Seymour Duncan Little ‘59 for Tele ST59-1b

From the manufacturer:

"application

P.A.F.-voiced single-coil-sized humbucker. Great for country, jazz, blues, funk, classic rock and heavy rock.

description
This lead pickup is a hybrid. Designed for the Telecaster® player who wants to rock, this little beast delivers a warm, smooth tone, reminiscent of an old '59 Patent Applied For humbucker mixed together with a healthy dose of beefed up twang. Comes in black only with four-conductor cable.

complete setup
Available in lead (bridge) position only. Matches up well with a Vintage Rhythm Stack® for a totally quiet rig; or with a Hot Rhythm for an all-around hot axe.

guitars
For all well-balanced instruments. Works equally well with maple and rosewood fingerboards.

players
Jake Kelly / Gary Allan, Greg Bergdorf / Zebrahead, Lyle Workman, Victor Johnson / Sammy Hagar & Soul Finger, Gilby Clarke / Guns 'N Roses & Heart, Kenny Olson / Kid Rock "

Best videos/sound-clips:

I like this one because it illustrates the sound of the ST59-1b in both coil-tapped and full humbucker modes, and contrasts this pickup to the stock Fender pickup. The guitar is a Fender Vintage Hod Rod '52 Telecaster. We hear the stock pickup from 0:00 to 1:35, and from 1:35 to 2:16 we hear the ST59-1b coil-tapped, so it's in single coil mode. Sounds as good as the stock pickup IMHO. Then from 2:16 to the end, we hear the ST59-1b in all its full humbucker glory. I really like both the lead and rhythm sounds he achieves. Check out the liquidy goodness from 4:10 to 4:20. Nice stuff.

This video provides a nice contrast to the majority of the other videos that feature the ST59-1b, because it focuses exclusively on the pickup's ability to sound great in a clean setting. The ST59-1b in this case is in a parts caster being played through a Reissue Fender Princeton Reverb amplifier. We hear the pickup from 0:00 to 0:23 as a bit of an intro before he stops playing to explain what he's hoping to showcase in this video. He plays a bit of a Rush riff from 2:05 to 2:12 and then he lets us hear the ST59-1b combined with the neck pickup (in this case the Seymour Duncan SM-1 Mini Humbucker) from 2:59 to 3:08, playing predominantly rhythm. Still keeping the pickup selector in the middle position, he plays some single note leads at 3:14. At 4:50, he plays some Credence, and at 5:13 he plays some surf-style stuff. From 6:17 to the end of the video, he plays some clean blues on the ST59-1b. Again, a nice counterpoint to the many rock and distortion oriented ST59-1b videos.

This video has some nice looping with the ST59-1b. After some nice clean playing that sets up the loop, he plays some distorted leads on the neck pickup, in this case the Seymour Duncan STR-1. At 0:52, we hear the ST59-1b combined with the STR-1, playing a distorted lead. He switches to the ST59-1b alone at 1:19, playing some more tasty and distorted leads. He introduces a new power chord figure to the loop at 1:31, still playing only with the ST59-1b. He uses the pickups combined to play some more crazy distorted leads at 1:48, followed by some more shredding with the bridge pickup alone. He blisters our faces at 2:52 in the middle position, before going completely nuts at 3:05 on the lone ST59-1b. The video ends with a return to the clean loop form the beginning, with some tasteful octaves played with the pickup selector in the middle. Great illustration of the versatility of the ST59-1b!

This is a quick one that just puts the ST59-1b in the spotlight. The pickup is in a Fender Mexican Tele being played through a BlackStar Stage 50. Really great distorted sounds. Tons of sustain and rich with harmonic content. I love the lead tone at 0:10.

Here's one that has the ST59-1b in another Mexican made Fender Telecaster, this time being played through a Headstrong Lil' King Reverb amplifier.  He starts playing the bridge pickup at 1:18. The ST59-1b has tons of midrange, way darker than a traditional Tele pickup. We hear the ST59-1b next combined with the neck pickup, in this case the Seymour Duncan STK-T1n Vintage Stack Tele pickup, at 1:53. At 3:32, we hear the ST59-1b by itself with a kind of clean Country lead sound, and at 4:37 the gloves come off and we hear the ST59-1b with some distortion and delay. I think this is where the pickup really shines. He gets a very "Eric Johnson-esque" sound here. Very cool. After a brief neck pickup interlude for contrast, he plays a but more on the bridge pickup at 5:27. Then for the end of the video, we hear the ST59-1b clean playing some chords and single notes to end the demo.

Here's the ST59-1b in a Fender Esquire through a Mad Professor Sweet Honey overdrive into a Reinhart MI-6 amplifier. Great classic British crunch tone here. It starts with some great Rolling Stones-style rhythm, with great clarity and definition in the tone. At around 0:50, we hear the lead sound, with its nice mid bump and smooth highs. Great roots rock sound. Simple and direct.