I look forward to the review. We get a lot of people who want to know the differences.
New Slash 'Burstbuckers' Versus SD Slash pups?
- Thread starter cragginshred
- Start date
I look forward to the review. We get a lot of people who want to know the differences.
superpete
Active member
you might be on to something there...i noticed they are no longer called Custom Slashbuckers, but rather Custom Burstbucker Alnico II on the Gibson site
Ace Flibble
New member
Ha! Yes, I see now, they've changed the name across their whole site. A few retailers and old press releases still have the old name, of course, but yes, "Slashbucker" is no more.
I received the pickups this morning and will be sticking them in my tester guitar tomorrow. I haven't pulled them apart yet but at first glance, other than the product name on the bottom sticker, I couldn't tell these from a regular 'old' Burstbucker. Just peering beyond the coil tape, it looks like about the same type and amount of wire in there on each coil. DCRs for series (the pickups are single-conductor wire and I don't want to fully dissect them yet) come in at 8.2k for the neck and 8.7k for the bridge, which places them right-on-the-money for the Burstbucker #2 and #3 advertised spec (though actual BB1-3s vary greatly and some #3s can get up to 10k). This doesn't necessarily prove much since most PAF-a-likes fall somewhere in that range.
I received the pickups this morning and will be sticking them in my tester guitar tomorrow. I haven't pulled them apart yet but at first glance, other than the product name on the bottom sticker, I couldn't tell these from a regular 'old' Burstbucker. Just peering beyond the coil tape, it looks like about the same type and amount of wire in there on each coil. DCRs for series (the pickups are single-conductor wire and I don't want to fully dissect them yet) come in at 8.2k for the neck and 8.7k for the bridge, which places them right-on-the-money for the Burstbucker #2 and #3 advertised spec (though actual BB1-3s vary greatly and some #3s can get up to 10k). This doesn't necessarily prove much since most PAF-a-likes fall somewhere in that range.
So the sticker on the bottom still says 'slashbucker'? What about the packaging? That seems like an interesting reversal.
Ace Flibble
New member
No, this pair is secondhand, pulled from one of the Slash guitars earlier this year. They say "Slashbucker" on the bottom sticker but who knows what brand new retail units will now be labelled with.
beaubrummels
Well-known member
I thought it was telling when the guitar was released, Slash's comment was something like "These guitars are 'in the spirit of' what I use live and in the studio." (Secondary quotes are mine.)
gsammo79
New member
If you wanna chase the Slash tone then change them to APH-2. Otherwise, they are keepers.
If that is who you want to sound like, sure. That is as close as most people will get.
Ace Flibble
New member
Okay, to be clear, this is not comparing them to the Slash Alnico II Pros, since I don't have those pickups to hand right now. This is comparing them to the earlier Burstbuckers, which I previously suspected these are a renamed version of. We'll find out if that is indeed the case in a second...
Burstbucker #2 and #3 are in a regular modern Les Paul. Full thickness chambered mahogany and maple body, mahogany and rosewood neck, tune-o and stopbar bridge, 500k volume and tone. .0095-.050 strings, about a month old, set up for E Standard.
The Slashbuckers are in a Les Paul Vixen. This has a slightly thinner, solid, entirely mahogany body (similar to an ESP EC or some Les Paul Studios), a JR-style wraparound bridge, and a single 300k volume control. The neck is a standard set mahogany & rosewood combination. Strings are a totally fresh .010-.048 set, set up for Eb Standard but I tuned it up to E for this test. When installing these pickups I tried to match their height as closely as possible to the BBs in the other guitar.
Recordings are direct in. This means no amp, no speakers, no pedals, nothing. Just each guitar, 5' of cable and the DI box, then I hit the record button.
Edited together four tracks, two for each pickup, one with a simple single note pattern (a cookie to anyone who isn't afraid to admit they recognise the tune) and one simply down-strumming an open G chord a couple of times. All slow and simple so any differences between tones is as clear as possible. In all four the original Burstbuckers are first and the Slashbuckers follow. I did not record the middle (neck+bridge) position because the Burstbuckers in the normal LP are out-of-phase, so they can't be used for a comparison.
To listen for yourself, go here:
https://soundcloud.com/aceflibble/se.../s-1Wzh1T03LCD
... Or I can save you the 10 seconds and just tell you that these are functionally identical. The waveforms are a little different but I can't hear any difference. I might as well have just recorded the same guitar twice. I have also played a bit with them into a JCM900 and I couldn't hear any difference there, either. Whatever small differences there may be I'd just put down to manufacturing tolerances and/or the differences between the guitars themselves. If Gibson did genuinely come up with a new 'recipe' for these Slashbuckers then they wasted their time because they've ended up at the exact same place they were before.
So, if you want to know how the Slashbuckers compare to the Slash A2Ps... just compare some old Burstbuckers to the Slash A2Ps. If you want to buy a Slashbucker set (Or Slash Custom Burstbucker II, or whatever they're going to call them now), don't bother, buy a second hand set of old Burstbuckers for less and you'll end up with the same thing. And if you want to sound like Slash, specifically, then yeah, just buy the Seymour Duncans.
edit: I'll just add, this doesn't surprise me. A lot of the Gibson and Epiphone 'Slash' stuff has just been a regular product with his name slapped on. If they make a Les Paul Standard they can sell it for £2000; if they print his signature on the headstock they can sell the same guitar for £2800. It is no wonder that they have seemingly done the same with some pickups.
