Setting Up A Les Paul "Black Beauty" & a "Custom"

[Zager77]

I want to change out the Classic Alnico Pickups on my Epiphone Les Paul "Black Beauty", with 3 pickups.
I play Blues, Country, Pop, and some Southern Rock.

Suggestions please?

I would like to also set up a "Custom' Les Paul with 2 pickups.
Suggestions please?

Thanks for your imput in advance!!

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Setting Up A Les Paul "Black Beauty" & a "Custom"

For a Black Beauty, considering it's got a solid mahogany body, the Custom 5 sounds huge in it, and has just enough treble for some bite. For the other two, you might consider buying a Jazz N, 59N, APH, or Pearly Gates N. I'd buy 2 of those, and then decide which should go solo in the neck, and which one will blend with the C5 in the middle position. The middle position on a true Black Beauty is the bridge and middle. It's good for your brighter LP sounds, so it's important to have a middle that jives nicely with the bridge. The 59B or C5 has my vote in that guitar, and I have a Black Beauty with C5/59/59.

For the Custom....that could be anything, but for a stout ballsy tone out of a LP, a Custom/Jazz is one of the best I've used. I have that in my Goldtop Std.

I also like vintage output pickups in LP's like Seths and PG's, but if you want something that makes your LP sound refined yet huge, the Custom and C5 work really well. I have a love/hate relationship with the Custom Custom. Too thick and buttery in some Les Pauls, but it's great at thickening a thin sounding guitar.

 

[Zager77]

Re: Setting Up A Les Paul "Black Beauty" & a "Custom"

Thanks alot!!

Any more input?

By the way, I am new to the forum!

Very cool!!!

 

[Diocletian]

Re: Setting Up A Les Paul "Black Beauty" & a "Custom"

HI mate.

I'm hoping to put an Alnico II bridge, Phat Cat middle and either an Alnico II or '59 neck in my Epi Black Beauty.

 

[ratkent]

Re: Setting Up A Les Paul "Black Beauty" & a "Custom"

If you're going for standard output pickups I would consider a Pearly Gates set. If you need a hotter bridge then I would say a Custom or JB and a Pearly Gates neck.

 

[Zager77]

Re: Setting Up A Les Paul "Black Beauty" & a "Custom"

I'm leaning towards the Pearly Gates, 59' and the Phat Cat?
Does that sound like it would work?
I'm going to check the Pots also?

 

[Zager77]

Re: Setting Up A Les Paul "Black Beauty" & a "Custom"

Help!

 

[ratkent]

Re: Setting Up A Les Paul "Black Beauty" & a "Custom"

I'm leaning towards the Pearly Gates, 59' and the Phat Cat?
Does that sound like it would work?
I'm going to check the Pots also?

That would probably be a very cool setup.

 

[Zager77]

Re: Setting Up A Les Paul "Black Beauty" & a "Custom"

I wonder if I could put a 3-4-way toggle switch in?

 

[JamesPaul]

Re: Setting Up A Les Paul "Black Beauty" & a "Custom"

...

For the Custom....that could be anything, but for a stout ballsy tone out of a LP, a Custom/Jazz is one of the best I've used. I have that in my Goldtop Std.

...

Bit of a drive by posting but I'll definitely side with Gear on this. I get a lot of tonal variety out of my Custom/Jazz set. Yeah, I have to work the knobs but that's a small price to pay for what's available from that set!

 

[Diocletian]

Re: Setting Up A Les Paul "Black Beauty" & a "Custom"

I wonder if I could put a 3-4-way toggle switch in?

Why not just use push/pull pots?
If you search back through threads I've started you might find more on this topic. I'm sure I started a similar thread about my Black Beauty.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Setting Up A Les Paul "Black Beauty" & a "Custom"

After trying various triple HB guitars, I've settled on these:

HSH Vintage:
Bridge - '59B
Middle - Phat CatN
Neck - '59N

HSS Vintage:
Bridge - '59B
Middle - Phat CatB
Neck - Phat CatN

HSH Rock:
Bridge - C5
Middle - Phat CatN
Neck - JazzN

You'll notice a pattern with the Phat Cats. Middle HB's just don't sound like they do in the bridge or neck position, whatever the reason, so some of us use single coils. The Phat Cat is a HB-sized single coil that sounds like a P-90, a truly great idea with many applications. Think about this: just about every guitar-maker has HSS & HSH guitars, which have a huge market share, but outside of Gibson & Epiphone, virtually no one makes HHH guitars. Hmmm... So the issue is easily addressed by using a Phat Cat or two.

The standard factory wiring on HHH guitars is pretty lame, and you don't get enough options considering you have 3 PU's to work with. You can do a lot with the 3-way toggle, by adding push-pulls and doing a little creative wiring. I wire the bridge with it's own dedicated volume & tone, making one a push-pull for coil split. I use a blend volume pot for the neck & middle to share (they also share a tone pot). This way I can make instant changes from the middle to bridge, or neck to bridge (instead of fumbling with turning down the middle volume & turning up the bridge volume). You can dial in how much neck or middle you want with the blend pot, and any proportion in between.

This gives you 12 PU sounds, not counting all you get from blending. If you add a second push-pull to the bridge (then both volume & tone are push-pulls), you can add phase, which gives you even more sounds. Hopefully you're not totally confused.

 

[uOpt]

Re: Setting Up A Les Paul "Black Beauty" & a "Custom"

The three-pickup mahogany top: Jazz, Phat Cat, Duncan Custom (maybe C5).

The two-pickup maple top: pair of APHs or Antiquity/Seth in neck and APH bridge.

That's an awesome range of sounds and they probably all come out usable. Classic Les Paul PAF sounds from the two-legged one, modern, glassy, trebly but powerful from the mahog board.

 

[jimijames]

Re: Setting Up A Les Paul "Black Beauty" & a "Custom"

yeah, I'd say youd probably dig the jazzn or jazzb in the neck over the pearly gates if the guitar is all mahogany- I've got a les Paul with a maple cap and I wouldn't want the neck pickup to be any darker than it already is.