Les Paul pickups - versatility, dynamics and oomph

[oilpit]

I have an amazing '57 reissue Les Paul custom that looks and plays absolutely amazingly, however all the pickups I have tried in it sound harsh and anemic.

I would like a lot of veratility out of this guitar, my main genre is heavy blues (Gary Moore, Jeff Healey, Joe Bonamossa etc), however I have a rather unique take on this kind of tone.  I strive for a sweet, smooth, liquid style lead tone more commonly ascosiated with shredders.  I don't like a lot of crunch or sharp edges, just a warm, dynamic lead sound that cuts through the mix (that is espescially important when going for this kind of tone).  As mentioned before, versatility is also extremely important, I go as heavy as hard rock and some progressive music and need pickups that will be able to handle a lot of gain and retain good articulation and note seperation.

I like a subtle low mid boost to provide a sort of half c--ked wah tone, with tight low end and high end that cuts.  I need pickups that will clean up with the volume knob and sound expressive and sweet when I change my picking tequnique.

At the moment my top choices are Crawlers, Nailbombs and the Abraxas set.
What do you guys think?

[ericsabbath]

definitely NOT a nailbomb
it's a very edgy pickup
guess you'll be fine with the abraxas or crawler

[kevinr]

I would not rule out the NBs! they are not a one trick pony, as with all BKPs, a great neck sound.

[oilpit]

definitely NOT a nailbomb
it's a very edgy pickup
guess you'll be fine with the abraxas or crawler

Basically the only reason I have the NBs on the list is this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKkMxJiCjTU

That tone to me, is basically perfect...I realize that the majority of that is in his playing, but still, I'm blown away whenever I hear it.

[Telerocker]

I would count the Holy Diver in for smooth thick leadtones. For a more vintage tone I would go for Mules or Abraxxas (which is a hotter kind of Mule).

[Nolly]

I'd highly recommend you check the Abraxas set out - excellent fat yet balanced tones with "no sharp edges" :)

[Alex]

From my experience - which includes the Miracle Man - I'd suggest the Holy Diver. It's very smooth and not very aggressive, it should work fine.
It shouldn't be a problem to get those Moore tones out of it. It has a lot of mids and isn't too far from the c--ked wah sound.
I do prefer the Nailbomb myself however because it is more aggressive.

[FELINEGUITARS]

definitely NOT a nailbomb
it's a very edgy pickup
guess you'll be fine with the abraxas or crawler

Basically the only reason I have the NBs on the list is this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKkMxJiCjTU

That tone to me, is basically perfect...I realize that the majority of that is in his playing, but still, I'm blown away whenever I hear it.

that was the best I have ever heard the Nailbombs sound
I'd be keener on them if I heard more good stuff

[ericsabbath]

that guys videos made me buy a nailbomb in the past too  :lol:
but it's one of the hottest, loudest and more aggressive pickups I had
not saying it isn't versatile, but it has a lot of teeth and crunch for an alnico pickup
if want something hot but less edgy, the holy diver will do it (still no near as hot as the nailbomb, despite of having the same magnet and DC resistance)

[fr33man1]

A 57 reissue is full mahogany so a nailbomb might work through that.

But as a les paul addict and former nailbomb one I can only admit Eric is right about it. Its a popular pickup but it does not really work everywhere and it has a focused and edgy tone.

[oilpit]

There's a new contender, the Black Dog, I didn't look at it initially because IMO Jimmy Page has some of the thinnest, weakest most generic tone of any classic rocker.

But the description of the BD makes it sound like a really fat, juicy, powerful PAF.  So now it's basically between the Crawlers and BDs

[Alex]

I don't know the Crawlers, but the BD could work for what you're looking for.

[Telerocker]

The Black Dogs are great, yet with an emphasized midrange. I think the Crawlers are a bit sweeter sounding, but hey have a good growl when pushed. Mine is in an swampash-strat, so that doesn't compare well to your Les Paul. They will sound a bit more compressed than the BD's. Some Les Paul-players stated the BD didn't do it for them completely, and switched to Mules, which is a very balanced pu, even from bass to treble. Other Les Paul-players love the middy BD's.

[BigB]

The Crawlers are indeed a bit more compressed than lower output vintage PAFs-like, but they still retain some of that "opened", breathing quality. They are at once sweet yet sharp, with enough bite to cut thru in a rather loud 2-guitars band and still sound warm. Very articulate, and no loss of definition even with a very serious amount of gain. And yes, they are very versatile. Even without split / parallel switch, they can go from jazz to blues to blues/rock to hard rock to almost metal, and they do it WELL - no "jack-of-all-thread" syndrom here.

Now this is on a rather bright & tight going-thru neck all-maple guitar.  IMHO they work fine on bright guitars but wouldn't do with a dark one, so it really depends on how your LP sounds unplugged. If it's rather bright, they could well fit your bill, else they might be a bit too much on the warm side.

Really amazing pups when on the right guitar, anyway 8)

My 2 cents

[_tom_]

Versatility? Mules, they can do everything :) I "went off" them for a while but now back to loving them and being my favourite BKP out of those I've tried.