Gibson Studio w/ Ebony fretboard- high output pickup??

Jazzfiend101

Jazzfiend101

New member
Hello guize, I'm in the process of paying for a Gibson Les Paul Studio from 1990. She's almost as old as me! It's an odd ball because this one comes with a sleek ebony fretboard on it which is unusual by today's standards, or so I'm told.

Anywho, I play in a cover band and I already have three Les Pauls that more or less adhere to harder edgy rocking stuff. And by hard rock I don't mean Nickle back!! We really play a lot of 80s and contemporary stuff with broad ranges in it, but I'm the only guitarist and I like my tone pretty aggressive. Big Metallica fan, big AC / DC fan, I like Mick Mars tones a lot, and if you are catching my drift then you probably are picking up that I'm doing a lot of lead and rhythms back and forth.

I want to stay in the higher output range. I have a Pearly Gates bridge in one guitar that I use, and I've nicknamed it the Slasher because it really dials in that biting hot Appetite tone, so that's sort of already there (it's not spot on but I'm sort of past my Slash addict phase). I have an Epi Les Paul with a set of 59s in her and we tune her one whole step down. She is pretty heavy and sounds fine just the way she is. Girls girls girls and Kickstart sounds all day long, very surprised at how well they sounded kicking out that low. And the main guitar is an Epie Custom with the Jazz and JB combo. That one is pretty versatile, I like it. I notice a bit of sag behind the rhythm but that could be because I'm playing off an Orange Dark Terror through 2 1x12 cabs and sometimes a Marshall JCM 2000 DSL 50. Neither of those amps are the best, and both can sag pretty hard sometimes.

So the issues, I want to tighten up a bit. I would like to stay in the higher output, if I went any lower I would only go back to the 59s, I don't think I could do A2 mags again. They tell me ebony is this big deal game changer in tone for Les Pauls, so I'd like to know how so. The higher my output the less gain I'll need and that means when I roll back my volume for clean tones on my neck they should be cleaner, yes? I call this the single channel swap and it is a huge factor in my playing. I have to switch from heavy to clean really quick in a lot of songs, such as Lights by Journey, or especially dynamic songs like Radioactive by Imagine Dragons. I really can't compromise on this aspect of my playing so I need a bridge that can deliver! I am a Zakk Wylde pinch harmonic squeal addict #noshame. I have a tough time whipping those sucker out with low output pickups so like I says let's keep it hot.

The pickups that I've been looking at thus far, and my thoughts:

JB Antiquity (is there any big difference besides price?)

Alternative 8 (everybody seems to give these a lot of hell so I like being a rebel, what's the deal with them)

Black Winters (a friend told me these do much much more than death metal and their almost flat eq is a plus)

Any other suggestions?

Not interested in actives or ceramics much. I'd like to keep it to Seymour Duncan because it's what I know... and I fear change.

PS the guitar weighs 9.5 lbs

GOOO! :P
 
Re: Gibson Studio w/ Ebony fretboard- high output pickup??

A little voice in my head is telling me to suggest the Screamin' Demon set, the Full Shred set, or a mixture of the two. They are hot, but not too hot. They still have that high-output feel, but they are tighter and brasher than most hot-ish Duncan pickups.
 
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Re: Gibson Studio w/ Ebony fretboard- high output pickup??

I would say you want the Black Winter. I love them and don't play death metal. Flat eq, open sound, as aggressive as you want them to be. Very sensitive to pick attack.
 
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Re: Gibson Studio w/ Ebony fretboard- high output pickup??

The Black Winters won't hit my amp to the point of ridiculous overdrive will they? That's something I notice with uber hot pups is when you have an amp set with moderate pickups like 59s or Pearly Gates they tend to over compensate when you plug a hot hot set of pups into them. Any issues with that?
 
Re: Gibson Studio w/ Ebony fretboard- high output pickup??

Another thing is that with all the styles I've gotta cover, I think I have my rigs set appropriately for what I need, but what I'm looking for is basically a new stage guitar to show off, but cosmetics don't matter to me if she can't sing. A lot of my lead playing has to be on point so I can't afford to let up just because I'm moving to rhythm then leads.

