Recommend me a hot pickup set for my Norlin LP

[barnesjd]

I plan to purchase a humbucker set in the near future for my '80 LP Deluxe Goldtop. I'd love to hear your recommendations. Read all the details if you've got the time, or just chime in with your personal favorites. If you have a humbucker or a set you'd like to sell, PM me

Musts:
Full-size
Classic look with nickel covers and one row of screws. Relic'd/distressed/aged is a plus.

Keen on:
Ceramics (thanks to Tom Anderson HN3+), but alnicos are under consideration. ***(According to a correction below, the HN3+ is NOT ceramic but neodymium)***
Hand made/boutique guys trying to make living winding pickups.

Tones:
Hot throaty midrange
Highs that are smooth, never harsh or shrill
Lows that are tight and punchy, never boomy
I play on my bridge 90% of the time, so it's most important to me.
Neck that splits well

The guitar:
'80 Les Paul Deluxe goldtop with full size humbucker mod. Maple neck, rosewood FB, mahogany body, maple top. No weight relief. Will soon have a bone nut, Callaham steel bridge and tailpiece, 50's wiring, and a blower switch. I anticipate the guitar will lean towards the bright side of the LP spectrum. Standard tuning. Drop D once in a blue moon.

The rig:
My Granger LO50 is a Soldano SLO clone. Very tight but voicing is a little more reminiscent of a Dual Rec. Bogner cab with an X of V30s and K100s. Keeley modded Ibanez analog delay in the loop and Barber Tone Press on the front.

My playing style:
Hard rock and metal. I like lots of palm muting and harmonics. Heavily influenced (in terms of style, not necessarily tone) by Dimebag Darrel, Black Sabbath, Ozzy (all guitarists), VH, Anthrax, Mastodon, Clutch, Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top, Maiden, Priest, Down... You probably get the picture

Tones I love:
Killswitch Engage bonus live tracks from The End of Heartache
Jerry Cantrell, everything from Dirt onwards. New stuff is great tone-wise.

Past experiences:
Tom Anderson H1/HN3+: favorite pups to date sound wise. Hot, great mids, clarity and definition, articulate, effortless harmonics, can hear the treble and presence in the low registers and feel the bass in the upper mid registers. I dislike them in this application only because of the lack of screws and nickel covers and the F-spaced poles.
Gibson T500: meh. Not bad but nothing special.
Bill Lawrence L-500XL: thin, shrill, trebly, fizzy, scooped. Dislike.
Bill Lawrence L-500L: much more mellow, but low end lacks definition and percussiveness. Lead tone is pretty damn tasty. Currently in the target guitar.
Duncan Distortion: good clarity and balance. Mids were good. But disappeared like Houdini in my band's mix. (Dominated by band mate's HN3+)

Currently under consideration, ceramic division:
BG Hellabucker
Manlius Anfield
Bareknuckle Painkiller or Cold Sweat
Jim Wagner Iron Man

Currently under consideration, alnico division:
Arcane Bulldozer, Brownbucker
BG Bucker dark
Suhr Aldrich

Currently under consideration, alnico and/or ceramic division:
Motor City Afwayu or Solution
Bareknuckle Warpig

 

[LP Freak]

The Aldrich go with an LP perfectly and seem to match what you're looking for.

 

[glip22]

You may be surprised how great they sound with high gain. Amalfitano Barrybucker bridge slightly potted and a Skatterbrane BenWah neck slightly potted. A very reputable source told me the Skatter was the best neck wind in the business and it beat everything I tried when I was playing the pickup game.He has tried $800 pickups and everything else. The Barry is a hot PAF and it's great in a Les Paul. I also like the Aldrich. I have used many BK's in a Les Paul. Nailbombs, Mules, Rebel Yell, Crawlers, and two others. When I was swapping, the Cold Sweat neck was killer in my R8. It lives up to the hype as the best BK neck. The Skatterbrane beat it. Flutey as can be. The Barrybucker lets the guitar shine through and stays together with all I threw at it. Big low end. Great separation. Destroyed the Rebel Yell which I loved in my Les Paul Custom awhile back. The RY came right out after I put The BB in. It's the second one I owned and I loved it before in a superstrat. The Mule set came right out in minutes. I have been sitting on this set waiting for another Paul which I got a week ago. These are going in it.

 

[headlessdeadguy]

Duncan Distortion.

 

[splawner]

Duncan Distortion.

 

[Beyond Black]

Arcane. all day every week. Ask him for the 13K Alnico 8 bridge. output like a ceramic, no harsh top end! cleans up nice and relentless with the chunk and harmonics. he matches it with a 8.9K neck in Alnico 5. good times.

tell him Reza referred you and he will know the set.
if you don't like them, let me know I will buy them off you.

There ya go. You can't lose.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

Dimarzio Super Distortion for the bridge!

