Les Paul Pickup Suggestions

  • Thread starter Thread starter Wizard of Ozz
  • Start date Start date

Which pickup for my Les Paul bridge?

  • 3. Other (specify below)

    Votes: 16 76.2%
  • 2. BK Miracle Man

    Votes: 2 9.5%
  • 1. SD Custom SH5

    Votes: 3 14.3%

  • Total voters
    21
ProgFree":3v8pycpu said:
Have you considered a SD custom 5? Less mids, more lows and not as aggressive high end as the JB, I have one in a Les Paul and like it. But still my fav combo for Les Paul is the JB/Jazz 35th anniversary.

I usually dig the SD JB as well... but after putting 3 new JB pups in 3 different axes... I'm definitely not liking them. Is your JB the Anniversary custom shop model?
 
romanianreaper":1jayrd8t said:
I have a Motor City 2nd Degree Black Belt in my Les Paul and it is a great hard rock/metal pickup. Has an open tone to it that is never nasally and just sounds really clear.


This or a Detroiter!!!!
 
Wizard of Ozz":21zt1xln said:
ProgFree":21zt1xln said:
Have you considered a SD custom 5? Less mids, more lows and not as aggressive high end as the JB, I have one in a Les Paul and like it. But still my fav combo for Les Paul is the JB/Jazz 35th anniversary.

I usually dig the SD JB as well... but after putting 3 new JB pups in 3 different axes... I'm definitely not liking them. Is your JB the Anniversary custom shop model?
New JB's don't sound so good to me...much prefer the Antiquity JB and SD Metal Fatigue (aka "Holdsworth") to get my JB fix.

But if I was playing something like Bodom on an R9, I would stick with Lundgrens (M6 bridge with a Heaven 57 in the neck), will handle the lower tunings nicely.
 
Wizard of Ozz":39jyspyu said:
ProgFree":39jyspyu said:
Have you considered a SD custom 5? Less mids, more lows and not as aggressive high end as the JB, I have one in a Les Paul and like it. But still my fav combo for Les Paul is the JB/Jazz 35th anniversary.

I usually dig the SD JB as well... but after putting 3 new JB pups in 3 different axes... I'm definitely not liking them. Is your JB the Anniversary custom shop model?

It was the commemorative set, they were available for 1 year then they were available at the custom shop. I just regret having bough only one set...
 
ProgFree":21zy3x1s said:
Have you considered a SD custom 5? Less mids, more lows and not as aggressive high end as the JB, I have one in a Les Paul and like it. But still my fav combo for Les Paul is the JB/Jazz 35th anniversary.
This!

And other 2 suggestions:
Duncan Custom/59 Hybrid
DiMarzio Norton

Especially the Norton will do that Alnico-V goodness, but tighter and more defined than a JB, while retaining awesome harmonics and high-end, yet not get piercing/shrieking. Medium/high output.
I use it in one of my Les Pauls to get close to the EVH tone. Works pretty darn good for that.

Maybe put an Alnico 8 mag in a JB? Seems to help that pickup tremendously. I have a love-hate relationship with the JB. Didn't care for it in a Les Paul; tried it in 2 different Hamer Californians and only in the all-mahogany one it worked. I actually did an Ozzy tribute show with that guitar; used it for Shot in the Dark. It had a DiMarzio Chopper as neck pickup.
 
I rolled several different pickups through my Les Paul before settling on a Motor City Pickups Nasty Nasty. Everyone who pickups that guitar is blow away by it and I think a lot of that is in that pick up!
 
I put a manlius asphalt in my LPJ for swedish thrashing,worked out quite well however i have a Maple neck.
 
I know you mentioned not caring for DiMarzios, but "tight, bright, focused, articulate, and modern" describes the D-Activator to a T. The Duncan Black Winter is another great high-output pickup that falls solidly within this tonal realm.

As a side note, many of the pickups being recommended here are much lower in output than the Distortion (and even the JB, in some cases) you're using now. That might not matter to you, but it seems worth noting.
 
Rising Farce":rypo4ghr said:
I know you mentioned not caring for DiMarzios, but "tight, bright, focused, articulate, and modern" describes the D-Activator to a T. The Duncan Black Winter is another great high-output pickup that falls solidly within this tonal realm.

As a side note, many of the pickups being recommended here are much lower in output than the Distortion (and even the JB, in some cases) you're using now. That might not matter to you, but it seems worth noting.

Thanks. I've tried both the D-Activator and Black Winter in a Jackson Soloist and they both sounded a little dark and bass heavy on the heavy rhythms. Not bad, just a bit too much. On open D or G chords they were fine, but when I down tuned it was like I turned on a depth boost switch. So that definitely not what I want for this LP.

I did notice a lot of the vintage and/or Alnico II mag suggestions... maybe for the neck... but I'm looking for something in the 14-20K DC range of with either an Alnico V or Ceramic magnet for the bridge. I want the extra kick to overdrive and tighten the amps when needed. I can always roll back the volume pot for less output. ;)
 
Probably not interested in lower output PAF's, but a buddy just put a set of Duncan Custom shop Skinnerburst pups in his Custom Shop Historic LP, they are friggen amazing.. I always leaned more towards hotter PAF's, but these things are borderline magical sounding.
Very articulate, clear as a bell, no flub whatsoever. Not overly bright or dark, and full of rich overtones. Top end is really sweet with an almost glassy sound, and really chimey when clean. Best neck pickup I've ever heard. I believe they were at 8.2 neck and 8.5 bridge.
Dosent sound very hot at all, but they had plenty of output and a shit ton of mojo ;)
They have me re-thinking my whole pickup stratagy :doh: :doh: :doh:
 
paulyc":1ghdgpbd said:
The SD distortion is a JB with a massive ceramic magnet, so I'd use that. My favorite pickup especially in a fat sounding LP.
Gonna have to agree to paulyc's line of thinking in regards to the ceramic magnet but I'm gonna say the Gibby 500T. I literally cannot enjoy playing an LP without one in the bridge. All three of my Pauls have them. And in general I'm not a fan of ceramic pups but for whatever reason, they just cut in a Paul.
 
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