adding a pick up 1957 custom black beauty

[instant100]

hi,
i've got a 2 pickup 1957 les paul custom reissue with two pick ups. i'd like to install 3 seymour duncans Antiquities for a 1957 3 pickup look. someone told me to make sure the pickups are balanced. how can i tell if the pickups are balanced. i'm new to humbuckers and not sure what balanced means....maybe the number of winds?

i'd add the 11014-05 and the 11014-01. which one would i use for the middle pickup?

thanks
dave

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: adding a pick up 1957 custom black beauty

Balanced means the output. You wouldn't want a Distortion in the bridge with a Jazz in the middle - too far apart in the spectrum volume-wise.

Other than that, I can't help you with the choices. Antiquities aren't my thang.


However, are you going 4-conductor or are these old-skool hot and ground only?

If you're going 4-con, you might try wiring the middle up using the green instead of the black to get that out-of-phase thing happening.

If it's 2-con, well, I dunno :lol:

 

[hamerfan]

Re: adding a pick up 1957 custom black beauty

Ant are my thing. You have to buy a Bridge version for the Middle, since the middle slot is volume wise similar to the Bridge slot.
Another thought: These Ants have demagnetized magnet to duplicate the age of this pickups. As other forum bros i did swap out the mag of the bridge slot to a full magnetized A2 to get more bass out of it. So i would go:
In the neck the Ant neck, in the middle the Ant bridge with the lower resistance reading (you can see it on certificate that come with every Ant) and the bridge the Bridge Ant with the higher reading and you want to swap out the magnet to a full charged A2. This would be balanced.
To swap out the magnet read here:
http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/barmagswap.htm

 

[LtKojak]

Re: adding a pick up 1957 custom black beauty

I've had one Custom Black Beauty w/two p'ups. It was a killer guitar that I sold because I was young and stupid.

I wouldn't dream of putting another p'up in the middle as it gets in the way of the pick.

Before doing that, go to some shop and play a three-p'up Lester extensively before you do anything, as there's no turning back once it's done.

HTH,

 

[Diocletian]

Re: adding a pick up 1957 custom black beauty

Bridge = A2Pro
Middle = Phat Cat
Neck = '59

Perfection.

It's an Epi, not a Gibby, but if you played it you'd never know, or care.

 

[Diocletian]

Re: adding a pick up 1957 custom black beauty

I wouldn't dream of putting another p'up in the middle as it gets in the way of the pick.

Eh?! :cool2: Are you using a dinner plate as a pick?

 

[Aceman]

Re: adding a pick up 1957 custom black beauty

Some people are messed up by the middle pup. Sucks for them. Kinda like the strat volume pot. It's an individual thing...I recommend trying before buying.

And on a real 57, all three pups were the same output (theoretically...). Two necks and a bridge. They didn't make balanced sets back then.

 

[blueman335]

Re: adding a pick up 1957 custom black beauty

Some people are messed up by the middle pup. Sucks for them. Kinda like the strat volume pot. It's an individual thing...I recommend trying before buying.

+1. I've had middle HB's routed into a few guitars, and came to regret each one. The tones are poor, even though that same PU sounds great in the neck or bridge. Something to do with the harmonic nodes of the string & middle HB's; the placement is inherently flawed. Weak, puny sounds. And a middle HB is a big bulky thing that adds weight & makes picking difficult. We've had a few threads about middle HB's, and no one could come up with a big-name player that really uses theirs. If you want more tone options, put the 21 sound Jimmy Page system in a LP Custom or Std. You'll get more usable tones from that than a triple HB guitar. Honest, I have both.

I love ebony LP Customs, one of the world's most beautiful guitars, but I'd never get a Black Beauty. No upsides to offset the downsides. Big disappointment.

 

[Diocletian]

Re: adding a pick up 1957 custom black beauty

No upsides?
They look freakin' awesome! Three gold pickups in a black Les Paul just looks better than two.

 

[Aceman]

Re: adding a pick up 1957 custom black beauty

Don't get me wrong - I totally dig triple buckers, for obvious reasons. I really use only two/three sounds per guitar anyway, so 21 switchable doesn't do anything for me either...and a lot of those sounds are junk too!

