Les Paul Custom + Suhr Aldrich Pickups

[Kevin11]

Recently bought a new custom shop LP Custom. Always wanted to try a set of Aldrich's in a LP so I figured this one was as good as any. Ordered a set and had them installed.

When I finally fired it up yesterday, I was disappointed. The bridge p/u sounded murky and lifeless. Almost like the tone was rolled halfway off (it wasn't). Nothing like the Aldrich bridge I have in my Suhr Standard. Much darker than it should be, something wasn't right. The stock Gibson pickups didn't sound the greatest either, which is why I went down this path to begin with. I thought it was either a result of the cover, it wasn't installed incorrectly (not likely), or it just wasn't meant for my particular guitar.

I decided to clip the tone controls out of the circuit. I do this on a lot of my guitars as I typically prefer the sound without. As you guys know, it's usually a minor difference in tone, a little bump in highs, maybe a bit more clarity. I wasn't expecting much.

Much to my surprise, night-and-day. I couldn't believe the difference. The guitar opened up, came to life and is now the fire-breathing beast I'd hoped it would be. I might have had a tone pot that was bad or a bit too far on the end of the tolerance scale or something. No idea. I don't want to slag on Gibson QC, you've all heard enough of that anyway. In every other way, this guitar is incredible, absolutely no fit/finish issues. Just passing this on in case anyone else ever runs into the same situation, regardless of the guitar or pickups. It's something to try if you don't use your tone. I'm going to install a set of push-pulls in place of the tones to split the pickups. The Aldrich in my Suhr sounds great split.

I will concur with what almost everyone who's tired Aldrich's in an LP. Winning combination. HIGHLY recommended. They're a bit on the hot side and maybe not for players who prefer more classic, low output PAF-ish pickups. To my ears, they're kind of JB-ish, with less of that JB mid-honk. Totally digging it!

 

[Nico]

Same combo here in my Custom... get some good 500k pots and you'll sound just as good. What happened before seems like they had a problem.
+1000 on the coil taps...

 

[fek]

The Aldrich love is getting to me. I have a Trad Plus with 57's and a Trad Pro with a BB and a 57. Problem is I like them both. The coil split on the Trad Pro is OK but not great. If I had any soldering skills I would buy an Aldrich and try it out.

 

[JonVengeance]

I'm trying the Aldrich bridge in my Les Paul again and I still don't really like it. It just can't hang with the BKP nailbomb I had in there before.

 

[charveldan]

SH-5 Duncan Custom [brdg] and a 59' [neck] in my LP's sound best to me.

 

[petejt]

The Aldrich humbuckers in my ESP ltd ec-400 absolutely SMOKES!

Damn I miss playing that guitar- I need to get some repairs on it but have been too busy to have it done.


Yep- it's a great idea to get a coil-split with the Aldrichs. The only thing better is a middle pickup wired up and a 5-way selector switch.

 

[Kevin11]

I'm trying the Aldrich bridge in my Les Paul again and I still don't really like it. It just can't hang with the BKP nailbomb I had in there before.

Man, I tried a Nailbomb set a few years back in another LP and didn't bond with them. I almost went with a set of Rebel Yells this time and decided to try the Aldrich set first. I think I need a few more guitars to house all the pickups I want to try.

 

[blackba]

Its interesting that clipping the tone pots out of the circuit made that much of a difference. When I put the aldrich pickups in my '73 LP custom, I also changed the pots to all 500k audio taper. Sometimes the Aldrich is a bit hot for me, but it sounds so good split its not a problem. I run the aldrich split much more than I thought I would....

 

[Kevin11]

SH-5 Duncan Custom [brdg] and a 59' [neck] in my LP's sound best to me.

I've got an SH-14 Custom 5 / '59 combo in another LP and love it. Been itching to try something a little more raw and punchy in the bridge though. Might have to try a Custom. I also have a pair of '59s in a Hamer Std. I stayed away from trying a '59 in the bridge for years thinking it wouldn't be enough and of course am kicking myself now. In that guitar at least, it's killer.

 

[rupe]

SH-5 Duncan Custom [brdg] and a 59' [neck] in my LP's sound best to me.

That pair works well in Standards but sounds bleh in a Custom in my experience (the '59 neck sounds good in both). That said, the base tone of Les Pauls varies so greatly that you really need to figure out what works on an individual piece...blanket statements really don't apply IMO.

 

[JonVengeance]

SH-5 Duncan Custom [brdg] and a 59' [neck] in my LP's sound best to me.

I've got an SH-14 Custom 5 / '59 combo in another LP and love it. Been itching to try something a little more raw and punchy in the bridge though. Might have to try a Custom. I also have a pair of '59s in a Hamer Std. I stayed away from trying a '59 in the bridge for years thinking it wouldn't be enough and of course am kicking myself now. In that guitar at least, it's killer.

In my experience the Aldrich is neither raw nor punchy. It's pretty compressed sounding and not nearly as clear and percussive as the BKPs I've tried in my Les Pauls. I think the Aldrich is probably good if you are using a really uncompressed, open sounding amp, but on an amp that's already high gain it doesn't cut and adds too much compression.

