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54 reissue


bbbeardsley

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Guest Farnsbarns

I know very little of after market pickups so I can't help but I can tell you that even the peops who know stuff will need you to say what you're looking to achieve to offer you advice. What sound are you going for, what amp, do you play mostly clean? What is it about the existing pickup you don't like.

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I know very little of after market pickups so I can't help but I can tell you that even the peops who know stuff will need you to say what you're looking to achieve to offer you advice. What sound are you going for, what amp, do you play mostly clean? What is it about the existing pickup you don't like.

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Good point what I don't like is the neck pickup is very shrilly like a really bad sounding strat. It may be some thing wrong with the tone pot when I turn it down it seems to cut the volume more than any thing else. Might be some thing wrong with the wiring or the pickup it self. My tech is a way for the weekend so I'll have him check it out when he gets back. I mainly play blues, blues based rock and smooth jazz. Being it's 54 reissue I'm thinking pickups that would be as closed to original 54's as possible. As far as amps I have the fractal Axe-Fx II so I have 157 amps to choose from. In case the pickup is just not doing it for me I'd be open to and would greatly appreciate any suggestion here thanks

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  • 3 weeks later...

Good point what I don't like is the neck pickup is very shrilly like a really bad sounding strat. It may be some thing wrong with the tone pot when I turn it down it seems to cut the volume more than any thing else. Might be some thing wrong with the wiring or the pickup it self. My tech is a way for the weekend so I'll have him check it out when he gets back. I mainly play blues, blues based rock and smooth jazz. Being it's 54 reissue I'm thinking pickups that would be as closed to original 54's as possible. As far as amps I have the fractal Axe-Fx II so I have 157 amps to choose from. In case the pickup is just not doing it for me I'd be open to and would greatly appreciate any suggestion here thanks

I wonder how this turned out? I have played some R4's and R6's in shops and those P-90's were creamy smooth. Sort of like a vintage single coil Strat but with a little more hair on it. You may just have a bad pickup/ wiring. I had an LP with a bad PU once and it eventually quit altogether. I replaced it with the original.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I hope you have had someone check that guitar for electrical problems - the staple P90 pickup used on these guitars have a reputation as one of Gibson's better efforts - they really sound great, at least mine does, and shrill is the last word I would use to describe it...I'd have someone check the wiring, etc, before changing anything on that guitar.

 

 

mark

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  • 1 month later...

I hope you have had someone check that guitar for electrical problems - the staple P90 pickup used on these guitars have a reputation as one of Gibson's better efforts - they really sound great, at least mine does, and shrill is the last word I would use to describe it...I'd have someone check the wiring, etc, before changing anything on that guitar.

 

 

mark

 

Right, but the neck pick up on the 54's are not P90's, they are the Charlie Christian pick ups. I wonder how the sound differs between the two types of pickups?

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I have never owned one of these but I have played a Super 400 with the orig. pickups and one of these re-issue 54 Les Pauls and I didn't find them shrill. I have heard they are sensitive to pick up pole adjustments, you might try this. I always wished I had bought the used Les Paul I saw in the store.

Thanks John

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Right, but the neck pick up on the 54's are not P90's, they are the Charlie Christian pick ups. I wonder how the sound differs between the two types of pickups?

 

The neck pickup in a 54 reissue from the Custom Shop is a P90 not a Charlie Christian.

Maybe it's an issue with a pot or the cap?

If you have to change it, I have heard good tones from a Lollar and Jason Lollar is great to work with.

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  • 1 month later...

The neck pickup is an Alnico V, also called a "staple" pickup because of the shape of the pole pieces...My '54 reissue looks like this...

 

DSCN1499_zpsa7cac2bb.jpg

 

They are VERY highly regarded pickups - Gibson used them only on their high end guitars of that era, and replacement single pups cost around $250.

This beautiful, rich, creamy tone of this pickup is generally THE reason people buy the '54 re-issues, and personally, I recommend you take it to a good guitar tech and have him run the circuits. You may have an electrical fault.

 

I would NOT recommend replacing the pickup...sell the guitar and get something else that sounds like what you want.

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