Recommended pickups for a lefty 61' CS Les Paul SG

[Southbound Suarez]

Hey guys it has been quite awhile since I last posted here. I have been perusing and pouring over threads that either start on the SDF or end here.

Here's my dilemma, I currently have (3) sets of humbuckers: 1) Seth Lover Humbucker Set 2) Alnico II Pro Humbucker Set 3) Tom Holmes 450/455 Humbucker potted A4 set (7.87K NK & 8.72K BR).

My tastes have refined over the years such that I "Do Not" prefer brittle, edgy, and scooped A5 humbuckers (like the 59' HB before a magnet swap) and I don't care for the "sponginess" or unclear A2 humbucker. Just to give an idea to my preference of tonal qualities I currently have these HB sets installed in my Les Pauls, SG's, PRS, ES-335: WCR Bet Set (ES-335), WCR Moore/Green (50's LPPP), Tim White Timbuckers (60's LPPP), 59' BR & 59' TB both w/RC UOA5 (PRS 24 fret), Dry Z or Maxxon humbuckers (80 Greco Super Real).

I like the give that one gets when they dig in to say an A2 or UOA5 equipped humbucker set Although, I have gotten spoiled to having a clearer "classic rock" tone that covers many bases from the aforementioned humbucker sets.

I just recently popped in (2) RC UOA5 magnets into a 59' Neck and 59' TB which are installed in my lefty 24 fret PRS clone guitar made for me by a local luthier when lefty PRS guitars were rare. I have a 6 way rotary installed in this guitar and just put off and put off dealing with the scooped mid range and cutting highs and lows from these pickups until just recently I read some old posts of comments made by Lt. Kojack regarding magnet swaps on the SDF. All those years wasted not playing this guitar and now for the first time in many years I'm totally and tonally awestruck.

I just ordered these magnets from Addiction-fx which I plan on pairing as follows:

1) 2.50 A4 polished (NK) with 2.50 RC A4 (BR)
2) 2.50 A3 polished (NK) with 2.50 RC UOA5 (BR)
3) 2.50 RC UOA5 (NK) with 2.50 RC UOA5 (BR)

For the sounds I've described (and prefer), which pickups would you use if it were your 61' SG RI? If your choice were one of the two Seymour Duncan model humbucker pickups mentioned, which pairing of the above mentioned magnet sets (would/should) deliver the best results according to my criteria? I prefer a woody neck (like a WCR Bet Set NK HB f.e.) that is just as capable of playing leads as well as rhythm, and a clear articulate bridge that has a good balance of lows, mids, and highs w/o being too over the top with edginess, sponginess, or scooped mids.

Ive been going over and over the video of the Seymour Duncan Saturday Night Special pickup set here on this website and am impressed with what I hear. Other than the bridge being about 1K over what I'd spec for a bridge humbucker, everything I hear is spot on to what I'm talking about AND the specs are almost spot on with my Tom Holmes humbucker set of (7.87K NK A4 potted and 8.72K BR A4 potted) comparative to the Saturday Night Special humbucker set of (7.9K NK A4 potted and 9.74K BR A4 potted). What say you guys?

 

[Demanic]

Re: Recommended pickups for a lefty 61' CS Les Paul SG

Put the A4 in the neck and keep the UOA5 in the bridge.

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk

 

[Southbound Suarez]

Re: Recommended pickups for a lefty 61' CS Les Paul SG

Hey Demanic, Thanks. As you may have surmised, the pairing of magnets that I ordered and referred to was born from the many statements that Lt. Kojak proposed in SDF magnet swapping threads. One post he stated that he had substituted RC UOA5's in both the neck/bridge position of several customer guitars for that "Jimmy Page" voicing. Later on, most probably after he had done much more experimentation with magnet swapping he recommended the A3 NK and UOA5 BR pairing and called it the "Vintage Whisperer". I think what I'm hearing, and what I have liked all along is the A4 with a moderate output wind (slightly hotter than vintage). Of course it has taken me so long to figure this out because back when SD first came on the scene in my 20's his offerings were either A2 or A5 magnets with the occasional degaussed A2 or A5 magnet. There wasn't any talk of A3 or A4 magnets then, as the independent winders were yet to appear on the scene.

I had pulled my Tom Holmes humbucker set from my 50's LPPP guitar because I was still hearing the BB Pro's w/A5 response when I played said guitar. Could've been Tom Holme's potting, could've been the guitar or both. I generally like the openness of an unpotted or lightly wax potted pickup myself. If Tom could reverse his wax potting process, I'd sure like to hear the Holmes HB's without.

Someone mentioned in one of the many magnet swapping threads that pickup manufacturers/winders typically like to used polished magnets, and many users prefer polished magnets for the neck position humbuckers. I have noticed a recent "trend" for manufacturers/winders to advertise "roughcast" magnets for both the neck and bridge humbucker positions.

Demanic, what would your recommendations be for the A4 neck magnet "polished" or "roughcast"? Which pickup set for the SG, would you recommend for the A4 NK/RC UOA5 BR (Seth Lover or Alnico Pro II)?

