Which pickups for more vintage blues, classic rock tone ?

[Aceman]

Re: Which pickups for more vintage blues, classic rock tone ?

For an all mahogany Paul, Blues/Rock, I have to say, Pearly Gates set, or PG neck / 59 bridge. You should be very happy with either of those.

Seth's may be good too, but little/no direct experience there.

[blueman335]

Re: Which pickups for more vintage blues, classic rock tone ?

Seth's may be good too, but little/no direct experience there.

Ah ha! So, now you have to get a Flying V, and a pair of Seth's!

[Lux84]

Re: Which pickups for more vintage blues, classic rock tone ?

Well, i will put those in LP and see how it sounds.. if i don't like it i will change the SH5 for SH1 59 later on bridge. one more question: is pearly gates on neck good enough for cleans or should i go and split it with push pull control ?

[blueman335]

Re: Which pickups for more vintage blues, classic rock tone ?

Well, i will put those in LP and see how it sounds.. if i don't like it i will change the SH5 for SH1 59 later on bridge. one more question: is pearly gates on neck good enough for cleans or should i go and split it with push pull control ?

I think it's always a good idea to have a coil cut option available for neck HB's. More string energy, and often a more usable tone than splitting a bridge HB.

[Lux84]

Re: Which pickups for more vintage blues, classic rock tone ?

I have Jazz ( neck ) splitted on SG. it's super clear on cleans

[Lux84]

Re: Which pickups for more vintage blues, classic rock tone ?

So i order SH1 59 B today.. anyone who use SH1 59 bridge and Pearly Gates on neck combo ? How they go together ?

[blueman335]

Re: Which pickups for more vintage blues, classic rock tone ?

So i order SH1 59 B today.. anyone who use SH1 59 bridge and Pearly Gates on neck combo ? How they go together ?

Just about any PAF's will work well together. The originals were quite variable in resistence and magnets used. Most PAF bridges are fairly bright, so you can adjust your tone knob or try a warmer magnet or pot.

[Lux84]

Re: Which pickups for more vintage blues, classic rock tone ?

Ok... then, for first i'll go that combo and see if i like it. it'll be my last mid-price guitar to upgrade. i will also replace stock electronics, shield the control cavity, install push pull pots on tone controls and change the tuners for some sperzels. then i am done with my guitar setup for years... thanks for repys, suggestions, experiences, everything. i am a bit more sure about it now.

[Lux84]

Re: Which pickups for more vintage blues, classic rock tone ?

So I've just ordered Pearly Gates bridge humbucker for my Les Paul. i have one at neck, and i love it. i realised somehow that Custom put me cold, so i will try Pearly Gates on bridge in that guitar. i also am thinking of getting back to E flat tuning with that guitar, i have been three months in that tuning, and the i've detune it back to E standard but i have that felling that the E flat really belongs to that guitar, it have sound way better than now in Standard again. so, the second, i hope last decision to i think will be: Pearly Gates on both positions, and push pull pots are already installed in guitar, and i'll put it back to E flat ! i can play all the classic stuff that's in e standard in e flat, and it sounded better to me.. that's it ! Classic rock and Blues in E flat tuning with Pearly Gates on both positions of my LP !

[Soulcrusher_X]

Re: Which pickups for more vintage blues, classic rock tone ?

I'll tell you like Edgecrusher said: If your amp has the muscle, or if you use an OD pedal to drive your amp harder, you can use the PGs for metal, too. Jolly on the board has some great examples of how heavy some of Seymour's PAFs can be. I might embarrass myself with some clips, but I have one floating around here of the Seth Lovers doing some heavy riffing. Lately, I have been really liking how much clarity that low output pickups offer to heavier styles of music.

[Soulcrusher_X]

Re: Which pickups for more vintage blues, classic rock tone ?

Seths are metal!

This is just a raw test of an amp I changed out a PT in. All the tone knobs are at 5. Gain is also at 5, volume around 2. One is a riff that I was working on for one of my old bands, one is a Sabbath tune that I butchered for you guys.

So, I'm sure your PGs can cover a lot more ground than you think.

[Lux84]

Re: Which pickups for more vintage blues, classic rock tone ?

I have to try it. i have never played guitar with alnico humbucker pickups on the bridge.. always ceramics. well, i only like Distortion in my SG. i like agressive character of it. the Custom, i didn't like. This will be my first non-ceramic humbucker pickup in the bridge position of electric guitar. Besides the Stratocaster with alnico 5 at both 3 positions but these are singlecoils not humbuckers. i hope it will cover the black sabbath well, cause i am the sabbath fan. btw, great video.