les paul studio lite bridge recommendation

[sungod]

i have a les paul studio lite that i can't seem to get the tone i want out of the bridge position. the guitar is very brite and has a ebony fretboard. i love my PG in the neck, but i've tried the pickups below in the bridge without being satisfied...

custom - dynamics a little to compressed, overall balance of tone was very good, if not a little too brite. currently still in guitar.

PG+ - too scooped, but not as much as the c5. dynamics were great, but output seemed a little low.

cc - tone and output was excellent, but lacking body and tightness on the bottom.

c5 - output good, but too scooped, bassy and tinny in this axe.

JB - mids & highs were o.k. but sounded a little too focused, lows seemed to be lacking as a result.

PGb - mids & highs were o.k., but lacked body like the cc, and did not have the output i was looking for.

i think one of those 59/custom hybrids may be what i'm looking for, something with an output in the 10k-13k range. i notice that dimarzio makes a few pickups in that medium output range. the Demon is the only duncan, but i'm worried that it would be too brite in my LP.

 

[bigheadood]

Re: les paul studio lite bridge recommendation

I also have a studio lite.
I currently have a '59 and a JB in it.
I really like the '59 in the neck slot.
the JB is just the best I have found so far for this guitar, but still not quite right. I've also tried the custom and C5. both were too bright, and the c5 was really thin sounding. I also tried the dimarzio evolution and pafpro, both were wayyy to bright. just painful.

anyway, I've heard alot about the rio grande BBQ sounding like the JB with more bass and low mids, so that's what I'm gonna try next.

 

[sungod]

Re: les paul studio lite bridge recommendation

thanks.... i'll have to check into that rio grande bbq also.... what other pickups have you tried in your studio lite.....

btw.... i have a custom shop model in cherry sunburst with the Miii electronics....

 

[sufferinrewind]

Re: les paul studio lite bridge recommendation

Are you looking for high output? I'll recommend a few that'll probably work well in your guitar, but some are really hot pickups.

If you're finding the pickups that you have in your guitar too bright, I'd recommend DiMarzio's Tone Zone or the Super Distortion. They're somewhat similar, warmer/fatter tone, hot pups. The Super Distortion is a bit hotter and better IMO. The Super Distortion has a ceramic magnet, the Tone Zone has an Alnico 5 magnet. The Air Zone might be good for you, too. It's like the Tone Zone, but a little different. Less output, and warmer from what I've heard. If you want something more balanced, the X2N, but clean tone will suffer with the X2N, and probably with the Super Distortion as well, because those pickups are really hot, especially the X2N. If you just want it for gain, or if you use your neck pickup for all clean tone and like your bridge for the distorted stuff and leads, then that would probably be good for you. Or, if you want to use a push/pull pot for splitting or switching between series and parallel, then the Super Distortion or X2N would be good. Cleans may suffer with the Tone Zone, also.

If you're looking for something to fatten up your guitar, I say go for the Air Zone, as it's warmer and probably the most versatile. The Breed would also be one to look at for warmer/fatter tone in the bridge, and it's pretty hot, but clean tone shouldn't suffer. The Breed neck model in the bridge might be a good choice if you don't want so much output.

I don't really know much about these, but there's also the Norton and the Air Norton. They're pretty fat and medium output, kinda like the Breed neck model and the Air Zone. I think these four pickups seem to be the best for you, and at a good price.

I'm not sure of whether you're looking for something fatter in the bridge or something more balanced, but it sounds like you've got the same problem that a lot of Ibanez guitars have, they sound too thin and/or too bright. A lot of Ibanez players use DiMarzio pups for that reason, to make the tone warmer and fatter.

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: les paul studio lite bridge recommendation

If you don't mind the look, I think that either the PATB Blues or PATB-1 would work for you.

 

[bigheadood]

Re: les paul studio lite bridge recommendation

I've tried the custom, C5, Jb, evolution, and pafpro in the bridge position.
Just the '59 and pafpro in the neck.

My studio lite is transparent amber.
MIII, does that mean it has the middle single coil?

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: les paul studio lite bridge recommendation

i have a les paul studio lite that i can't seem to get the tone i want out of the bridge position. the guitar is very brite and has a ebony fretboard. i love my PG in the neck, but i've tried the pickups below in the bridge without being satisfied...

custom - dynamics a little to compressed, overall balance of tone was very good, if not a little too brite. currently still in guitar.

PG+ - too scooped, but not as much as the c5. dynamics were great, but output seemed a little low.

cc - tone and output was excellent, but lacking body and tightness on the bottom.

c5 - output good, but too scooped, bassy and tinny in this axe.

JB - mids & highs were o.k. but sounded a little too focused, lows seemed to be lacking as a result.

PGb - mids & highs were o.k., but lacked body like the cc, and did not have the output i was looking for.

i think one of those 59/custom hybrids may be what i'm looking for, something with an output in the 10k-13k range. i notice that dimarzio makes a few pickups in that medium output range. the Demon is the only duncan, but i'm worried that it would be too brite in my LP.

Man...if you've tried all those pickups and you still don't like the tone of your guitar I think you should sell it and get another guitar.

Lew

 

[sufferinrewind]

Re: les paul studio lite bridge recommendation

Man...if you've tried all those pickups and you still don't like the tone of your guitar I think you should sell it and get another guitar.

Lew

Ya. That's probably what I'd do. Seems he wants to keep it, though.

 

[david kornblatt]

Re: les paul studio lite bridge recommendation

sun god it is my humble opinion you could get claptons tone from the beano album with boutiquissh pickups ...that is my favorite tone anyway from a paul second is anything and everything peter green did on a paul

 

[david kornblatt]

Re: les paul studio lite bridge recommendation

ps get a vintage marshal helps as well ;-)

 

[david kornblatt]

Re: les paul studio lite bridge recommendation

buy a strat and a tele too and maybe an accoustic electric +some decent guitar lessons and you could take over the world

 

[sungod]

Re: les paul studio lite bridge recommendation

yeah, it hardly gets played cause i usually use my prs se or strat, but i can't justify selling a les paul just to get rid of it...... plus easy on the back and it's still the easiest guitar to shred on....

i think i'm gonna pick up a rio grande bbq... what i read on their website sounds just like what i need..

the Miii electronics include the middle single, plus a push/pull to get the 5 strat positions, plus a fat neck mode.....

 

[Dills]

Re: les paul studio lite bridge recommendation

rio grande bbq, breed, air zone are the only fatter (med-hi output) pickups i can think of that would sound alrite in that guitar. The breed which i have tried sounds really huge and thick with tight lows and very vocal mids. Compared to the PAF PRO which i also tried it is thicker and fatter but also has a nice bite in the hi end for cutting through.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: les paul studio lite bridge recommendation

i think i'm gonna pick up a rio grande bbq... what i read on their website sounds just like what i need..

I've got one if you want one. PM me. Lew

 

[dasfonzie]

Re: les paul studio lite bridge recommendation

what about a custom custom or an invader?

Both are warmer. I've had the invader in a Strat, definitely not to bright there. and if it's not there, it won't be anywhere