APH-2s no good for "modern" les pauls

[Snake Aces]

Re: APH-2s no good for "modern" les pauls

The slash bridge is IMO the best moderate/vintage output bridge pickup for Hard Rock tones in a Les Paul in Seymours regular production line. I've got it in my 1990 Les Paul which is modern spaced, and I notice no string volume changes compared to the 498t it replaced. It's got chunky lows, aggressive mids, and fat highs. I liked it better than the 78 or brobucker in this particular guitar. Covers are 15 bucks and easily soldered on considering the coils are paper wrapped like a 59, so you won't have to pull off the coil tape to get the cover to fit down correctly. I'm surprised there isn't more love for this pickup on the forum! Or the Perpetual Burn, but that's for another post

I like the Alnico II Pro a lot too, both the bridge and the neck humbuckers are amazing! I have used them in both Les Pauls and in Strats. Great pickups. The '78 is amazing in a 25.5" scale tremolo equipped guitar but for a LP or almost any 24.75" scale guitar I love the Alnico II Pros. They are almost the same as the Slash set. I have not tried the Perpetual Burn yet but I can give love to the Slash set for sure.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: APH-2s no good for "modern" les pauls

my above comments are based on 6 months of research into the SD APH-2s slash pups and personal thoughts and opinions so take it with a grain of salt

When you say "research".......does that include actually trying out a set in a real guitar?

 

[blueman335]

Re: APH-2s no good for "modern" les pauls

I like the Alnico II Pro a lot too, both the bridge and the neck humbuckers are amazing! I have used them in both Les Pauls and in Strats. Great pickups.

+1. Next to Seth's, my favorite Duncan PAF-type PU. Bridge and neck are excellent.

 

[superpete]

Re: APH-2s no good for "modern" les pauls

When you say "research".......does that include actually trying out a set in a real guitar?

 

[Uncle Fred]

Re: APH-2s no good for "modern" les pauls

I don't know about the rest of you but I need talked out of buying more Duncans not into buying them. I'm calling BS here.

 

[Snake Aces]

Re: APH-2s no good for "modern" les pauls

I don't know about the rest of you but I need talked out of buying more Duncans not into buying them. I'm calling BS here.

Oh, you can never have enough Duncans!

 

[blueman335]

Re: APH-2s no good for "modern" les pauls

I don't know about the rest of you but I need talked out of buying more Duncans not into buying them. I'm calling BS here.

'BS' on what? You need to be more specific.

 

[Darg1911]

Re: APH-2s no good for "modern" les pauls

'BS' on what? You need to be more specific.

Maybe on this ... "EVERYONE i have talked to that has tried the APH-2s pups on a modern gibson or epi didnt like the sound and changed them to PAF or back to stock which i think might be in part to the off pole spacing". But then again, "EVERYONE" could be one dude.

 

[Uncle Fred]

Re: APH-2s no good for "modern" les pauls

'BS' on what? You need to be more specific.

To each his own I guess. Every Duncan I ever heard sounded better than Gibson pickups. I bet them Slash pickups sound great in every Les Paul they ever sat in, twice as good as the Gibson pickup they replaced. Might have just been operator error instead.

 

[El Supremo]

Re: APH-2s no good for "modern" les pauls

1. You can always install some covers yourself (or let a tech do it for you).
2. Pole spacing is more of a cosmetic thing. The magnetic field itself is big enough to pick up the outer 2 strings.

Having said that, I couldn't really get along with A2Pros myself. Guess I'm too accustomed to the attack of A5 and Ceramic pickups.

 

[blueman335]

Re: APH-2s no good for "modern" les pauls

I couldn't really get along with A2Pros myself. Guess I'm too accustomed to the attack of A5 and Ceramic pickups.

And most bridge A5's and ceramics are too bright and thin for me. It's all a matter of taste, gear, genres, and how much distortion you use. With the stock magnets, I think A2Ps sound more complex and 'vintage' than '59's.

 

[blueman335]

Re: APH-2s no good for "modern" les pauls

That's a bit of an overstatement. Every Duncan PU isn't great for every genre. I have more Duncan PU's than any other brand, but there are Duncan models I have no interest in owning. For years, I think Gibson's best sounding PAF was BB's with A2's. They've recently stepped up their game and introduced several new PAF's that have been met with a warm reception. They've been making PU's long enough to get a few things right. I still don't understand why the mediocre '57 Classic is stuffed into so many guitar models.

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: APH-2s no good for "modern" les pauls

I dont get the Gibson bashing here. Gibson is a "GUITAR" maker Seymour duncan is a "PICKUP" maker. Sure gibson makes some pickups but that isnt their focus. No one bashes fenders cause the fat 50's arent the be all end all of strat pups.

