High Gain pickup for Les Paul

kcrknp

kcrknp

New member
I play mostly covers of classic metal songs from Scorpions, Zeppelin, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden that kind of stuff. Also play some originals which are metal, more of a Testament sound. I would say that Mathias from Scorpions has the kind of tone I'm looking for. However he has a kind of open vowel sound which I believe has a lot to do with his pick attack. I've been listening to World Wide Live lately and can't get over how good their guitars sound.

I have an Epiphone Les Paul Custom that I'm looking to change the pickups in. I absolutely love the guitar, it sounds great unplugged and plays fantastic. The stock pickups however leave much to be desired. I find the bridge pickup to trebly and shrill for my taste, I don't think its fat enough because my palm mutes sound pretty flat. I have a Gibson 57 Classic laying around to put in the neck position so I was wondering what would be a good pickup for the bridge?

I definitely use the bridge pickup most, I sometimes use the neck pickup for cleans or melodic distorted sounds. I am mostly a rhythm player and the sound I want is heavy crunchy palm mutes, while also having clarity for full chords with high gain. I don't plan on using my bridge pickup for cleans so the clean tone is secondary. Pickups I've been considering include; Duncan Distortion, JB, Full Shred, Custom, Custom Custom, Super Distortion, X2N, D-Sonic, and Tone Zone but I'm not limited to these. I wanted to get some opinions from people experienced with these pickups since Ive never used any Duncan or Dimarzio before. Thanks.
 
Re: High Gain pickup for Les Paul

In a paul I really like how the DD and the DMZ SD sound for Hard rock/metal....but a Puckup I found to work AWSOME is the SD Crazy 8 thats what i'm currently using in my paul and it Kicks some serious butt for Metal.

~Mitch~
 
Re: High Gain pickup for Les Paul

The Tone Zone has that open vowel sound you're talking about. It also can be a little dark in some guitars - tons of low mids, not much high end. A good pickup, though. I like it and have on in my Carvin CT4.
 
Re: High Gain pickup for Les Paul

Custom nails all that stuff. If you like Scorpions, you need a Custom.
 
Re: High Gain pickup for Les Paul

For the tones that you're seaking... I'd say either JB or Distortion would get you there.
 
Re: High Gain pickup for Les Paul

SFW said:
For the tones that you're seaking... I'd say either JB or Distortion would get you there.
Click to expand...

He wants crunchy palm mutes so, that kind of rules out the JB but, the JB does the Priest and Maiden sounds well. Go figure?????
 
Re: High Gain pickup for Les Paul

I say: go Duncan SH-5 Custom, so did I.
It's really great with distortion, though with tiny bluesy breakup it's kinda shrill. But hey, that wasn't in your list, so go for it.
 
Re: High Gain pickup for Les Paul

I would agree, the custom would sound good, and the Jb might be ok, but will leave you high and dry. It seems to lack low end.
 
Re: High Gain pickup for Les Paul

Thanks a lot guys. Judging from your responses I'm probably going to try a Custom first. If the Custom doesn't kick my ass enough I'll have to try a Duncan Distortion. Also I'm thinking about putting a Tone Zone in my Ibanez 350dx, which is my backup axe. Any comments on a Tone Zone in an Ibanez?
 
Re: High Gain pickup for Les Paul

Custom is the closet thing out of the box from Duncan.

Mathias' Explorers had stock T tops. His vintage Strats had a Super Distortion and a Bill Lawrence or Schaller BL ripoff rail pickup.

Mathias at the time used a Crybaby quite frequently as a filter just like Michael Schenker (he didn't "wah wah" with it). Thats the sound you are hearing most of the time.
 
Re: High Gain pickup for Les Paul

Ask this question and you'll get many different opinions, but it seems you desire all the same sounds as I do and I use a DD in a Les Paul to get them.....just my $0.02 USD!!!
 
Re: High Gain pickup for Les Paul

+1 for the Custom. I really fell in love with this pickup, I had a JB that was very dry/bland sounding and an Air Zone that had way too much bass/mud in my current RG. Both pickups just did not sound quite right to me, but after I heard the Custom I knew it will never leave my guitar. Matches excellent with a 59' so if the 57 sounds somewhat similar you should be ok.

The DD wasn't bad either, it just pushed my amp too hard when I cranked it and it broke up in a bad way.
 
Re: High Gain pickup for Les Paul

Jay 77 said:
Custom nails all that stuff. If you like Scorpions, you need a Custom.
Click to expand...

For what you want - I don't think there is one good pup. You need a Distortion and A SuperDistortion IMO. That said, for maximum flexibility; I agree, get the Custom!
 
Re: High Gain pickup for Les Paul

The Custom or Custom 5. Don't worry about the ceramic magnet.....if it didn't sound good, Seymour wouldn't have specifically issued the Custom as his PAF on steroids, which is what people who used the 59B or JB were asking for.

The Custom 5 is similar but a little more open sounding, and sweeter on cleans. It's more like a halfway point between a 59 and Custom......sounds like a 59 with the output of the Custom.
 
Re: High Gain pickup for Les Paul

I use a Dimebucker in my Epiphone, and I really like it, but it totally doesn't sound right for you. I'd say the Custom or the Distortion since I prefer ceramic magnet pickups for the bridge position.
 
Re: High Gain pickup for Les Paul

The DiMarzio D Sonic has and is a hot sounding pickup. Heavy bass (at least when the solid bar is facing the bridge), clean and clarity in abundance. Good treble response, warm and bright (least with the bar facing bridge).

A great pickup for Heavy Metal because it pumps on single-note riffs and soloing.

That's pretty much it. I was gonna recommend the D Sonic but I looked at what U were playin' and I was like, " Nah, he can't use that." That's why I described it above so you could see if ya still wanna try it.

Personally, I think you'd be better off with something else. But, whateva. :)
 
Re: High Gain pickup for Les Paul

kcrknp said:
I play mostly covers of classic metal songs from Scorpions, Zeppelin, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden that kind of stuff.
Click to expand...

Been there done that. 496R & 500T. I don't think the 57 Classic can cut a Maiden neck tone.
 
Re: High Gain pickup for Les Paul

I just put a Rio Grande BBQ/Texas set in my LP for that type of rock and they work great.
 
Re: High Gain pickup for Les Paul

+1 to Custom. I love the JB but the Custom works very well in an LP guitar. I had a JB in my all Mahogany LP guitar and it was great for leads and almost everything else, but it was a bit undefined in the lower registers.

I was put off by the fact that the custom is ceramic, I've had bad experiences with this magnet this type. But I can tell you, the Custom is the most organic sounding ceramic pickup I've come across. It is more compressed than a JB but it really tightened up the low end and added some needed treble. Its definately a good pickup. The leads are still pretty good when compared with a JB. It can go from metal to classic rock and probably anything imbetween.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top