I just happen to pick right in the gap between the bridge/middle buckers, so it doesn't bother me at all.

 

[metlking]

Re: adding a pick up 1957 custom black beauty

Factory Triple pickup Les Pauls = Super Cool!

Factory Double pickup Les Pauls with a middle pickup added = something you'll regret.

..............and the resale value will suffer dramatically!

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: adding a pick up 1957 custom black beauty

+1. I've had middle HB's routed into a few guitars, and came to regret each one. The tones are poor, even though that same PU sounds great in the neck or bridge. Something to do with the harmonic nodes of the string & middle HB's; the placement is inherently flawed.

Pretty much true, with standard humbuckers anyway. The two sets of poles miss/straddle the classic middle pu harmonic node we think of. I had a Lucille routed for a middle pu and the standard bucker just didn't cut it. Eventually a put a Gibson gold mini-hum in that slot. It looked weird but it sounded great. A Phat Cat should also work because it zeroes in on the right node, especially if it's underwound. My concern would be those two bar magnets reaching out and altering the magnetic field of the other two pu's. I'd go with a rod mag Phat Cat.

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: adding a pick up 1957 custom black beauty

Personally I've never understood how a middle pickup gets in the way. You don't have to dig that deep to pick a string. My picking speed increases with middle pickups, especially hums, because they prevent the pick from going too far down into the strings.

As for adding a pickup reducing resale value, there are tons of Les Pauls out there for everyone else to go after, and they're sold and bought to play, not as investments. Charles Schwab can help you with investing. Guitars are for music, not the lottery.

 

[Mpcoluv]

Re: adding a pick up 1957 custom black beauty

With the factory wiring scheme, the middle pup doesn't do all that much.
They look cool however....

 

[blueman335]

Re: adding a pick up 1957 custom black beauty

No upsides?
They look freakin' awesome! Three gold pickups in a black Les Paul just looks better than two.

Yeah, but they're awkward to play & the middle HB is pretty much worthless as far as decent tones go. That makes a twin HB Custom look a lot better. It's not weighted down with an unnecessary anchor.

 

[Aceman]

Re: adding a pick up 1957 custom black beauty

Throw a tap on there and you can instantly go sing/sing/hum. There are a ton of things you could do with triple buckers, but they all require either: Cool wiring schemes or an unusual combination of buckers.

I say do it for the cool looks factor. And I also think with a fade in knob that a PG/distortion neck/Custom combo would be awesome.

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: adding a pick up 1957 custom black beauty

Just wire the middle to a push/pull pot, wire the other two up standard on the toggle and you have all 7 possible combos. That's what I did with the Lucille.

 

[blueman335]

Re: adding a pick up 1957 custom black beauty

Pretty much true, with standard humbuckers anyway. The two sets of poles miss/straddle the classic middle pu harmonic node we think of...My concern would be those two bar magnets reaching out and altering the magnetic field of the other two pu's.

+1. Middle HB's don't work. Almost no one uses them. Most guys that have them don't want another guitar with one, or sell the one they have. In 50 years virtually no manufacturers copied Gibson/Epiphone, whereas everybody copied the HSS & HSH concept. Triple HB's were a dud from the word go. Looks gets you just so far. What more proof do you need?

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: adding a pick up 1957 custom black beauty

I want a 3-pup Custom though. And the middle pu will be a rod mag Phat Cat style with a gold cover at about 6k. And the tones will be killer.

 

[blueman335]

Re: adding a pick up 1957 custom black beauty

I totally dig triple buckers, for obvious reasons. I really use only two/three sounds per guitar anyway, so 21 switchable doesn't do anything for me either.

The only non-cosmetic reason for a middle HB is extra tones. Since it's tones unfortunately suck, I suggested a much better way get get more usable tones. It's obviously not for everyone, but the Jimmy Page doesn't add unneeded weight to an already heavy guitar & get in the way of most guy's picking. Want more tones? Try some alternative wirings with your two HB's. Don't need extra tones? Then don't bother with a middle HB.