 

[charveldan]

Just bought this 59' with gold cover yesterday for my LPC Black Beauty.


https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... OC:US:1123

BTW Banjomikez is awesome to deal with on ebay, Seymour Duncan dealer for over 25 years.

 

[luxxtone]

I have an Aldrich neck in my 1980 LP Custom, sounds amazing. I did the same thing as you and clip the tone pot out of the circuit since I never use tone on the neck, and I also put in a Bourns pot that was about 550k. Big, audible difference!

 

[bigdaddyd]

I have a covered Aldrich in the bridge of my Custom and it sounds awesome. It is hooked up to the stock pick up, and I wired it myself with my lame as skills...lol.

 

[Schaf]

SH-5 Duncan Custom [brdg] and a 59' [neck] in my LP's sound best to me.

I've got an SH-14 Custom 5 / '59 combo in another LP and love it. Been itching to try something a little more raw and punchy in the bridge though. Might have to try a Custom. I also have a pair of '59s in a Hamer Std. I stayed away from trying a '59 in the bridge for years thinking it wouldn't be enough and of course am kicking myself now. In that guitar at least, it's killer.

In my experience the Aldrich is neither raw nor punchy. It's pretty compressed sounding and not nearly as clear and percussive as the BKPs I've tried in my Les Pauls. I think the Aldrich is probably good if you are using a really uncompressed, open sounding amp, but on an amp that's already high gain it doesn't cut and adds too much compression.

Yeah, compressed isn't how I would describe the Aldrich. Are you sure there wasn't something wrong. They are pretty open for a high output pickup.

 

[JonVengeance]

SH-5 Duncan Custom [brdg] and a 59' [neck] in my LP's sound best to me.

I've got an SH-14 Custom 5 / '59 combo in another LP and love it. Been itching to try something a little more raw and punchy in the bridge though. Might have to try a Custom. I also have a pair of '59s in a Hamer Std. I stayed away from trying a '59 in the bridge for years thinking it wouldn't be enough and of course am kicking myself now. In that guitar at least, it's killer.

In my experience the Aldrich is neither raw nor punchy. It's pretty compressed sounding and not nearly as clear and percussive as the BKPs I've tried in my Les Pauls. I think the Aldrich is probably good if you are using a really uncompressed, open sounding amp, but on an amp that's already high gain it doesn't cut and adds too much compression.

Yeah, compressed isn't how I would describe the Aldrich. Are you sure there wasn't something wrong. They are pretty open for a high output pickup.

Nope, nothing's wrong. The I've been A/B-ing it against a BKP nailbomb which may be the problem. The nailbomb is so uncompressed, raw and punchy. In comparison the Aldrich is compressed and too subdued for my tastes. The Aldrich is the hotter pickup for sure, but it's not as aggressive and doesn't cut the way the nailbomb does. I feel like the Aldrich also covers up my mistakes too much.

 

[Kevin11]

SH-5 Duncan Custom [brdg] and a 59' [neck] in my LP's sound best to me.

I've got an SH-14 Custom 5 / '59 combo in another LP and love it. Been itching to try something a little more raw and punchy in the bridge though. Might have to try a Custom. I also have a pair of '59s in a Hamer Std. I stayed away from trying a '59 in the bridge for years thinking it wouldn't be enough and of course am kicking myself now. In that guitar at least, it's killer.

In my experience the Aldrich is neither raw nor punchy. It's pretty compressed sounding and not nearly as clear and percussive as the BKPs I've tried in my Les Pauls. I think the Aldrich is probably good if you are using a really uncompressed, open sounding amp, but on an amp that's already high gain it doesn't cut and adds too much compression.

Sorry, I was talking about a different guitar that currently has a set of Duncans. Looking at maybe trying a different Duncan in the bridge. The LP I have the Aldrich set in is just a different tonal option for me.

Agreed the Aldrich isn't raw in a Jimmy Page sense. It does have a decent mid-punch to it though and retains a tight low and pretty clear high for as hot as it is. I can see where one would call it compressed when compared to some other pickups, but that wasn't the first conclusion I drew from it. I run a Bogner 101B, which can be a pretty compressed sounding amp, and my Aldrich-loaded Suhr cuts thru the mix better than most of my other guitars. A lot of course depends on how you EQ things too.

The weird thing is I found the BKP Nailbomb I tried a few years ago to be exactly how you just described the Aldrich. I tried everything I could for about 2 months to bond with it and ended up replacing it with a Custom 5, which I still have in the guitar. Too many factors invovled to make any sense out of it.

 

[JonVengeance]

The thing with the nailbomb is it is very height sensitive. I have it in the guitar lower than some of my other pickups. Maybe I'll try running the Aldrich even lower and see it that gets it to sound more like I want it to.

 

[rlord1974]

Where are the pics?

 

[Gorehog]

ok,i'm getting SA's in my 2011 Trad next week.i plan on getting both tone pots changed to 500k.but whats this coil tapping.how is this done?

my local shop where i bought the guitar is doin the work.they mentioned a Seymour Duncan triple threat be used for coil tapping.is this necessary?

what the heck is a triple threat.

i want the best out of my SA's and my Lester.