GFS pickups and Les Paul Studio

[Berserker]

Hi everyone,

 

I've visited here for the last few years but this is the first post. You all put me on to the GFS pickups and despite the sinking aussie dollar I was thinking of doing a pick up upgrade. My questions are:

 

1:for those of you with Les Pauls and GFS pickups, which pickups did you choose and why?

 

and 2: I play purely for the enjoyment, through a 15watt Hughes and Kettner solid state - would there be any benefit in me upgrading my pick ups?

 

Any advice appreciated,

 

cheers

 

Berserker

[tulsaslim]

I've upgraded two different LP Studios with GFS pickups. The first was installed with 'antique boutique' Fat Pats and the 2nd with Mean 90s. Both were a considerable improvement over the stock Epi pickups.

 

The 'antique boutique' pickups are very warm and work very well for classic rock & blues. The Mean 90s give me a P-90 sound but are not extremely bright or nearly as ballsy as my Phat Cats.

[MelodyMaker1]

I've upgraded my standard with SD 59's, and I play for personal enjoyment also, but since I am a newbie, the only enjoyment in the house received is mine. But, I am just now getting to the point where I can tell the difference in the sound. My wife says that one sounds just as bad as the other in my hands. I should have done as others on this forum have suggested elsewhere. And that is to learn what your sound is first, and then adjust accordingly. My 2 cents....

[Ron G]

My Dot Studio came with the same pickups most Epi LP's come with (HOTCH at the bridge position). What I didn't like about them was that they sounded very muddy. Being that I wanted a clean, "classic" sound, and that I had two P90-loaded Gibsons in the 60s, I went for GFS Mean 90s. I have a nothing-special Hartke hybrid amp but the improvement was quite obvious. I suspect that if you play with a lot of gain, the difference will be less dramatic.

YMMV

[jcwillow777]

I put some GFS Vintage 59s in one of my G-400s. It came with the same pickups as an LP as Ron mentioned. I too felt that the neck pickup was too muddy and that the bridge pickup was just too bright for my taste. I wanted a more classic rock type of sound and I have been very pleased with the outcome. I also split the coils to get a single coil sound as well. Definitely a very good bang for your buck.

[FrankS1281734010]

putting a GFS vintage 59 in the bridge of my LP was one of the best decisions i ever made. tons more clarity and brightness.

[ButchCassidy]

I put some GFS mean 90's in my Dot. The original idea was to have something different sounding from the humbuckers, and everyone suggested I go with the mean 90's.

 

The mean 90's are single coil, and do sound quite good and different, achieving my goal. Eventually, when i get a cam, I want to make a video for people showing the difference between hum's and single coils, and let them hear to make a decision. I love the sound of the single coils, but they are hard to overdrive, unless that amp is cranked.