Les Paul - Experimental / World Music Setup

[phillip]

Hello to the respectable Bare Knuckle community,

I'm working on my second guitar transformation with Bare Knuckle pickups. Last was a Yamaha Pacifica (Strat) now turned into a hot and versatile beast.
Sometimes the Strat is a bit too hot and I'm usually playing with the tone knob turned all the way down.

So I thought with my old Epiphone Les Paul (Epiphone Les Paul Standard PlusTop PRO, Heritage Cherry Sunburst - to be exact), I could have something much warmer and thicker.
I'm playing a lot of delay, reverse and loop based soundscapes while finger plucking west african and asian pentatonic scales.

Visually and stylistically I'm really into the idea of Soapbar p90's but I'm open to all suggestions from your expert minds.
At the moment I'm drawn to:

Half Note 90 - for cleans
Supermassive 90 - for thick / heavy buzz
PG Blues Humbuckers - because I think Peter Green's 'Albatross' is a masterpiece

Please if you could share your minds on these pickups mentioned and what combinations could be achieved and any other combinations that you think would be suited for this style of playing.

Always appreciate the help and care that people of this forum give and share.

Kind regards,
Phillip Fai

[ericsabbath]

can't go wrong with mules

[phillip]

Appreciate the thought, I'm looking to be a bit more experimental, the mule seems versatile but it's hard to escape it's bluesy / rocky tones.

After seeing some videos of the Half Note 90 it seems more and more appealing.

Maybe then to ask another question; what would be an interesting setup in combination with the Half Note 90 ? Supermassive? Mule? Blue Note 90? etc..

[Dave Sloven]

If it has humbuckers in it now soapbars won't fit and you will have to use HSP90s.  In any case all P90s are available in soapbar, dogear, and HSP90.

Half Note or Manhattan in the neck could be good.

A Blue Note in the bridge might give you a good workable combo that can go more bluesy when needed, alternatively a Nantucket or Mississippi Queen for more oomph

I think you might find that anything more powerful than that would most likely overpower the Half Note

[phillip]

Thanks for the shout Dave Sloven, much appreciated.
I apologise for the lack of knowledge on p90's, I just learned now that the H stood for HumbuckerP90!

So now I guess I'm interested in a Manhattan / Blue note at the neck and for the bridge either Blue note / Nantucket or Mississippi Queen.

I know this is not exactly what they're designed for but I was wondering how the Manhattan would sound under some distortion / delay / buzz ? I am excited to experiment with this but not sure t if it would just be better to have a Blue Note on the bridge. I'm looking for versatility in terms of output but I don't want to have lots of treble and 'hotness,' I'm really into heavier, warmer sounds with slight buzz and delay.

So currently I'm interested in these combinations:
Manhattan HSP90 + Blue Note HSP90
Blue Note HSP90 + MQ / Nantucket HSP90
Manhattan HSP90 + PG Blues Humbucker (would this even be possible?)

Thanks so much for the help, it goes a long way!

[Dave Sloven]

One thing to remember with jazz is that it's pretty much all neck pickup.  Some jazz guitars come with only a neck pickup.  It will also give a very nice clean sound more generally.  It's output will be a bit low for shred though.  It won't be able to cover every style but no guitar can.

So this leaves your bridge position free to do something else.  If you are keen on the Manhattan I think that the Blue Note in the bridge might give a nice middle position sound (both pickups) and when you want to play blues or even rock it should cover that.

[phillip]

Cheers Dave. I'm not planning on playing jazz, but I am interested in the natural warm tones that the manhattan boasts.
I just found another post that answered a lot of my questions:

https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=31597.0

So you've managed to share advice to me now and 3 years ago to another poster.
Im between the Manhattan + Blue Note or MQ.

But after reading this article http://www.romainpickups.com/alnico-magnets-explained/ on Alnico magnets I would say that the Manhattan at the bridge and Blue Note seems to be more a natural / balanced approach. While the MQ sounds like it would generate a wider range (versatility, in the end I know I wouldn't be making use of the MQ's power as I would never find myself recording or playing any Metal.

Thanks again for the help Dave, appreciate the patience too.

ericsabbath - thanks for trying, appreciate the bump and first reply but no thanks for the loose advice.

[Dave Sloven]

No worries.

This is the Manhattan neck pickup

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

Here's the soapbar version of the Blue Note set:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3BX0wgwypQ

[Telerocker]

can't go wrong with mules

I second that! Especially if you're plucking a lot.