kaknight
New member
My new Les Paul came from heritage with a CC in the bridge (by my request). since I have a C5 lying around, I thought I would do a comparison. Let me start out by giving you my rig lowdown:
guitar - les paul standard custom order ala Heritage
gain - keeley ts9
amp - fender twin - modded to 60w with kt66hp tubes
I play mostly classic rock, some blues, and some newer rock. I play a lot of medium gain stuff.
The difference between the two pups in the guitar were subtler than I thought. In my PRS, the C5 made a huge tone difference compared to it's stock pup (Dragon), but not so in the LP. My LP really sounds like an LP - bright warm complex on top with a tight bottom. The CC really did make the tones for soloing smooth and rich. The low e and a strings were definetely a more vintage sounding (not that much bass). I initially ordered this guitar with the CC because my rig is a bit bright. I wanted something a bit mellower than the tone I had been getting in my PRS. I think that the CC did a great job of taming the top end and smoothing out the overall tone of the bridge, but oddly my LP has far less bottom end than my PRS. I think regardless of the pickup the PRS has just much more bass tone to the guitar. Both are maple capped mahogony, and about the same weight, so I don't know why this would be the case, but just listening to each unplugged it is obviously the case. Switching out the CC for the C5 made a subtle difference. The top end did brighten up a bit, which I wasn't super excited about. But the beauty was the bottom end that warmed up nicely. In my PRS the C5's bottom end tended to dominate the tone. It was just huge full "chunka chunka" that was kinda overpowering my "vintage rock" style tone. In the LP on the other hand, it warmed it up just enough to give the guitar a rich bottom end. I found that by rolling my tone down to 8, I got just a warm, very mid focused, sounding tone yet still with a lot of bottom end.
The CC's tone in a LP I would compare more to Slash's tone than anything else. it has a lot of mids, and a lot of top end (even though the top is very smooth), but not a heap on the bottom. I think that this pup is great for playing in a band with a strong bassist. When I was playing solos I found that I could cut over other music well. The C5 on the other hand, I think is a great pup for belting out a warmer fuller tone. I think that it wouldn't work quite as well in a band with a lot of bass noise as so much of this tone might get lost. It would leave you with more of the top end. since a LP makes so much mid tones however, I think that this pup/guitar combo might still work well in a band situation. As I played rythm I found that the higher stings shown through very well over other musicians giving great articulation. soloing sounded great with the tone rolled down to 7-8.
Overall, I can see why people recommend the CC for strat type guitars that already have a lot of lower mids. I would guess that the CC would give them a much fuller smoother sound from the bridge position. I can also see why people like the C5 in a LP. As opposed to what I originally thought, the added bass response can bring a LP to life. As for me, I think that the jury is still out. I'll have to do some more jamming before I decide which should sit there permanently.
guitar - les paul standard custom order ala Heritage
gain - keeley ts9
amp - fender twin - modded to 60w with kt66hp tubes
I play mostly classic rock, some blues, and some newer rock. I play a lot of medium gain stuff.
The difference between the two pups in the guitar were subtler than I thought. In my PRS, the C5 made a huge tone difference compared to it's stock pup (Dragon), but not so in the LP. My LP really sounds like an LP - bright warm complex on top with a tight bottom. The CC really did make the tones for soloing smooth and rich. The low e and a strings were definetely a more vintage sounding (not that much bass). I initially ordered this guitar with the CC because my rig is a bit bright. I wanted something a bit mellower than the tone I had been getting in my PRS. I think that the CC did a great job of taming the top end and smoothing out the overall tone of the bridge, but oddly my LP has far less bottom end than my PRS. I think regardless of the pickup the PRS has just much more bass tone to the guitar. Both are maple capped mahogony, and about the same weight, so I don't know why this would be the case, but just listening to each unplugged it is obviously the case. Switching out the CC for the C5 made a subtle difference. The top end did brighten up a bit, which I wasn't super excited about. But the beauty was the bottom end that warmed up nicely. In my PRS the C5's bottom end tended to dominate the tone. It was just huge full "chunka chunka" that was kinda overpowering my "vintage rock" style tone. In the LP on the other hand, it warmed it up just enough to give the guitar a rich bottom end. I found that by rolling my tone down to 8, I got just a warm, very mid focused, sounding tone yet still with a lot of bottom end.
The CC's tone in a LP I would compare more to Slash's tone than anything else. it has a lot of mids, and a lot of top end (even though the top is very smooth), but not a heap on the bottom. I think that this pup is great for playing in a band with a strong bassist. When I was playing solos I found that I could cut over other music well. The C5 on the other hand, I think is a great pup for belting out a warmer fuller tone. I think that it wouldn't work quite as well in a band with a lot of bass noise as so much of this tone might get lost. It would leave you with more of the top end. since a LP makes so much mid tones however, I think that this pup/guitar combo might still work well in a band situation. As I played rythm I found that the higher stings shown through very well over other musicians giving great articulation. soloing sounded great with the tone rolled down to 7-8.
Overall, I can see why people recommend the CC for strat type guitars that already have a lot of lower mids. I would guess that the CC would give them a much fuller smoother sound from the bridge position. I can also see why people like the C5 in a LP. As opposed to what I originally thought, the added bass response can bring a LP to life. As for me, I think that the jury is still out. I'll have to do some more jamming before I decide which should sit there permanently.
