Bright Les Paul with C8

[guitarzinc10]

I have a bright Les Paul Classic with an overwound(15.4k) C5 in the bridge position that I have been trying to bond with for several months now and I'm just not getting there. Different amps, re-eqing, pedals ect. has'nt helped much. The C5 makes the guitar sound brighter. I want this pup to work so I changed the magnet to an A8.
The magnet change has given the pup alot of what it's been needing and I'm happy with the sound so far.
It's going to be a couple of weeks before the next band practice and I'm curious to know if anyone here has a similar set up and is in a two guitar band maybe I could get some info on how this setup works for your situation.
I play hard rock,80's rock ect, and use Marshall and Mesa tube amps.
Thanks in advance.

 

[brunogio]

Re: Bright Les Paul with C8

Lots of posts here say the C5 is too bright but the C8 is the deal in Gibson solidbodies. I had the same mod done to a JB to make it a JB8 and liked the way it sounded a lot but of course it was a different guitar.

 

[Maynardo]

Re: Bright Les Paul with C8

Just out curiosity, how did you manage to get an overwound custom?

 

[guitarzinc10]

Re: Bright Les Paul with C8

Lucky Ebay win. I tested at room temp and got 15.4 and I was thinking it may have been a special order pup. It's also a reverse zebra and I really want it work.

 

[skynyrd]

Re: Bright Les Paul with C8

I just swapped an UOA5 for a A8 in a GFS Vintage 59 bridge pup,, I play mostly southern rock ( go figure ) and blues and classic rock, the A8 beefed up the tone, evened out the brightness and gave it good punch. Play with the mids control on your amp, if you don`t cut through the mix enough around 4-5 don`t be afraid to hit 8-10.

 

[Maynardo]

Re: Bright Les Paul with C8

Go with the Alnico 8, also check your pots, Gibson tends to use 300k volume pots that one of the "secrets" of their "big bottom end".

 

[surface54]

Re: Bright Les Paul with C8

Just out curiosity, how did you manage to get an overwound custom?

sometimes if you check the resistance in hot temps the numbers will get up there. i did it once my tool desktop that has a heat light type light and sure enough the resistance kept going higher and higher the hotter it got around the area.

 

[guitarzinc10]

Re: Bright Les Paul with C8

sometimes if you check the resistance in hot temps the numbers will get up there. i did it once my tool desktop that has a heat light type light and sure enough the resistance kept going higher and higher the hotter it got around the area.

Room temp was like 78 or 79f and I checked it several times over the next few days before being installed and the reading didn't change much. Just lucky.

 

[BloodRose]

Re: Bright Les Paul with C8

The C8 is a great pup! I run them in MANY guitars. I also like the C5 alot too. In my Explorer, I had a c5 and it was close, but the lows were a little too loose. I switched to a C8 and the lows tightened up, the highs got alittle more musical and it added a little more warmth over all. To me, the C8 has much of the same eq curve as the C5, but rolls off alittle from both ends of the chart. (bass and treble) Plus you can season it with alittle eq to get it about anywhere in a mix..

 

[Maynardo]

Re: Bright Les Paul with C8

. To me, the C8 has much of the same eq curve as the C5, but rolls off alittle from both ends of the chart. (bass and treble)

I disagree c5 is scooped, on the other hand c8 has mids to give away for decades

 

[blueman335]

Re: Bright Les Paul with C8

I've switched most of my C8's to C5's with UOA5's, which is a warmer-sounding PU, with more dynmaics and without the in-your-face quality of an A8. I prefer UOA5's over A8's in most HB's. At this point, most of my A8's are in bridge P-90's (A8/A4 and A8/A5).

Some people might describe an A8 as a cross between an A5 and a ceramic. UOA5's are more like a cross between an A5 and an A2. Big difference. There's more emphasis on tone and responsiveness, not output.

I had a C5 in an Epi LP, which wasn't bad, but it was a little bright. I didn't want to put in an A8, because I didn't want the additional output and stiffer sound. At this time the forum had just found out about Addiction FX, and I was probably the first guy here to get UOA5's from him. The UOA5 was perfect in that LP. Rich and full, with vintage dynamics. Still enough treble to get bite and crunch. Great tone. To me, the best of the 'Custom family'.

 

[guitarzinc10]

Re: Bright Les Paul with C8

I just swapped an UOA5 for a A8 in a GFS Vintage 59 bridge pup,, I play mostly southern rock ( go figure ) and blues and classic rock, the A8 beefed up the tone, evened out the brightness and gave it good punch. Play with the mids control on your amp, if you don`t cut through the mix enough around 4-5 don`t be afraid to hit 8-10.

Here in Ga we gots to play them southern rock songs too! We just play em hard and heavy. After I did the mag swap I did some jammin on 3 Steps and Saturday night Special thru a Mesa and 4x12 cab, it was southern metal heaven:firedevil
Cutting thru the mix is a concern, I do 95% of the leads and the rhythm guitarist has a dark tone just above the bass players tone. I'll just crank everything up!