Bright-twangy (Tele) sound in a Les Paul: Pickup suggestions?

Elrond39

Elrond39

New member
Hi there everyone!
Haven't been around in a very long time, but I knew that this is where I'd need to go with my question.

I love the clear, twangy, bright tones of Telecaster guitars (non-distorted, naturally), but I have a Les Paul. I'm looking at upgrading my setup, and this includes a pair of new humbuckers.

If I want a clear, bright tone out of my LP, but still want the nice and heavy distortion I have now, which pickups should I look at? I would prefer a push-pull pot humbucker setup, because it'll give me the most versatility, which is also something I'm looking for.

So far, I've been eyeing the SH-1 '59 model but I'm having difficulty deciding whether to place it bridge or neck (leaning toward neck), and what to pair it with. (Maybe an SH-4 in the bridge?)

My musical style is somewhere between Death Cab for Cutie, Jimmy Ear World, Jets to Brazil, The Promise Ring, The Wedding Present... if any of those sound familiar. :fingersx: Basically, indie/rock/classic-rock tones.

Thanks in advance for your help!
 
Last edited:
Re: Bright-twangy (Tele) sound in a Les Paul: Pickup suggestions?

The Sh-1 is probably your best best.
It may sound wierd but the JB on low gain setting can get a little bit of a tele tone to me.
 
Re: Bright-twangy (Tele) sound in a Les Paul: Pickup suggestions?

Why not just save up some more money and get a tele? A used MIM would be a great back up to your LP.
 
Re: Bright-twangy (Tele) sound in a Les Paul: Pickup suggestions?

True enough... Not rolling in the cash though, and left-handed :smack: ...

Besides, I love the look of my LP and (with a bit of tweaking) it could last me for another couple of years. I want the most versatility and style I can get out of one guitar... I already have 4 as it is :) (LP, 12-string Simon & Patrick acoustic, Takamine elect--acoust and a Taylor straight acoustic).
 
Re: Bright-twangy (Tele) sound in a Les Paul: Pickup suggestions?

I've heard that split JB's and Jazz's sound great...might get you close to a twangy sound.
 
Re: Bright-twangy (Tele) sound in a Les Paul: Pickup suggestions?

only guitar that sounds tele-ish is tele.
It's got to do with body shape, the way the pickups are mounted and the actual tele pickups. You will never be satisfied by hacking ur LP and it will never sound like a tele coz it aint a tele . Like the man said earlier just get overr it and go buy a cheap tele and put some decent pickups in it. SD broacaster and STR1 is the best.
 
Re: Bright-twangy (Tele) sound in a Les Paul: Pickup suggestions?

Elrond39 said:
Hi there everyone!
Haven't been around in a very long time, but I knew that this is where I'd need to go with my question.

I love the clear, twangy, bright tones of Telecaster guitars (non-distorted, naturally), but I have a Les Paul. I'm looking at upgrading my setup, and this includes a pair of new humbuckers.

If I want a clear, bright tone out of my LP, but still want the nice and heavy distortion I have now, which pickups should I look at? I would prefer a push-pull pot humbucker setup, because it'll give me the most versatility, which is also something I'm looking for.

So far, I've been eyeing the SH-1 '59 model but I'm having difficulty deciding whether to place it bridge or neck (leaning toward neck), and what to pair it with. (Maybe an SH-4 in the bridge?)

My musical style is somewhere between Death Cab for Cutie, Jimmy Ear World, Jets to Brazil, The Promise Ring, The Wedding Present... if any of those sound familiar. :fingersx: Basically, indie/rock/classic-rock tones.

Thanks in advance for your help!
Click to expand...

I think that you'd use the Tone Wizard on "country/blues" setting. I think for this it recommends usually the Seth Lover, Antiquity Humbucker, or '59. The Jazz might also work (split) due to it having a bit more treble. I'm not sure if this is what you're asking.
 
