Suggest me a bridge pickup for my '76 LP custom

sluice

sluice

Member
Hia folks,

I swapped the pickups on my 76 Les Paul Custom for :
Neck : Bareknuckle VHII
Bridge : Bareknuckle Holy Diver

I had these pickups laying around, for another project that never concur, so decided to put them in my custom.

VHII Neck
I love it. Might be my favorite neck pup on a fat Les Paul.

Holy Diver Bridge
This pup doesn't suit the characteristics of the guitar at all. If anything you need to compensate on the amp too much (increasing treeble, reducing mid, etc..)

I'm searching for a Bareknuckle bridge pickup that will suit the guitar better and also work well with the VHII neck.

Ideally, I want to remain with Bareknuckle, so I can a custom design to match the neck VHII.
 
I know a lot of folks swear by Bareknuckle Mules.
But not only do I think they would sound too close to my custombuckers on my R8 (which I also lovee, I'm just looking at getting some different sound out of my custom)

I'm also afraid the mule output are too low.

I play a lot of Hard Rock / Heavy Metal.
 
For a big 70’s custom I would recommend the Cold Sweat or Rebel Yell bridge. The Rebel Yell would probably go better with your VHII neck. Think a leaner tighter JB.
Cold Sweat is closer to the Gibson Dirty Fingers or Dimarzio Super Distortion for that medium output ceramic vibe.
 
Nice! The Rebel Yell was high on my list!
Was initially debating between the VHII (bridge) or Rebel Yell.
 
Try moving the neck VHII to the bridge position
It sounds even better than the actual bridge VHII
A lot like a Riff Raff but a tad less middy
 
Make sure you check your pots, a lot of 70s les Paul's have 300k pots and they destroy tone. Friend has a 71 custom, loves the guitar but its thin sounding all the time. Cant convince him to change out the 300k pots because they're original...
 
Yeah it's worthwhile checking the pot codes. I don't mind 300k vol pots but some of them also have 100k tone pots! The easiest way is simply disconnect the tone pots from the circuit if you want to keep the original pots in there.
 
I'd go with a BlackDog bridge if you've got the VHII in the neck.

RR is a decent pup too, but if you're aiming for a little more oomph without harshness or over-compensating, the BlackBog is unique and potent. Has sizzle with an ebony board; sounds really full and percussive with a RW board; tighter than the RR, more oomph and output, and I've seen a lot of cats use the BD Bridge / VHII Neck combo.
 
RRs are fantastic "these should have come stock with the reissue Les Pauls" pickups. They're amazing. But when seeking to upgrade the tone beyond that of "similar to era specific tones" (Mule is the best at that with RR just a notch up in output), the BlackDogs in the Lesters I have them in NEVER disappoint. They sound great in clean, crunch and hi-gain applications. Really square attack under gain, percussive. Clean they're smooth in the bass and crisp in the mids and highs. Delightful. But man, they've got teeth when riffing heavy brootz. Love 'em. And remember, you don't want too high an output (ie: Rebel Yells) in the Bridge if ya got the more moderate VHII in the neck.

Had to add this disclaimer :thumbsup:
 
I have a few Gibson's with BKP - 57 Custom Shop with Rebel Yell, 2 58's - one with an Emerald in the bridge, the other waiting to install the VHII in the bridge, and a 60 Custom Shop with Abraxas in the bridge. Hard to pick a favorite, but of all 4, the ones with the most "cut" would probably be the Emerald. The EQ chart on the BKP shows it's got a fair amount of treble. The guitar it's in may be one of the best Les Paul's I've ever owned, good wood or good pickup - maybe both. I'd recommend the Emerald or perhaps the Abraxas if you want a little more vintage sounding pickup. It's impedance is about 12k but doesn't sound overly hot in a bad way.
 
UberschallEL34":306if5aw said:
I have a few Gibson's with BKP - 57 Custom Shop with Rebel Yell, 2 58's - one with an Emerald in the bridge, the other waiting to install the VHII in the bridge, and a 60 Custom Shop with Abraxas in the bridge. Hard to pick a favorite, but of all 4, the ones with the most "cut" would probably be the Emerald. The EQ chart on the BKP shows it's got a fair amount of treble. The guitar it's in may be one of the best Les Paul's I've ever owned, good wood or good pickup - maybe both. I'd recommend the Emerald or perhaps the Abraxas if you want a little more vintage sounding pickup. It's impedance is about 12k but doesn't sound overly hot in a bad way.
Click to expand...
Yep, Emeralds are bright... I have them in an all mahogany '57 Black Beauty. They work perfectly well with that guitar as the ebony neck gives a little sizzle while the rest of the tonewood needs a little top end.

For a maple capped Lester, I'd think it'd be a bit bright - but that's only IME/IMHO.

Everyone's mileage will vary.
 
Of the BKP bridge models I've tried, the Black Dog and the VH2 were my faves. I think either one would pair well with the VH2 neck. And both have enough bite for a thick LP guitar.

VH2 in a thick G&L USA Telecaster:


Black Dog in an Edwards Japanese LP:
 
godgrinder":1rbqsd29 said:
Yeah it's worthwhile checking the pot codes. I don't mind 300k vol pots but some of them also have 100k tone pots! The easiest way is simply disconnect the tone pots from the circuit if you want to keep the original pots in there.
Click to expand...
This! I have a Greco from 1980, with 300k pots and tried this...boom! Nice fat thick articulate tone. Not that I care about keeping a MIJ clone original, but it definitely works.
 
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