Black dog or Emerald for Les Paul ?

[Ronnie Robinson]

Looking for a new Bridge pickup for my Les Paul - I ready have mules in my PRS and am trying to decide whether to choose the the Emeralds or Black dogs ....decisions decisions..

I will listen to a load of clips but any suggestions anyone? The music will be classic Rock!

[PhilKing]

They are quite different sounds, the Black Dog will give you the heavier mids that Jimmy Page used in his tone, whereas the Emerald will give you tons of harmonics.  Having said that, you can get the harmonics from the Black Dog and you can fatten up the Emeralds with your amp choice.  Another consideration is your Les Paul.  If it is a dark sounding guitar then I would go with the Emerald, if not, then the Black Dog is a good choice.

Classic Rock covers a lot of territory, so try to pin down what you want in sounds.  I have a PRS Artist II with Mules, a 1953 Les Paul conversion with Black Dogs and a custom made 25.5" scale mahogany Les Paul with Emeralds, and each of them sounds great, but they are all different and suit different things.  If you are into classic rock, then the Emerald would be Gary Moore, the Black Dog is Jimmy Page and the Mule is Paul Kossoff.

[Telerocker]

+1. Couldn't said it better.  :)

[ericsabbath]

a 1953 Les Paul conversion with Black Dogs

pics  :D

[Nolly]

Absolutely agreed with Phil.
Sorry to throw another option at you, but have you considered the Riff-Raff? It's very much a classic PAF sound, but with a punchier and brighter voicing than the Mule.

[WhiteRam]

+1. Couldn't said it better.  :)

+2, perfectly stated by PhilKing. :)

I would like to add my experience with both pickups (bridge position) in my alder body maple neck Strat.  The BD has a rich, full, thick bottom end, equally and surprising was the top being very clear, also top was very piano like when soloing on the upper strings, good vintage hot output - more than I expected which was great, overall a great designed pickup that was as expected and more.  I would recommend the BD in a brighter sounding LP.

The Emerald was a bit too upper middy and bright in my guitar, BUT I am a strong fan of the Emerald, there's not a pickup in the world that has its uniquely rich complex harmonic voicing.  I loved playing chords with it, I could fire out chords all night long and be mesmerized.  When I find a darker sounding guitar, the Emerald is going in for life.  If your LP is on the dark or warm sounding side, Emerald is a great choice.

WR

Edit: sentence structure.

[PhilKing]

a 1953 Les Paul conversion with Black Dogs

pics  :D

I've put up this picture before, but the 53 conversion is on the couch, next to the goldtop (which has PG Blues in it).  The tobacco burst has a Riff Raff/Stormy Monday combo