Re: Bright-twangy (Tele) sound in a Les Paul: Pickup suggestions?

TwinReverb said:
I think that you'd use the Tone Wizard on "country/blues" setting. I think for this it recommends usually the Seth Lover, Antiquity Humbucker, or '59. The Jazz might also work (split) due to it having a bit more treble. I'm not sure if this is what you're asking.
Click to expand...

That sounds like a solid piece of advice, and close to what I'm asking, thanks! :)

And now for a terrible newb-question: the SH-1, SH-4 and SH-2 can all be hooked up to push-pull pots, yes? They sound like what I'm looking for, and going single-coil at times would give me the lightness I'm looking for.

Leaning more towards SH-2 Neck and SH-4 Bridge at the moment.
 
Last edited:
Re: Bright-twangy (Tele) sound in a Les Paul: Pickup suggestions?

Elrond39 said:
That sounds like a solid piece of advice, and close to what I'm asking, thanks! :)

And now for a terrible newb-question: the SH-1, SH-4 and SH-2 can all be hooked up to push-pull pots, yes? They sound like what I'm looking for, and going single-coil at times would give me the lightness I'm looking for.

Leaning more towards SH-2 Neck and SH-4 Bridge at the moment.
Click to expand...

Read their descriptions on the SD page:

The '59 usually comes "single conductor", so no, it will not come with that ability, not without buying it specifically with the four-wire connection.

However, the Jazz comes four-wire by default.

The Seth Lover does not come with four-wire by default either, and is also not wax potted (read: not for use with amplifiers more powerful than 50 watts), so you'd need to order it four wire, and possibly wax-potted (which could mean a custom shop order).

The Antiquity is (in my opinion) an ultra-vintage reproduction of a 40 year old pickup made by Seth Lover. As such, it's also not four-wire, and not wax-potted. You can custom order, like I said, the Seth Lover itself to come in four-wire with wax potting, but it's really up to you.
 
Re: Bright-twangy (Tele) sound in a Les Paul: Pickup suggestions?

TwinReverb said:
Read their descriptions on the SD page:

The '59 usually comes "single conductor", so no, it will not come with that ability, not without buying it specifically with the four-wire connection.

However, the Jazz comes four-wire by default.

The Seth Lover does not come with four-wire by default either, and is also not wax potted (read: not for use with amplifiers more powerful than 50 watts), so you'd need to order it four wire, and possibly wax-potted (which could mean a custom shop order).

The Antiquity is (in my opinion) an ultra-vintage reproduction of a 40 year old pickup made by Seth Lover. As such, it's also not four-wire, and not wax-potted. You can custom order, like I said, the Seth Lover itself to come in four-wire with wax potting, but it's really up to you.
Click to expand...

So a standard SH-2 (Neck) and SH-4 (Bridge) setup would be pp-able, as they both come with four-conductor hook up cables? Thanks for your help! (I won't be installing them myself, thank goodness, I'd make a right pigs-ear out of it... :eek:
 
Re: Bright-twangy (Tele) sound in a Les Paul: Pickup suggestions?

Elrond39 said:
So a standard SH-2 (Neck) and SH-4 (Bridge) setup would be pp-able, as they both come with four-conductor hook up cables? Thanks for your help! (I won't be installing them myself, thank goodness, I'd make a right pigs-ear out of it... :eek:
Click to expand...

Well what I'm saying is you can get a '59 or Seth Lover built like you want it, but it's up to you. The Jazz has more highs, but it won't really sound as country as the others. Still, the Hot Rodded combo, split, can do a decent job with country. In my opinion it's more the effects and EQ than the pickups, so long as the pickups sound good clean: just add brightness (or flip brightness switch on amp to "on"), and a slap-back delay effect, and/or some spring reverb if it's vintage country, etc. The Hot Rodded combo is as versatile as they come (in my opinion). I don't play country music, but I play some music once in a while in church that gets a bit close to that genre. If you're talking distorted country, almost anything will do. If it's clean and bright country, again, clean pickups with brightness added will almost always do the trick (but the "true" sound is supposedly a Telecaster for bright and clean country).