I noticed the Alternative 8 pickup is really hot, kinda resembles the JB but without that mid spike. They say it's the JB on steroids. Anybody have any threads on it they can link me, or any personal experience?

I looked at the Black Winters months ago and they are still intriguing me to no end. So I'm trying to gage if an entire set of pickups will do over buying one hot pickup. I'm open to getting a set if they will beat the pants off of anything else... but they look pricey. If I got em I hope I wouldn't be sorry! !
 
Re: Gibson Studio w/ Ebony fretboard- high output pickup??

Hey Jazzfiend I also have a 1990 Les Paul Studio with an ebony Fretboard, and I've had a LOT of seymour Duncan's in the bridge and neck position, at the risk of sounding like a lot of people on the board, I'm going to say for those tones with that guitar a Custom 8 will fill the bill for pretty much everything you want to do. Buy a custom SH-5 ( try the ceramic magnet for a month or two, if you are always playing with distorted tones it will probably be perfect), but if you want some more mids and a little less treble bite, spend 4 bucks on a roughcast Alnico 8 magnet from AddictionFX on eBay and swap out the ceramic mag. That's a great guitar BTW, built like the standards of that era. Mine isn't bright because of the ebony board, but the attack on the notes is a little sharper than rosewood. I've also had good success with a 59/custom hybrid(pinch harmonic squealies galore!) and dare I say a dimarzio super distortion was excellent as well...
 
Re: Gibson Studio w/ Ebony fretboard- high output pickup??

The JB can be pretty bad in LP's mostly......some can make it work but they are in the clear minority.

I'd go for medium output myself.....maybe the Perpetual Burn if you want a JB type that would be likely to work in a LP.
Another option is the C/59 hybrid. I've got one in a studio and its staying there.

A left field choice could be the Rebel Yell from Bareknuckle pickups.
 
Re: Gibson Studio w/ Ebony fretboard- high output pickup??

AlexR said:
The JB can be pretty bad in LP's mostly......some can make it work but they are in the clear minority.
Click to expand...

Only on this forum... even then the guys around here that like the JB in the LP or mahogany get ignored.

Even then the antiquity jb that the OP mentions is a bit different animal than the standard JB and I really think he can make it work

Side note the OP said he wants to avoid ceramics... the black winters have 3 of them...
 
Re: Gibson Studio w/ Ebony fretboard- high output pickup??

I'm going to be a maverick for a second, and suggest a pair of Whole Lotta Humbucker... they'll push your amp a little harder, but not so much you have to worry about tweaking your amp settings mid-gig.
 
Re: Gibson Studio w/ Ebony fretboard- high output pickup??

Wood in the fretboard has almost zero effect on the sound of the guitar.
 
Re: Gibson Studio w/ Ebony fretboard- high output pickup??

Oinkus said:
Wood in the fretboard has almost zero effect on the sound of the guitar.
Click to expand...

Ill disagree with that.. its not a huge difference but its there.. in particular guitars that have ebony boards have a snap on the attack of a note that others dont have.. its subtle but there...

Certainly isnt enough for me to choose different pickups because of it... but does exist.
 
Re: Gibson Studio w/ Ebony fretboard- high output pickup??

Black Winters impressed me because of the flat eq that came with the high output.

Good responses, any word from the Alt 8 guys?

And I had a JB in one les paul and liked it, and put it in another and didn't like it as much. Same thing with the Pearly Gates. Those upper mid/treble pickups seem to be picky.
 
Re: Gibson Studio w/ Ebony fretboard- high output pickup??

Full shred or distortion, IMO.
 
Re: Gibson Studio w/ Ebony fretboard- high output pickup??

Jazzfiend101 said:
The Black Winters won't hit my amp to the point of ridiculous overdrive will they? That's something I notice with uber hot pups is when you have an amp set with moderate pickups like 59s or Pearly Gates they tend to over compensate when you plug a hot hot set of pups into them. Any issues with that?
Click to expand...

