Retiring my Distortion in LP for a more organic lead pup

[Hank-]

Re: Retiring my Distortion in LP for a more organic lead pup

You should try an a2 in there as well, just for fun if anything. The Custom model seem to retain it's organic nature with various mags, it changes a bit but I did not find it stiff with a5, a2 or ceramic. The regular custom worked great in my LP copy, sounds very much like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLsktp3h-Us
A bit bright but nothing obnoxious. The lows on it complemented the lows of the 59n I had paired with it. Palm muting sounded big, mids were present & not over the top. I loved the a2 variant in my prs se not so much in an lp.

If you have various mags lying around then expect to swap them around a few times cause this pickup's eq curve changes with different ones.

 

[gregory]

Re: Retiring my Distortion in LP for a more organic lead pup

Maybe like 5 bass 5 mids 7 treble?

You could try an A3, perhaps also with progressively shorter screws under the wound strings (6th string gets the shortest screw).

 

[Nagisa]

Re: Retiring my Distortion in LP for a more organic lead pup

FINISHED!!! C-5 for the win!

Put in the polished a5 magnet and got exactly what I wanted - organic and clear tone without the harshness of the 498. It no longer has that growl that the ceramic had, but for me that's ok. It sounds like a nice, modern LP to me, and the high notes really sing.

Gotta say I did not like the a8 magnets in either the 498 or custom - I guess it's not for me. The harmonics just sounded strange in my setup, and it was stiff sounding. The a5 has natural sounding harmonics and that light crunch I like on LPs.

Now I think I'm all done:
Ibanez Prestige with Evolutions and True Velvet middle
Les Paul Studio with C-5 bridge and Titan 5 neck
US Std. Strat with SSL-5 bridge and fat 50s mid/neck.

Not much rock that I can't play - and if I can't play it, I wouldn't want to anyway

Thanks for all your help! I think I'm done screwing around for a long time now.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Retiring my Distortion in LP for a more organic lead pup

Get em.

 

[Sun King]

Re: Retiring my Distortion in LP for a more organic lead pup

Cool. "T" minus two days and counting 'til NGD- it's coming stock with a Custom-5 which i planned to mag-swap right away,,, sounds like i should give it a try! Glad to hear you got everything dialed in.

 

[Nagisa]

Re: Retiring my Distortion in LP for a more organic lead pup

Cool. "T" minus two days and counting 'til NGD- it's coming stock with a Custom-5 which i planned to mag-swap right away,,, sounds like i should give it a try! Glad to hear you got everything dialed in.

Just depends on the sound you want. If you want an organic paf sound the custom 5 sounds great. If you want a heavier sound then either the ceramic or a8 will work, with the ceramic being tighter and more powerful and the a8 having more clarity. Only tried the 3 varieties, and only in one guitar, though

 

[Thundermtn]

Re: Retiring my Distortion in LP for a more organic lead pup

Thanks for all your help! I think I'm done screwing around for a long time now.

Yeah?

Lol, that's what we all say.

Glad you found it though, rules getting one to hit just right!