Bridge pickup recommendation for Gibson Midtown Custom

[LETORC]

Hey all,

Long time lurker, first time poster.

Just picked up a used Gibson Midtown and I am looking to replace the bridge pickup. Not a whole lot of info on pickup swapping in these guitars. The Midtown is a "semi hollow" offering Gibson did a few years back, but it's more like a chambered Les Paul sound wise. Theyre pretty much swiss cheesed mahogany bodies with a maple cap and f holes.

I honestly expected to be replacing both pickups right away, but the stock bustbucker 1 in the neck is pretty damn amazing to my ears.

The bridge is where it's lacking to me. I play a lot of hard rock rhythm type stuff, and the alnico ii burstbucker Gibson put there flubs right out.

So I'm looking for a duncan offering that will pair well with the gibson burstbucker 1 in the neck, and has some balls. My initial thought was a custom, but I could be way off base. I will be ordering it with a nickel cover too if that makes a difference.

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: Bridge pickup recommendation for Gibson Midtown Custom

Welcom to the forum.

Whole Lotta Humbucker. You're welcome.

 

[LETORC]

Re: Bridge pickup recommendation for Gibson Midtown Custom

I would not have considered the whole lotta humbuckers.. hmm, got me thinking now, they sound really good.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Bridge pickup recommendation for Gibson Midtown Custom

Yeah! The Whole Lotta Humbucker is a good choice. For a more modern sound, a 59/Custom Hybrid is a good choice, too.

 

[LETORC]

Re: Bridge pickup recommendation for Gibson Midtown Custom

The 59/custom hybrid looks good too... I do tend to play more modern music, so it might be a better fit. What about a normal custom, or a custom 5? Would these still be able to do classic rock if I needed em to?

 

[Mincer]

Re: Bridge pickup recommendation for Gibson Midtown Custom

The Hybrid is better at classic rock than a Custom (too much power) or Custom 5 (too scooped).

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: Bridge pickup recommendation for Gibson Midtown Custom

Pearly Gates might be another option.

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: Bridge pickup recommendation for Gibson Midtown Custom

My thought would be the A2 Burstbucker 3. I really like the BB 1&2 combo in my Les Paul Historics. The 3 is good too, a little hotter, rounder and more mids than the BB 2 I have in the bridge of my guitars.

I don't care for the A5 Burstbuckers.

Hard for me to say which Duncan would be best. I have Seths, Ants, and Gibson '57 Classics in my other Pauls. I do a lot of Classic Rock and Blues with those, but not sure that any of these would pair well with the neck BB 1. I think you should take a good listen to the WLH set and the SNS sets to see if one of those gets you there.

And then there is the BroBucker....

Bill

 

[LETORC]

Re: Bridge pickup recommendation for Gibson Midtown Custom

So I've decided to go with the WLH set, they're on order now. Also going to totally rewire the midtown with 500k cts, in the 50s style. Not sure why Gibson insists on using 300k volume pots. I'll update when all is said and done.

 

[Securb]

Re: Bridge pickup recommendation for Gibson Midtown Custom

So I've decided to go with the WLH set, they're on order now. Also going to totally rewire the midtown with 500k cts, in the 50s style. Not sure why Gibson insists on using 300k volume pots. I'll update when all is said and done.

I think you are going to be a very happy man.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Bridge pickup recommendation for Gibson Midtown Custom

Yeah! Look forward to the 'after' pics and the review. I love that pickup set.

 

[LETORC]

Re: Bridge pickup recommendation for Gibson Midtown Custom

They have arrived!


Alright so I gathered my tools, plugged in the iron, and took off the back control plate of the Midtown. Ummm...


Took me about an hour and a half to replace the volume pots and solder in the new pickups. Working around the wood tested my patience for sure.
Couple shots of the cavity;



And the finished product after a setup with NYXL 1052 strings!


As for the tone.... amazing! These absolutely fixed everything I hated about the burstbuckers. They are much more defined, with a tighter low end. They handle any amount of gain with ease, a vast improvement over the burstbuckers. Will update more after I play it some more. Still tweaking the pickup height and pole pieces.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Bridge pickup recommendation for Gibson Midtown Custom

Wonderful!

It would have been a lot harder to replace the pickups without that backplate. Many semi-hollow Gibsons (and full hollowbodies) don't have a plate on the back, so it all is done through the F holes.