Simonphilipps Posted August 25, 2008 Posted August 25, 2008 Hi guys, I'm the Italian....Gibson Italy is getting boring. I need help: I bought a les paul a week ago (std desert burst) and I'd love to change the bridge pick up with one without cover (Page style) what would you suggest? A pearly gates? A seth lover? Just to take away the cover of the PAF '57 or something else? Thank you in advance. By the way...I love rock n' roll and blues.
NeoConMan Posted August 25, 2008 Posted August 25, 2008 Pull the cover off the one you have. See what that does for the tone, and if it gives you the cosmetic appeal you seek.
elessar820 Posted August 25, 2008 Posted August 25, 2008 If you're interested in Duncans look into the Screamin' Demon. It's a little hotter than the Pearly Gates (8.35) and Seth Lover (8.1K) coming in an 10k, but it's very versatile and clear with some drive or full on distortion. It's one of my favorite pickups. I was going to put one in my BFG but I like having different pickups in all my guitars.
RichCI Posted August 25, 2008 Posted August 25, 2008 If you like the sound of the one that's already in the guitar, try taking the cover off of it. There will be a slight change in tone, nothing dramatic, just a small shift in the higher frequencies. The only time I advocate swapping pickups is if there is something in the sound of what you have already that you don't like and you know specifically what changes you want.
elessar820 Posted August 25, 2008 Posted August 25, 2008 I went against my own rule and put a Screamin Demon in my BFG, the tone is awesome.
RichCI Posted August 25, 2008 Posted August 25, 2008 Anyone consider asking him what sort of tone he's going for or if he's even looking for a change? Just sayin'...
Les Paul Fanatic Posted August 25, 2008 Posted August 25, 2008 Anyone consider asking him what sort of tone he's going for or if he's even looking for a change? Just sayin'... Uh read posts two and three
RichCI Posted August 25, 2008 Posted August 25, 2008 Uh, why should he put a Seymour Duncan Super Distortion in his guitar?
Old Deadhead Posted August 25, 2008 Posted August 25, 2008 Uh' date=' [i']why[/i] should he put a Seymour Duncan Super Distortion in his guitar? Go Rich Go Why does it seem everybody buys a guitar and they start wanting to change pup's and or tuners right off the bat. If you don't like whats in there, why the fxck did you buy it?
surfpup Posted August 25, 2008 Posted August 25, 2008 It seems from the original post that the reason from the change was as much cosmetic as anything. Perhaps, since some members have discussed their difficulties in removing pickup covers, Simon figured it might be easier to swap in an uncovered one (especially if there were also a benefit in sound). Are you unhappy with the sound, Simon, or only the appearance of the covered pup in question? What sort of sound are you hunting? That would help us help you.
Simonphilipps Posted August 25, 2008 Author Posted August 25, 2008 Thank you surfpup for your question and sorry guys if it took me so long to answer. Let's say it's more a cosmetic reason, and of course if it helps me to find a brighter and better sound I'd be happy. As I said I'm hunting for a rocky and bluesy sound; I often cover Zeppelin, AC/DC, various others, and some original songs I wrote with my band. Our will for the future is to continue making originals and putting them down on CD but we'd continue making covers in our gigs... For AC/DC no problem, I've got the SG, for the various I've got a strat that can help (Hendrix, Deep Purple etc..), of course Les Paul for Led Zeppelin. The uncovered pup I'm seeking would help to emulate Page's look that I love, but would it help to get closer to his sound aswell? Of course I know that his n.1 guitar is something different: original 1959 with splittable pups is something difficult to reach, but my question is what pick ups are best to get at least near to that Zep kind of sound? Not too distort and not too soft! Asking too much? Thank you guys!
elessar820 Posted August 25, 2008 Posted August 25, 2008 Why does it seem everybody buys a guitar and they start wanting to change pup's and or tuners right off the bat. If you don't like whats in there' date=' why the fxck did you buy it?[/quote'] Good point, but pickup swaps and changing hardware is the closest some people can get to a custom guitar. I'm as guilty as anyone.
Simonphilipps Posted August 25, 2008 Author Posted August 25, 2008 It seems from the original post that the reason from the change was as much cosmetic as anything. Perhaps' date=' since some members have discussed their difficulties in removing pickup covers, Simon figured it might be easier to swap in an uncovered one (especially if there were also a benefit in sound). Are you unhappy with the sound, Simon, or only the appearance of the covered pup in question? What sort of sound are you hunting? That would help us help you.[/quote'] Thank you surfpup for your question and sorry guys if it took me so long to answer. Let's say it's more a cosmetic reason, and of course if it helps me to find a brighter and better sound I'd be happy. As I said I'm hunting for a rocky and bluesy sound; I often cover Zeppelin, AC/DC, various others, and some original songs I wrote with my band. Our will for the future is to continue making originals and putting them down on CD but we'd continue making covers in our gigs... For AC/DC no problem, I've got the SG, for the various I've got a strat that can help (Hendrix, Deep Purple etc..), of course Les Paul for Led Zeppelin. The uncovered pup I'm seeking would help to emulate Page's look that I love, but would it help to get closer to his sound aswell? Of course I know that his n.1 guitar is something different: original 1959 with splittable pups is something difficult to reach, but my question is what pick ups are best to get at least near to that Zep kind of sound? Not too distort and not too soft! Asking too much? Thank you guys! P.s. What they told me is that it's not too difficult to remove the cover. Just have to melt the (...) what's the name? Well that material that keeps the pup and the cover together!....Sorry for my poor English, I'm loosing it : (
Simonphilipps Posted August 25, 2008 Author Posted August 25, 2008 Good point' date=' but pickup swaps and changing hardware is the closest some people can get to a custom guitar. I'm as guilty as anyone.[/quote'] Well I don't find anything wrong, it's like buying a car or anything else you like and changing some piece or little detail to make it personal... And anyway I don't think you can find an original Les Paul std with an uncovered bridge pick up and a covered neck one. Less the Page signature but haven't got the money for that one now...so....
