New Pickup Combination

[smb13]

I'm in the market for new pickups. I want to go with a PAF style Seymour Duncan pickup. I looked through their website and have pretty much narrowed it down to a '59 and/or a Whole Lotta Humbucker. I decided against the Pearly Gates and Seth Lovers due to the PG's being described as bright/texas sizzle (my amp can already be bright [Laney GH100L], not sure I want more highs), and the Lover's because they're unpotted.

My main question is; which positions for the pickup should I get? '59 in the neck and WLH in the bridge, or vice versa? That's the combination I was thinking of, but I've heard '59's in the neck can be bassy in Les Pauls. My guitar, while not a true Les Paul, is a double cutaway Les Paul (Mahogany body and neck, maple top, rosewood fret board). I'm not sure if that same problem would apply with my guitar. If it did, I'll probably opt to get '59 for the bridge and WLH for the neck.

Either way, the pickup combination needs to be versatile since it will be used in the studio a lot, but also needs to be able to handle high amounts of fuzz, volume, and overdrive since a good chunk of the time I play stoner, doom and sludge.

So... any advice or suggestions? Thanks in advance!

EDIT: They will also be (or have to be able to) coil tap.

 

[jeremy]

Re: New Pickup Combination

welcome to the forum!

if it were me i would just get a wlh set. it sounds great and already comes with 4 cond wiring for splitting the coils

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: New Pickup Combination

Versatile??!!!

Can't beat P-Rails with Triple Shot rings. You get P-90, Rail, Series humbucker, and Parallel humbucker. Four really good sounds out of each pup.

 

[Leon Of Late]

Re: New Pickup Combination

I would go with either the WLH set or the Slash set. The 59' has a treble spike and scooped mid sound that I personally find off putting. Many say it's better with a magnet swap, but I don't get the impression that's something you'd want to get into right away. I have always found the 59' neck to be boomy in every guitar I've tried it in.

I've also heard, but haven't tried it, that the Seth set still sounds amazing if you have it lightly wax potted. You can order them that way as a Shop Floor Custom order, at no additional charge I believe.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: New Pickup Combination

If your choice is only between 59 or WLH, I'd go with the WLH set for the reasons already given by Leon.