pickups for les paul custom

[Frank666]

I play anything from blues to thrash metal, examples are gary moore for blues and mastodon for metal. I'm looking for a thick tone really, so far I'm thinking black dogs or maybe crawlers but not entirely sure. Cleans are not all that important for me, just a good thick tone. I'm playing through a jcm800 with an sd-1 overdrive if that adds anything

[Brutalix]

Hi!!!
First time writing here....in the market for BKPs myself!
Did you listen to the Players section of the site? Bearing in mind the folks have different amps, effects, etc.,you might find a PU that you dig.... Miracle Mans or Cold Sweats? Best of luck!!!!

[Telerocker]

It depends on whether you want to go for the organic tone of alnico's or the tightness of ceramics. When it's alnico take a look at the Black Dog. Good for fat PAF-tones but can do metal too. Stays tight in the lowend. The Crawler is less suitable for metal. On the outer side of the alnico-spectrum the hot Nailbomb could be a good choice. Aggressive but organic and cleans up well.

[Doadman]

If you like the tightness of ceramics with a slightly thicker sound I'd look at Cold Sweats. I used to have some in a mahogany bodied guitar and even with the added brightness of a maple/walnut thru-neck and locking trem it still gave me a far thicker and more organic tone than any other ceramic pup I've ever tried.

If you prefer the tone of Alnico V I'd agree that Black Dog and Nailbomb would be good choices and I'd also like to throw a Rebel Yell into the mix as it's very tight in the bottom end but still organic and versatile.

[ericsabbath]

I think your post is still too vague

"from blues to mastodon" doesn't say much

most BKP humbuckers were primarily made for les pauls

I love the cold sweats in my '73 lp custom
neck pup is extremely balanced and warm, but still tight and clear enough for rhythms
bridge pup is bright and crunchy, without any bass or mid bump, in a way that it really matches a good thick sounding les paul custom

it had nailbombs before and they sounded huge too
neck pup was a bit too hot and scooped, but very clear with a strong picking response
bridge pup was fat and focused, not scooped, but far from middy
like a metal PAF with a lot of sustain and huge output

I also love the holy diver and miracle man in les pauls
holy diver is very fat and powerful, lot of center mids,fluid leads, warm top
miracle man has a strong bass response, not much mids, sharp top, really clear lead tones and kinda reacts like a JCM... the louder you play it, the bigger it gets

for a stock JCM 800, I wouldn't go with a PAF model if you want to get real gain and sustain from the amp

[AlexHookah]

Hope you dont mind me barging in on the post :)

im about to buy a Les Paul Custom tomorrow, sooner or later i will upgrade the pickups. I have a Riff raff and painkiller in my musicman and cold sweet painkiller in my les paul standard so the choice is obvious.

The band i play in is proggy and covers a bunch of styles but always with a metal hint so i need something that can handle that. Think metallica/DT tones for the heavy stuff. I dont need pure  Its mostly in standard but occasionally drop D but no lower. Amp is a Mesa Boogie Mark IV, usually running a tubescreamer or line boost at the front too.

I need something thats versatile + organic and suitable for lead playing. Lead Tone influence would be Joe Bonamassa (especially the Black county album) I wanted something different than a painkiller as i have two already but one that will balance well with the given neck pickup. My amp sound is pretty tight sounding as it is and i do notice on my musicman the massive difference in output between my riff raff and painkiller. Any suggestions??

[Telerocker]

A Mule comes to mind for Bonamassa-leadtones. A Black Dog with big midrange could be an alternative.

[ericsabbath]

mules

[AlexHookah]

Nice! unequivocal answer. Thanks chaps. Just to be clear, are we talking a pair of mules or something slightly hotter in the bridge??

[Telerocker]

For Bonamassa-tones I would go for a calibrated set. If you want something with a bit more output, consider The Crawler, which has a fat, but balanced hot-PAF-sound.

[LP_LOVER]

I'd suggest trying out Cold Sweats for your LPC. It depends a lot on the unplugged tone as well....Play an open G, E or D and see if it rings (which means it's balanced). If it doesn't, I'd stay away from BKP's, as they only sound great in guitars with a great unplugged tone. However, that 'ringing' thing still doesn't say anything about the true tone of the guitar; it can still sound dark for instance, which means you'll have to stay away from Crawlers or Black Dogs. Also the difference between vintage and vintage/hot is quite important to mention; some guitars need a little more output, especially in the bridge position, COMPARED to the neck pickup. The Cold Sweat set gives that, while the pickups are perfectly balanced in tone and volume.

My LPC sounds tight, thick and rich unplugged and it rings with 10-46 gauge strings; the Cold Sweats are the perfect match for that guitar, no matter if its clean or distorted. Playing an open E with the bridge pickup on the clean channel just screams rock 'n roll. It definately has a vintage character, which might be part of the guitar as well.

Good luck.

[Frank666]

Sorry I couldn't get back earlier, I have it narrowed down to cold sweats or nailbombs. I've decided on the cold sweat neck, I have that in a prs and know how great that tone is. The main question is now how clean is the cold sweat bridge?

[Madsakre]

Mastodon - I would definetly reccomend a Ceramic warpig for that

Gary Moore - I have no idea :S

[LP_LOVER]

Sorry I couldn't get back earlier, I have it narrowed down to cold sweats or nailbombs. I've decided on the cold sweat neck, I have that in a prs and know how great that tone is. The main question is now how clean is the cold sweat bridge?

I'd suggest a calibrated CS set, even though many players use the CS neck paired with a different kind of bridge pickup (MM, NB, PK and so on).

Depending on the amp/settings the CS bridge can be really clean; you can hear it's power coming through, so the first thing you'll notice is that it definately wants to rock out. It's a really clear pickup, with slightly more bass response compared to the Rebel Yell, but it's still tight. The CS 'screams' more than it 'sings', but more in a vintage way (not like Zakk Wylde). It's also thick sounding for a ceramic pickup and probably even thicker than all of the other Alnico 5 BKP bridge pickups I tried in the same Les Paul before. For me it's the perfect bridge pickup, no matter if I play clean or distorted.

[AlexHookah]

interesting stuff guys. Will defo try the unplugged thing. Only had the guitar a couple of days, weighs a ton and feels great but already noticing the stock pickups arent upto the job. Just not tight or focused enough for me. I really dont wanna put a PK in the bridge so i might go for the CS set you mention. Hopefully its tight enough to rock out but sounds more balanced than my CS/PK in my LP Standard. Im thinking the mule set might just be a little to lacking in power. Im curious about the nailbombs but im concerned they are too powerful for the lead tones i want - i hate that metal lead sound - . Too many options!!! lol The holy diver Miracle man that eric suggested sounds interesting and it will offer something new to what i have already got.......his desription sounds right up my street!