I just bought a used Epiphone Les Paul Black Beauty 3 (2006). The former owner replaced the pickups on it with Dimarzios: a Drop Sonic in the bridge, a PAF PRO in the middle and an Evolution in the neck.
I have never played on anything but cheap stock pickups before. But these upgrades don't suit my tastes at all.
I want to replace them with Bare Knuckles pickups. And I would like to use the three pickup slots to produce a good variety of distinct tones. Specifically, I want something glassy and chimy in the neck for clean blues and jazz, something warm but not muddy in the middle for chords, Southern Rock and slide, and something British classic rock in the bridge.
I listened to a ton of sound files and these are my initial choices. I was thinking of putting a Mule in the neck, a Mississippi Queen PAF in the middle and a Black Dog in the bridge. I don't want matched sets. I want a distinct variety sounds.
Does this sound like a good combination for someone who likes to play Blues, Southern Rock and British Rock? I listen to a lot of Allman Brothers, Led Zeppelin, Derek Trucks and Black Crowes, if that helps. Those are the sounds I admire and would like to capture.
Also, I would love to mod this Black Beauty to take advantage of the possibilities three pickups provide. I would like to be able to play the pickups in and out of phase, single coil and humbucking, with about 7 pickup combinations. Where can I learn how to set up the wiring/hardware for that? What kind of advanced hardware would I need?
Thanks a lot in advance!
