Pickup replacement on Les Paul

[andy-xr]

Time to sharpen up my Epi LP with some new pickups. The ones on it are just stock and dont really have great tone.

The obvious choice for me would be EMG 81/85, I've never played anything with them though but they seem to be raved about. I'm not overly keen on actives, but again, never played anything on them. Just seems like a faff if batteries need to be changed.

Style - hard rock, with solos, a bit Zakk'y in places, a bit light Satriani in others

Any recommendations? I'm fine with a soldering iron...

[bga]

BKP Holy Diver or Miracle Man set? You can listen to clips in their website to see if they are any good for you.

[Posk]

Ive got a Seymour Duncan Dimebucker in an Epi LP. Sounds devastating, massive output for a passive and so easy to do pinch harmonics Zakk Wylde style.

http://www.gak.co.uk/en/seymour-duncan-sh-13-dimeb...

[tobster]

What about something from the Bare Knuckle range ?

[OldSkoolRS]

Trying to make the same decision myself for my mid 90's Epiphone LP Heritage Cherry. I just bought a new Gotoh bridge as mine has bent under 18 years of string pressure so the action dips on the middle strings. Changing the pick ups is the next step for me. I was recommended bare knuckles too as the above poster mentions. The other thought I had was to try one of the newer Epiphones that come with '57 pickups installed...if I like them, then I could buy the pickups, though I'd feel obliged to buy from the same shop.

I've also read that it's worth looking into replacing the pots/wiring, especially if it's an older model. There's a useful site for Les Pauls with an Epiphone section, where you might find out more information and options.

http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/

EDIT: Found this thread just after I'd posted the above:

http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/epiphone-les-pauls...

Edited by OldSkoolRS on Thursday 1st May 23:08

[BorkFactor]

I put a set of Gibson Burstbucker Pros in my old Epiphone LP and there were fantastic, really transformed the guitar.

The clarity was so much better, and they made the amp break up nicely on the clean channel when you pushed it a bit which was controllable with the volume knobs.

Might not be what you are looking for as my "sound" is pretty low gain, not exactly EMG territory

[andy-xr]

Cheers for replies! Few options to consider

Posk said:

Ive got a Seymour Duncan Dimebucker in an Epi LP. Sounds devastating, massive output for a passive and so easy to do pinch harmonics Zakk Wylde style.

http://www.gak.co.uk/en/seymour-duncan-sh-13-dimeb...

Question: From the YouTube vids I've seen this seems really mid punchy, which I was surprised about given how 'scooped' Dimebag's tone was. Do you find that you have to EQ out the mids with your tone, or have I listened to people who had the mid range set up to really show the differences?

[Posk]

andy-xr said:

Question: From the YouTube vids I've seen this seems really mid punchy, which I was surprised about given how 'scooped' Dimebag's tone was. Do you find that you have to EQ out the mids with your tone, or have I listened to people who had the mid range set up to really show the differences?

Its one of the reasons i bought it. I have the 'mid' knob on my amp up full and i use an EQ pedal to boost it even more. I love that nasaly, scratchy, in your face sound - think Steve Albini, Josh Homme etc. Sort of makes you feel queesy when your stood right in front of it, sounds killer live.

I think the best thing to do is find out what your fave players/sounds use, get a shortlist together then listen to clips, vids or even try and play a guitar with these pick-ups in (hard to do i know) and go with your gut.

I've recorded loads of guitarists over the years. When its come down to it, your equipment is largely irrelevent and I always tell them the same thing - you can have all the gear in the world but if the performance is bad, its bad.

[bga]

Posk said:

I've recorded loads of guitarists over the years. When its come down to it, your equipment is largely irrelevent and I always tell them the same thing - you can have all the gear in the world but if the performance is bad, its bad.

My brother has some clips of some reasonably well known guitarists playing on his rig (he's a recording engineer too). Same guitar, same amp but all still sound like themselves.

[gazza285]

andy-xr said:

Cheers for replies! Few options to consider

Posk said:

Ive got a Seymour Duncan Dimebucker in an Epi LP. Sounds devastating, massive output for a passive and so easy to do pinch harmonics Zakk Wylde style.

http://www.gak.co.uk/en/seymour-duncan-sh-13-dimeb...

Question: From the YouTube vids I've seen this seems really mid punchy, which I was surprised about given how 'scooped' Dimebag's tone was. Do you find that you have to EQ out the mids with your tone, or have I listened to people who had the mid range set up to really show the differences?

You need the mids to overdrive the amp in a nice way, to much bass and it becomes mud, too much top and it becomes fizzy. Lots of mids before, then EQ out the mids after the amps pre-amp stage, this is why pedals like the Boss Super Overdrive and the Tube Screamer are so popular, they push up the mids and gain into the pre-amp stage of your valve amp.

[Mastodon2]

Don't get anything with a silly high output. A good tone profile is more important than output. Don't bother with EMGs either, their flat dynamic response might be good for tactless Zakk Wylde playing, if you want to engage Satriani mode you'll want something with a bit more depth to it. You don't want something too laid back though, so you can probably knock Gibson Burstbuckers off your list. Bareknuckle and Seymour Duncan do some nice pickups, Dimarzio have never done me wrong. Have a look at their websites and see what you think, but avoid anything marketed as being "super high output", you'll just end up with a shrill tone that is wearing on the ears.

