Pickups for a Custom LP-ish guitar

TRex

TRex

New member
Right now, im considering specing out a guitar from Chris Mitchell Guitars in Stateboro, Ga. Looking for that iconic humbucker vibe with this one.

The Guitar is basically a mahogany with thicker maple cap and rosewood fretboard LP.

Beautiful guitars, but i need to decide what Duncans to order her with. Here is my thoughts on the pickups..

I want to fairly balanced pickups, that match each other well. Needs to be a PAF style pickup with a open, vintage feel. But need sto take gain well and not get flubby. Output is not a huge concern, as i can always use a booster. I will also have triple shots, so splits and Parallel will help the tonal diversity.

I mostly play blues rock, classic rock, blues, and metal (though i have an Epi with a JB for that).

Bands i want to hit the ballpark of include: Led Zepplin, ZZ Top, AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Dio, Black Keys, Guns and Roses, and Cream.

Whole Lotta Humbuckers and Pearly Gates sets seem to get great reviews for this. The Saterday night special is also a choice. Which of these are better for me in your opinion?
 
Re: Pickups for a Custom LP-ish guitar

TRex said:
Right now, im considering specing out a guitar from Chris Mitchell Guitars in Stateboro, Ga. Looking for that iconic humbucker vibe with this one.

The Guitar is basically a mahogany with thicker maple cap and rosewood fretboard LP.

Beautiful guitars, but i need to decide what Duncans to order her with. Here is my thoughts on the pickups..

I want to fairly balanced pickups, that match each other well. Needs to be a PAF style pickup with a open, vintage feel. But need sto take gain well and not get flubby. Output is not a huge concern, as i can always use a booster. I will also have triple shots, so splits and Parallel will help the tonal diversity.

I mostly play blues rock, classic rock, blues, and metal (though i have an Epi with a JB for that).

Bands i want to hit the ballpark of include: Led Zepplin, ZZ Top, AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Dio, Black Keys, Guns and Roses, and Cream.



Whole Lotta Humbuckers and Pearly Gates sets seem to get great reviews for this. The Saterday night special is also a choice. Which of these are better for me in your opinion?
Click to expand...


Neck Pickup: StagMag (if you are definitely going triple shots)

you are not gonna find a Bridge PAF that will handle the triple shots with grace!!
 
Re: Pickups for a Custom LP-ish guitar

audiocheck said:
Neck Pickup: StagMag (if you are definitely going triple shots)

you are not gonna find a Bridge PAF that will handle the triple shots with grace!!
Click to expand...
Stag mag doesnt sound like a humbucker though. The splits aren't as important as the humbucker itself to me.
 
Re: Pickups for a Custom LP-ish guitar

whole lotta humbuckers might be a good choice for triple shots
 
Re: Pickups for a Custom LP-ish guitar

How about the Pearly Gates for the neck and the 59/Custom hybrid for the bridge? They're both PAF style, both sound good series or split, and the 59/C has a little more beef to it which you need for bridge position unless you really want a super vintage (thin) vibe.

 
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Re: Pickups for a Custom LP-ish guitar

Whole Lotta Humbuckers would get that tone, though for a very special guitar that is custom built, you might want to consider something you design yourself from the Custom Shop.
 
Re: Pickups for a Custom LP-ish guitar

Mincer said:
Whole Lotta Humbuckers would get that tone, though for a very special guitar that is custom built, you might want to consider something you design yourself from the Custom Shop.
Click to expand...
Very temping, but id want to wait until i have some years on the guitar before i know what i want to that degree. Defiantly a good choice for a personal axe.

Ill post a thread about the guitar when its ordering time :)
 
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Re: Pickups for a Custom LP-ish guitar

Clint 55 said:
How about the Pearly Gates for the neck and the 59/Custom hybrid for the bridge? They're both PAF style, both sound good series or split, and the 59/C has a little more beef to it which you need for bridge position unless you really want a super vintage (thin) vibe.

Click to expand...
Hmmm...interesting.. 59/Custom Hybrid is defiantly a tad on the hot side, but really nails a vintage hot tone. Rules at more modern metal as well because it stays tight. Its a bit more 80's sounding than 50's-70's to my ears though. Very Van Halen like with a gainy Marshall. Might end up putting one in my Epiphone "Hot-rodded" Les Paul Standard that currently has a JB(UOA5) and a 59(A3).

Im guessing it would pair better with a Whole Lotta in the neck than the PG.
jeremy said:
whole lotta humbuckers might be a good choice for triple shots
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Yea, i mean Jimmy Page was the man who these are based upon! The king of tone changing switches.
 