Along the way Gibson has pushed out a few cool models. The original dirty fingers is cool duncan has nothing like it. Even the 500T is unique and does something that no duncan does. Neither are super versatile but they fill certain niches. There is a rawness and a grit to the 500T that works well for punk and looser styles of metal.

 

[Uncle Fred]

Re: APH-2s no good for "modern" les pauls

I dont get the Gibson bashing here. Gibson is a "GUITAR" maker Seymour duncan is a "PICKUP" maker. Sure gibson makes some pickups but that isnt their focus. No one bashes fenders cause the fat 50's arent the be all end all of strat pups.

Along the way Gibson has pushed out a few cool models. The original dirty fingers is cool duncan has nothing like it. Even the 500T is unique and does something that no duncan does. Neither are super versatile but they fill certain niches. There is a rawness and a grit to the 500T that works well for punk and looser styles of metal.

I agree and say this all the time Gibson is a Guitar Company like Fender both make my favorite 2 guitars and there pickups are ok. They will do if you only have the money for the guitar at first. I rip the pickups out of every one as soon as I can stick Duncans in because they are my favorite pickups. In my opinion the best and sound WAY better than Gibson or Fender pickups for my applications which is playing Classic Rock. We all know Classic Rock was originally done mostly on Gibson and Fender pickups because thats all there was till the mid 70s. So they just didnt have access to Seymour and Larry yet.

There is a reason that names like Jim Marshall, Seymour Duncan, Les Paul, and Leo Fender are said together so much. They are the masters.

 

[uOpt]

Re: APH-2s no good for "modern" les pauls

How is it Duncan's fault that Gibson can't make up their mind about string spacing at the bridge?

Also, I only have old Gibsons, and only ABR-1s.

Do they have newer Gibsons with ABR-1s with the new spacing?

 

[Uncle Fred]

Re: APH-2s no good for "modern" les pauls

Gibson does not use ABR-1 anymore on the USA only Nashvilles and its been the exact same spacing as an ABR-1 for years. The Nashville and the ABR-1 are notched directly above the intonation screws they are basically the same. I have a Gibson ABR-1 and a Nashville currently. The Gibson 2015s used the same old Nashville and nut with wider necks.
The F spaced Dimarzio Gibson T spaced and Duncan Trembuckers will work in a Gibson Bridge position along with Gibson or Regular spaced pickups. This whole thread is actually a BS deal. I have been buying new Les Pauls for years and sticking all those pickups in them. I have owned 10 different Les Pauls now from a 74 up to 2014s I wont buy a 2015. Im basically the guy who has to have 2 Les Pauls and knocks the new off the frets then trades them off for 2 more every 2 years. Im a Gemini LOL.

 

[Uncle Fred]

Re: APH-2s no good for "modern" les pauls

59

2015

Same pickups and spacing ABR-1 vs Nashville

 

[Uncle Fred]

Re: APH-2s no good for "modern" les pauls

Here is a 99 when they were runing 498t, no change in grove location to compensate. I rest my case Defense's turn.

 

[AlexR]

Re: APH-2s no good for "modern" les pauls

^ To be fair, they could have had an entirely new bridge unit fabricated with the saddles fractionally wider.
To convince the jury you'd really need a ruler on each of them.

But even then, the difference wouldn't be huge. And well within the bounds of what you'd expect a pickup to work within.


But this thread is the 'lies, damn lies, and statistics' type. OP sees an effect, sees a statistic and immediately links the two even though there's no causal link between them. Its like the old example: 'In December the Clergy got a pay rise, the sales of alcohol also rose, therefore the Clergy are all alcoholics'.....ignoring the fact that its festive season and you'd expect sales of booze to be higher then.

 

[Uncle Fred]

Re: APH-2s no good for "modern" les pauls

^ To be fair, they could have had an entirely new bridge unit fabricated with the saddles fractionally wider.
To convince the jury you'd really need a ruler on each of them.

But even then, the difference wouldn't be huge. And well within the bounds of what you'd expect a pickup to work within.


But this thread is the 'lies, damn lies, and statistics' type. OP sees an effect, sees a statistic and immediately links the two even though there's no causal link between them. Its like the old example: 'In December the Clergy got a pay rise, the sales of alcohol also rose, therefore the Clergy are all alcoholics'.....ignoring the fact that its festive season and you'd expect sales of booze to be higher then.

I really am not trying to prove much I was just trying to be funny while learning Skynyrd after installing my new 35th Anniversary JB... Alas the spacing is off and it doesn't work right though.