Whats your favorite pickup combo for your les paul?

[glip22]

This is like asking what your favorite ice cream is and from what place. Granted there are some pickups that may sound better in some Les Pauls but each Les Paul, can be different so it's hard to say. You have to try them and decide. I have Ox4 pickups in my R8. They sound great. I decided to put them in another Les Paul. The neck sounds really good but the bridge so I have another pickup coming to try in that spot. If I don't like it I will list it for sale and order another. A particular pickup in a particular guitar may sound great through my setup but not yours. It's a buy, try, and flip game if you want the best pickups for your particular Les Paul and setup.

That's easy, Graeter's Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip, anytime. Pickups are tougher, a lot of variables,, how are the OX4s?? I have some Zhangbuckers in my R8, Pagey 2 in the neck and a hotter Pagey 2 in the bridge which puts it close to a Brownbucker, def some killer pups! Thought about trying some OX4s in R7.

They are excellent. Very clear, and have that PAF harmonic thing going on. They sound great in the R8. The Les Paul I put the second set in has a brighter raspier tone. Neck sounded great but the bridge not as much in that guitar. Do you agree a particular pickup can sound really good in one guitar and not another. I have had this happen many times. I love how a pickup sounds in one or even more guitars so I order it expecting it to be great in another guitar and it's not.

 

[russellconner]

i know it makes me a Hopeless Metalhead Loser, but i my EMG 81/85 combo.

The 81 (bridge) has tons of mid/high bite and low end punch, while the 85 (neck) is great for (gasp!) clean tones and fat, bluesy distortion sounds.

-russell

 

[Death by Uberschall]

i know it makes me a Hopeless Metalhead Loser, but i my EMG 81/85 combo.

The 81 (bridge) has tons of mid/high bite and low end punch, while the 85 (neck) is great for (gasp!) clean tones and fat, bluesy distortion sounds.

-russell

+1

 

[nigelpkay]

I just got a set of Seymour Duncan Black Winter pickups for my 2009 ebony traditional. They really smoke! All the bite and saturation of active pickups but the feel of a passive. I was worried about how they would sound with low gain but it sounds fantastic, cleans too. The only negative for some people would be that they are really really hot, and cleaning up with the volume knob doesn't really work. But lower the gain on the amp, and they sound great for rock crunch. I was really pleasantly surprised by these. I've never used the Duncan Distortion, but apparently these are similar but a more balanced version of them in terms of EQ (more low, less high, even mids, but a hair more presence on top)

 

[gibson08]

This is like asking what your favorite ice cream is and from what place. Granted there are some pickups that may sound better in some Les Pauls but each Les Paul, can be different so it's hard to say. You have to try them and decide. I have Ox4 pickups in my R8. They sound great. I decided to put them in another Les Paul. The neck sounds really good but the bridge so I have another pickup coming to try in that spot. If I don't like it I will list it for sale and order another. A particular pickup in a particular guitar may sound great through my setup but not yours. It's a buy, try, and flip game if you want the best pickups for your particular Les Paul and setup.

That's easy, Graeter's Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip, anytime. Pickups are tougher, a lot of variables,, how are the OX4s?? I have some Zhangbuckers in my R8, Pagey 2 in the neck and a hotter Pagey 2 in the bridge which puts it close to a Brownbucker, def some killer pups! Thought about trying some OX4s in R7.

They are excellent. Very clear, and have that PAF harmonic thing going on. They sound great in the R8. The Les Paul I put the second set in has a brighter raspier tone. Neck sounded great but the bridge not as much in that guitar. Do you agree a particular pickup can sound really good in one guitar and not another. I have had this happen many times. I love how a pickup sounds in one or even more guitars so I order it expecting it to be great in another guitar and it's not.

Yeah, Def, I also love when you play two new R9s with the "same" pickups and they sound totally different.

 

[Docster]

I have a LP Std with Motor City Detroiter in the Bridge, stock in the neck, my LP Custom has the BKP Riff Raff (B) Mule (N), and my R0 has the stock pickups (Burstbucker 1 & 2).

