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Pickups for Epi Les Paul Standard???


BlueLesPaul2006

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I'm thinking of changing the humbuckers on my Les Paul standard. I was hoping to get some ideas from people that have changed their pickups. I really don't care what brand the pickups are' date=' I just want to know what they thought about their pickup change. [/size']

 

Interesting question...so many options, and only one guitar.

 

I also have a LP Standard, and against my better judgment....I've been toying with the idea of putting different pups in that guitar. (Currently I have a set of stock gold Epi's in the thing.) Biggest reason? I think they sound great clean, and with a bit of crunch, but when playing with full crunch (particularly in the bridge position) I can't pick up harmonics as easily as I can with my Epi LP Custom or my Gibson LP Studio with has the 490/498 pickups in it. (As for riding crunch? Well, I don't use THAT much crunch, but every once in a while...absolutely!)

 

As a disclaimer, because of the color scheme (and yes, this is very superficial and shallow, but eh, might as well get this out of the way) I'd rather have pickups that had chrome or gold covers....so....

 

1. Option 1: Get EMG's or the new Seymour Duncan Blackouts for my LP Custom....and move the Gibson pickups in that guitar (Burstbucker Pro Alcino V) to the Les Paul Standard. The Alcino V's are very bright, and very punchy...they work very well in the solid mahogany LP Custom which I thought sounded very dark until I got those pups in. I'm fine with 'em in there, but the Standard is going to get the second hand hardware....that's the way it is.

 

2. Option 2: Get a new bridge pickup for the LP standard only. The neck position sounds great...and it may just be a question of saving money, forgoing the whole kit for active electronics, and getting some humbucker with an Alcino 2 pickup, which should deliver a nice, warm tone and still give the bite I want when playing dirty. (Or, I could even entertain an Angus Young pup).

 

3. Option 3: Get a set of Tony Iommis, and upgrade the pots to 1 meg in the custom,,,,and move the pickups back to the standard. Those pickups, despite not being electronic, have a nasty reputation...especially with 1 meg pots. No matter how much distortion you put on those...they'll handle it. In fact, the more distortion you apply? The better they sound. I don't know if there's an overload point like there is with so many other pickups that Gibson (or a fascimile of Gibson) makes in terms of passive electronic pickups. But, these aren't cheap at all....in fact, I still get GAS for a G-400 Iommi Signature just for these pickups alone. Ah well....

 

4. Option 4: Go "Standard" with the Standard, ie, a 490/498 series, just like in my real Gibson, or a set of P-90's, which should deliver that patented Goldtop sound which is great for rhythm guitar and slightly crunchy tones.

 

5. Option 5: Put a 1 meg pot on the bridge pickup for 10 bucks, accept it as the dirty pickup, and get on with my life. On the downside I'll lose even more control over the volume, but it's definitely the poor man's answer to get a bit of extra bite out of that bridge pickup.

 

Right now, since I haven't made up my mind, I just sort of shuffle this in my head, and thank the Lord above most of these pickups aren't in stock with the exception of the EMG's. I wouldn't even mind trying out the EpiActive pickups, but one of the problems I've seen with Epiphone....they don't stock a lot of spare parts in major retailer chains, so whatever is ordered has to be done online. I hope that changes in the future....

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I agree with you The_Sentry. So many choices and only one guitar. I am toying with the idea of a nice set of Gibson pickups maybe a 490R and a 498T, or maybe the Burstbucker's. Im not sure. I just want something that sounds good. I guess its more of a vanity since the stock pickups that came in it sound great.

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I agree with you The_Sentry. So many choices and only one guitar. I am toying with the idea of a nice set of Gibson pickups maybe a 490R and a 498T' date=' or maybe the Burstbucker's. Im not sure. I just want something that sounds good. I guess its more of a vanity since the stock pickups that came in it sound great. [/quote']

 

The thing about the 490/498 pickups...they are better....but I don't believe they're that much better than the stock pickups that come with the Epiphones. Granted, they sound awesome in the Gibson...but I suspect a lot of that has to do with the construction of the guitar vs. the pickups.

 

If I was going down that route with an Epiphone, I'd check out the Burstbuckers with the Alcino 2's first before looking at the stock humbuckers....

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I'm thinking of changing the humbuckers on my Les Paul standard. I was hoping to get some ideas from people that have changed their pickups. I really don't care what brand the pickups are' date=' I just want to know what they thought about their pickup change. [/size']

 

I have recently fitted SDs JB Bridge & Jazz Neck. Worth every penny!

 

Link to usefull SD tone comparison

 

http://www.seymourduncan.com/comparetones

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I changed out the bridge pup in my LP Classic because the original was too hot. I replaced it with a cheap Tonerider Rocksong. Much better, less hot, clearer etc. I left the neck pup stock cause I dont really use it. The SD JB/Jazz combo is a popular choice also. I have this set in a non-epi guitar and they rock :-({|=/

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I agree with The_Sentry: stock Epi pups are really pretty good, though possibly not THE best for all situations. I recently covered mine (I have an '06 Classic LP) and I am amazed at the difference it makes. Not quite as hot but more controllable "crunch". And the look, well, after installing the pickguard and the pup covers I'm very happy.

