Re: Gibson help
In the bridge you have basically 2 options. Do you wanna have a tight and present bass, and a separated eq curve (meaning not that much lowermids), and biting highs? (Think of Jimmy Page.) Or do you wanna get a spongy bass, smooth lowermids, some amount of uppermids (the amount being your choice because there you have two alternatives), and smooth (not that textured) highs?
For the first option a5 PAF clones is what you need to get. There are 2 options that Duncan offers as far as PAF clones are concerned. 59 Bridge (henceforth 59b) and Jazz Bridge. 59B is not as clear as JazzB, but is a great Jimmy Page pickup. It can cover a lot of ground for you. The bass as I said would be present and very noticable. But I don't think it would be overbearing. Generally the highs might be a problem with those a5s but since you have a bassy and full LP, I think an a5 bridge PAF clone would sound real good. Decide for yourself how much clarity you like. Jazz B would sound better clean, but also would give a "wilder" overdriven tone. So it's your choice.
Now for the second option, you have a more variety of alternatives.
The first being the seths. Those are rather eq wise flat PAF clones. They have a nasal honk which generally is attributed to the original PAFs. Duncan designed them with Seth Lover who is the original designer of HBs. It is not potted (so theoretically non-potted pickup could squeel at high volumes if not wound right) but do not worry. I had 7 non-wax potted duncan PAF clones and none of them had a uncontrollable sqling issue. I suppose you are not a metal head running an overdrive pedal into a masa dual recto. No? Non-wax potted pickups (I'd say) has a 3d clarity that I do not hear in any of the potted pickups I tried. That's the good thing about wax potting, and seths do have that 3d clarity.
The next option is a alnico 2 pro. Well they sound like seths I'd say but without the honk and 3d clarity. They are very good pickups. Have spongy bass, smooth mids and highs. Their uppermids would be (I would say) less than all of the pickups which are and will be mentioned in this post of mine. Slash uses them. Plus they are guaranteed not to squeel, but no 3d clarity.
Then comes the Pearly Gates. That is one of my favorites and is based on Billy Gibbons' PAFs. It sounds like an a2p bridge with the exception of them uppermids. It has the uppermids of a a5 bucker. And that's what makes it very good. Some find this (because of them uppermids) very trebly. Anyways your guitar is not a bright one so no worries there. It can cut through the mix very easily and still it is an a2 PAF clone. Warren Hayes used and uses them. D. Betts also used them in early 90s if I am not mistaken.
Well the final (and maybe the best option) is a antiquity HB. You get seths tone, with a twist. Generally it is wound hotter than any of the buckers above, but has a weak magnet. That means it sounds like a seth (nasal honk, smooth bass, smooth mids and highs) but pulled back a little. That is not a bad thing, they sound real good. One of my favorites. Indeed, if you were to swap the aged a2 with an a5, well that bucker rivals even the most expensive boutique PAF clones out there. Anyways, ants have a 3d hollowness, because their lowermids and uppermids are somewhat separated. The tone you get would be woody, but thick, clear, but round. See the nice things about it?
To be continued...
B
