Jump to content
Gibson Brands Forums

Les paul pickups


Guitarpro

Recommended Posts

I want to find some pickups that realy sing on a les paul guitar. I want the neck pickups to be like velvet and the brigde pickups to be a good combo with the neck. Ive considered the 57 classic and 57 classic plus because i like the sound but what do the experts think? Im not a hard rock player please dont recomend some screamo pickups that wen played you cant hear the individual notes. im realy in the need for quality clarity pickups. please help me. anything will help.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I aint no expert, but these are the pups which I have tried and do NOT like:

Gibson Burstbuckers, too nasal, lack of bite.

Gibson Dirtyfingers, too mushy, boomy.

EMG,s 89, Absolutely horrible! Fake bodyless tone.

Lace, cant remember the model, lack of body.

Seymour Duncan Livewires, good for metal, not good for rock n blues.

 

For my Les Paul these were perfect http://www.skatterbrane.com/

They are expensive, but hand made, kick *** bluesy tone.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've tried just about every Gibson pickup, and for me it's the Tim Shaw era pups. Great warm sound, and can get nasty / crunchy when necessary.

 

I'm not a big fan of the newer Gibson pups.... just a bit too much output for me. In my sig is a vid of my 80 LPC that have Tim Shaw era pups, and the neck pup sings pretty warm.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

You called it I had a 57 in the neck of my 69 LP and it had what they call that woman tone,tons of sustain and would just sound deep and crying with the tone rolled down.I had another 57 in the bridge and it sounded great but I always wanted a 57 plus just to get a bit more power a heavier rock tone but yes you chose the right pickups.For what you are looking for make sure you stay with the alnico magnets and not the ceramics.The ceramics are a more heavy rock all out sound.Good luck.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

O.K., you have a Les Paul, and usually prefer a clean sound. I agree with the others who like the '57 classics. They are probably the best option for you. You could go with a classic for the neck and a classic plus in the bridge. Or a classic in the neck and a Gibson burstbucker in the bridge; there are (I think) three versions of burstbuckers. And yes, stay away from ceramic pickups for your style. There are alnico II and alnico V magnets, and are different in tone. I gotta say, I've been playing for over 34 years, and recently retired at age 47. During this time I didn't study much in regards to my equipment choices beyond what I needed to know. Now that I have the time, I am and I do. And I recommend that you study pickups in depth, as they are facinating. Bad pick-ups suck. P.A.F.s are interesting pick-ups, but study why they sound the way they do. Explore Lollar or Lollor pick-ups; they are hand made and are reasonably priced; however, he 'underwinds' them, so they produce much less output, which in therory helps them derive more 'tone' from the guitar itself, and this is an option for you to explore. But you can't go wrong with Gibson's '57 classics and '57 classic plus pick-ups. I currently own more guitars than I can count ( on purpose), they all sound different, of course, but when I want the best tone both tube saturated or super sweet and clean, I use my Les Paul Traditional Plus with the '57s. Hope this helps.[thumbup]eusa_pray.gif](*,)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 months later...
  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...

The only problem with Gibson '57's is that you can't pull off all the fancy wiring, like coil split or reverse polarity setups. For Humbuckers that sound like the 57's but have the same tonal qualities take a look at the Seymour Duncan '59 humbuckers or the Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates humbuckers. Both these pickups have short sound bites, all run off of the same guitar and amp.

 

If your not looking for crazy setups, then just stick with the '57's, otherwise I would look into Seymour's line up, they have sound bites for almost all of their pickups/humbuckers in all their positions, and in their clean and dirty sounds.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...
  • 1 month later...
  • 1 year later...

I aint no expert, but these are the pups which I have tried and do NOT like:

Gibson Burstbuckers, too nasal, lack of bite.

Gibson Dirtyfingers, too mushy, boomy.

EMG,s 89, Absolutely horrible! Fake bodyless tone.

Lace, cant remember the model, lack of body.

Seymour Duncan Livewires, good for metal, not good for rock n blues.

 

For my Les Paul these were perfect http://www.skatterbrane.com/

They are expensive, but hand made, kick *** bluesy tone.

 

I have a new site now: www.skatterbranepickups.com I hope you like it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 10 months later...

Stayed stock with mine. There are several Classic '57s, some Classic '57 Pluses, Burstbuckers Pro neck & bridge, Burstbuckers 1 & 2, 496R & 498T - and there might be still some more fine ones like 490R/498T which came stock on some of my other Gibsons.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not an expert by along shot either but IMO I don't think you could go wrong with the 57 classics

there definitely every thing you mention your looking for ...

That!

 

 

 

 

I'm also exceptionally fond of the 490R in the neck pup and if you want to add some bite on the bridge pickup go with a 498T.

 

The 490 is AlNiCo 2 and the 498 is AlNiCo 5 if it makes a difference to you. They are a very good combination in the Les Paul!

 

I do like my Burstbucker 1 & 2 in my '04 LP Standard LE too...

 

I'm also quite fond of the Minibuckers in my Y2K LP Deluxe LE reissue...

 

This chart can be quite helpful:

782216GibsonChart.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...