Trewblue Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 Has anyone put a GFS HB in the bridge of an LP. I have a Studio and am looking to take it up a notch. Looking for a blues sound. the stock hb is a little dark. Been thinking of 1. '59 vintage 2. Alnico V Fat PAT Boutigue 3. Crunchy Pat High Output Humbucker Thanks Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magneezo Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 Has anyone put a GFS HB in the bridge of an LP. I have a Studio and am looking to take it up a notch. Looking for a blues sound. the stock hb is a little dark. Been thinking of 1. '59 vintage 2. Alnico V Fat PAT Boutigue 3. Crunchy Pat High Output Humbucker Thanks Dan Good choice here. I have some crunchy PATS in an SG. They took some tweaking to set up but once done they sound nice. A bit hot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fringe Lunatic Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 Hot/overwound pickups, like the Epi LP bridge pickup ("Alnico Classic Plus"), often tend to be a bit dark/muddy. So, it sounds like you may want to lean toward a "Standard" output (approx 8k), PAF-type humbucking pickup. The Seymour Duncan website has some useful sound samples that can be helpful comparing different types of pickups. When I was looking for pickups, I zeroed in on the Duncan Phat Cat, which is a single-coil P90-type pickup. With that in mind, I bought GFS Mean 90s. I have no other experience with GFS pickups, but I know they're quite popular, especially for the budget-minded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brad1 Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 I don't agree with Fringe. I put a set of Crunchy Pats in my blue Lp (the one in my avatar) and they sound terrific. Nothing dark about them at all. If anything, they are the opposite of dark and muddy. They are bright and articulate. I have my bridge pup coil split and love the variety of tones I can get out of it. I highly recommend them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fringe Lunatic Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 Brad, at least we can probably agree that almost anything is an improvement over the Epi HOTCH bridge pickups. Like I told the OP, I'm not familiar with GFS pickups other than Mean 90s, so it's good that you are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitmore Willy Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 Trew, I can help you eliminate (possibly) the vintage 59. Mind you, I have a set in my LP standard and they are good pickups. I like them. However, the bridge pickup does not sound that different to me than the stock HOTCH. It is clearer and more defined which is what I was after. Other than that it is (in my opinion ) simply an upgrade of the pickup that comes stock. Willy Edit: Maybe if you told us some of the players or songs that have the sound you are after. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wardog Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 i put the 59"s in the warhawk guitar (lp special II plus top) and was blown away by them. you will not be disappointed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supersonic Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 almost anything is an improvement over the Epi HOTCH bridge pickups I disagree. Even though it says it's the same pickup, I don't like how the one in my LP Standard sounds, but the one in my G-400 Deluxe sounds great. Maybe it's the wood or thickness of the guitars that causes the difference, I dunno, but they sound different. I plan on changing the one in the Les Paul and keeping the one in the SG. Anyway, there are WAY worse pickups out there than those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fringe Lunatic Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 I'm kinda sorry I weighed in on this particular thread topic. I should have reminded myself that there are simply too many variables, pickup-wise, guitar-wise and ear-wise to be able to give any useful advice. To the OP: It's a crap shoot. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcwillow777 Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 I have 59s in my Dot and Sherry and I love them. Not muddy at all. I found the bridge to be an upgrade from the stock pup too. Bright, but not overly so. Both are very well defined. I also put a set of GFS Classic II Alnico 2 Vintage Zebras in an AL-2000, an LP clone. Although I like them, they aren't quite as hot as the 59s. The 59s aren't hot by any stretch, but more so than the Classic 2s. I can get some bluesy tones out of both sets. When it's all said and done, tone is very subjective. What I like, you may not. That being said, a lot is gonna depend on the amp you are using. Sometimes guys wanna change pups when they should invest in a descent amp first. I don't know what you are using, but a $100 practice amp isn't gonna give great tone, just sayin'... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supersonic Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 I'm kinda sorry I weighed in on this particular thread topic. I should have reminded myself that there are simply too many variables, pickup-wise, guitar-wise and ear-wise to be able to give any useful advice. To the OP: It's a crap shoot. Good luck. I think your advice, as well as everyone else's, is useful. Not everyone agrees on everything. If they did, there would only be one set of pickups in the world. Hopefully the OP can take in to consideration what thoughts everyone has to offer and make a good decision in the long run. That's why this is a good forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trewblue Posted January 14, 2011 Author Share Posted January 14, 2011 Thanks for all the comments. Guess it's a matter of personal taste. I have a EH Knock-out pedal on my board. lots of possibilities. I can probably find the tone I'm looking for. didn't mean to stir everyone up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaSTuS Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 didn't mean to stir everyone up. Don't be worried about that, there's an element among us that delights in negative comments, ignore it and it'll hopefully go away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianh Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdoGVgj1MtY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gearhead Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 When it's all said and done, tone is very subjective. What I like, you may not. That being said, a lot is gonna depend on the amp you are using. Sometimes guys wanna change pups when they should invest in a descent amp first. I don't know what you are using, but a $100 practice amp isn't gonna give great tone, just sayin'... I totally agree with that! I've had MANY amps, (Fender, Marshall, Peavey, Carvin, Behringer, Pig Nose, etc) and they're all different! And my guitars (at that time all Gibson, 9 of them) sounded different through the different amps. A lot of the time it takes tweaking the amp for your different axes. I've got this Behringer GMX212 (comparable to a Line 6 analog modeling) and I LOVE it! So many different tones, cleans, distortions, effects, with just the press of a foot switch. But anyway, have you tried that particular guitar on a different amp setup? And what are you playing through? I think I would do that before I totally decided on a pup swap. Granted, the pup is gonna make a difference. Just my opinion! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hungrycat Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 Never had a GFS 'bucker. I have a set of GFS Strat pickups that sound pretty good, if that helps... EDIT: Don't however get the "BHM Switching Kit for Strat". They should rename that thing "Crap", because that's what it is. The actual pickups are great though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trewblue Posted January 15, 2011 Author Share Posted January 15, 2011 Been using th EH Knock-Out eq. probably the most useful pedal on the board. gives the stock LP pu's some real nice sparkle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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