 

[Southbound Suarez]

Re: Recommended pickups for a lefty 61' CS Les Paul SG

:BUMP:

 

[Southbound Suarez]

Re: Recommended pickups for a lefty 61' CS Les Paul SG

:BUMP:

BUMPITY BUMP

 

[jeremy]

Re: Recommended pickups for a lefty 61' CS Les Paul SG

i prefer polished magnets in the neck. in the bridge roughcast can be great but polished can work very well too depending on what you want

 

[Southbound Suarez]

Re: Recommended pickups for a lefty 61' CS Les Paul SG

What do you guys think I should do for the CS 61' Les Paul SG, install the Tom Holmes humbucker set as is or install the Seth Lover or Alnico II Pro set with magnet swaps. Magnets on hand: 1) A3 polished 2.50 length 2) A4 polished 2.50 length 3) A4 rough cast 2.50 length 4) (2) UOA5 rough cast 2.50 length.

Again, I like a little give when digging into the strings but I'm a proponent of clear. I prefer a vocal and "woody" neck tone. I've grown away from the "spongy" low and sometimes muddy A2. The crisp edgy high end and low end with scooped mids from an A5 magnet is out as well. I like a good balance of all frequencies with slightly rolled off highs and lows. Anyone?

 

[Southbound Suarez]

Re: Recommended pickups for a lefty 61' CS Les Paul SG

i prefer polished magnets in the neck. in the bridge roughcast can be great but polished can work very well too depending on what you want

Thanks Jeremy :thumbsup: BTW, I clicked on the "LIKE" bar and nothing happened, what am I doing wrong?

 

[jeremy]

Re: Recommended pickups for a lefty 61' CS Les Paul SG

dunno. you clicked the little thumb pic? it it was me id put the polished a3 in the neck and rough cast uoa5 in the bridge in the aph set

 

[Demanic]

Re: Recommended pickups for a lefty 61' CS Les Paul SG

As far as rough or polished, I like polished in the neck and roughcast in the bridge.

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk

 

[Southbound Suarez]

Re: Recommended pickups for a lefty 61' CS Les Paul SG

As far as rough or polished, I like polished in the neck and roughcast in the bridge.

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk

Yep, I'm gathering that polished magnets typically have more clarity than roughcast magnets which would make polished magnets more ideal for neck position humbuckers.

 

[Southbound Suarez]

Re: Recommended pickups for a lefty 61' CS Les Paul SG

dunno. you clicked the little thumb pic? it it was me id put the polished a3 in the neck and rough cast uoa5 in the bridge in the aph set

Yep, when I click on the "Post Thanks/Like" bar I get nada, zilch, zero, zip. The consensus on the SDF seems to be either: (A3 polished NK & UOA5 rough cast BR) OR (A4 polished NK & UOA5 rough cast BR) of which I concur with however, which of the A3 polished or A4 polished magnets will give me that "woody" neck tone like one hears with say a WCR Bet Set Neck or WCR Crossroads Neck? If I had a A3 rough cast magnet, I could swap the magnets out of the Seth Lovers for an A3 polished NK & A3 rough cast BR ala Joe Bonamassa's Skinner Burst set. BTW, is that Skinner Burst humbucker set wax potted or not?

 

[Southbound Suarez]

Re: Recommended pickups for a lefty 61' CS Les Paul SG

I believe I'll swap out the mags in my Seth Lovers for A3 NK polished and UOA5 BR rough cast and try it out in the SG. If I'm not satisfied with it then I'll plop in the Tom Holmes A4 hb set.

 

[Southbound Suarez]

Re: Recommended pickups for a lefty 61' CS Les Paul SG

Pepe, I thought that you'd be the first one to offer input as you're the one that I garnered most of my info from. I guess not.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Recommended pickups for a lefty 61' CS Les Paul SG

I am really liking roughcast A5s in the bridge lately. They don't seem as 'hard' to me. The 2 I have are in 59/Custom Hybrids.

 

[Southbound Suarez]

Re: Recommended pickups for a lefty 61' CS Les Paul SG

I am really liking roughcast A5s in the bridge lately. They don't seem as 'hard' to me. The 2 I have are in 59/Custom Hybrids.

Hey Mincer, thanks mucho. I am still torn as to using an A3 polished or UOA5 rough cast for the SL neck. I've already tried the UOA5 rough cast in both my 59' Neck humbucker and 59' Bridge trembucker and like them very much in my lefty 24 fret PRS clone guitar. From another thread here on the SDF a member by the name of "majewsky" performed magnet swaps in his 61' SG RI w/Seth Lover humbuckers and did a write up. He said he preferred the A3 polished neck & UOA5 rough cast bridge in his Seth Lover set for his SG. Another poster described the A3 neck as woody, vocal, and sweet. I wrote to Dennis at Addiction-fx, and he said he doesn't prefer A3's unless one desires a country clean.

I do prefer a woody, vocal, and sweet neck tone (with clarity) for both clean and overdriven tones, and I cite my WCR Bet Set neck humbucker of 7.5K Ohms in my ES-335 as an example. The WCR Bet Set neck humbucker is so cool that it can easily double for a great lead or rhythm pickup, and it has all of the expletives described above.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Recommended pickups for a lefty 61' CS Les Paul SG

Yep, when I click on the "Post Thanks/Like" bar I get nada, zilch, zero, zip.

right. to the bottom far left of the post under the avatar picture, join date, location, posts, likes given and received is a little picture of a thumb. click on that to like a post

 

[Southbound Suarez]

Re: Recommended pickups for a lefty 61' CS Les Paul SG

right. to the bottom far left of the post under the avatar picture, join date, location, posts, likes given and received is a little picture of a thumb. click on that to like a post

Thanks jeremy!