Pickup Choice in LesPaul-esque Guitar.

[billludwig]

Hello all!

I have an Ibanez sz520. It came with Duncan/Ibanez Humbuckers in it. (I assume designed by duncan, made by ibanez)

I recently started looking into pickups. Bought a pickup book. Taught me nothing but history.

Anyway, I wanted to change the pickups in it. The body is solid mahogany with a quilted maple top. Similar to Les Pauls, as far as I have read. I am going to coil tap the pickups so I have better control over the tone.

SO! The sounds I'm trying to get out of these pickups is anywhere from Modern-ish Distortion to something a little more Vintage-ey sounding. A nice full clean sound would be good, and I'm assuming the thicker mahogany body will help a little with that.

Both of these sounds can(and might have to) come from effects. But I wanted to know if there would be a good pickup combination for them.

Would coil tapping alone be enough to spread the difference between those sounds?

Thanks to anyone who can aid me in my decision!!!!
~Bill L.

 

[Despair]

Re: Pickup Choice in LesPaul-esque Guitar.

There's a lot of possibilities for a flexible guitar.

A TB-5 Custom and a '59 neck covers a pretty good gamut. Or a Pearly Gates neck if you want a squishier but snarlier tone (think Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top).

If you really want the broadest possible range of tones from one guitar, a P-Rails set with Triple Shot rings (for series humbucking/parallel humbucking/rail/P-90 options) is pretty wild.

Coil tapping is more precisely used to refer to taking a lead off a partially wound pickup, usually a single coil. In humbuckers, what you want is a coil split, which is when you only use 1 of the 2 coils. [Likely not your fault, a lot of sites are terrible with the distinction, reverse the terms, and generally cause confusion and annoyance.]

Custom/'59n is a great set for blues to metal, the bridge is slightly weak for clean or low gain sounds compared to a true PAF, but it's stronger for late 70s rock and modern metal. Worth it in the bridge, if you have a nice PAFish pickup like the '59n or PGn in the neck slot, in my opinion.

 

[billludwig]

Re: Pickup Choice in LesPaul-esque Guitar.

Wow, this has given me a lot to think about, and a lot to research. I thank you!!!!

And as far as P-rails go. I looked into them just a little. They seem interesting for a wide variety of tones. But when you suggested them, did you mean for the neck position? Or a set of two of them?

Still a lot to learn on my end. But this is a great start!!

A million thanks!,
~Bill L.

 

[Despair]

Re: Pickup Choice in LesPaul-esque Guitar.

Either way can work, set or single. If you just do the one, I'd probably do neck. Some people would argue for just doing a P-90, but I like the parallel humbucker mode a lot, from what I've heard in P-Rails recordings. And the series mode is pretty wild. Rail is probably the weakest mode, but that's not the same thing as bad, just not a true single coil.

If your guitar is fairly midrangy (thin mahogany doesn't have quite the same tone as a thick slab of it like a Les Paul, compare an SG for example), you might like the Custom 5 better (same pickup as the Custom, just swaps the ceramic magnet for an A5. Note the ceramic Custom is a very warm and non-harsh ceramic pickup, so don't dismiss it out of hand for the magnet. Check around for clips of it doing blues & rock if you doubt me. )

 

[billludwig]

Re: Pickup Choice in LesPaul-esque Guitar.

Thanks again,

I believe my guitar has a thicker slab of mahogany. Check these quick drawings out.

I have to say though, I am warming up to the idea of the P-Rail.
~Bill L.

 

[Despair]

Re: Pickup Choice in LesPaul-esque Guitar.

A quick google suggests a Les Paul ought to be 1.75" thick mahogany with an 0.5" maple cap, at the thickest, so that's actually fairly close on the body.

Different neck joint, that affects body resonance and sustain as well as upper fret access. Still, more similar than not.

 

[IanBallard]

Re: Pickup Choice in LesPaul-esque Guitar.

I'll just tell you what I would do with a "Les Paul" style guitar first and foremost. I'd get a set of 59's, try it out stock and sleep on it. Likely, before making any other changes I'd drop an A4 magnet in the neck and an A8 in the bridge. After this, if you're still marooned on a desert island, I'd call for help.

 

[mwalluk]

Re: Pickup Choice in LesPaul-esque Guitar.

Pickup combos to think about:

JB/59
Screamin Demon/PEarly Gates
A2P set
Seth/A2P
JB/Jazz

 

[Franknfilms]

Re: Pickup Choice in LesPaul-esque Guitar.

Billludwig, what do you think about your existing pickups? You've got a duncan distortion in the bridge, basically. Not nearly as clear but very hot. If I were you I would go Custom, there is another forum bro who's name escapes me and he loves the Cutsom in his sz520. For equal footing in classic rock and metal, the custom is what you want.

 

[billludwig]

Re: Pickup Choice in LesPaul-esque Guitar.

Hello all!

Thank you for all of your responses! I appreciate the help a whole lot! I'm starting to get a better feel for pickups and pickup choices.

I've decided to hold back on getting new pickups for now, and I'll probably be back to this thread when I do decide to upgrade. In general, I listened to the pickups in my guitar now, and the don't sound too bad. They were listed as being modeled after the 59 and the Distortion(b).

I think I need to build up my rig first, and then take it from there. For a while I was using a small crate, then it got stolen, and now I've been borrowing my brothers SpiderIV75. It's a little challenging getting a more "dry" sound out of it. I never really know how much modeling is going on.

But after talking to some more knowledgeable (than me) friends about their rigs, I thought; Wow! There is a lot I should get before worrying about the pickups.

So, with all that, I thank all of you again for your insight and knowledge!
~Bill L.

 

[Broeheem]

Re: Pickup Choice in LesPaul-esque Guitar.

I , like others, love the '59 at the neck (Epi Les Paul here) but took a different approach on the other end. Out with the humbucker, in with the single coil Twang Banger. I'll guess that nobody else has done this. If I'm wrong, please post here.... I'd like to know if anyone else loves this pickup as much as I do.