elessar820 Posted August 25, 2008 Posted August 25, 2008 Guilty is definitely the wrong word. I like what I've done with my guitars. They're better than they were when I bought them.
UnGauGeD Posted August 26, 2008 Posted August 26, 2008 I think you should just take out your pup cover.... If you like the sound then leave it there. Since you love old school rock, I think a Screaming Demon or Super Distortion would be an overkill.
Simonphilipps Posted August 26, 2008 Author Posted August 26, 2008 I think you should just take out your pup cover.... If you like the sound then leave it there. Since you love old school rock' date=' I think a Screaming Demon or Super Distortion would be an overkill. [/quote'] Screaming demon? Super distort? Isn't that too much? Those names make me think of sepoltura or megadeath, not classical old school rock! Remember I've got an Angus Young signature for the angry and dirty work!
RichCI Posted August 26, 2008 Posted August 26, 2008 Since you like the sound of the pickup you have in there already, I'd stick with it and just remove the cover. There's no point in chasing something you're not looking for. The Screaming Demon's name is a bit misleading; it's actually not a high output pickup.
RichCI Posted August 26, 2008 Posted August 26, 2008 Go Rich Go Why does it seem everybody buys a guitar and they start wanting to change pup's and or tuners right off the bat. If you don't like whats in there' date=' why the fxck did you buy it?[/quote'] While I agree with what you're saying, what I was really trying to point out is that often people suggest gear without even finding out what sort of tone the original poster is looking for, or even if he is looking for something different. I see it all the time in guitar boards and groups when it comes to pickups, amps, pedals, etc. People just throw suggestions out there without any basis in anything; they just state what they have and use without considering whether it works for the other person or not - just because a Marshall works for one person doesn't mean it works for everyone, particularly if the person doing the suggesting is into metal and the person asking is into blues or something else. I wasn't trying to single out Les Paul Fanatic or bust his chops as it wasn't just him that made me say "wtf?" I just wish folks would give a little more thought about their replies when suggesting gear, particularly that "one size doesn't fit all."
elessar820 Posted August 26, 2008 Posted August 26, 2008 The Screaming Demon's name is a bit misleading; it's actually not a high output pickup. You're right. It's a little hotter than a BB3, but no where near a Distortion or Dirty Fingers or anything. I find it very versatile sounds great with some overdrive and heavy distortion and has a nice clean tone. It's my favorite pickup. I have one in my BFG and my Ibanez SZ520. It balances out well with the P90 in the BFG and Alnico II Pro in my Ibanez.
elessar820 Posted August 26, 2008 Posted August 26, 2008 The Screaming Demon's name is a bit misleading; it's actually not a high output pickup. You're right. It's a little hotter than a BB3, but no where near a Distortion or Dirty Fingers or anything. I find it very versatile sounds great with some overdrive and heavy distortion and has a nice clean tone. It's my favorite pickup. I have one in my BFG and my Ibanez SZ520. It balances out well with the P90 in the BFG and Alnico II Pro in my Ibanez.
stymye Posted August 26, 2008 Posted August 26, 2008 if you want to emulate the jimi page sound , well that varies from record to record and live gig to live gig , you will find that pickup selection is just 1 of many factors involed . in fact if you are recording the guitar it's not a really big factor at all compared to the whole picture. the guitar alone does not nail the sound of any guitar player.
RichCI Posted August 26, 2008 Posted August 26, 2008 if you want to emulate the jimi page sound ' date=' well that varies from record to record and live gig to live gig ,you will find that pickup selection is just 1 of many factors involed . in fact if you are recording the guitar it's not a really big factor at all compared to the whole picture. the guitar alone does nail the sound of any guitar player.[/quote'] QFT. Plus, Page often used many different sounds and also layered a lot of them. There is so much studio stuff going on with Led Zep records that the guitar is probably one of the smaller pieces of the puzzle.
RichCI Posted August 26, 2008 Posted August 26, 2008 Here's an interesting bit from an interview with Page: GW: One music-oriented question before we move on to "Houses of the Holy": Tell me how you got that sound on Black Dog. Page: We put my Les Paul through a direct box, and from there into a mic channel. We used the mic amp of the mixing board to get distortion. Then we ran it through two Urie 1176 Universal compressors in series. Then each line was triple-tracked. Curiously, I was listening to that track when we were reviewing the tapes and the guitars almost sound like an analog synthesizer. http://www.iem.ac.ru/zeppelin/docs/interviews/page_93.gw
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