Humbucker upgrade

[ST150HB]

I'm after some advice on upgrading the humbuckers in my Epiphone LP Custom. I've had the guitar for nearly 11 years, and I think that it could do with a refresh.

The guitar is mainly used for rock, I like something with a bit of bark and I have been drawn to the following upgrades -

Bare Knuckle pickups - Black dog & Riff raff, saw a demo for these on Youtube and thought they sounded great - my only concern is that would I have to upgrade the pots in order to gain maximum benefit?

EMG 81/85 ZW set - the draw to these is that it's something totally new for me and the guitar, it also benefits from the solderless wiring kit so in theory the whole electrics are being upgraded.

So the question is - are there any recommended alternatives I should look at? If i don't go down the active route of fitting EMGs, will it be worth while updating the pots etc to match the humbuckers?

Thanks!

[Tom_C76]

As long as your pots don't have noise issues I'd leave them alone.

Have a look at Iron Gear pickups, amazingly good for the money.

[red997]

I've got various Seymour Duncans in a few of my guitars - IMHO they sound great - match the pot to the pickup - values do make a difference.
lots of info on their website

[BorkFactor]

I used to play an Epi Lp custom, and I put a set of Gibson Burstbuckers in it. It sounded fantastic, highly recommended! The 57 Classics are worth a look too.

If you are looking for something a bit different then the Seymour Duncan Jb is worth a look.

Try an EMG loaded guitar before you commit, to me they are very one dimensional.

[Dai Capp]

Bare Knuckle are good and they'll match the pots for you for a really fair price.

In general, if I was forking out for an expensive pick up upgrade I'd be upgrading the Epi pots as well (and the caps).

Agree with the comments re EMG - really, really don't like them. Unless you like 80's nasty sounding fizzy hard rock then avoid, IMHO of course

[Andy RV]

What amp are you using?

I quite like the Seymour Duncan JB in the bridge.

[davepoth]

When I bought my "good" guitar it was fitted with some terrible no-name pickups, really harsh and trebley. I had them swapped out for Gibson '59 classics and I'm really happy with them. The big advantage to buying OEM pickups is that people are basically throwing them away when they upgrade their guitars, so they can be picked up for not a lot of cash.

[bennyboysvuk]

I upgraded the pickups in my Epi LP with Seymour Duncans. I put an sh-4 (JB) in the bridge and sh-2 in the neck. At the same time I also bought a kit from RS Guitarworks that contained CTS pots and bumblebee caps all pre-wired. I bought a proper Gibson three-way switchcraft switch too.

The guitar sounds infinitely better than stock now, has some real punch and gives me the kind of sound that makes the other guitarist in the band stop and stare when I'm chugging out heavy riffs.

The kit was something like: http://store.rsguitarworks.net/pre-wired-vintage-j...

[Mave]

Might be worth trying tonerider as well; once I've finished working on my Tele, tomeriders in my 335 are next on teh project list...

[ST150HB]

Thanks for the great responses guys. I have looked at the Iron Gear pickups, and like the sound of the blues engine and dirty torque.

Once things calm down with work I will try and update with which route I have taken!

[andy-xr]

Warmans for me, for the price vs the tone and output, cant beat them

[Animal]

I've got the EMG ZW set in a Gibson LP. If you want a lot of gain then they're excellent but they're not particularly warm or versatile - they do one job very well!

[oddball1973]

Dimarzio Breed

[bennyboysvuk]

I love how varied the pickup recommendations are on this thread. It basically says to me that anything is better than the Epi LPs standard pickups. I wish I had the time, money and space to try all of them back to back.

Iron Gear
Seymour Duncan
Gibson Burstbuckers
Gibson '59 classic
Bare Knuckle
Tonerider
Warmans
EMG
Dimarzio

[W124]

Oil City. Cheap ish and very good. Very good indeed.

[Animal]

bennyboysvuk said:

I love how varied the pickup recommendations are on this thread. It basically says to me that anything is better than the Epi LPs standard pickups. I wish I had the time, money and space to try all of them back to back.

Iron Gear
Seymour Duncan
Gibson Burstbuckers
Gibson '59 classic
Bare Knuckle
Tonerider
Warmans
EMG
Dimarzio

I'd always recommend Seymour Duncan. Were it not for the fact that my LP came with EMGs fitted I'd have Seymours.

[ST150HB]

bennyboysvuk said:

I love how varied the pickup recommendations are on this thread. It basically says to me that anything is better than the Epi LPs standard pickups. I wish I had the time, money and space to try all of them back to back.

Iron Gear
Seymour Duncan
Gibson Burstbuckers
Gibson '59 classic
Bare Knuckle
Tonerider
Warmans
EMG
Dimarzio

I see what you mean, I never really had a problem with them, but i'm not really happy with how they now sound- this don't forget is after 11 or so years. I'm glad I posted on here, as it allows me to take the suggestions and look on Youtube to get a better idea of their sound. All I can ask is for the suggestions to keep coming!

[bennyboysvuk]

ST150HB said:

I see what you mean, I never really had a problem with them, but i'm not really happy with how they now sound- this don't forget is after 11 or so years. I'm glad I posted on here, as it allows me to take the suggestions and look on Youtube to get a better idea of their sound. All I can ask is for the suggestions to keep coming!

I think the problem I had with the standard Epi LP pickups was that they sounded a bit weak and not terribly detailed. The SH4/SH2 combination gave me more gain, but also much more detail too. It's that detailed sound you get when striking a big E-chord through a large distorted Marshall and you can hear every note of the chord chiming together. It's a beautiful thing.

When I bought a Gibson SG Standard a few years ago for playing gigs, I immediately removed the Gibson pickups on that in favour of Seymour Duncans too. Following on from then, I bought a cheap Ibanez RG320FM for my son (ok, for me, he's only 2 ) and the pickups sounded pretty muddy, so again I changed the pickups for the SD's and once again, a guitar was transformed.

Will you let us know your thoughts once you've made a decision? Oh and pictures are always good.

[ST150HB]

UPDATE:
It's been a while since i've posted on this topic but it has been quite a hectic few weeks.

I thought i'd share what I think is quite a cool picture of the wear on the bridge humbucker -



Whilst still not sounding quite as good as they should do, no doubt they do look pretty cool in their "worn" state. Anyway, after a lot of comparing of humbuckers and wondering what to do, I got slightly side tracked and purchased this-


Not quite a humbucker upgrade, but a whole new guitar! I still have the Les-Paul, but I saw these on a website for £499 and next day delivery and decided to take a punt. It's no frills basic, but those P90s definitely have some authority behind them when they are on max chat! Very happy with the purchase.

What do you think?

[BorkFactor]

My Dad has a Les Paul with P90s on it, sounds seriously good! Every time I play it I am amazed at how much punch they have behind them.

Whats the SG like? 50s tribute right? They caught my eye as well at that price