Any ideas? Medium output Les Paul bridge

R

robo

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I have a Les Paul I love. It has a SD59 in neck and a Seth Lover in the bridge. I love it but I do have an Epi Sheraton with a Seth Lover bridge too and I think the guitars sound too similar. What's the use of two guitars if they sound almost the same, right? So I decided to keep the Seth in the Sheraton and go get myself a bridge pu for the Les Paul with a little bit more bite. First idea was DiMarzios classic Superdistortion, but they were too edgy for me.

So I'm basically looking for something between Seth Lovers and Superdistortions. But I have never played anything in that medium output range. Got any ideas? Preferably something working with my good old SD59 bridge that I use in the neck, best Les Paul neck pickup ever IMHO.
 
Re: Any ideas? Medium output Les Paul bridge

59/Custom hybrid should do the trick. You want a pickup that's right down the line between a hot 80s rock humbucker and a PAF. Well guess what? The 59/C has a coil from both, combining both of their respective strengths.
 
Re: Any ideas? Medium output Les Paul bridge

i wouldnt call the wlh medium output, but it is a good pup. c5 is a great bridge pup in a lp. with roughcast or uoa5 its even better
 
Re: Any ideas? Medium output Les Paul bridge

I guess I must be used to high output pickups then, because I would consider the WLH medium output.
 
Re: Any ideas? Medium output Les Paul bridge

Try the antiquity. I have been highly impressed with it in my Les Paul. They handle gain extremely well in my experience.

If you want to get hotter, I love the BKP Rebel Yell and the Duncan Custom.
 
Re: Any ideas? Medium output Les Paul bridge

I've got a '59 in the neck of my Hamer with a DiMarzio Norton in the bridge. Sounds better to me than the JB that was in it, and it's a perfect blend between vintage and modern without being too hot.
 
Re: Any ideas? Medium output Les Paul bridge

Chistopher said:
59/Custom hybrid should do the trick. You want a pickup that's right down the line between a hot 80s rock humbucker and a PAF. Well guess what? The 59/C has a coil from both, combining both of their respective strengths.
Click to expand...

This is the classic 'medium output humbucker' that doesn't quite sound like a PAFand doesn't quite 'feel' like a high output pickup. It really is its own thing.
 
Re: Any ideas? Medium output Les Paul bridge

I think the 59/Custom could be great, but I can't say from personal experience.

The plain old Custom is always a great choice. Seymour describes it as a PAF on steroids, and that's a great description. It has more clarity than the super distortion, and a nicer inherent tone. But, it is a ceramic magnet pickup, so depending on the natural tone of your LP it still might have more bite than you want, but maybe not. It's really a cool pickup.

You might also consider the Brobucker from the custom shop. At 10k, it was deigned specifically to bridge the gap between high output and PAF.

The WHL is not quite as hot as any of the pickups above, but it is like a 59', but with more of everything that's good about the 59'. Louder and more in your face.

The SNS is a hotter pickup at around 9.75 (without double checking) and it really has that 70's arena rock, AOR rock tone, but it's not limited to that either. It has a very balanced tone that doesn't emphasize bass over treble or vice versa.

There are other Custom Shop pickups like the 78' and high voltage, but I think if you go that way the Brobucker would be a better choice. However, unless you just want to splurge on a custom shop pickup, I think you can find what you're looking for from a production pickup.

Good luck.
 
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Re: Any ideas? Medium output Les Paul bridge

The Slash bridge might also work, if you want something with more bite, but not the sharpness of an A5 pickup, which all but the SNS above are .

I was really surprised at how the Slash beefed up my guitar, and it replaced a Seth. It doesn't spec that hot, but has more noticeable grind and beef. The bottom end has just a bit of sag, in the good sense. It also has more top end bite vs. the APH it's redesigned from, but not brittle bite. It's meant to take the inherently darker sounding modern LP's and to give them the old AFD aggression and bite that Slash got from his original Derrig LP copy.
 
Re: Any ideas? Medium output Les Paul bridge

If you can live with the oddball cosmetics, it's really hard to beat a PATB-1 for what you're asking. Go PATB-3 if you want smidgen more "bite".
My 2-cents worth.
 
Re: Any ideas? Medium output Les Paul bridge

ArtieToo said:
If you can live with the oddball cosmetics, it's really hard to beat a PATB-1 for what you're asking. Go PATB-3 if you want smidgen more "bite".
My 2-cents worth.
Click to expand...

I was going to add those as well, but I figured I had pontificated enough already, LOL.
 
Re: Any ideas? Medium output Les Paul bridge

+1 on the Brobucker. For regular production pickups, +1 on the Slash too. And the Hybrid for vintage/modern. Excellent choices all.

I love the Rebel Yell but to me it's a bit beyond medium output - gives a bit of compression. Really good lead voice, fat & biting.

A couple of other hotter-than-vintage suggestions:
PRS 59/09. Rich throaty tone with fantastic touch response. Nice open feel and it cleans up chimey, like a good PAF.
RioGrande Genuine Texas, a neck pickup that does really well at the bridge in a Les Paul. Large sounding. Not smooth, not flabby.
DiMarzio 36th Anniversary bridge - another one that's great in LPs, crisp with a touch of honk. Can play nasty or sweet.
 
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Re: Any ideas? Medium output Les Paul bridge

Alot of great suggestions above. Here are my favorite medium-output pickups (which none of them i have ever used in a LP),

Full Shred-maybe a bit on the hotter side
59/custom hybrid-probably the perfect fit. incredibly versatile.
Dimarzio FRED
Screamin Demon
 
Re: Any ideas? Medium output Les Paul bridge

DMZ 36th Anniversary PAF was pretty cool

Ibanez Super 70 or other A8-swapped PAF winds are fun
 
Re: Any ideas? Medium output Les Paul bridge

This sounds like exactly what the Screamin' Demon did for my Les Paul. Should for the bill perfectly.
 
Re: Any ideas? Medium output Les Paul bridge

Chistopher said:
59/Custom hybrid should do the trick. You want a pickup that's right down the line between a hot 80s rock humbucker and a PAF. Well guess what? The 59/C has a coil from both, combining both of their respective strengths.
Click to expand...

+1. I use one in the bridge of a LP, great pup! Gives me the rawk without being over the top.
 
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