I've never tried the Riff Raff yet.. how would you compare it to the Detroiter? (which I do have)

I think the Detroiter and Riff Raff are comparable pickups. I say that though as they sound very similar but in very different guitars, the Detroiter in a newer LP Std (weight relieved w/rosewood fretboard) and the Riff Raff in a LP Custom with ebony fretboard. I have never swapped them to see how that might affect the output.

 

[RedB4Black]

I have 3 customs...
Suhr Aldrich/stock neck
Bare Knuckle Painkiller/stock neck
Bare Knuckle Cold Sweat set

I also have an R8 that is stock. Sounds perfect as is.

 

[bbaug14]

Ron Ellis

 

[Rick Lee]

Let's revive this one. I have a lemonburst LP Classic 120th Anniv. model with the stock 57 Classics. I want to replace them, but really want double cremes. I already have a Wolfetone Marshallhead bridge pup in double creme. AFAIK, the only other manufacturer who makes them in double creme is DiMarzio. Would a 36th Anniv. work in the neck with a Marshallhead in the bridge? Or do I need to just spring for the Wolfetone Dr. Vintage or Legend in double creme?

 

[splawner]

I just bought a les Paul and it came with the Gibson classic 57 plus pups in it and it's the best pickup I heard in a lp that I ever owned...not high output but they sound really good...very balanced... they are staying in!!!

 

[steve_k]

SD JB/SH1

 

[SFW]

BKP will do double cream as well. My Suhr Aldrich bridge is double cream. Found that out when I removed the cover.

 

[Rick Lee]

Ooh. That's interesting.

 

[SpiderWars]

Keep in mind that the cream from one mfr might not match the cream from another mfr. Close but not the same, if that matters. Even the cream from the same mfr but going from 50mm to 53mm can change the tint a little. I had two different color creams on two Duncan zebra pickups in the same guitar and never noticed until recently.

 

[nigelpkay]

I would spring for the Marshallhead Neck in double cream, that is one of the best neck pickups I've played and I rarely like playing the neck.

 

[Adambomb]

Man I don't know why but both Les Pauls I currently have always sounded best with their stock pickups. It's a long story but make it short the first Les Paul I got was 2011 limited run quilt-top with Burstbuckers 1 & 2 stock and I sold them and went through several sets from BKP, PRS 57/08's, Wolfetones and more. Nothing sounded as clear and present as those BB's. After almost 6 months the pickups ended up back in my mailbox after the seller changed shipping destinations, never picked them up and never could contact him, was like he vanished from face of the earth.
I tried two sets in my 2014 59' Reissue with stock Custom Buckers, which they seem a little more balanced with better mids than the Burstbuckers. Couple of the best bridges are a tie between Bare Knuckle Mule and Wolfetone Marshallhead A2, and the best neck pickup still remains the Burstbucker 1 cause it's super bright how I like.

 

[Death by Uberschall]

EMG 81/85

EMG 57/66

i know it makes me a Hopeless Metalhead Loser, but i my EMG 81/85 combo.

The 81 (bridge) has tons of mid/high bite and low end punch, while the 85 (neck) is great for (gasp!) clean tones and fat, bluesy distortion sounds.

-russell

For active type pickups, these are the "go too's".

I will say for passive, the SD Jazz in the neck is by far the best neck HB, bar none. Smooth and clear.

For the bridge I like the SD Distortion, JB or the A8 (my favorite Les Paul passive).

 

[codyjarret]

DiMarzio DP100's all in a row works for me.

 

[Progbusters]

Duncan Jazz neck and either of the 3 types of Duncan Customs

 

[mchn13]

SD JB/SH1

I always come back to this combo in my main les Paul through my 800. My backup one sounds killer with bkp's in it, but the sh-1, and sh-4 are my go to. Just a raw, ringing, chunk that nothing else sounds like.