of different shootouts upcoming, so please subscribe and hit the notification bell! :-)

[@Markboat]

Pickups aside, I'm very impressed with the formatting of your video. Short sound samples for easy comparison, and specs right in front of me. Great job.

[@MadebyMiike]

Thanks mate!😃

[@ItAllFeelsRight]

Fantastic format for comparison and nice playing too. Thank you.

[@therealchich2]

Excellent comparisons! Thank you in helping me find the tone!

[@bluesauthority]

Great video! Every pickup video should be set up this way! Thnx!

[@JaimeNoro]

The 59/Custom Hybrid is one of my favourite bridge humbuckers for a Super Strat with a Floyd Rose.

[@vacuumelite2065]

This is superb. Your playing is mega consistent. They all sound tasty. 😊♥️😊

[@MadebyMiike]

Thanks mate!

[@MysticArchmage]

I like the SH-16 59 Custom Hybrid -- To me it sounds the best for everything other than crunch, with the SH-55 Seth Lover sounding a bit tighter with more clarity.

[@rsaathoff]

I'm thinking in an hss the 59 custom hybrid sounds like a good choice, especially wired to split in the #2 position

[@jkf9167]

59, Bare Knuckle and Suhr had the most direct, listenable sounds. 59 Custom/Hybrid sounded like there was some weirdness in the EQ. The lows and mids didn't sound as natural anymore. Seth Lover sounded a little like it wasn't projecting.

[@nafis6668]

i think the biggest advantage of custom hybrid is the louder split coil mode . might be useful in HSS configuration guitar , to balance with middle single coil loudness.

[@rodedawg77]

I have a hss with the custom/59 hybrid and Suhr ML single coils and it sounds fantastic. That Thornbucker sounds pretty darn good too though

[@nafis6668]

@@rodedawg77 im having thornbucker in my bridge position for HSS guitar. If u want more pick attack i highly recommend this pickup. Otherwise it sound very similar to the custom/59.
Thornbucker split side still can balance with my STK S1 in the middle. But i doubt it can balance well splited with hotter single coil.

[@scottrand4857]

@@nafis6668 I have a Strat with an hss setup and I have the new Thornbucker II in it. It has an alnico 2 magnet in it and sounds great. It splits very well with the Suhr ML single coil I have in the middle position. Great all round pickup. For me, the bridge gets me VH and the neck (Fender Texas Special) gets me SRV.
Miike....this format is really great. Keeping the soundclips short like you did and immediately switching to the next one was really helpful in hearing the nuances of each pickup.

[@HIGHHOPES]

RE...SPECT....STROLL.....ARE YOU WHISPERING TO ME??!

[@MadebyMiike]

Haha!

[@zafira976]

the Al2 pickups sound best on both, clean and distorted tones. They just have a lot more clarity and character. I liked the Seth Lover best and the BN is a close second. The Thornbucker lacked a bit in character and the AL5 pickups I just would consider at all as the attack is not soft enough...

[@Brad143]

Nice demo,Done subscribe

[@MadebyMiike]

Thanks Brad!

[@nafis6668]

Thornbucker has that balance between clarity, punch and articulation. No annoying pick attack, just musical.
That pickup has good signal to noise ratio. I didn't have to use noise gate for high gain with it.

[@nafis6668]

3:06 3:37

[@TVoltG]

After testing about 15 different pickups in 5 guitars. I have stayed with my 59's. Something about these pickups that just covers a lot of ground. Each guitar sounded different of course but the tone was always there.

[@therealchich2]

Same here after hearing all of these I'm stuck between 59s for fatter cleans and 59 hybrid for modern playing.

[@TVoltG]

@@therealchich2 I have to try the 59 Hybrid still. I have a couple of Custom Customs and an extra 59 laying around. I think I will make one tonight. Thanks

[@powdermnky007]

"stroll" lol

[@ipponn]

oldies but goodies= sh-1

[@snow15243]

2:56
3:07