Help me choose pickups for a mahogany Les Paul style guitar

Re: Help me choose pickups for a mahogany Les Paul style guitar

weinergod said:
Yeah, the Jazz sounds pretty legit based on the description, although blueman did say it can be 'bland'

I'll see if I can dig up some clips on the clip board
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I think the Jazz sounds pretty good but it doesn't have the vibe that the 59' does. The 59' has more feeling to it if you will...
 
Re: Help me choose pickups for a mahogany Les Paul style guitar

So...
At this point I'm facing more options than at square one LOL


Well, the more the better. The better I think this through and the better I research, the better the final result will be!
 
Re: Help me choose pickups for a mahogany Les Paul style guitar

look harder. they moved the site's sound clips, and the clips i was talking about are in the relevant part of the forum
 
Re: Help me choose pickups for a mahogany Les Paul style guitar

Just finished reading the '59 review on the vault.
Apparently it's too bassy and whoomfy in the neck of a mahogany guitar, like I suspected.

I'll read the entire vault archive reviews to see what else I can dig up, lots of quality stuff there :D


Edit: There was a nearly unanimous idea that the Jazz somehow muds up and loses alot of character when gain comes into the picture. Alnico 2 was generally reccomended for the neck position. So that leaves me the Alnico II Pro, Pearly Gates and the '59 with a magnet swap

Now to continue reading..
 
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Re: Help me choose pickups for a mahogany Les Paul style guitar

I slept on it and I'm still undecided.

Choices:

Neck: AIIPro or Pearly Gates

For the bridge I was considering the Duncan Custom or the Custom 5... But I'm afraid of losing dynamics and driving the amp too hard. Maybe I should go for something under 10k for the bridge too?

Ugh this is so hard


Edit: So... for the bridge I'm undecided between the '59 bridge/Custom 5 and the Custom :|
 
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Re: Help me choose pickups for a mahogany Les Paul style guitar

weinergod said:
I'm really undecided about the neck pickup :\

On one hand, Slash uses the APH1 and I really dig his tone..
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When does Slash use the neck pickup? Sure, there's some fingerpicking, but what do you know which guitar he used in the Studio to play the intro to "Dream On" or whatever.

weinergod said:
On the other hand the Jazz sounds a bit clearer and more defined, which I love...

But then there are people saying one can sound lame and that the other sounds bland :(
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If you want pickups that are highly reactive to how exactly you pick, you generally want the scooped A5 family - 59, C5, JB.

The 59 can, usually will, be too boomy for the neck of a Les Paul if you ever play full chords. It will sound great for fingerpicking because it really gets the scooped thing going and it's like a loudness switch. But clean full chords with a 59 neck in a Les Paul - think of a trash can full of pickle glasses rolling down a flight of stairs.

The usual cure for that is the Jazz which is A5 and not boomy. It can be kind of lame, so I would recommend playing it through a graphics EQ (Boss GE-7 or something), and even though people look down on them compressors can really lift your fingerpicking to a new level. Then the Jazz gives you a nice clean, controlled input for the effects and you start messing with the knobs from there.

Regardless, the APH1 neck is definitely not less "lame" than the Jazz. It doesn't have any of the kick of the APH1 in the bridge.

I think both APH1n and JazzN in Les Pauls will be good with some careful use of effects. 59n is probably better without effects but will have limited use.

FWIW, my standard combo of pickups that I use to compare guitars, the combo that works in the widest spectrum of guitars, is APB1b and JazzN.

weinergod said:
Oh, if only the pursuit of tone was easier... But then it wouldn't be as fun :)
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Exactly.

And what would be post about? :)
 
Re: Help me choose pickups for a mahogany Les Paul style guitar

I don't like the idea of having stuff in my signal though :\

I like plugging straight to the amp whenever possible. What about the Pearly Gates? It sounds like a good halfway between the Jazz and the APH1n
 
Re: Help me choose pickups for a mahogany Les Paul style guitar

weinergod said:
What about the Pearly Gates? It sounds like a good halfway between the Jazz and the APH1n
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It is exactly that (and more besides). I recommended the Jazz on the basis of what you said in your original posts. But if you are in a position of trying to make up your mind between the top-end clarity of the Jazz and the warmth and smoothness of the A2Pro then the PGn is an excellent choice. It's like an A2Pro with an extended top end. The PGn works great with the Custom or C5 (or a PGb :naughty:) in a Les Paul style guitar.
 
Re: Help me choose pickups for a mahogany Les Paul style guitar

I like the PG bridge but not neck. There's a weird low-mid push and the sizzle isn't what I'm looking for in the neck. I haven't tried the bridge in a LP, but in a trem guitar it kicks.
 
Re: Help me choose pickups for a mahogany Les Paul style guitar

uOpt said:
I like the PG bridge but not neck. There's a weird low-mid push and the sizzle isn't what I'm looking for in the neck. I haven't tried the bridge in a LP, but in a trem guitar it kicks.
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Well that's not good...

I was actually leaning towards it now :eyecrazy:
 
Re: Help me choose pickups for a mahogany Les Paul style guitar

The '59 neck is fine in most mahogany guitars, but in many Les Pauls' neck position it is too boomy to play full chords and the like. Might still be good for fingerpicking and other light play because of the built-in loudness effect.
 
Re: Help me choose pickups for a mahogany Les Paul style guitar

Hi. It's me again with an obvious question. Please clarify exactly what sort of mahogany LP-style guitar you are modifying?

In my earlier posting, I assumed that your instrument had a carved maple cap. If it does not, this makes some difference, as does the type of bridge.

If your LP-style guitar has no maple, it is broadly similar to my LTD 400. This carved top instrument is all-mahogany but skinnier than either the real thing or the cheaper Studio model. I find that I get a very good "G" brand sound from a pair of Seymour Duncan Live Wire Classic II humbuckers.
 
Re: Help me choose pickups for a mahogany Les Paul style guitar

uOpt said:
The '59 neck is fine in most mahogany guitars, but in many Les Pauls' neck position it is too boomy to play full chords and the like. Might still be good for fingerpicking and other light play because of the built-in loudness effect.
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I understand what you are saying, I have never had that problem. Maybe in a LP...

Dunno...
 
Re: Help me choose pickups for a mahogany Les Paul style guitar

uOpt said:
But a SG is an entirely different beast. What guitar do you refer to?
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I don't own a guitar with a 59' in it right now. The two guitars I am refering to are a Gibson Faded SG that had a set of 59s in it and a Jackson Soloist something or another with a JB/59. They were both mahogany guitars. I guess a Les Paul is bigger than both of them so that may be why the chords sound more boomy in those.
 
Re: Help me choose pickups for a mahogany Les Paul style guitar

Andrew Lamprecht said:
I don't own a guitar with a 59' in it right now. The two guitars I am refering to are a Gibson Faded SG that had a set of 59s in it and a Jackson Soloist something or another with a JB/59. They were both mahogany guitars. I guess a Les Paul is bigger than both of them so that may be why the chords sound more boomy in those.
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Yeah, that's about it. If the Jackson has a trem it won't get boomy, and even the hardtail probably won't because of the neck-through. The SG is a guitar class on it's own.

I don't think the mahogany matters much if at all for rule-building. There are incredibly bright mahogany guitars out there.
 
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