I would say they are hot but not HOT. I use them frequently for cleans. (Actually all the way pristinely clean) and a lot of moderate drive stuff. I would say that the answer to this question would be best answered by the facts that you might be pickier than me. But I don't notice an annoying difference unless I am using a truly low output pickup previously. (I do have some guitars with low output pickups)

They clean up nicely so its not a real big deal. I also would put the output akin to a DD, a bit hotter, but not silly. They are nowhere near as hot as, say SLUG.
 
Re: Gibson Studio w/ Ebony fretboard- high output pickup??

Gotcha. Nah, I'm not too too picky, and for sure when I'm driving a Dark Terror or 50w Marshall head on just the overdrive channels then clean clean clean is kinda tough to do any way you cut it. I cheat by using my boss chorus pedal a lot. It seems to add a shimmer to the sound and that about does it for me. I'm not here to cop the Paradise City intro all day long, but I can get pretty close to clean if I watch my knobs and my dynamics.

I was told that the Black Winters clean up super well. How come they were marketed so heavy for death/black metal? After taking a quick look at the specs it'd seem like it's almost perfect in performance and delivery; there hasn't seemed to have been any negative reviews of it. Only ones I have seen were positive. Except that it's ceramic, which I notice is sterile and just not quite as old school by comparison. But, hey if they can really sail then hey, who cares??

That said most of the demos I see are dudes with their guitars tuned to drop H flat which is of no help. The guitar in question is gonna have to be flexible to cover tunings from Standard, E flat Standard, or one whole step detuned. I'm not getting into all that crazy heavily detuned sludge stuff.

I gotta be able to switch pretty quick from clean to heavy in songs like Weezer's "Say It Ain't So" and that is the deal with about 90% of the songs hopping back and forth.

So plus one for Black Winters

I heard a remark on the Whole Lotta Humbuckers. A5 mags, right? How are they different than the 59s??

And I have heard that DD sets won't clean up as much on heavy channels. Any truth to that? Always wanted to try one, but I'm trying to get this right the first go around!

Keep em coming guize!
 
Re: Gibson Studio w/ Ebony fretboard- high output pickup??

I know I mentioned no ceramics, but I'm really not in to the whole Custom series. I've got a feeling in my tummy that says it will be too much of what I may not need. And that's kind of why I don't want to get active pickups. I'd rather not fool with EMGs or even Blackouts because one, they are expensive as hell and two I've got a friend who played with a set of actives live and he recommended them for only the heavy metal stuff.

So if we start talking ceramics or actives I'm gonna get pretty picky. A part from the Black Winters my more pleasing experiences have been with A5 mags. It's sort of where my comfort zone is. And guize I'm not discrediting the dudes with Customs loaded in their fiddles, or EMG dudes, those clearly work well with a lot of players; I'm just a bit sketchy of going out of my happy place lol. But I'm trying to not continue my habit of buying JBs. I'm doing something special with this guitar and this one is going to be a beastie, so she needs some slight breast implants to show out a little more than my others.

Imagery!!
 
Re: Gibson Studio w/ Ebony fretboard- high output pickup??

Jazzfiend101 said:
I know I mentioned no ceramics, but I'm really not in to the whole Custom series. I've got a feeling in my tummy that says it will be too much of what I may not need. And that's kind of why I don't want to get active pickups. I'd rather not fool with EMGs or even Blackouts because one, they are expensive as hell and two I've got a friend who played with a set of actives live and he recommended them for only the heavy metal stuff.

So if we start talking ceramics or actives I'm gonna get pretty picky. A part from the Black Winters my more pleasing experiences have been with A5 mags. It's sort of where my comfort zone is. And guize I'm not discrediting the dudes with Customs loaded in their fiddles, or EMG dudes, those clearly work well with a lot of players; I'm just a bit sketchy of going out of my happy place lol. But I'm trying to not continue my habit of buying JBs. I'm doing something special with this guitar and this one is going to be a beastie, so she needs some slight breast implants to show out a little more than my others.