Medium output is all you need, crank the gain all you want with your pedals and amps. Satch and Vai have always used medium and medium/high (but not super high) output passives, and they've never struggled for punch and clarity. If you want to do big Zakk Wydle pinch harmonics on the lower strings EMGs and loads of gain can help if your technique is crap, if you learn to do the PHs properly you won't have any trouble with getting them to ring out clear and loud.

[Fantuzzi]

Mastodon2 said:

Don't get anything with a silly high output. A good tone profile is more important than output. Don't bother with EMGs either, their flat dynamic response might be good for tactless Zakk Wylde playing, if you want to engage Satriani mode you'll want something with a bit more depth to it. You don't want something too laid back though, so you can probably knock Gibson Burstbuckers off your list. Bareknuckle and Seymour Duncan do some nice pickups, Dimarzio have never done me wrong. Have a look at their websites and see what you think, but avoid anything marketed as being "super high output", you'll just end up with a shrill tone that is wearing on the ears.

Medium output is all you need, crank the gain all you want with your pedals and amps. Satch and Vai have always used medium and medium/high (but not super high) output passives, and they've never struggled for punch and clarity. If you want to do big Zakk Wydle pinch harmonics on the lower strings EMGs and loads of gain can help if your technique is crap, if you learn to do the PHs properly you won't have any trouble with getting them to ring out clear and loud.

Sound likes Dimarzio is the way to go to me as well.

[andy-xr]

I've been really umm'ing and the other thing on active vs passives and decided to try out some of the Warman Infernos on my Flying V, then if they're any good move them over to the LP.

I've listened to quite a bit of stuff played through them with similar styles, pedals and amps to what I have, and the tone I heard was really nice live and recorded in studio. They're worth a go for £20/pair, I've binned off the idea of EMG 81/85's. If they dont work out my other choices are Alnico Pro II Toneriders or a Dimebucker pair

[Tom_C76]

The lead guitarists in my band have both recently switched to Iron Gear pickups. For the money the sound is amazing. We play classic to heavy rock all on Marshall amps.

[Animal]

Mastodon2 said:

Don't get anything with a silly high output. A good tone profile is more important than output. Don't bother with EMGs either, their flat dynamic response might be good for tactless Zakk Wylde playing, if you want to engage Satriani mode you'll want something with a bit more depth to it. You don't want something too laid back though, so you can probably knock Gibson Burstbuckers off your list. Bareknuckle and Seymour Duncan do some nice pickups, Dimarzio have never done me wrong. Have a look at their websites and see what you think, but avoid anything marketed as being "super high output", you'll just end up with a shrill tone that is wearing on the ears.

Medium output is all you need, crank the gain all you want with your pedals and amps. Satch and Vai have always used medium and medium/high (but not super high) output passives, and they've never struggled for punch and clarity. If you want to do big Zakk Wydle pinch harmonics on the lower strings EMGs and loads of gain can help if your technique is crap, if you learn to do the PHs properly you won't have any trouble with getting them to ring out clear and loud.

I think the only reason EMGs (Zakk Wylde set) work in my Les Paul is because I'm playing through a Line 6 modelling amp. If I were to plug into my Marshall I think it would be very difficult to find a good tone, clean or dirty. That said they do sound ferocious with some distortion added!

[B17NNS]

tobster said:

What about something from the Bare Knuckle range ?

I bought a Les Paul a while back and it came with Bare Knuckle Rebel Yells. Thought I'd hate them. but I don't

In another LP I've got some Semour Duncan Slash Alnico 5's. Very nice pickups.

[Baryonyx]

Animal said:

I think the only reason EMGs (Zakk Wylde set) work in my Les Paul is because I'm playing through a Line 6 modelling amp. If I were to plug into my Marshall I think it would be very difficult to find a good tone, clean or dirty. That said they do sound ferocious with some distortion added!

I've always found the difference between EMG's guitar pickups and bass pickups rather startling. The bass pickups typically sound amazing, the guitar pickups often sound a bit naff!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNgB4MfuTZE

[anonymous-user]

http://oilcitypickups.co.uk/humbucker.html

Brilliant. I've been playing the guitar for a living since 1995. These are the ones I use.

[bennyboysvuk]

I changed a few things on my Epi LP.

Pickups are Seymour Duncan SH4 JB in the bridge and SH2 in the neck. Played through a JCM900 it provides me with all the heavy rock tones I want, plus the SH2 delivers beautiful jazzy cleans too.

Whilst you're at it and if you've not done so already, it's worth changing the flimsy three way switch for a Gibson one. It's about twice the length of the Epi switch and seems to have much better contacts, making it far more reliable.

I also changed the pots and electronics in mine for some stuff from http://www.rsguitarworks.net/cms2/

This included the fat bumblebee capacitors, which sound terrific, so much so that I wonder whether I really need to buy a full fat Gibson LP (obviously I do, but I'll have to keep the plucky Epi too).

[bga]

bennyboysvuk said:

This included the fat bumblebee capacitors, which sound terrific, so much so that I wonder whether I really need to buy a full fat Gibson LP (obviously I do, but I'll have to keep the plucky Epi too).

Definitely keep the Epi. Mine played better than any "real"
LP that I have subsequently owned.