Blues/Rock Humbuckers for a lawsuit Les Paul

[RadioElectric]

Hello all,

I had posted here before about replacement pickups for an Epiphone Sheraton II but that has gone on hold now as I recently inherited a guitar from my dad as he's currently downsizing his collection.

It's a Maya Les Paul copy, made in Japan in the 70s. The only difference in contruction I can spot between it and a Gibson plain-topped burst is that it has a bolt-on neck. The finish on the body has cracked a little near the knobs at the bottom (where a member of The Scorpions sat on it, apparently) which gives me the impression that it's a polyester finish rather than nitrocellulose because I wouldn't think NC would crack like this (though I may be wrong, if any of you think you can tell I might post some pictures).

At the moment it has two humbuckers in it that sound ok but I can't get past the look of. (The neck pickup is an uncovered cream with orange ribbon (!) around it whilst the bridge is a cream/black zebra). He's also given it the "Jimmy Page" (I believe) wiring at some point. Two of the pots pull out for coil splitting on the bridge and neck and there are two switches mounted to the pickguard that do something else.

I want to replace the pickups for a pair of humbuckers with aged nickel covers (to match the aging on the rest of the hardware). But I'm not sure  which ones to go for. I play a variety of styles from blues/rock (think Rory Gallagher, Led Zeppelin and Hendrix) to heavier stuff (I like Jerry Cantrell's tone in Alice in Chains).

I was thinking of getting Mules because they seem very versatile but I'm also considering Black Dogs or maybe even a higher output humbucker in the bridge paired with a lighter neck pickup. What do you guys think? I don't want to be in a situation where the pickup's output is too high to play lighter stuff so I think I'm leaning towards mules... maybe.

I plan to replace the pickguard for one with no switches glued to it (this one has a crack in it too which is another reason to replace it) but it'll probably be easier to keep the two pots that allow for coil splitting so I might use those. Will the coil-splitting circuitry have any effect on the tone when it's not engaged?

Finally, how long does it usually take from placing the order to receiving the pickups? I'm going to have to install these while I'm home from university for easter so I'm trying to plan them to arrive during that holiday (of if they take longer than 5 weeks-ish the summer holidays).

Thank you,
Alex Baldwin

(I'm going to email Tim now too before you suggest that :P)

[Ratrod]

My vote is for the Crawlers. They are THE blues/rock pickups. They work great with coil taps and they'll nail that AIC tone too.

[ericsabbath]

+1 for the crawler

[RadioElectric]

Tim recommends them too, thanks guys. Does anybody know why they're £20 more than the other BK humbuckers though? Where does that extra money go?

[indysmith]

It's the Geoff Whitehorn Signature model. signature models always cost more

[RadioElectric]

I've just found out that my dad still has the old nickel covered pickups from when it was new. I'm wondering whether I can take the covers off those old ones and put them on the pickups that are currently on the guitar. Is this possible? The bridge pickup at the moment is a Dimarzio and the neck is either a Kent Armstrong or Gibson Zebra if that's relevant.

EDIT: I also found out that the estimated time is about a week so I guess I've got a little while to think about this. I have got some scholarship money to put towards music stuff (yay scholarship) but I'm also considering a new amp at some point too.

Incidently, this guitar seems to have quite small frets on it. Does anybody know of anybody in the stoke-on-trent or warwickshire area that can be trusted with a refret if I ever decide I can't put up with them? Maybe it's just something I need to adjust to.

[Philly Q]

I'm wondering whether I can take the covers off those old ones and put them on the pickups that are currently on the guitar. Is this possible?

Maybe, maybe not - you might find that the polepiece spacing doesn't match, it isn't standardised between different manufacturers.  

If you do put covers on the existing pickups it would be best to get them wax-potted.  Unpotted covered pickups are prone to microphonic squealing.

[RadioElectric]

Yeah, that does seem a lot more trouble than it's worth. I notice that you have crawlers, what guitar are they in and how do they sound?

[ilÿti]

Crawlers will not dissapoint!  :D

It's basically the classic les paul sound, but hot enough to handle a whole lot of distortion without getting muddy. The bridge has a big kick in the mids as well as a lot of bass, so it's particularly good if you like your les paul warm sounding. The neck model uses an alnico IV magnet and is very classic vintage sounding. It's got a very detailed clean and a more singing OD sound than I've heard from any other neck pickup. It can also handle high gain shred tones if you're into that.

Check these clips I did:
http://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11335

But they are probably pretty bad, because hardly anyone commented.  :lol:

[Philly Q]

I notice that you have crawlers, what guitar are they in and how do they sound?

They're in an Edwards Les Paul copy with a wraparound bridge.  As for the sound, see Ilyti's comments above.  They're big, fat, warm and growly.  I have to say, in my guitar, they're pretty dark sounding - but I've seen them described elsewhere as quite bright - it all seems to depend on the individual guitar.

[RadioElectric]

I don't tend to use a lot of dirt personally. I tried out a friend's Line 6 Spider 3 **spits on the ground and turns around** recently to see what all the artist presets were like and they were all about twice as distorted as they needed to be. The detail that I was after was what initially drew me to mules but I'll have a listen to those sound clips you posted.

I also have another problem. It looks like the bridge (a bridge and tailpiece arrangement) has been replaced by a chrome one (unless polished nickel is super-shiny, I'll have to ask my dad what he put on it) which looks a bit naff as I reckon it's too shiny for me to get aged nickel covers and for it to look right. The bridge itself doesn't show enough metal to bother me but the tailpiece is another story. Does anybody know of an aged tailpiece I could get? Or how I could age this one?

EDIT: Apparently they were originally gold but it all wore off on top so the plating got taken off them. So now I guess they look like whatever metal was gold-plated to make them originally (though it's been polished up at some point apparently).

[Ratrod]

Yeah, that does seem a lot more trouble than it's worth. I notice that you have crawlers, what guitar are they in and how do they sound?

Oh great! Another chance to post my baby. There's some clips of it too. You can find them with the search function. Here she is (again): 70's Yamaha SG400.

[RadioElectric]

Yeah, that does seem a lot more trouble than it's worth. I notice that you have crawlers, what guitar are they in and how do they sound?

Oh great! Another chance to post my baby. There's some clips of it too. You can find them with the search function. Here she is (again): 70's Yamaha SG400.

That's a beautiful guitar. When I was buying my first proper amp about 5 years ago (a solid state, 3 channel Crate combo that I'm having real trouble selling now) I used a Yamaha SG to try it out in the shop. All I remember is how heavy it was.

[Ratrod]

Eastern mahogany + thick maple top = one heavy SOB. The sustain is endless, though.

[RadioElectric]

I've been having a deeper look at the technical specs it seems the crawlers are most similar to the holy divers. (same magnet, DC resistance, I guess the wire gauge could be very different though) Surely this can't be right?

I've also been looking at some old threads and listening to clips. I'm feeling pretty sold on the mules since hearing that clip that tim posted and reading the accompanying thread. My girlfriend has persuaded me not to sell my other mahogany + humbuckers guitar (how often do you hear those words in that order) so I feel comfortable sticking to a lower output setup for this one.

How do people feel about the aged nickel covers? Anybody got them?