Pickups for Epiphone Les Paul Standart - Help appreciated

[Kyuss9]

Hi all,

I own a Epiphone Les Paul Standart and I'm going to replace the stock pickups for SD pickups.
I use the bridge pup for rythm and the neck for lead.
As far as rythm goes, I'm looking for a "modern classic rock" sound, something in the likes of Queens of the Stone Age, Foo Fighters, etc (heavy but not explicitly metal).
For lead, I'm really like Slashs tone: fat, creamy with tons of sustain.
I've been using the "Tone wizard" and listening to sound samples, and I've come to the following "combination": SHPG1N Pearly Gates in the neck and the SH5 Duncan Custom on the bridge.
I have no prior experience with SD pups but judging by the sound samples in the site, individually they sound pretty much like what I'm looking for, but will they work well together?
Do you think there are better options for the kind of sound I'm looking for?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Pickups for Epiphone Les Paul Standart - Help appreciated

Welcome to the Forum.

The Pearly Gates/Custom combo would work very well for what you're describing. Actually, I play very similar music to what you mentioned and I'm very happy with the Pearly Gates set in my LP.

If you want to nail Slash's tone in theneck, you might want to consider the Alnico II Pro Humbucker instead of the Pearly Gates though. The PG will get you close, but the APH will really nail that tone.

 

[lex666]

Re: Pickups for Epiphone Les Paul Standart - Help appreciated

I recommend the C5/59n combo. These sound excellent in an Epi. They're so good, I've got 2 sets of them! I've tried others, but these sounded best for the tone I was after. Think Zeppelin, AC/DC, STP. For Slash's tone, Alnico II's all the way. If Slash was here he'd tell you, "get some Alnico II's"...

 

[Sozos]

Re: Pickups for Epiphone Les Paul Standart - Help appreciated

there is a bunch of buckers that you can try. the point is to pick the right ones so that you don't just waste time and of course money. I strongly recommend for the style you like the Screaming Demon for your bridge and the Full Shred for your neck. On the SD site you can ask the tone wizard or you can get an idea from the tone charts, they really help!

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Pickups for Epiphone Les Paul Standart - Help appreciated

I'd suggest a set of Alnico 2 Pros N & B like Slash uses or the Pearly Gates N & B.

Or an AIIPro neck or PG neck and the Custom bridge would probably be nice. I can't remember anyone ever mentioning using that exact combo and I haven't either.

For rythym I might want something more vintage like the PGB or 59B myself...unless you're wanting a more modern heavy overdriven tone for rythym, then the Custom would do the trick I guess.

The Custom Custom bridge would be nice too but it's fat and buttery. If you move it close to the strings it gets a nice bite too. I don't know if it'd be right for what you have in mind for rythym, but it's wonderful for soloing in a Slash or Robben Ford or EVH sort of way. It's hotter than the AIIPro Slash uses but it's alnico 2 and smooth like his soloing tone tends to be.

 

[MikeS]

Re: Pickups for Epiphone Les Paul Standart - Help appreciated

My first suggestion is the same as Benji's. The PGn and the Custom look like a great match on paper (i've never used the Custom, so I can't give any first hand accounts).

The Screamin Demon (bridge) and APH-1 (Alnico II Pro) also look to be a good combo. I'm a fan of both pickups, although I've never used them in the same guitar at the same time, so I can't speak to their balance.

 

[Kyuss9]

Re: Pickups for Epiphone Les Paul Standart - Help appreciated

I don't know exactly how, but I've been "studing" the pups specs for days, and I've missed the Alnico II Pro Humbucker, hehe...
I will definetly consider it. As soon as I get home (I'm at work right now) I'm going to listen to the samples and make a decision (I live in Portugal so it's difficult even to find a store that sells SDs, much more having the oportunity to listen guitars with different SDs pups on them...)

Besides, it's 42$ less than the Pearly Gates (which nevertheless has a beautifull tone)...which is also nice :wink:

From your feedback (no pun intended ) and from my own conclusions, it seems that the Duncan Custom is the way to go for rythm (bridge).It can't be too tradicional or thin sounding, but on the other hand it can't be too heavy. It has to be versatile, and it seems the Custom is the right choice.

Thanks a lot for your help guys! :fing2:

 

[Kyuss9]

Re: Pickups for Epiphone Les Paul Standart - Help appreciated

Hi again,

I've listened several times the Alnico II Pro samples and compared it to the Pearly Gates and I find the tone pretty similar (at least judgind by the samples). So, taking in account that the Alnico is significantly cheaper that the PG, I would go for the first one, but...I've noticed that (in the specs page) the output of the Alnico is much lower than the Duncan Custom I'll be using on the bridge (with the PG the difference is much smaller).
Does this mean that the volume of the Alnico would be much lower than the Custom? Is there any way to workaround this, besides compensating with the guitar's volume knobs?

Thanks.

 

[Brow]

Re: Pickups for Epiphone Les Paul Standart - Help appreciated

A Screamin' Demon bridge and a Pearly Gates neck is a nice pup combo in a Epi LP Standard imo. It's what I have in mine and I love it

Craig

 

[theboatcandream]

Re: Pickups for Epiphone Les Paul Standart - Help appreciated

What about a phat cat bridge for this guy?

 

[benbenben]

Re: Pickups for Epiphone Les Paul Standart - Help appreciated

heyz... im like pretty much the same as u... a slash lover.. with a love for les pauls. I've come to the conclusion of the 59' neck and a custom 5 bridge. However slash does use the double alnico II's neck and bridge. However i dont think u'll be displeased one bit with the 59 and a the custom 5. The 59 will give u that nice clean tone.. add sum overdrive.. like sum marshall amp distortion... or a ts9.. and ure set.... .. dont forget, you'll need a good amp if ure striving for slashs tone.