advice with pickup selection

[claytonc]

Hey Newbie here. I have a 1971 les Paul custom with Mid 70's Dimarzio Dual sound pickups. It is very muddy and inarticulate. I am pretty sure that I want an Alnico Pro II in the neck. But Can't decide on the bridge pup. Right now am leaning toward the 59b or the Custom Custom.

I want to play Blues/rock ala Clapton, Moore etc and pop rock like U2.

Thanks for the opinions!
Clayton

[Benjy_26]

Re: advice with pickup selection

Welcome to the forum.

For the Clapton (early cream and Bluesbreakers) I'd suggest the Seth Lover set and my personal fave, the Pearly Gates set. For U2, the PG set will work well, as will a pair of 59's set well into the rings.

Also, check out your pots. It might be a good idea to change them out for CTS 500k pots and a pair of Orange Drop caps wouldn't be out of the question either.

[tone4days]

Re: advice with pickup selection

welcome to the forum

if you like the AIIP for the neck, another AIIP for the bridge would be a great choice ... a Pearly Gates bridge would be very cool ... a bit more 'cut' through the mud

good luck
t4d

[claytonc]

Re: advice with pickup selection

bump

[Luke Duke]

Re: advice with pickup selection

Welcome to the forum.

For the Clapton (early cream and Bluesbreakers) I'd suggest the Seth Lover set and my personal fave, the Pearly Gates set. For U2, the PG set will work well, as will a pair of 59's set well into the rings.

Also, check out your pots. It might be a good idea to change them out for CTS 500k pots and a pair of Orange Drop caps wouldn't be out of the question either.

Hey man welcome to the forum!!!

On this one I'm with Benji, check your pots first to see what type they are. I think they were still using 500ks in 71 though.

I have a Jazz neck and an A2P bridge. The neck is smooth and articulate with or without gain, while the bridge is thick with great balance.

If you want to check the thread about pups for a PRS I posted a pickup breakdown that I won't bother wasting room and reposting.

For Cream-esque tone, like from Fresh Cream you'll want to check out the A2 buckers, but for more of a Wheels of Fire sound you'll want to definitely look hard at the A5 mag buckers.

Luke

[John Wymore]

Re: advice with pickup selection

Another vote for doing the electronics upgrade, especially if you feel the guitar is muddy now. The upgrade will brighten and improve the clarity of you guitar quite a bit.

This is a bit of a shameless plug ... but we make a kit the gives you all the upgrade parts you need with matched pots.

I would hold off on a pickup decision until you do the electrical upgrade and then if it's still not to your liking you could try new pickups. I would think Seth's would be a good choice for what you want to do.

John @ Black Rose

[claytonc]

Re: advice with pickup selection

Thanks for the input!

I would have put Seths in it but it has toggle switches between the knobs so the pups can be split and the rest of the hardware is pretty worn. Pretty new gold covers would look out of place.

I am going to replace the pots. I looked at them and they have so much solder it looks like a total mess.

I know that the sloppy solder job can hurt the sound, I just want to gut most of it and start with new pups.

Thanks!