What Do You Guys Think About The W.L.H. Set???

Nostalgic Distortion

Nostalgic Distortion

New member
I've decided that I'm going to go ahead and mod my L.P. & after much deliberation I think I've settled on a uncovered W.L.H. set? I've used the W.L.H. neck in a Strat before but that's about the extent of my physical knowledge on them.

Originally I was going to play it safe and just go with what's been a mainstay in my Mahogany H/H guitars for quite some time now, a SH-14 or Custom bridge and 59N neck. The L.P. in question has a lot of natural midrange & I'm sure the scooped nature of the CUSTOM/59 set would have worked out well? At the same time I've been using that set in one guitar or another for years and I wanted to try something different.

I spent quite a while watching demo's & collecting as much information as I could on different sets of humbuckers for the past few weeks and I think the W.L.H.'s are what I want but I thought I'd get some feedback from you guys before pulling the trigger. Basically I want something that can be aggressive when I need it to be but also kinda sweet? I only have one H/H guitar these days so whatever I decide to go with has to be relatively versatile and cover the humbucking realm well....

View attachment 74690

BTW, these kinds of decisions were much easier to make when I had 15 guitars!!! If I didn't like something new at least I had another guitar to fall back on loaded with something that I knew I loved....

Please, let me know your thoughts.....
 
Re: What Do You Guys Think About The W.L.H. Set???

Going for something different can be a real stimulus to playing. I've never had the WLH, but it gets good reviews.
 
Re: What Do You Guys Think About The W.L.H. Set???

I have an uncovered set in my SG with full 6-switch Jimmy Page wiring. I used to swap humbucker combos out of this SG every month or two. After the WLH and JP wiring went in, I've never taken them out. Been more than a year or more now. It's worth noting I rarely use the neck in normal humbucker (unless it's by itself). Typically I run it parallel or single coil when mixed with the bridge. The single coil sound and occasionally with some out of phase gets partway into Fender territory - can be funky when needed.
 
Re: What Do You Guys Think About The W.L.H. Set???

beaubrummels said:
I have an uncovered set in my SG with full 6-switch Jimmy Page wiring. I used to swap humbucker combos out of this SG every month or two. After the WLH and JP wiring went in, I've never taken them out. Been more than a year or more now. It's worth noting I rarely use the neck in normal humbucker (unless it's by itself). Typically I run it parallel or single coil when mixed with the bridge. The single coil sound and occasionally with some out of phase gets partway into Fender territory - can be funky when needed.
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I'm going to be running them as straight up humbuckers, no tapping or phase stuff. I typically try and avoid push/pulls like the plague! I suppose they have their place but it just happens to be in other people's guitars, LOL!!!
 
Re: What Do You Guys Think About The W.L.H. Set???

Its a really well balanced set for a Les Paul. I've never tried anything I like better in one. The bridge has good mids and not as brittle in the highs like the 59b can be. The neck nails that bubbly Les Paul neck tone. To be honest though, they are beginning to bore me a little. They are almost TOO perfect, if thats possible. I've been thinking about trying a CustomCustom bridge and Pearly Gates neck.
 
Re: What Do You Guys Think About The W.L.H. Set???

i might be in the minority here but I prefer 59 over WLH. It seems to have less clarity than what I prefer. If you have a bright guitar it's fine, but overall I just rather have a 59.
 
Re: What Do You Guys Think About The W.L.H. Set???

Sensates said:
i might be in the minority here but I prefer 59 over WLH. It seems to have less clarity than what I prefer. If you have a bright guitar it's fine, but overall I just rather have a 59.
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Common issues with '59's are the scooped mids and them being bassy in some guitars. But different magnets change that. WLH's are definitely warmer.
 
Re: What Do You Guys Think About The W.L.H. Set???

