Pickup vor my Gibson 57 V.O.S

[elt41217]

Hey Folks,

just joined the Board  :D


I want to replace my stock Pickups with Bare Knuckle to make my great guitar even better. It's 2010 Gibson 57 VOS Custom Shop Guitar with BB1 and BB2 stock PUs.

The bridge PU would be OK, could be better of course, but thats not the reason for wanting new PUs. But my neck PU is not that kind of sound I'd expect from such a great guitar. There's too much bass and flub and sounds always muddy. So I want definitely a clearer, airy neck PU sound.

Listen to the solo from Satriani on the Chickenfoot song "Sope for a rope" and you know what I mean... That's an airy sound... You just think the PU is whispering  "Puff" "Puff" "Puff" on every single note...



Whith this guitar I play 99% dirty. From Gary Moore or Joe Bonamassse Bluesrock to Hard Rock like Doug Aldrich or Slash, up to modern Hardrock like Alter Bridge.



So my problem is, that I don't know which PU suits my needs... At the beginning I was sure to order the mules... But right now I thinks the neck PU ist not that kind of sound I mentioned before....

Now I think about the EMERALD, the ABRAXAS, or the REBEL YELL...


EMERALD: I'm worried about the highs... Don't want "Ice Pick" highs...  :(
ABRAXAS: A Les Paul is naturally dark sounding guitar (compared to strat or tele). So I'm worried to darken the tone too much...
REBEL YELL: Too much modern sounding?




Would be so pleased if you would give me any advice...


Thanks
Tom

[PhilKing]

Hi,  first thing to tell you is that with BK's there are no ice pick highs!  I have Emeralds in a Les Paul Custom with an all mahogany body and I have an Emerald bridge & Mule neck in a Les Paul Standard (I wanted to get Gary Moore & Paul Kossoff sounds).  I like both sets, but think that in a regular LP, the Emerald/Mule set is great.  I have Abraxas's in an old Hamer Sunburst and an original series PRS Singlecut.  These have more push on the amp and a thicker tone.  The neck can be very smooth when you put an overdrive on it and will sing and sustain really sweetly.  Finally, I have a set of Rebel Yells in a PRS Standard (all mahogany).  They really sing in this guitar and will go into harmonic feedback any time you want.  They have quite a lot of high mids, so depending on the tone of your LP, they might be a bit bright.

Gary Moore was using the PG Blues (which I have in a darkback goldtop), these would give you a lot of the tone that he gets (with a good overdrive pedal), with the out of phase sound when using both pickups.

My preference would be the Emerald/Mule set, but I love older rock tones with the note separation in the tone. 

[elt41217]

Ok, thanks for your reply

And you don't think that the Mule Neck is a bit to, meaty/thick/fat sounding for the desired sound?!?

[Telerocker]

Ok, thanks for your reply

And you don't think that the Mule Neck is a bit to, meaty/thick/fat sounding for the desired sound?!?

The Mule-neck is great in a mahogany guitar, but if you want more cut get an AV pickup like the Riffraff. I think you'd love the Abraxas too. It has enough chime in the topend, but the oomph to get in Satriani-terrority when desired. It's like a hotrodded Mule. Btw, I have Mules in an bolt-on mahogany Saint Blues and, being not a LP, it has the character of it and Mules perform very well in this guitar. Bridge classic PAF with enough cut, middleposition crispy but not whimpy, and classic LP-tones from the neck, just way better then the Classic 57 and BB. BKP's have great clarity and depth, are touchsensitive and dynamic, even with a lot of gain. This will make them sound 'cleaner' then your old pickups. Something you have to get used to.

[darkbluemurder]

Of the pickups you mentioned I own the Abraxas and the Rebel Yell sets. Both would achieve what you want. Abraxas would be my recommendation, and this is not a dark pickup. If your main focus is to get the Aldrich tones I would prefer the Rebel Yell over the Abraxas.

Cheers Stephan

[henriquepaiva]

I'd go for emerald bridge and riff raff neck.

[Telerocker]

I believe Nolly recorded metaltracks with Mules. They are versatile and the bridge has enough snap without being shrill.

[Mr. Air]

An airy neck pickup sound. Could that be the VHII? I haven't played one, but it seems to get a lot of love.

[Holy Schnikes]

Hey there!

Just replaced the 57 Classics that came stock with my 68RI Custom. I liked some aspects of these pickups but the brittle/harsh high end of the bridge combined with the loose, flubby lows of the neck forced me to look elsewhere.

I went with the 4 conductor Abraxas set (Brushed Nickel cover FTW!) and GODDAMN THEY SOUND AMAZING! Not dark imo, perfect for this guitar really. The EQ is completely refined, tight controlled bass and smooth highs, wonderful sounding all around. I wired 'em each HB with serie/parallel options via push/push tone pots and it adds a HUGE amount of useable variety!

The higher output of these HBs results in a big, wide open sound, perfect for my LP. Cleans are gorgeous while fuzz/dirt pedals scream in response. The Neck position is one of the best I've heard, EVER! Gone is the muffled, bass-heavy tone of the 57's, now incredibly articulate while retaining a fat neck tone. The clarity and chime inherent in the neck HB can't be beat for cleans and it lends itself to the high gain just as well, far more usable than the 57 ever was in that spot.