Pickup Suggestion for Coil Splitting

[RB21688]

Hi everybody, I'm new :D I've been looking around this site for a little while now in search of the right pickups for a Les Paul Style guitar I'm building (the body is a Washburn PS7000). When I build this guitar I plan on doing the Jimmy Page coil split wiring on it and was wondering if anybody could recommend some pickup combinations? I really like the Steve Steven's Rebel Yells but I'm not sure how they would sound split. I lean more towards a clean sound in general but play hard rock/classic rock with some funk. I'm not a very big metal player. The heaviest my sound goes is Van Halen or Sabbath. I'm also a big SRV fan.

Any Help is Appreciated

Thanks

[Mr. Air]

The VH2's are often described as having some what of a single coil feel so they might give you the cleans you're after.

Tim once wrote me that the Rebel Yells split really well so they might fit your bill as well.

[stevehammond]

A good few years ago - when Charlie and Brinsley were still there - I had this mod carried out on a 1990 Les Paul Standard at Chandlers in Kew. The tone pots were replaced with Yamaha (? I think) push/push pots with one doing a coil split on both pickups and the other reversing the phase to get the Peter Green 'nasal' sound in the middle position. Apart from the pots being a little bit higher when they're in the 'up' position there's no apparent cosmetic change to the guitar.

I've since had the rubbish stock Gibson pickups swapped out for BK Mules (MUCH better) but kept the modded wiring. The Mules work REALLY well and it gives a Les Paul a whole new set of really usable tones. The coil split can give quite a good impression of a meaty single coil or P90 tone in ay position and you can get some pretty funky rhythm sounds out of the middle position too. Of course the great thing is it's still basically a 2 x HB Les Paul and through my Cornford MK50 it's a real joy. I think you have to specify the correct cable option when you order if you want to do this but it's a simple job for a good tech (I heartily recommend Matt Ryan) or anyone handy with a soldering iron. Hope this helps

[sjwebb90]

Hi

I play similar styles to the "thread starter", and took Tims advice and use a PRS Custom 22 with Rebel Yells.  These pickups split very well and do a good clean when the two outer coils are on. The Guitar has a 3 way switch with a push pull on the tone.

Cheers

[Twinfan]

Holydivers split well too - a bit warmer than the Rebel Yells I think.  I really liked mine in a PRS McCarty...

[RB21688]

Cool, thanks for the help so far. The more I listen to the sound samples and take in the suggestions, I'm leaning towards a pair of calibrated Rebel Yells as a possibility.

Thanks Again

[dheim]

Cool, thanks for the help so far. The more I listen to the sound samples and take in the suggestions, I'm leaning towards a pair of calibrated Rebel Yells as a possibility.

Thanks Again

great pickups, no doubt, but i would try Mississippi Queens too... totally different, but if you split them often and play bluesy hard rock a p90 seems a pretty logical choice!

[RB21688]

Cool, thanks for the help so far. The more I listen to the sound samples and take in the suggestions, I'm leaning towards a pair of calibrated Rebel Yells as a possibility.

Thanks Again

great pickups, no doubt, but i would try Mississippi Queens too... totally different, but if you split them often and play bluesy hard rock a p90 seems a pretty logical choice!

I've been kind of curious about that. Can you split a P90? Does it give a closer single coil sound? I know a good bit about pickups but not enough about the inner workings of a p90. I always assumed it's just a fatter single coil.

[Mr. Air]

Cool, thanks for the help so far. The more I listen to the sound samples and take in the suggestions, I'm leaning towards a pair of calibrated Rebel Yells as a possibility.

Thanks Again

great pickups, no doubt, but i would try Mississippi Queens too... totally different, but if you split them often and play bluesy hard rock a p90 seems a pretty logical choice!

I've been kind of curious about that. Can you split a P90? Does it give a closer single coil sound? I know a good bit about pickups but not enough about the inner workings of a p90. I always assumed it's just a fatter single coil.

The Mississippi Queen is a p90 in humbucker casing and therefore is a single coil pickup. I think what dheim meant was that if you play bluesy hard rock and often have your humbuckers split then the MQs could be a possibillity instead of a pair of humbuckers

[RB21688]

Ah, ok. Yeah I just misread the post, sorry lol. The coil splitting is more so I have the option and to give the guitar more versatility, i don't think I'll be playing it with the coils split the majority of the time. However, after listening to more audio samples, a Mississippi Queen neck pickup and a VHII bridge may go well in my SG  PDT_003

[dheim]

MQ bridge is a great choice!