Still looking for that perfect LES PAUL combo. HELP NEEDED!!!!!

[The Don]

So I have a Gibson Les Paul Custom, and I went out on a limb and put two DiMarzio's in it. The Super Distortion in the bridge and the Air Norton in the neck. And it turns out that neither of them are what I'm looking for.

The SD is too harsh. I'm playing thru a Marshall combo amp and even with the mids and treble dialed back, with overdrive 2 (there's 2 overdrives) the sound is too harsh. In addition, the bass I find to be a little too loose for extensive palm muting, and the output to be too high for chord work. So it's essentially useless. On overdrive 1 ("classic" channel) it's too thin, too.

The Air Norton in the neck honestly has one of the best clean sounds I've ever heard. Probably THE best. But it lacks with distortion on - I don't find it to be fat enough for my taste (then again, I have a JB in the neck of my Triple Fat Strat... )

So here I am with a beautiful black Les Paul Custom with gold hardware, that doesn't have good pickups OR stay in tune. On the latter issue, I put in a set of Grover Locking Tuners but I think I need a new nut and a new bridge... ugh....

Anyways. New pickups. I'm definitely shooting for a more vintage Les Paul sound. Something punchy and not too trebly -- or middy.

I could take advantage of the DiMarzio exchange policy and get another pickup (or two). They have a ton of PAF variations; the Virtual PAF appeals the most to me, though.

Are there many differences between the Virtual PAF and say, a Duncan 59?

For the neck I want something that I guess can be described as bell-like and glassy. Something that can do the blues as well as some kick ass speed riffs.

I'm thinking of getting the Custom 5 in the bridge. But I'm not sure. I'm looking for a punchy, thick sound from the bridge. I'm not sure if a PAF will do it for me in terms of output though. And the Custom is too much - I have one in my Strat and it's definitely not the sound I'm looking for out of my LP! It's also too darn trebly.

I'm not good with Les Pauls. This is my first. I'm mainly a strat kind of guy. I didn't have a stock bridge pickup in my Les Paul to start either. So I don't really know what to expect out of a PAF! I'm hoping to get some type of punchy "twang" from the bridge and split positions.

I guess you can say that what I'm looking for is a beefed up Jimmy Page sound. Wow, that was simple. lol.

Any help would be appreciated.

Also - as you may suspect I'll be playing lots of classic rock (Zep, Skynyrd, AC/DC, Rush, Deep Purple, etc.) and blues with this, but I'll also be playing a good amount of metal (Some Metallica, Priest, Maiden, RANDY RHOADS, etc.) with it. I have my Strat for that kind of stuff but I'm bound to try my Les Paul at it. So I need something versatile at the same time!

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Still looking for that perfect LES PAUL combo. HELP NEEDED!!!!!

So I have a Gibson Les Paul Custom, and I went out on a limb and put two DiMarzio's in it. The Super Distortion in the bridge and the Air Norton in the neck. And it turns out that neither of them are what I'm looking for.

The SD is too harsh. I'm playing thru a Marshall combo amp and even with the mids and treble dialed back, with overdrive 2 (there's 2 overdrives) the sound is too harsh. In addition, the bass I find to be a little too loose for extensive palm muting, and the output to be too high for chord work. So it's essentially useless. On overdrive 1 ("classic" channel) it's too thin, too.

The Air Norton in the neck honestly has one of the best clean sounds I've ever heard. Probably THE best. But it lacks with distortion on - I don't find it to be fat enough for my taste (then again, I have a JB in the neck of my Triple Fat Strat... )

So here I am with a beautiful black Les Paul Custom with gold hardware, that doesn't have good pickups OR stay in tune. On the latter issue, I put in a set of Grover Locking Tuners but I think I need a new nut and a new bridge... ugh....

Anyways. New pickups. I'm definitely shooting for a more vintage Les Paul sound. Something punchy and not too trebly -- or middy.

I could take advantage of the DiMarzio exchange policy and get another pickup (or two). They have a ton of PAF variations; the Virtual PAF appeals the most to me, though.

