Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: AgileCorey on June 01, 2011, 11:16:42 PM
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Well I'm new here so I'll start out by saying hello, and now onto the topic.
So I'm looking for a set of new pickups for my guitar. I was originally going to put some Seymour Duncans in it, but I decided I would spend a little more and get something higher quality. I don't know much about the specific pickups and I can't decide what would work best for me. Which is why I came here.
The guitar they are going into is a Agile AL-3100. For anyone who doesn't know it's a Les Paul clone. It has a solid mahogany body (with a 1/16th maple top fyi) and a set mahogany neck with an ebony fretboard. The amp I'm using now is a Vox VT30, but after I replace the pickups on the guitar I will be searching for a tube amp so the exact amp I'm going to be using is undecided at the moment.
I mainly play anything from rock to metal from the 70s and 80s like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Van Halen, AC/DC, and plenty others. The pickups mainly need to handle more of the middle man, Hard Rock.
Bridge - I want a huge, fat, and raw tone from the bridge. I want the pickup to sound clear and not get muddy, and sound good palm muting (be tight enough to not have that flabby like sound). I don't like a scooped mid range sound, so I want something with a nice mid range that won't sound bad in my guitar. Output and magnets don't matter to much to me as long as the pickups sound good.
Neck - Here I'm not as picky. Most of the time I usually only use the neck pickup for cleans and some overdriven lead playing. I mainly want that woody like tone with a nice bright but smooth top end. But I'll really take anything that complements the bridge pickup nicely.
Well that is all the info I could think of. If you need anything else just ask, but I'm eagerly awaiting your suggestions.
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It sounds like a black dog to me. Mid tone, music taste, voicing etc.
Black Dog
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If your guitar isn't really dark sounding I'd say Holydiver. If it is, I'd suggest trying either a set of Mules or Emeralds.
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The Black Dogs seem interesting.
I'm not sure how dark sounding the guitar is. The stock pickups are to bright sounding and sound a little to thin. They are taking away from how a Les Paul should sound. So I'm thinking it may be a little darker since it is a solid mahogany body and doesn't have the thick maple cap that a Gibson would have, but it does have the ebony fretboard which adds some brightness to it. I was interested in the holydiver, but I'm scared it may not sound good in the guitar.
What about the Rebel Yell or VHII pickups? I'm interested in those two and wondering how they might sound in the guitar.
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welcome to the forum, i'd be careful to judge your guitar too much before you get your new amp although i'm sure
bkp's will improve it.
i have a vhii bridge in my lp, it's great, does what it says on the tin and sounds just like it does in the steve stevens
demo which is essential listening for anyone interesred in this pup.it is bright but too much brightness is easily dialled out.very paf'y and 70's sounding.
i have a neck stormy monday which is also goergeous for clean or overdriven sounds.
listen well to the players section for all the different models.the official demo's by nolly are great but short. the players section can elaborate a bit more.
good luck
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B-b-black dog!!!
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welcome to the forum, i'd be careful to judge your guitar too much before you get your new amp although i'm sure
bkp's will improve it.
I've played the guitar through multiple amps and the pickups always sound a little to bright and thin to me. It's an amazing guitar much better than a Epi Les Paul Standard, and it has amazing resonance but it just needs a little help in the pickup department :) But since the amp is a big part of the tone it would be best to get my guitar upgraded before I go out and try amps and make a decision for I know exactly what I'm getting.
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I was thinking Holy Diver for this one. But the Black Dog will do metal too and is tight enough.
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Well so far Black Dogs are the winning set on the thread, with the Holydiver in second. But I also asked Tim the question and he said the Riff Raff calibrated set would be perfect for what I need.
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Follow Tim's advice, he knows his pickups best.