Black Dogs vs. Seymour Duncan Whole Lotta Humbuckers

[mtmartin71]

Anyone have the opportunity to compare these two directly?

The reason I ask is I'm trying to fine tune my '16 Les Paul Standard. This particular Les Paul has 500+K pots and 50s wiring. The instrument itself leans brighter and upper mids centric. It's an airy sounding guitar. Not as thick as my other 2 Les Pauls. I have used the Whole Lotta Humbucker before and know that pickup pretty well. I'd say it's a bit rounder and thicker and not as bright or upper mid focused as a Slash bridge or the 36th anniversary bridge. Currently, my '16 has the Slash set in it. That set has worked in a darker Les Paul I have but in this '16, the bridge doesn't sit in the right tonal wheel house of that guitar for what I want to hear. And the neck is just too soft for me. I know that's the Slash neck tone but I guess I want a little more snap back and I think A5 will do that for me.

I'm pretty sure the WLH will work nicely for the '16 Les Paul, but I found a deal on some used Black Dogs and if they are what the WLHs are, but a touch brighter, it could be the perfect fit. Knowing how bright the Black Dogs are vs the WLH will also influence if I throw covers on them or not.

[Dave Sloven]

I haven't heard the SD WLH pickup but the difference between covered and uncovered seems to be minimal, from what I've heard.  Probably fitting the 550K BKP CTS pots would make as much difference

[mtmartin71]

I haven't heard the SD WLH pickup but the difference between covered and uncovered seems to be minimal, from what I've heard.  Probably fitting the 550K BKP CTS pots would make as much difference

Thanks Dave. I've got 525K CTS in the neck and 500K CTS in the bridge...measured right at those numbers. I've got some nickel silver, chrome plated covers from Philadelphia Luthier Tools that worked real well for a Slash set of pickups. I think you're right though. Covers just round off ever so slightly. This is a Goldtop '16 Standard and I'm digging the chrome cover, no pickguard look. Joe Perry has a single pickup LP with Floyd that looks like that. It's a nice look. From everything I've read and what I recollect from previous BKP pickups, the clarity and high end will be there for me so I'm probably going to go covered. Looking forward to this set. I dug the Whole Lotta Humbucker and I've done some more research and apparently they are voiced very similarly so that will be a good thing.

The joy of pickup tweaking and guitars. I've noticed that even the same production pickup sets don't sound the same. I had some Slash pickups before that I pieced together separately in the zebra format common for Gibson (cream side screws) and those really dialed in well for a Les Paul Traditional I had. The right amount of meat and the right amount of cut. Recently this set I just picked up was different. The bridge had less meat and extra sizzle...I think. Anyhow, it's a journey!