Burstbucker #2 and #3 are in a regular modern Les Paul. Full thickness chambered mahogany and maple body, mahogany and rosewood neck, tune-o and stopbar bridge, 500k volume and tone. .0095-.050 strings, about a month old, set up for E Standard.
The Slashbuckers are in a Les Paul Vixen. This has a slightly thinner, solid, entirely mahogany body (similar to an ESP EC or some Les Paul Studios), a JR-style wraparound bridge, and a single 300k volume control. The neck is a standard set mahogany & rosewood combination. Strings are a totally fresh .010-.048 set, set up for Eb Standard but I tuned it up to E for this test. When installing these pickups I tried to match their height as closely as possible to the BBs in the other guitar.
Recordings are direct in. This means no amp, no speakers, no pedals, nothing. Just each guitar, 5' of cable and the DI box, then I hit the record button.
Edited together four tracks, two for each pickup, one with a simple single note pattern (a cookie to anyone who isn't afraid to admit they recognise the tune) and one simply down-strumming an open G chord a couple of times. All slow and simple so any differences between tones is as clear as possible. In all four the original Burstbuckers are first and the Slashbuckers follow. I did not record the middle (neck+bridge) position because the Burstbuckers in the normal LP are out-of-phase, so they can't be used for a comparison.
To listen for yourself, go here:
https://soundcloud.com/aceflibble/se.../s-1Wzh1T03LCD
... Or I can save you the 10 seconds and just tell you that these are functionally identical. The waveforms are a little different but I can't hear any difference. I might as well have just recorded the same guitar twice. I have also played a bit with them into a JCM900 and I couldn't hear any difference there, either. Whatever small differences there may be I'd just put down to manufacturing tolerances and/or the differences between the guitars themselves. If Gibson did genuinely come up with a new 'recipe' for these Slashbuckers then they wasted their time because they've ended up at the exact same place they were before.
So, if you want to know how the Slashbuckers compare to the Slash A2Ps... just compare some old Burstbuckers to the Slash A2Ps. If you want to buy a Slashbucker set (Or Slash Custom Burstbucker II, or whatever they're going to call them now), don't bother, buy a second hand set of old Burstbuckers for less and you'll end up with the same thing. And if you want to sound like Slash, specifically, then yeah, just buy the Seymour Duncans.
edit: I'll just add, this doesn't surprise me. A lot of the Gibson and Epiphone 'Slash' stuff has just been a regular product with his name slapped on. If they make a Les Paul Standard they can sell it for £2000; if they print his signature on the headstock they can sell the same guitar for £2800. It is no wonder that they have seemingly done the same with some pickups.
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cragginshred
New member
Ok OP here, Not looking to nail any sort of Slash tone just wanted a good rock pup. It is very good for that. As others have noted the Neck pup is the best ever for creamy clear solos. THe bridge is good, not amazing but def more clear and articulate than the Gibson slash pups that came in the guitar. Here is a tone sample.
Wolfshead
New member
I've got a Gibson LP Classic with the SD A2Pro set in it (not the Slash signature set, the original ones he always used himself), and a 2021 Gibson Slash Les Paul with the Slashbuckers in it.
IMO, the Duncan A2Pros are Slash's tone pretty much exactly. Both neck and bridge will get you as close to his sound as you'll ever get without owning all his gear and being him.
The Slashbuckers are great hard rock/metal pickups - open sounding and pretty hot (I lowered them a bit to get more clarity and definition) but they do NOT really sound much like Slash to me. They're more comparable to the Burstbucker 61 set that came in my 2021 Les Paul Classic but....somehow just a little better? And I really love the Burstbucker 61s!
So, to my ears, the Slashbuckers are great pickups, and probably the better option for most people. They're a tad more "generic" sounding. But if you are looking specifically to try and get close to Slash's fabled tone, the Duncan A2Pros are the way to go, whether you get his signature models or the regular set.
If you were to play my 2005 Les Paul Classic you would immediately think THAT one was the Slash signature guitar, not the 2021 Anaconda Les Paul, in sound AND looks!
IMO, the Duncan A2Pros are Slash's tone pretty much exactly. Both neck and bridge will get you as close to his sound as you'll ever get without owning all his gear and being him.
The Slashbuckers are great hard rock/metal pickups - open sounding and pretty hot (I lowered them a bit to get more clarity and definition) but they do NOT really sound much like Slash to me. They're more comparable to the Burstbucker 61 set that came in my 2021 Les Paul Classic but....somehow just a little better? And I really love the Burstbucker 61s!
So, to my ears, the Slashbuckers are great pickups, and probably the better option for most people. They're a tad more "generic" sounding. But if you are looking specifically to try and get close to Slash's fabled tone, the Duncan A2Pros are the way to go, whether you get his signature models or the regular set.
If you were to play my 2005 Les Paul Classic you would immediately think THAT one was the Slash signature guitar, not the 2021 Anaconda Les Paul, in sound AND looks!
Wound_Up
New member
How about waiting until you get and and then decide for yourself whether you like what's in it or it needs something else? Seems like you're setting yourself up to rationalize new pickups already.
Buy em then. Don't just beat around the bush. You can't know whether you'll like what's in it til you hear it. So why even worry about it before you even have the guitar in your hands?
This is always great advice. The guitar might be fine as is, or it might 'need' different pickups than you think initially.
soulforger
New member
+1 regular A2Pros in a Les Paul, plug into a JCM is almost impossible for it not to sound like Slash's tone, that's basically his whole signal chain, just add the licks.. and of course a wah