Imagery!!
Click to expand...

To be brutally honest... I ALWAYS buy pickups and select pickups as a whole... I dont separate them into alnico... ceramic... a2...a5... NEVER. You will miss out on some righteous tones by picking specs with your eyes and not using your ears... You know I owned and played the gravity storm set of pickups for 5 months when by chance sometime mentioned to me the neck was a ceramic pickup... I never would have guess and i could not care less they sound righteous.

In short... dont close your mind keep open to suggestions.
 
Re: Gibson Studio w/ Ebony fretboard- high output pickup??

Jazzfiend101 said:
Gotcha. Nah, I'm not too too picky, and for sure when I'm driving a Dark Terror or 50w Marshall head on just the overdrive channels then clean clean clean is kinda tough to do any way you cut it. I cheat by using my boss chorus pedal a lot. It seems to add a shimmer to the sound and that about does it for me. I'm not here to cop the Paradise City intro all day long, but I can get pretty close to clean if I watch my knobs and my dynamics.

I was told that the Black Winters clean up super well. How come they were marketed so heavy for death/black metal? After taking a quick look at the specs it'd seem like it's almost perfect in performance and delivery; there hasn't seemed to have been any negative reviews of it. Only ones I have seen were positive. Except that it's ceramic, which I notice is sterile and just not quite as old school by comparison. But, hey if they can really sail then hey, who cares??

That said most of the demos I see are dudes with their guitars tuned to drop H flat which is of no help. The guitar in question is gonna have to be flexible to cover tunings from Standard, E flat Standard, or one whole step detuned. I'm not getting into all that crazy heavily detuned sludge stuff.

I gotta be able to switch pretty quick from clean to heavy in songs like Weezer's "Say It Ain't So" and that is the deal with about 90% of the songs hopping back and forth.

So plus one for Black Winters

I heard a remark on the Whole Lotta Humbuckers. A5 mags, right? How are they different than the 59s??

And I have heard that DD sets won't clean up as much on heavy channels. Any truth to that? Always wanted to try one, but I'm trying to get this right the first go around!

Keep em coming guize!
Click to expand...
Magnets only tell part of the story. I had previously tried 3 other triple ceramic pickups. Dirty fingers, Aftermath and invader. I hated all of them and for very different reasons. Invader was muddy IMO, the Aftermath was shrill, and well, the df was not memorable in any good way. But a ceramic magnet really tells you a very tiny piece of the story. In general, other pickups I like tend to be a5 or a2 loaded. I love the Wolfetone Marshallhead. I have an excellent set of Alnico BKP Nailbombs. Black Winters are IMO in a different category than most production duncans. They feel more like a custom shop or boutique pickup to me. I took out most BKPs I had for BWs and I had quite a few. The clarity is fantastic. I would say I find that I can use my volume and tone knob and get all manner of wonderful tones. (Normally I am a V/T on 10 guy) Don't get me wrong, I love them that way too, but a lot of pickups, once you start cutting volume or treble, I just don't feel like I get enough of anything.


99% of the time I am in standard tuning. Drop D when not, occasionally d# standard or dadgad. I am not a droptune fan.
Yes, I am a BW fanboy at this point I am afraid.
 
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Re: Gibson Studio w/ Ebony fretboard- high output pickup??

Edgecrusher said:
To be brutally honest... I ALWAYS buy pickups and select pickups as a whole... I dont separate them into alnico... ceramic... a2...a5... NEVER. You will miss out on some righteous tones by picking specs with your eyes and not using your ears... You know I owned and played the gravity storm set of pickups for 5 months when by chance sometime mentioned to me the neck was a ceramic pickup... I never would have guess and i could not care less they sound righteous.

In short... dont close your mind keep open to suggestions.
Click to expand...

I'd agree, but I will say I notice some common threads in my favorite pickups specs. A lot use a5. Granted, a lot of pickups I dislike use that as well. For me it is a curiosity.
 
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