Looking for Pickup Recs

[araurioles]

Hi I play a Gibson Les Paul Studio Deluxe through an Orange Dark Terror and 1x12 and I am looking to change out my pickups. I currently have a burstbucker lead pro in the bridge (it is a little trebly but overall I like it) and a 490r in the neck which I really don't like. The BB lead pro is good for sabbath-y sounds and has some nice treble but on the middle strings it lacks punch and sounds too trebly and almost thin so I have to engage the neck to get some beef in the tone. I don't like the neck because it is way too muddy under gain. It is really sweet which I want for a new neck pickup but under gain it just gets so muddy especially with arpeggios and such. Ideally I would like a bridge with some punch and is overall similar to the BB but without the negatives mentioned before and a neck that has sweetness and sustain for leads but doesn't get muddy with gain. For reference I play a lot of sabbath, some blues, some classic rock, metal etc. so I need a fair bit of versatility as well. My influences are Randy Rhoads, Zakk Wylde, Tony Iommi, Slash, Joe Bonamassa, Peter Green, Clapton, Page etc. Thank you for your time and recs.
Edit: I also listened to the Perpetual Burn demo and the tone gave me the chills I loved it so much for the bridge but how do you think this would change in a LP vs the superstrat they demo it in and in general how do you think it would work with the rest of my criteria.

 

[AlexR]

Re: Looking for Pickup Recs

The PB on paper sounds like that great middle ground you want....that or the c/59 hybrid. Another set to consider that is closer to the PAF type territory is the WLH set.

The issue you have is that you want the sweetness to do blues but that will be clear under gain - no easy task that.

 

[araurioles]

Re: Looking for Pickup Recs

That is very true, it is very tough to find the balance between sweetness and clarity. I am fine if the neck isn't ultra clear as long as it isn't muddy. The problem with the 490r is that it isn't just unclear, it also sounds like a wall of fuzz or a blanket over my sound whenever I try to play chords with gain. I just want clarity enough that I don't have that horrible tone and it would be especially great for the neck to pair well with the PB and for the neck to be more blues focused as I think the PB on it's own could take care of most of the metal/rock duties I need it to.

 

[gregory]

Re: Looking for Pickup Recs

The PB demo gave me chills too, but it was the music and the playing far more than the actual pickup. Besides that, more than half was done with on-board active circuitry. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure it's a great pickup. I'm more interested in how well it would fare in the neck position, personally (though not in your case).

In addition to the 59/Custom Hybrid (which I would likely pair with a Sentient), I'd look into a Custom and a PAF Pro, or maybe a Pegasus and a 59N or PAF Joe.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Looking for Pickup Recs

BBP's have A5's, and with their winding that translates to a good dose of treble with scooped mids, hence your observation of it lacking punch. 490's have A2's which are warm with a lot of mids and a looser low-end. They're kind of lackluster, especially considering their aftermarket price. You can swap magnets to get more of what you want, with an A8 in the bridge and an A5 in the neck. Or you can pull and sell them and get better pickups, like a '59/Custom and a Jazz.

 

[araurioles]

Re: Looking for Pickup Recs

Ok so I think I am pretty much dead set on a PB in the bridge, I even love the passive tones of it, but I most often see it in a superstrat that probably has a basswood or similar body. How do you think this would change in an LP?

 

[AlexR]

Re: Looking for Pickup Recs

The LP might give it a bit more grunt in the lower end......hard to say sometimes. I mean I swap from strats to LP's with the same amp settings, and often the vintage strat pickups can sound smoother than the PAF type humbuckers.

 

[gregory]

Re: Looking for Pickup Recs

The PB is not bass heavy, so that shouldn't be a problem. I think the Numbers guitar and possibly the one in the demo is ash.

So for the neck I'd say the APH-2 seems like the most obvious choice. Depending on how much gain and how tight you want, you might go with a Full Shred. Pearly Gates and APH-1 are other possibilities. These last three may be better if your guitar doesn't have a maple cap or (more importantly) has a darker tonality.