Best pup for absolutely beautiful clean Les Paul bridge

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zionstrat

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In this case it's going to be pop rock country but I'm interested in your thinking overall..

Bonus points if it also crunches well...
 
Do you use your tone knob? Some people refuse to, which makes tone chasing very difficult. I find that it's not possible to get great clean and overdriven sounds without some judicious tone adjustment.

If you do, I am partial to Selth Lovers.
 
Wow. There's some good suggestions. Will check them out!

As far as controls, it's for a customer but I don't think he dials in a lot.

As far as tone, I really think he needs a jazzmaster, but he doesn't want to go 25.5
 
^ Yeah it's super classy. Sounds authentic, vintage, clean, detailed and all that, but is still nice and full, and on top of that can crunch really well too.

I knew people would chime in with the typical Seth/Ant. To me, clank isn't really 'beautiful'. It's more of an acquired taste. Super thin isn't really my thing, so I would never recommend it. But some people like it so maybe it would suit the op.
 
To me, overall, bridge pickup cleans aren't "beautiful". It's either country or surf-inspired "alternative" cleans. Bridge pickup cleans always have got a sense of rebellious aggression... either that, or they are country-twang-inspired. Bridge pickup cleans are kind of an acquired taste to me.
 
Price? Covered or not? Does the player want the nasally focused / slightly compressed tone of machine wound coils or the broader crispier sound of hand wound PU's?...

Is it useful to recall that 50s wiring gives nice clean tones by shifting up the resonant frequency, once the vol and tone pots both @ 2/3?

Several possible references come to my mind: in the Duncan Range, Seth / Ants, yes, but also Jazz... or a NECK Duncan P.A.F. variation in bridge position (tried a PG1N in the bridge slot of a dark guitar recently, and it worked)...

Out of Duncan PU's, I've obtained satisfying clean bridge tones from a bunch of P.A.F. boutique replicas like Skatterbrane Twangbranes or Stephens Design VL1 (non limitative list)... I'd also consider T-Top's (!)... or Doyle coils... or Filter'Tron's? Add 'em a switchable 3.3nF cap in parallel from hot to ground, to have access to a darker P.A.F. voicing.

For Gibson style HB's, generally speaking, I'd rather go for specs in the Early Pat. or T-Top range, with a DCR under 8k... but it depends so much on the guitar, IMHO...

I'd just keep in mind how capacitive the whole wiring can be in a LP: redoing it with low capacitance cables might be useful if maximum twangy clarity is the goal.

FWIW: unfocused rambling of a Sunday morning. Good luck in your quest.
 
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freefrog said:
Price? Covered or not? Does the player want the nasally focused / slightly compressed tone of machine wound coils or the broader crispier sound of hand wound PU's?...

Is it useful to recall that 50s wiring gives nice clean tones by shifting up the resonant frequency, once the vol and tone pots both @ 2/3?

Several possible references come to my mind: in the Duncan Range, Seth / Ants, yes, but also Jazz... or a NECK Duncan P.A.F. variation in bridge position (tried a PG1N in the bridge slot of a dark guitar recently, and it worked)...

Out of Duncan PU's, I've obtained satisfying clean bridge tones from a bunch of P.A.F. boutique replicas like Skatterbrane Twangbranes or Stephens Design VL1 (non limitative list)... I'd also consider T-Top's (!)... or Doyle coils... or Filter'Tron's? Add 'em a switchable 3.3nF cap in parallel from hot to ground, to have access to a darker P.A.F. voicing.

For Gibson style HB's, generally speaking, I'd rather go for specs in the Early Pat. or T-Top range, with a DCR under 8k... but it depends so much on the guitar, IMHO...

I'd just keep in mind how capacitive the whole wiring can be in a LP: redoing it with low capacitance cables might be useful if maximum twangy clarity is the goal.

FWIW: unfocused rambling of a Sunday morning. Good luck in your quest.
Click to expand...

Love your rambling! Always can learn..

Yeah I had mentioned a filtertron, perfect pick up for this.. but he didn't like the idea..

But thanks to you and everyone for a wide range of ideas... I've got a lot of homework to do!
 
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zionstrat said:
In this case it's going to be pop rock country but I'm interested in your thinking overall..

Bonus points if it also crunches well...
Click to expand...

StagMag. In series, crunches and sounds like a Distortion with a mid-peak. In parallel, sounds like a Telecaster bridge. Split almost sounds like a Fender notch position by itself.
 
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