Les Paul bridge pup replacement

[russjm]

Hi,

I have a Gibson Les Paul Standard loaded with burstbuckers. The neck position pup sounds fantastic, big and warm, but the bridge pup just lacks something, it seems a little underpowered and a bit weak.

Has anyone any recommendations for a Bareknuckle replacement with some power to backup the neck pup?

Bareknuckles have recommended the Geoff Whitehorn as a good option, anyone else any comments?

Cheers,

Russ.

[Ratrod]

The Mule is a good option for a Les Paul.

Crawlers are great. The guys at BKP rarely give the wrong advice.

[PhilKing]

You don't say what music you like.  The Crawler is a great all round pickup, the Emerald is good for 70's rock, the Riff Raff is a bit brighter but works well in Les Pauls, and the VHII is also the old hot PAF sound.  All ot these are alnico V magnets.

The Abraxas gives a great sound, but I am not sure of the magnets in the Burstbuckers.  I know that the alnico IV of the Abraxas works well with IV or V but not with alnico II.

[russjm]

I'm in a covers band playing a wide range of stuff, from old rockers to current chart stuff, so I'm not after a metal powerhouse sound.

My true love is blues, gary moore style and Joe perry slide.

[willo]

VHII is a great pickup, but a litle more powerful than the Mule, a bit more 'bite'. But both pickups are very adaptable... :)

[lulusg]

Gary Moore that may be the Emerald :)

[PhilKing]

Jusr saw that the burstbuckers are Alnico II.  I got the Emerald/Mule setup for old Peter Green/Paul Kossoff sounds.  I have an Alnico IV Mule in the neck and it gives that almost out of phase sound with both pickups.  

I have the Abraxas set in another Les Paul, but this is a claibrated set of Alnico IV and gives much more of an old Santana sound.  It is great for Green Manilishi though!  Unfortately, I think that it would not work as well with the burstbucker.

[steve]

I would say the Mule or the Abraxas for a punchy fat bridge pickup.

[russjm]

Yeah, a mate has put a mule in the bridge of his flying v, and loves it. I'm still tempted by the Geoff Whitehorn though. I just wonderd how the Mississippi P90 would sound too.

[russjm]

Also, is there any reason why a mule designed to go in the neck position, wouldn't be good for the bridge position?

[Skybone]

I've got 2 Tokai Love Rock's, my main one has a set of Black Dog's in it, and I have to say that they are the main reason it's my No. 1 guitar (well OK, it feels right as well!). My other Love Rock has a set of Emerald's in, and they too sound wonderful, but if I were replacing my #1 with another LP type guitar, whatever I got would have a set of Black Dog's installed.

They're a "medium" output pickup (bridge is around 10k, and the neck is about 8k), and they have a wonderful mid-y tone to them that I just absolutely love. They were my 1st set of BKP's, and I'm well and truly hooked on their sound and tonality. A really underrated pickup IMO.

[indysmith]

they have a wonderful mid-y tone to them that I just absolutely love.

LOL - that sounded like, oh my god, just sooooooo camp :roll: ...sorry - bit off topic...
...yu owe me some flowers mister!

[HJM]

Also, is there any reason why a mule designed to go in the neck position, wouldn't be good for the bridge position?

Different wind and DC resistance I think. It'll work but may sound weak.

[Tellboy]

Hi,

Bareknuckles have recommended the Geoff Whitehorn as a good option, anyone else any comments?

Russ.

I've got a calibrated set with coil taps in my Les Paul Standard. Very pleased - the 15k rating makes them ideal for a good single coil sound and very versatile.

[russjm]

cheers everybody.