 

Back to the pups, again The_Sentry has a good point with the Burstbuckers (1 & 2). I've tried them out with a Gibby '58 LP VOS and I absolutely LOVED the sound. It may have a little (or a lot) to do with the build of the Gibby but if I were to change pups I would definitely put in the BBs.

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I put DiMarzio Virtual PAFs in my LP and they sound great to my ears. Plus they look cool.

 

Not the best picture, but you get the idea:

 

paul%20standard.jpg

 

Incidentally, I also replaced the pickup selector and all pots with Gibson parts. Through an amp this guitar sounds great, and compares very favorably with my Elitist LPs.

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I disagree on the 490/498 set being "close" too the Epi sets.

When I bought my Epi LP Custom I specifically purchased the 490/498 set too try and closely replicate what the Gibson LP Custom sonically was giving.

I was very pleased at the results and it was like Night and Day honestly.

I since have moved on too the Duncan Custom Custom/APII set and the Guitar sounds simply Brillant.

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I disagree on the 490/498 set being "close" too the Epi sets.

When I bought my Epi LP Custom I specifically purchased the 490/498 set too try and closely replicate what the Gibson LP Custom sonically was giving.

I was very pleased at the results and it was like Night and Day honestly.

I since have moved on too the Duncan Custom Custom/APII set and the Guitar sounds simply Brillant.

 

Eh, if you look at the outputs....there's not that much of a difference.

 

(Besides, if the Duncans sound better in that guitar....anyways...)

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what are you going for?

metal jazz hard rock blues..

you can lean those pups to or away from all of those genres. and more.

 

another thing to consider is wiring.. once you've decided on tone and output.. well.. look up jimmy pages wiring sometime on the web.. very interesting!

 

pot values .. cap values... switches.. push/pull pot switches.. all can fit nicely and look dead stock on the outside but give you big changes in tone.

 

you can get humbucks with two, or four conductors.. for single coil or series/parallel wiring..

you can get a humbuck size p90.. vintage or hot output.. I prefer the p90 in the neck pos of my lp and my sheraton..

sheraton has both humbuck size p90s..

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what are you going for?

metal jazz hard rock blues..

you can lean those pups to or away from all of those genres. and more.

 

another thing to consider is wiring.. once you've decided on tone and output.. well.. look up jimmy pages wiring sometime on the web.. very interesting!

 

pot values .. cap values... switches.. push/pull pot switches.. all can fit nicely and look dead stock on the outside but give you big changes in tone.

 

you can get humbucks with two' date=' or four conductors.. for single coil or series/parallel wiring..

you can get a humbuck size p90.. vintage or hot output.. I prefer the p90 in the neck pos of my lp and my sheraton..

sheraton has both humbuck size p90s..

 

[/quote']

 

Well I like that classic Les Paul sound. I play all types of music from hard rock/and classic rock to, a clean jazzy sound. I would like the neck pickup to give me that nice warm and round sound. I want the bridge pickup to be able to take a screaming lead with no problem, however i don't want the sound to be to harsh when i play with both pickups on at the same time. I guess you could say that if im going to go for a sound it would be a Lynyrd Skynyrd sound. They have nice warm tones and screaming leads. I know that there are two guitars playing but I can not play two guitars at one time or i would be rich. haha

 

Im thinking of doing a set up like the Gibson Les Paul GT

 

Has anyone on here split their coils? I'm not sure if its worth the money

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Hey I have been looking on youtube and found a company in the UK named Bare Knuckles. Has anyone used these pickups? If so how do they rate with Gibson or SD pups? They are more expensive but they sound pretty good. I just wouldn't want to buy them from over seas and not like them. So let me know. http://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/

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  • 1 year later...
I agree with you The_Sentry. So many choices and only one guitar. I am toying with the idea of a nice set of Gibson pickups maybe a 490R and a 498T' date=' or maybe the Burstbucker's. Im not sure. I just want something that sounds good. I guess its more of a vanity since the stock pickups that came in it sound great. [/quote']

 

Hey BlueLes,

 

How is the Hot Rodded set working for you? What kind of capacitors do you have in your LP with the Hot Rodded set? I have the same set, but have been thinking about going for a crunchier sound. I wonder if that could be done with the Hot Rodded set?

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i just picked up a 2002 korean made epi les paul custom - black!. it was completely stock when i got it ... gold hardware, epi pick ups etc.

 

it now has all chrome gibson hardware & pick ups from a 95 gibson les paul.

 

the difference in sound is amazing.

 

epi pick-ups are fine, but i'd highly recommend upgrading to gibson pick-ups.

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