I have one set in a PRS SE Korina, which would be more akin mass-wise to your LP, than a Standard. They work great in that. I'd originally bought that as a test bed 3 or 4 years back, but I made the mistake of putting the WLH in there first, and they've never come out. It's pretty much my 'go to' guitar. They're very well balanced tonally, and they actually sound like a set to my ears, unlike PG's which to me sound like they are anything but. I also have a set in my PRS CU22, which has just brought it to life in a way the standard p/u's never could. There's a spare set round here somewhere too - not worked out where those are going yet...
 
Re: What Do You Guys Think About The W.L.H. Set???

Nostalgic Distortion said:
I love how definitive Blueman's responses are!!!
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It's all you need to know! I think almost everyone here who's tried them has been impressed. Although both the WLH and '59's have A5's, I suspect the WLH's are degaussed to give it a fuller, warmer tone. A stock '59 in the bridge can be pretty thin and piercing in some guitars (I have UOA5's in my '59B's).
 
Re: What Do You Guys Think About The W.L.H. Set???

Yeah, you will get a warmer, more dynamic sound from the WLH, which are great pushed-PAF pickups. However, I love the 59/Custom in the bridge. Howabout WLH in the neck, and Hybrid in the bridge?
 
Re: What Do You Guys Think About The W.L.H. Set???

Since we're comparing the WLH to 59s, I might as well ask: how do these two PAF pickups compare to the Saturday Night Specials? I know the SNS has A4 magnets and under/overwound neck/bridge coil set compared to the A5 WLH. I just don't know how that translates into tonal difference.
 
Re: What Do You Guys Think About The W.L.H. Set???

One of the SNS demo vids was/is amazing to me.
Would love to see a head-to-head demo w/WLHs,same guitar/rig/player.
 
Re: What Do You Guys Think About The W.L.H. Set???

Jeez, now I'm having second thoughts! I just played that guitar for about a hour and I don't think it's ever sounded better? Probably just one of those days where I don't sound & play completely awful???


I very nearly tried a set of Saturday Night Special's instead of these but $250 is a lot for pickups that you'd almost have to try to know if they'll work in your guitar? A4's can be kinda finicky magnets & I prefer my humbuckers wax potted, although unpotted puppies definitely have their advantages! I tend to like moderate output A5 humbuckers best in L.P.'s, originally I was thinking aabout going with a straight up set of 59's or perhaps a SH-14/59N set but I've done that several times before. So I guess we'll try these & see how I like them? I figure the WLH's will let me try something a little different without venturing too far out of my comfort zone...

LOL, I don't deal well with change!!!
 
Re: What Do You Guys Think About The W.L.H. Set???

Nostalgic Distortion said:
I love how definitive Blueman's responses are!!!
Click to expand...

What a shame so many of them are wrong, and that many do not address the OP's issue at all, or that they show up in places they don't belong.


That said - most people do seem to love them. Need to find me an old Dean Soltero to put some in….
 
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Re: What Do You Guys Think About The W.L.H. Set???

I really like them. Really suit the sounds i want from a 335. They just make everything sound "bigger".
 
Re: What Do You Guys Think About The W.L.H. Set???

Gibson has been putting pickups in Les Paul's for over a half a century. I think they probably have it figured out what the best pickup set for their guitars are and build them accordingly.
 
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Re: What Do You Guys Think About The W.L.H. Set???

I think Gibson's stock pickups are designed to demo well, and with the right amp and signal chain do a reasonable job of certain styles they have a famous reputation of being used for - but they never sound 'just like the record'. They can't, they can't bake those idiosyncrasies into a mass produced product and sell in volume. They don't know who their customer might be - metal head or blues hound, so they have to be just good enough to sell it. So their pickups are a jack of all trades but master of none.

All that said, you can get lucky, like with any pickup, and hit one or a set that work really well in your particular guitar with your particular amp for your particular music. For example, I recently put a 500T/496R set in my LP Studio and, when setup to Gibson's factory specs (distance from strings) that 496R is one of the best neck pickups I've heard/used in that instrument.
 
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