Neck? verdict is still out, haven't found anything that makes me cream my pants yet.

 

[Jofipe]

BKP - Holydiver or Painkiller.

HD preferred personally.. such a nicely voiced PU, that will do anything. Open and huge sounding.

 

[barnesjd]

BKP - Holydiver or Painkiller.

HD preferred personally.. such a nicely voiced PU, that will do anything. Open and huge sounding.

Out of the BKs, I would expect the Warpig to be the best match based on the EQ response charts they provide. (Although I didn't include it in my original candidate list). While I like highs and brightness, I don't want to overkill it.

 

[Shawn Lutz]

It really depends on the current tone of your LP after you add the parts you have as they'll alter the base tone. So if the parts you get turn your bright tone darker the pickup you want to chose will be different. Wait until you add the parts to it

 

[barnesjd]

It really depends on the current tone of your LP after you add the parts you have as they'll alter the base tone. So if the parts you get turn your bright tone darker the pickup you want to chose will be different. Wait until you add the parts to it

Yeah, I hear ya. I'm struggling with that. I'm thinking of putting the Anderson in there along with the parts I have thus far to get an idea of the base tone as you're suggesting. The reason for changing so much at once is I need to have some luthier/tech work done (routing out the neck cavity, bone nut, etc) and I'd like to get it all done in one trip.

 

[barnesjd]

Here is a quick Mp3 clip of the Arcane in the bridge position. This is thru an Axe Fx 2 FWIW so don't judge too harshly, but you can hear how much harmonic content this pickup has, also its very tight and punchy.

I used the Cameron Atomica Amp model and a V30 cab with a 57 on it. (or at least the modeled version of those things)

Will try and do a video for this pickup in the future. but I am Really enjoying it. and please forgive the shit playing. this was quick and dirty.
http://www.tonefinder.com/index.php?section=id&value=15155

First off... If you call that "shit playing", you don't wanna hear me play. Ever.

Secondly, that sounded very bad-assed. Definitely makes me want one of those pups. They aren't cheap tho. So damn you.

 

[Capulin Overdrive]

HN3+ is niobium, not ceramic.

 

[barnesjd]

HN3+ is niobium, not ceramic.

Really? Thanks for the correction... but what the hell is niobium? Haven't heard of it before... Let's see what Google says...

 

[barnesjd]

You may be surprised how great they sound with high gain. Amalfitano Barrybucker bridge slightly potted and a Skatterbrane BenWah neck slightly potted. A very reputable source told me the Skatter was the best neck wind in the business and it beat everything I tried when I was playing the pickup game.He has tried $800 pickups and everything else. The Barry is a hot PAF and it's great in a Les Paul. I also like the Aldrich. I have used many BK's in a Les Paul. Nailbombs, Mules, Rebel Yell, Crawlers, and two others. When I was swapping, the Cold Sweat neck was killer in my R8. It lives up to the hype as the best BK neck. The Skatterbrane beat it. Flutey as can be. The Barrybucker lets the guitar shine through and stays together with all I threw at it. Big low end. Great separation. Destroyed the Rebel Yell which I loved in my Les Paul Custom awhile back. The RY came right out after I put The BB in. It's the second one I owned and I loved it before in a superstrat. The Mule set came right out in minutes. I have been sitting on this set waiting for another Paul which I got a week ago. These are going in it.

Truth be told, I probably don't care how high the output is. There is so much gain on tap in my Granger, it probably doesn't matter. However, I have to be honest and say it's very unlikely I'll forego my current bias towards high output.

 

[barnesjd]

FYI, updated the original post with some of the new information presented here, and added Tones I love section.

 

[TX6Strings]

I've got an 81' Norlins Standard that came stock with the Shaws. I pulled them out and am loving the SD Custom in the bridge and 59 in the neck. I play similar stuff and the Custom sounds great through my Mesa MKIV and PT100.

 

[Capulin Overdrive]

HN3+ is niobium, not ceramic.

Really? Thanks for the correction... but what the hell is niobium? Haven't heard of it before... Let's see what Google says...

Actually it's neodymium. I googled a bad spelling and they gave me niobium.


Anyways, it means the HN3+ are lots deferent than most pups. If you know you like them, then maybe get them and not worry about covered.

 

[barnesjd]

Actually it's neodymium. I googled a bad spelling and they gave me niobium.


Anyways, it means the HN3+ are lots deferent than most pups. If you know you like them, then maybe get them and not worry about covered.

Damn you, Google! You raise a good point. I'll definitely throw it in there for a while. It's just that I've long envisioned having the classic-looking LP with nickel covered pups...

 

[Capulin Overdrive]

Maybe check around and see who else is messing with Neo?


Bare Knuckles is loco with covers.


Lace has some cool pickups with covers.