Noob needs help with new humbuckers for Epiphone Les Paul Standard

[colin2002]

Now, I know these threads have been done before but each player has his or her own specific needs so I decided to make a thread for mine.

Ok, I don't really know much about the technical side of pickups to be honest. I've started looking into it a few weeks ago and have much to learn. But one thing is for sure, I want to change the stock pick ups on my Epi Standard.

The music I plan to play on my LP ranges from 70s rock (Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd), Modern Blues (SRV, Clapton, Healy), and other stuff like GnR and Pearl Jam. I'm looking to slap some humbuckers on my LP, one for the bridge position and one for the neck.

For the bridge, I want a real raw nice soloing tone. Maybe something that reminds you of SRV's version of "Voodoo Child" (I know he didn't use the hums so don't tell me to get single coils) or Mike Mccready's bridge parts in his guitar solo from the song "Alive".

For the neck, I want something warmer, more along the lines of a Slash style tone, with decent mids and no extra noise.

I've looked into some selections on the site, but I won't reveal what I'm leaning towards to because I want an impartial answer from you vets out there. I have a lot to learn here, if you guys can help me out on this, it would be great.

 

[Kac]

Re: Noob needs help with new humbuckers for Epiphone Les Paul Standard

hmmm I like the JB for the bridge Humbucker, for what you described.
I'm still thinkin' on the Neck..
Rock On :13:

 

[diggamark]

Re: Noob needs help with new humbuckers for Epiphone Les Paul Standard

jb/ap2??

 

[59paul]

Re: Noob needs help with new humbuckers for Epiphone Les Paul Standard

For Duncan's, I like: 59 Bridge / Jazz Neck

The 59B will do whatever you ask of it. Just a Great all around Bridge Humbucker. Seems perfectly suited to the type of Music you were talking about.

The Jazz is what a Neck Humbucker should be....Full, Warm, Creamy.

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Noob needs help with new humbuckers for Epiphone Les Paul Standard

I would want to say 59 in the bridge. Great sounding I think for a LP style guitar. Then go with an AP2 in the neck, after all that is what Slash uses.

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: Noob needs help with new humbuckers for Epiphone Les Paul Standard

I won't start off my post with my recommendation I'll try to start by providing info. In my Heritage 150 (heritage's LP) I started out with a Jazz and JB.

The Jazz is everything I could ask for from a neck pup. Bright enough to cut through but not overly bright. It sounds good clean or dirty, and has a slightly differnt eq'ing than its brother the 59. Either sounds good in the neck but the 59 has more bass and less mids to my ears. I like A5 neck pups because they clean up the neck sound to my ears. Also depending on your setup (amp and pedals) you will find the extra bass of the 59 good or bad (boomy is bad).

The JB has a raw, aggressive sound that cuts through the mix like no other pup which is why it is so widely used. However, I didn't like the JB it sounded too shrill to me and didn't feel as organic to me. I replaced it with an Alnico 2 pro (a paf style pup with an A2 mag) and it gave me what the JB lacked. Another bridge pup to look into is the C5. Gearjoneser is the biggest C5 fan. The way to describe it is an overwound 59. It has a scooped sound where the JB as the high mid spike.

I honestly don't remember what guitar was used on the Alive solo but I think a JB has the rawness to pull off a similiar tone. For a SRV-ish tone you need single coils...but you have a bucker so you might consider getting a high output pup like the JB or C5 and splitting it.

Hope that helps some.

Luke

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Noob needs help with new humbuckers for Epiphone Les Paul Standard

I've put new pickups in three Epi Les Pauls and all three got the JB bridge. One got the 59N and two got the Jazz N. I'd go with the Jazz neck because it comes stock as a 4 conductor pickup and sounds killer with the 4 conductor JB. Plus you can replace your two tone pots with push/pull tone pots and split either pickup into a single coil for clear single coil tones. Jazz/JB would be my recommendation. It always sounds great to me in an Epi Les Paul and just seems to be what most guys are looking for.

That said, my own tastes rum more along the lines of 59paul's....I like the 59B best.


Lew

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Noob needs help with new humbuckers for Epiphone Les Paul Standard

I had the 59/JB combo in my LP for a while, and didn't much care for it. The distortion sounds were great at first, but after a while, the big, high mid spike of the JB got tiresome, and the boominess of the 59, whether clean or dirty, made that position almost unuseable for rythm. I then swapped out the bridge unit for a Pearly Gates and am much happier. I also used an alnico II mag in the 59 and it worked wonders. It was rich, smooth, and most of the boominess was gone. It was still a bit thick for my tastes and my particular Paul, so I go the Pearly Gates neck pickup and I haven't looked back ever since. I can play pretty much anything with this pickup set, from blues (obviously) to metal, even funk and pseudo-jazz.

I highly recommend the Pearly Gates set in a Lester. :burnout:

 

[colin2002]

Re: Noob needs help with new humbuckers for Epiphone Les Paul Standard

Thanks for all your comments, they were very helpfull. I'll be looking into them all, if anyone has anything to add, feel free. Thanks!

 

[Kac]

Re: Noob needs help with new humbuckers for Epiphone Les Paul Standard

Well I did enough thinking and reading up on stuff for ya :13:
I think a very good pick-up combination for your guitar and what you are asking of would be the JB Bridge and Jazz Neck.
My Personal Favorite pick-up combination for HH guitars.
Rock On:smoker:

 

[colin2002]

Re: Noob needs help with new humbuckers for Epiphone Les Paul Standard

Thats what I was learning towards!^ Yeah I'll probably go JB for the bridge but I'm still deciding between the Jazz Neck or an AP2. Thanks for the help man, checked out your band and gear site, cool stuff.