Re: Pickups for a Custom LP-ish guitar

Can`t say which is better... but I just put a set of Custom Shop Pearly Gates unwaxed in my 78 Custom, and it is like this combination was made for each other.
 
Re: Pickups for a Custom LP-ish guitar

From the stock Duncan line up my favorite PAF combo is a Pearly Gates in the bridge and a 59 in the neck. Covers a wide range for musical styles and will handle gain very well.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Re: Pickups for a Custom LP-ish guitar

Shai`tan said:
Can`t say which is better... but I just put a set of Custom Shop Pearly Gates unwaxed in my 78 Custom, and it is like this combination was made for each other.
Click to expand...
Sounds sweet! Its probably got that nice controlled feedback and a nice open vintage sound.
SFW said:
From the stock Duncan line up my favorite PAF combo is a Pearly Gates in the bridge and a 59 in the neck. Covers a wide range for musical styles and will handle gain very well.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

My experience with the 59 neck was boomy and scooped in a Les paul.

Pearly Gates bridge does sound nice though
 
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Re: Pickups for a Custom LP-ish guitar

TRex said:
Bands i want to hit the ballpark of include: Led Zepplin, ZZ Top, AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Dio, Black Keys, Guns and Roses, and Cream.
Click to expand...

Dio is a bit of a wild card in that line up. But still....for what you have and what you wants, my 0.02 is:

Seth set.

Or

Find an old 59 set made by MJ in the 80s. Or ask MJ to make you a 59 set from the CS.
 
Re: Pickups for a Custom LP-ish guitar

TRex said:
Stag mag doesnt sound like a humbucker though. The splits aren't as important as the humbucker itself to me.
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Sorry, but in the Neck position it does. I get a solid Warren Haynes neck pickup tone out of mine. It comes very close to sounding like a Pearly Gates neck in humbucker mode. Split to the neck coil and it is heaven on clean tones. Please note that I flipped mine at the neck position, so my staggered poles are upside down (think Hendrix).
 
Re: Pickups for a Custom LP-ish guitar

SFW said:
From the stock Duncan line up my favorite PAF combo is a Pearly Gates in the bridge and a 59 in the neck. Covers a wide range for musical styles and will handle gain very well.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Ha, mine are opposite: 59 bridge, PG neck, but I am talking in a Les Paul.
 
Re: Pickups for a Custom LP-ish guitar

darthphineas said:
Dio is a bit of a wild card in that line up. But still....for what you have and what you wants, my 0.02 is:

Seth set.

Or

Find an old 59 set made by MJ in the 80s. Or ask MJ to make you a 59 set from the CS.
Click to expand...

Yeah, Vivian is back to playing his black Les Paul with a set of 59s in it. He gets some great tones on the new Last In Line CD!
 
Re: Pickups for a Custom LP-ish guitar

audiocheck said:
Yeah, Vivian is back to playing his black Les Paul with a set of 59s in it. He gets some great tones on the new Last In Line CD!
Click to expand...

Yep. MJ made them for him.

Keep an ear out for the new Riverdogs. He went back to his Anderson for that project. Don't know if he's using the same ENGL on that project. He said he's using the stock Anderson pickups.

With DL, they've pretty much told him from Day One what his rig would be. The side gigs are way more to his form than his pay-the-rent job. lol!
 
Re: Pickups for a Custom LP-ish guitar

darthphineas said:
Dio is a bit of a wild card in that line up. But still....for what you have and what you wants, my 0.02 is:

Seth set.

Or

Find an old 59 set made by MJ in the 80s. Or ask MJ to make you a 59 set from the CS.
Click to expand...

Dio is not as big of a tone as i need to nail, if that helps.

Man i never watched the Antiquity set demo before...wow..sounds kinda right up my ally..im not sure about it being not wax potted though...sounds great though.
 
Re: Pickups for a Custom LP-ish guitar

TRex said:
Dio is not as big of a tone as i need to nail, if that helps.

Man i never watched the Antiquity set demo before...wow..sounds kinda right up my ally..im not sure about it being not wax potted though...sounds great though.
Click to expand...

Antiquity is closer to at least one of the influences you listed than is openly admitted.
 
Re: Pickups for a Custom LP-ish guitar

darthphineas said:
Antiquity is closer to at least one of the influences you listed than is openly admitted.
Click to expand...
Are you referring to Cream? Defiantly got that vibe from the demo.

Now to search other demos to see if it was just Geoff Waldron's playing(SD Demo Dude).
 
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