3 humbucker Les Paul update

[nalo1022]

A while ago I asked for recommendations on pickups for my 3 humbucker Epi LP. Today my final pickup arrived. I now have a Pearly Gates in the neck (older one wound by MJ), a '59 bridge in the middle, and an Alnico II Pro in the bridge. The wiring is custom with a 6-way rotary and p/p pots to allow for that essentially give me LP and Strat wiring (the p/p pots can split each pickup individually). Here is the diagram if anyone is interested http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad179/nalo1022/3hum5wayswitchCustomMkIII.png

All I can say is amazing! The sound has exceeded my expectations. The A2Pb is awesome, the PGn has been a favorite for a while, and the '59 sounds great in the middle position. I've had alot of people help me with deciding on the right pickups, and also in debugging the wiring, and would liek to send out a boat load of thanks to anyone who has chimed in. I know everyone is going to start asking for soundclips. I'm busy until the weekend, but I will do my best to get some up then. Once again thank you to everyone who has contributed to this project. I'm still not done though got to get all the extra little parts (gold covers, mouting screws, pole pieces). Think 3 pickup Black Beauty, but with a black trans top over flamed maple.:naughty:

 

[blueman335]

Re: 3 humbucker Les Paul update

Well done!

 

[Travis H]

Re: 3 humbucker Les Paul update

Wow I want to hear that sucker.

 

[Gingrel]

Re: 3 humbucker Les Paul update

wow i want to hear that sucker.

+1

 

[Gingrel]

Re: 3 humbucker Les Paul update

Think 3 pickup Black Beauty, but with a black trans top over flamed maple.:naughty:

I like the sound of this... Gold hardware??

 

[Aceman]

Re: 3 humbucker Les Paul update

Tell us what you like about the various pup combo's or solo pup tones in each position.

 

[Diocletian]

Re: 3 humbucker Les Paul update

Not sure I'd like a 59 in the middle, but I can certainly agree the A2P is awesome in the bridge of an Epi Black Beauty.

 

[nalo1022]

Re: 3 humbucker Les Paul update

@Gingrel Yes there will be gold hardware. I already have a gold TOM and tailpiece, as well as gold tophats. The tuning machines aren't gold but they are Gibson Historic spec tuners I got a great deal on awhile ago so I might not change those for a while. I still have to get the covers etc and need to get the money for that.

@Aceman The pickups all blend really well together. Until I get my 6 way rotary I have small breadboard in the control cavity. the allows me to jumper different combinations really easily without having to heat up the soldering iron. I also discovered that a 1 meg pot would sound best, looks liek I may have to customize the p/p pots lol.

solo:
The PGn in the neck is one of my favorite neck pickups. The low end is creamy without sounding muffled, the topend is chimey with just enough bite to get dirty when I want, and the mids are perfect thick but crystal clear.
The '59 in the middle is amazing the highs have been tamed, the mids are deep, and the bass is like a warm sweater (thats good lol). Overall the '59 sounds more even across the spectrum and there is a certain snap /quack in the middle that gives it almost a country tone.
The A2P in the bridge is perfect for this setup its got a nice warm deep growl and the high end is crisp and clear but not over the top. This may be my new favorite bridge pickup.
combinations:
With the wiring I am doing in certain when the pickups are split and combined I have it so that one is a north coil and the other a south coil to provide hum canceling. For example if both the neck and middle pickup are split and both are selected you get the north coil of the PG and the south coil of the 59 combined in parallel. These combinations give a decent strat-like sound. They are very low output (like 2-3k), but I like them. They have a silky chimey sound. The low output gives them a very interesting dimension like a ghostly acoustic sound.

I haven't had a chance to really try everything indepth, but this weekend I will try to get sound clips up of the various combinations. Granted my wiring gives 18 different options so it might just be some of the best. lol

 

[Aceman]

Re: 3 humbucker Les Paul update

Well done!

You are such a LIAR! You are the ANTICHRIST of three humbucker guitars.

I have to say, I find his choices interesting. The PG/A2P makes total sense.

But the 59 in the middle....very interesting. I can see what he says about the 'whole spectrum' thing. Not as boomy as a 59 in the neck, not as harsh as one in the bridge. I'm having trouble seeing what it will add to the other two though.

I do think the 1 meg pot was a good call.

 

[blueman335]

Re: 3 humbucker Les Paul update

You are such a LIAR! You are the ANTICHRIST of three humbucker guitars.

I have to say, I find his choices interesting. The PG/A2P makes total sense.

But the 59 in the middle....very interesting. I can see what he says about the 'whole spectrum' thing. Not as boomy as a 59 in the neck, not as harsh as one in the bridge.

I love his enthusiasm & the thought he put into this. Not afraid to experiment. We need more guys like him. As long as he's happy with his middle HB, that's all that matters. Many of us prefer a single coil there, but the choice is his. Hey, I have a couple HHH guitars myself, an SG Custom & a 355, with Phat Cats in the middle.

Nalo: keep doing what you're doing. And keep us updated.

 

[nalo1022]

Re: 3 humbucker Les Paul update

lol thank you very much. My goal with this was to have a unique guitar that could give me a classic LP sound, but also various unique tones while still being easy to use and fairly stock looking. If I want to simply plug in and play I can and the 5 way rotary gives me the usual LP switching options plus 2 more, but If I want to experiment with different pickup combinations I can have any pickup I want split and combined with any other pickup and still have hum canceling. The sounds are great, when the guitar is done it will be my own personal take on a classic, and I have given new life to guitar that has a lot of great memories and will have more to come. I get to have my cake, eat it too!

 

[Gingrel]

Re: 3 humbucker Les Paul update

mmmmmm... guitarcake!

 

[hamerfan]

Re: 3 humbucker Les Paul update

I still have to get the covers etc and need to get the money for that.

I did a lot of swapping around with gold covers. First of all its hard to get good covers even today.
Don't even think about getting used ones from ebay. Most of them are sound killing machines. They are made of brass with a thick layer of copper under the the gold.
Even if you get good pure nickelsilver ones with a thin layer of gold, you will hear a loss of highs. The thicker the gold plating is the worse is the loss. There is an interview with the late Seth Lover who expirenced this loss with gold covers. Even the gold plated screw help to that loss.
I ended using only gold screws with double creme pickups on one guitar and double black with gold screws on the other.

Sold all gold covers, have still a gold covered 59n and a PhatCat B.

My .02

 

[hamerfan]

Re: 3 humbucker Les Paul update

I think the combos are quite good. I recently swapped a PGN with a SethN. I lost a bit of snap in the highs but had a bit more open tone. Then i put in a A3 and its now near to perfect.