Pickup recommendations -- 1993 Les Paul Standard

Re: Pickup recommendations -- 1993 Les Paul Standard

i have a rc uoa5 that was in the other guitar, i went back to the stock magnet. still a little too a5 for me :D the a4 is a much different tone but i like it, i like the clarity in the neck and can roll down the tone to warm things up if i need to. the donor guitar for the ant set will be getting a sns set
 
Re: Pickup recommendations -- 1993 Les Paul Standard

Moved on to fully charged A2s. The A4 in the neck was just never going to work for me, and the bridge was an interesting change of pace, but not really enough of an improvement to warrant keeping it (I did consider putting the stock A2 back in the neck and keeping the A4 in the bridge, but while I was swapping anyway I wanted to try the fully charged A2s).

So far, these are much more what I'm after. It's not a huge apparent difference from stock, but for whatever reason the dunaged magnets in this guitar did not play well on the bridge position (neck was fine). The fully charged magnets don't have a "hit you over the head" difference like the A4s did, but they are just enough to smooth out the low end. Whereas before with the dunaged magnets, the low end had 2 settings -- squishy or harsh -- now there is just enough give in the low end while still maintaining a firm bottom without sounding too harsh. Much more like the Pearlies.

In fact, the biggest problem is the 2 sets still sound a lot alike. But I'm going to give it a go for a while because there is enough difference between the two guitars that it's a change of pace switching from one to the other. The Traditional has a bigger bottom end and a more balanced tone overall. String-to-string definition even with an A2 bridge is outstanding, and the guitar is very articulate while still having a ton of harmonic complexity. The Standard has a tighter bottom end and a more prominent top end, so the midrange of the A2s fills it out a little. In general, the Standard handles higher gain settings better than the Traditional (and that was true when the Antiquities were in the Traditional and the Pearlies were in the Standard). The Traditional has a bit nicer tone for lower gain stuff.

At some point I may just fully embrace that difference and sell the Antiquities to fund a Slash set or a Custom bridge/59 neck or whatever. For now I'm going to stick with it as is, mainly because these two guitars back each other up, and I'd hate to be at a gig and have a problem with one and the other not be a good substitute. I think I might be able to pull that off with the Slash set, but any true high output bridge pickup is not going to sound the same for lower gain stuff. I think these are giving me what I want now, which is a touch of difference while still being roughly in the same ballpark.
 
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Re: Pickup recommendations -- 1993 Les Paul Standard

i havent tried the slash set, i think i might like the bridge but think the neck might be more than i want. maybe someday ill give em a try
 
Re: Pickup recommendations -- 1993 Les Paul Standard

My buddy has them in an Epiphone and they sound really good. They're probably smoother and a little rounder in the neck than the Ants or Pearlies, and the bridge is sharp and articulate. The bridge surprised me -- it doesn't really sound like a normal spongy A2. They managed to tighten up the bottom. I'm guessing the hotter wind has something to do with that. But it's also not harsh like an A5 can be. Very much a goldilocks bridge pickup for harder rock.

I haven't really played his through a cleaner rig, so that's my only reservation. I love the tone of lower wind unpotted pickups into a clean amp, and I don't really like, say, the 57 Classics as much that way. So I worry that the potting in the Slash pickups might be more than I want.
 
Re: Pickup recommendations -- 1993 Les Paul Standard

I haven't (yet) swapped in the 57 Classic. I intend to. The fully charged A2s are better than the degaussed A2s that came in the Antiquities, but they still have a harshness to the low end I couldn't seem to dial out very easily. They were amazing in the other guitar, so I've about decided this wind just doesn't play well with this particular guitar.

Something I've considered, and would appreciate any opinions on, is trying Seths instead. This guitar likes the 498t/490r set, especially with the UOA5 magnet swap. That's a little more compressed and hot that I want, but they sound great. It likes 57 Classics. It likes the Wolfetone Dr. Vintage. I've considered getting another set of the latter honestly, because they were so good, but I still sort of want to go in a slightly different direction.

The reason I am looking at the Seths is Dickey Betts has used them, and that very honking neck pickup along with the biting mid-heavy bridge seems like it might work in this guitar. The Antiquities were amazing in my other guitar, which has a more even tonality, and they had a lot of honk to the neck and especially the middle positions. The low end in this particular guitar on the bridge pickup is just too harsh. I understand the Seths have more bite to them than the Antiquities, and a little more punch as well. Given that the 498t works so well in the bridge, as did the 57 Classics, does anyone think I'm in the ballpark with Seths versus Antiquities?
 
Re: Pickup recommendations -- 1993 Les Paul Standard

If the Seths are in the running, always choose them. They have that southern rock thing down. They have more mids than Antiquities, but in a beautiful way.
 
Re: Pickup recommendations -- 1993 Les Paul Standard

I had Seths and 57s in the same SG. The general EQ and output were pretty much the same, but the Seths are much clearer. So if you're looking for the 57 tone but better, then you might love Seths in that guitar. This might be a totally different comparison in an LP though.
 
Re: Pickup recommendations -- 1993 Les Paul Standard

It's a trip to realize that a '93 Les Paul is over 25 years old now.

Hell, it's even trip to realize that I bought my '04 LP Standard brand new 15 years ago now.
 
Re: Pickup recommendations -- 1993 Les Paul Standard

ItsaBass said:
It's a trip to realize that a '93 Les Paul is over 25 years old now.

Hell, it's even trip to realize that I bought my '04 LP Standard brand new 15 years ago now.
Click to expand...

Imagine a 59 Burst in 1984.

I mean, it's basically the exact same thing right? Right?

Seriously, it is a trip to think this guitar is that old. It's still among my favorites too. It's a fantastic guitar.
 
Re: Pickup recommendations -- 1993 Les Paul Standard

57 Classic Plus is in. Much better for the tones I’m after. This one is particularly hot and consistently reads 8.8 to 8.9 DCR. Based on the fact that I am pretty happy now, I’m going to keep these for a while and consider upgrading to the Slash set later.
 
Re: Pickup recommendations -- 1993 Les Paul Standard

glad you found something that works for you. i had a 9.4k antiquity wind pup made years ago and it was amazing, sometimes ya want a little more juice
 
Re: Pickup recommendations -- 1993 Les Paul Standard

So basically I'm giving up and going back to what worked the first time.

The main reason I swapped the Ants out of the Traditional is I wanted the double creme look. It's a cool look. But in the end, the Antiquities were fantastic in that guitar, and while the Pearlies are too (I think it's just a fantastic guitar, honestly), I'm going to put the Antiquities back in and put the Pearlies (with covers) back into the Standard. That's a good setup for me. Maybe I'll buy a set of double creme Antiquities one day.

Probably not.
 
Re: Pickup recommendations -- 1993 Les Paul Standard

If you like the sound of the 57 classic, you'd love the sound of the slash set. I prefer the slash set over the 57s.
 
Re: Pickup recommendations -- 1993 Les Paul Standard

some people take looks over tone, ill take tone over looks everytime. i had a double cream seth in the neck of a guitar and i loved the look but the zebra pgn sounded better so back in the pg went.
 
Re: Pickup recommendations -- 1993 Les Paul Standard

Yeah. I mean, the double cremes look good in the Standard too:



They just looked better in that guitar with the covers on:



And they looked outstanding in the Trad with the covers off:



But it is what it is -- I prefer the tone of the Pearlies in the Standard and the Ants in the Trad, so covers go back on both and they will reside where they sound the best.
 
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