Pickups for a LP Standard

[PistottiAmps]

Hello all this is my first post on this fine BKP Forum.

I am getting ready to pick up a set of PUs for my mid 2000's Les Paul Standard (60s neck) and I am still a bit unsure about what I should get.

I play anything from Hard Rock/old school metal to Blues and even some ambient sort of stuff. I mainly want a great powerful/crunch rock tone that's super tight in the bass, pronounced mids, and chimey but not overbearing highs. I want it to be very clear and articulate- but still retain a natural sound with some attitude.

I play a custom amp that is voiced similarly to a Soldano mixed with a Plexi on the OD channel- but it's not really a bright amp.

Naturally I thought the Rebel Yells- but I am open to suggestions.
Thanks!

[gooch]

screw it!

just get some Mules

you'll be a god with them!

rock on PAFs!

[leerocker]

mules!!! just installed mine in my gibson les paul today!

[PistottiAmps]

No love for anything else?

I think I am looking for something a little more modern and punchy than a PAF styled PU for this guitar. I want it to be versatile- and since I plan to do a lot of soundclips with my various amp projects. So I want it to sound good with a wide range of amplifiers (which may rule out the RY from what I've heard).

I don't know... I have had no experience with BKPs or any "real" winders pickups- so I am just hoping for some good advice. I guess I shouldn't rule out the Mule.

[gooch]

the only reason i mention the mule is that if you ever wanted to back off the gain it'll still sound good, whereas higher output humbuckers only really sound their best with lots of gain. But thats just my experience.

[PistottiAmps]

That is a good point- I do like to be able to clean up a bit with the volume down... plus I try to make all of my amps very expressive as they interact with the guitar/pu. What does anybody think about the VHII? I figure it may be good since it's lower resistance than the RY- but a little hotter than the Mules.

[kevinr]

There are so many BKPS that would work well for you, have a liten to some Abraxas clips I'm quite sure you will like these they sound very much the same as a Mule (to my ears) only more poke! work extremely well in a LP type guitar.

[Zaned]

Rebel Yells might be a very good alternative; depending on the acoustic tone of the guitar. Have a listen to the clip Steve Stevens himself created, on the player's section. It's not a bottom heavy pickup, so it stays tight. It has fairly aggressive mids, so it punches.

For a typical warm sounding LP, it should be a great pickup! If I remember correctly, it has one vintage and one contemporary wound coil, so it sort of has best of both worlds. Really versatile, and it's not super high output either, so it cleans up too.

-Zaned

[BigB]

Hi

You may want to have a look at Crawlers too.

[Zaned]

You may want to have a look at Crawlers too.

Dunno, Crawlers wouldn't be my first suggestion for ultra tight bass..in an LP.  A maple neck-through is of course a  whole different animal (referring to BigB's guitar). That kind of guitar tends to be very tight in both lows and highs, but the typical LP is not.

-Zaned

[AndyR]

Hi PistottiAmps, I'm not sure about Mules for this either - even before I read your later post about maybe not PAF.

The only other BKP humbucker I have is Riff Raffs - but I haven't ever had them in a Les Paul (SG and Explorer only). I think they'd go some way to what you want but might be a tad bright in maple capped LP???

If it was me, I'd be sniffing around Abraxus. No personal experience of them, this is based on some very useful threads on here a few months back. The impression I was getting was that they'd give me a "PAF+", as it were, a modern take on "vintage"...

This might be a good one for contacting Tim at BKP - it sounds like you've got a very good idea of what you want out of the pickups, and he'll know straight away... (it'll probably be Mules, after all! :lol:)

[shaman]

dude...always ask Tim...give him all the info you can(guitar,wood,pots,amp,effects,etc...)I can say for sure,however, that the Rebs are killer in a LP Standard!blues,modern,etc...a killer all arounder-I play thru Boogie MArk amps,and EVERY time I play out, EVERY time......guitarists in the crowd ask me about my pickups!they have a killer juice!-I am going for a Lukather/Schon tone ,in terms of lead, and it nails it....a Sykes tone? yessir...the Crawlers rule as well in my Classic...as tim told me/....."sweeter highs"
to me, I need an Alnico V in my amps(they are higher preamp gain...) anything less is a little on the brittle side in MY setup..as always, MMV!   ask TIm-THE MASTER!

[PistottiAmps]

Man... I am gone for a day and all of this input. You are all awesome!

I did email Tim last night. He said that the RY sounds like what I am looking for- in the bridge. I wanted something with a different sort of flavor for the neck- so I think I am actually going to go with a Mule. Tim said that the combo sounds like it would fit my situation well... And even though I do play a lot of "modern" stuff- I love that vintage PAF sound.

I think the Crawler is a bit more vintage and not quite as tight as I am going for... but my maple strat has a cr@ppy sounding bridge PU... hmmm

And I think the ABXS doesn't have the tightness I'd like... but time will tell on both of these now won't it.

Now I just have to play the waiting game... I think I may do a few clips when I get the PUs of the stock vs BKPs- I would have loved to hear some sort of A/B sort of things in my decision making process.

[jmp100watt]

I think you will be quite pleased with the RY bridge. Below is a clip I did with my 2006 custom




http://www.youtube.com/user/jmp100watt#p/f/18/FxdkBN69I8s

[PistottiAmps]

Sounds pretty awesome- and I think that's what I'm going for. I really like the growling mids that you hear a few times in the video. I want to be able to play leads and have it be articulate yet smooth- but then hitting a fat chord or even just a power chord and have it feel like the rich mid harmonics will just tear you in half.

It is on Youtube and all but I think I can still get a picture of it... also- gotta love those 800's! Sounds like a match made in heaven straight from the 80's