Are there many differences between the Virtual PAF and say, a Duncan 59?

For the neck I want something that I guess can be described as bell-like and glassy. Something that can do the blues as well as some kick ass speed riffs.

I'm thinking of getting the Custom 5 in the bridge. But I'm not sure. I'm looking for a punchy, thick sound from the bridge. I'm not sure if a PAF will do it for me in terms of output though. And the Custom is too much - I have one in my Strat and it's definitely not the sound I'm looking for out of my LP! It's also too darn trebly.

I'm not good with Les Pauls. This is my first. I'm mainly a strat kind of guy. I didn't have a stock bridge pickup in my Les Paul to start either. So I don't really know what to expect out of a PAF! I'm hoping to get some type of punchy "twang" from the bridge and split positions.

I guess you can say that what I'm looking for is a beefed up Jimmy Page sound. Wow, that was simple. lol.

Any help would be appreciated.

Also - as you may suspect I'll be playing lots of classic rock (Zep, Skynyrd, AC/DC, Rush, Deep Purple, etc.) and blues with this, but I'll also be playing a good amount of metal (Some Metallica, Priest, Maiden, RANDY RHOADS, etc.) with it. I have my Strat for that kind of stuff but I'm bound to try my Les Paul at it. So I need something versatile at the same time!

You are going to need an A5 magnet for the bridge position to retain the tight crunchy tones and palm muting styles you're talking about...Something like the C5 is a great choice...The Scremon Demon is tight,crunchy and aggressive but also is a very clear and articulate bridge pickup rated for 10k....The 59B is another great pickup that covers just about everything and is a PAF style A5 pickup...A Pearly Gates in a Les Paul in both positions is great also..Especially in the bridge and it's an A2 magnet..

For the neck...I'm thinking on the lines of the Jazz neck because it has clean chimey tone..The 59 to me is almost too powerful and sometimes a bit dark...Lots of choices but I Know others will chime in for you also.

John

 

[The Don]

Funny that you mention the Screamin Demon, I have one in my Strat's middle position that doesn't quite match up with the TB-5 and the JB. Maybe I should switch the Air Norton and the Screamin Demon? I don't know about that.... will it give me that Les Pauly kind of tone?

Anyways, thanks for the input, I appreciate it!

 

[papersoul]

I do like the C-5 in my Dean Evo (LP ish), but have yet to try it in my Paul.

If you want to venture over to Gibson pickups....you could try the Burstbucker Pros as I have them in my LP standard and I am starting to like them.

My Monday gig will tell me more......

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Funny that you mention the Screamin Demon, I have one in my Strat's middle position that doesn't quite match up with the TB-5 and the JB. Maybe I should switch the Air Norton and the Screamin Demon? I don't know about that.... will it give me that Les Pauly kind of tone?

Anyways, thanks for the input, I appreciate it!

Don we're both speaking of a fullsized Scremon Demon right? The SD is like a 59 but has more mids,is brighter and crunchier overall....This pickup is very cool because it can growl or it can clean up and articulate very well also....The PG is another great pickup that stays pretty tight overall with it's A2 magnet...This pickup is PAF territory with more midrange growl and this cool "sizzle" on the notes...The PG also cleans up well but it's mids are eq'd differently from the SD...The SD is brighter and is a pretty bright pickup overall...The PG is warmer but still cuts very well...Do the Duncan return policy if you don't like the first pickup you try?

John

 

[The Don]

Yeah we're talking about the full sized Demon.

I set my Strat up with 3 full-size humbuckers - a TB5 in the bridge, a Screamin Demon in the middle and a JB in the neck. It's pretty insane. But the Demon doesn't have any of those characteristics when put in the middle - it's kinda bland in there.

I don't know if it would be the best choice for Skynyrd and Zeppelin though, if I were to put it in the bridge of the Les Paul.

 

[flank]

i would go with a 59 in the bridge, and a pearly gates in the neck....59 is a nice punchy twangy sound, and pearly gates is fat creamy heaven....