Case in point, some of Paul Beloche's stuff that his lead guitarist does borders on Nashville Country style, i.e. Tele and effects, and the Hot Rodded combo can do a good job "covering" such things (since I've had to cover some of them).
 
Last edited:
Re: Bright-twangy (Tele) sound in a Les Paul: Pickup suggestions?

TwinReverb said:
Well what I'm saying is you can get a '59 or Seth Lover built like you want it, but it's up to you. The Jazz has more highs, but it won't really sound as country as the others. Still, the Hot Rodded combo, split, can do a decent job with country. In my opinion it's more the effects and EQ than the pickups, so long as the pickups sound good clean.
Click to expand...

Exactly, that clean sound is what I'm looking for. The stock pickups in my Epi LP custom are a bit muddy when clean, but they do a decent job distorted. It's a clear, bright clean sound I'm looking for.

If anyone has any other suggestions, please, send them my way. I'm open to suggestions, so long as I can push/pull them, and they sound good clean.
 
Re: Bright-twangy (Tele) sound in a Les Paul: Pickup suggestions?

Elrond39 said:
Exactly, that clean sound is what I'm looking for. The stock pickups in my Epi LP custom are a bit muddy when clean, but they do a decent job distorted. It's a clear, bright clean sound I'm looking for.

If anyone has any other suggestions, please, send them my way. I'm open to suggestions, so long as I can push/pull them, and they sound good clean.
Click to expand...

The pickups I would consider as being "bright" would be the Jazz, Pearly Gates, George Lynch Screamin' Demon, Custom, and Distortion. Of those, the Jazz is going to sound cleanest, followed by the Pearly Gates. However, the Tone Wizard recommends either a '59 or Jazz for the neck of your guitar when playing country.
 
Re: Bright-twangy (Tele) sound in a Les Paul: Pickup suggestions?

I play some country with Tele's and with bucker equipped guitars. Les Paul, HH Tele style, HH Strat Style, HHS Semihollow, HSH VW from Warmoth and others. No bucker is going to get a real 25.5" tele with a decent tele pickup and bridge. There are some that are closer. I have not found a guitar I like a Jazz in at this point. It is too harsh for me in the highs. It works great for others though, and in the neck does a darn good minibucker tone (which Brent Mason makes work very well!). For the bridge, in a clear to gritty country tones the pups I like are the 59, C5 and Seth Lover. The three main HH guitars I use if I am going that path for country have these at this time. LP with Seth Anniv., VW with C5 and the Semi with the 59TB.
 
Re: Bright-twangy (Tele) sound in a Les Paul: Pickup suggestions?

I'd put some real Tele pickups in your LP, by using conversion rings
 
Re: Bright-twangy (Tele) sound in a Les Paul: Pickup suggestions?

I like Larry's idea -- you could have a Tele bridge wound extra hot, like over 10k for some humbucker beef, and then have a tap in it to bring it back to vintage if you like. Anybody make one of those conversion rings?
 
Re: Bright-twangy (Tele) sound in a Les Paul: Pickup suggestions?

There are some made for strat pickup sizes but i havent seen any for tele pickups....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

S
Just how bright is the Pearly Gates Bridge?
Replies
7
Views
131
slyfox
S
O
APH-1 neck vs bridge and SH-11 questions.
Replies
15
Views
237
jeremy
jeremy
N
Sweep picking on a Les Paul
Replies
6
Views
122
Archer250
Archer250
Rex_Rocker
  • Poll Poll
Which of these would you choose for a Les Paul?
2 3
Replies
42
Views
529
soulforger
soulforger
K
  • Poll Poll
Jazz JB or Jazz 59
2
Replies
26
Views
412
ToneFiddler
ToneFiddler
Back
Top