Epiphone Les Paul Junior Pickup

[John Albers]

I recently pick up a junior with a humbucker. It’s a 2007 made by Samick. Bolt on Neck. Really good fret work, intonation is spot on. I bought it to learn how to mod and work on my own guitars. I play mostly rock and blues and I’m looking for a pickup that would give me a nice warm tone. I play through a Hotrod Deluxe and a small Marshall tube amp. I’m leaning towards a classic 59 but I’m open to suggestion. I do like learning songs from Leslie West. Would the 59 be a good choice. Also when order do I choose bridge position since he junior only has one pickup.
thanks

 

[jeremy]

welcome to the forum!

leslie west had a p90 in his jr. you could put in a phat cat, which is a humbucker sized p90. not everyone loves them but i think the bridge, especially in a jr like yours, would be great. if you want to go humbucker, a 59b is a solid choice. i love a pgb in something like this too. what ever pup you get, a bridge model will almost always be a better choice.

 

[Securb]

I would go with a P-Rails. You would have the P90 and single (rail) for your classic rock and blues stuff. The humbucker is hot and will work for your harder rock stuff. You can get a lot of versatility of tone out of a single humbucker guitar.

 

[Aceman]

I vote for the Phat Cat.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

59 has body and sparkle with slightly scooped mids, often very good in mahogany guitars.
But an Alnico Pro II would be warmer & smoother, with much richer midrange.
Either way, IMO you definitely want a bridge version.

Are you certain a warm pickup is what you really want, though?
You can always roll off the tone to darken a bright pickup; it's harder to add treble to a dark sound.
A bright pickup also yields a strong initial transient, giving a bite that smoother pickups can't match.
I think fairly prominent pick attack is a significant component of Leslie West's tone.

I might consider the Pearly Gates bridge, instead. Very popular for Gibsons.
It's crisp & aggressive yet also has a vintagey sound & feel.

That's if you're going for a standard humbucker, rather than a hum-sized P90 or the P-rails.

 

[Demanic]

I would go with a P-Rails. You would have the P90 and single (rail) for your classic rock and blues stuff. The humbucker is hot and will work for your harder rock stuff. You can get a lot of versatility of tone out of a single humbucker guitar.

Custom custom with a series/parallel push pull.

Sent from my SM-A115A using Tapatalk

 

[Mincer]

I thought you were right on target with the 59. If you want more vintage blues and rock, look at the Antiquity.

 

[beaubrummels]

With a HRD or small Marshall, coping Leslie West, in bolt-on junior, I'd go Custom or 59/Custom. Bonus for push-pull pots. Customs do a great Fender sound split, which gets you to blues territory, especially if you play up toward the neck with the split coil. With two push pulls, you could make a triple-shot and get all the sounds. Screw coil is like a low-powered punk P-90, slug coil is like a Strat, parallel coils is like a Tele and full humbucker is face-melting rock.

 

[John Albers]

Thank you everyone for your feedback. It’s either going to be a Phat Cat or 59 or Pearly Gate. As I said I’m looking for a warm tone but bright tone is more flexible since I play thru two great amps and have good tone control on the guitar.
I appreciate your suggestions

 

[Mincer]

Thank you everyone for your feedback. It’s either going to be a Phat Cat or 59 or Pearly Gate. As I said I’m looking for a warm tone but bright tone is more flexible since I play thru two great amps and have good tone control on the guitar.
I appreciate your suggestions

Let us know how this project turns out in the end (with pics).