 

[The Don]

Pearly Gates in the neck sounds like a great idea. I know that Slash uses the Alnico 2 Humbuckers; will I be able to get a sound close to his, by any chance?

And how about Skynyrd?

Also - will the C5 give me that same punchy twang?

 

[flank]

yes, i think slash type tones can be found in the pearly gates in the neck...... and also some allman brothers on the cleans...... but theres still a nice bite to the upper mids, so it stands out real nice in a band

the 59 is obviously less output, so it doesnt sound quite as pushed, and has that airyness that PAFs are all about....... the C5 still retains the 59s characteristics and essentially boosts them into a higher output pickup.........it does a real nice job of this, but one thing that is somewhat lost is the openess and airyness to the mids that the 59 has

i myself would go with the 59, i think this could pull off skynyrd pretty well, as well as zeppelin and other bands from that period i mean it is called the 59 because its supposed to sound like some of the best les paul pickups made......... and alot of rock guitarists in the 60s and 70s used pauls from around the late 50s

i also think that the C5 is geared toward a slightly heavier sound, and that extra push and comrpession cannot be taken away, so you might be better off gettin the 59 and prehaps an EQ or somethin in order to boost anything that you think might be lacking.....just a thought

 

[mysafehaven]

how loud is the c5?

 

[flank]

the C5 is a medium- almost high output pickup....... it leaves the PAF territory, but stays closer to PAF than up to a distortion pickup...... its still has very nice cleans, and just takes the PAF sound and boosts it up a notch...........not really hot hot pickup in my opinion

 

[jeremy]

i love a pearly gates set for southern rock or brit blues. skynyrd, allmans, jeff beck, peter green (phase switch helps), zepplin... classic rock stuff. warm tones with punch

 

[Shane28462]

I have the SH-2 & SH-4 and love them. I tried the Alnico 2's because i like that slash tone but the output bothered me so i went to the Sh 2 & 3 and can still get the tone but with a much higher output....

 

[Mattt]

You might also consider the Dimarzio BREED in the neck... great tones, though i'd advise against the bridge position BREED because it doesn't sound as good in the bridge as in the neck.

The PAF Pro is also another good one for the neck... check out a lot of Joe Satriani tunes, but i don't know what it's like in the bridge sorry.

The Pearly Gates is a nice alternative to the PAF Pro... indeed Satriani used PG's aswell... i have one in the neck and it's a smooth, full bodied pickups. Though i usually operate it under heavy distorsion.

 

[papersoul]

The C-5 is EXTREMELY smooth and silky and just feels balanced.

Many say the C-5 is vintage.........not sure what that even means.....

Some say the C-5 is bland and blah, but I think that might come from someone who is more familiar with a pickup that really colors the guitar's tone...not sure.

The C-5 sounds very even to me.

 

[jeremy]

to me the c5 has some of that vintage flavor that comes from having the mids pulled back a little bit. it doesnt push the amp as hard as a pup that has a big mid peak but with most amps today there is more than enough gain than you need or want for a clear tone

 

[jmcorey]

Virtual PAF's have gotten incredible reviews on this site before. Supposed to be one of those amazing things. My impression of the Dimarzio line is that anything with airbucker technology is supposed to be great.

 

[The Don]

Hmmmmm.

Interesting stuff, guys....

I'm about set on a PG for the neck. But I'm not sure; it would be a lot more cost-effective to exercise the 30-day exchange policy. Or even maybe give the pickups another try.

I know that I like my bridge pickups a little louder than the rest, so I don't know if a 59 would be the best... the C5 sounds like a better option. Here's the big question: How will the C5 sound compared to the Super Distortion?

 

[The Don]

Woops, I meant the Dimarzio Super Distortion. The one in my bridge now. How does the C5 compare to that - I know it'll have less output, more treble and less mids - how's the bass? And how well does it clean up? And finally, does it have that twangy punchiness that the Dimarzio is giving me now?

 

[flank]

the C5 has real big bass........ and definately sounds real nice clean compared to other pickups wound as hot as it is........

im thinkin you might dig the C5/PG combo man....... that would be killer!