Godin LG pickup choices.

[Yellowjacket]

Hi Everyone,
I put a calibrated set of Bare Knuckle Rebel Yell pickups in my Les Paul Standard along with 500k audio taper pots and 0.22 micro farad Paper in Oil caps.  I'm sure everyone here already knows how awesome a project that turned out to be.  See, knowing that Steve Stevens tested them in a 2005 Les Paul gave me confidence that they would match well with the guitar and they did.  I really liked the even response, the phat growl, wide pick attack, and how they clean up so beautifully when I roll back the volume pot.  My Les Paul is now a true gem of a guitar and I really want to keep it in as great shape as possible...

which leads me to...

My backup guitar.  A Godin LG.  It is basically http://www.godinguitars.com/godinlghbflamep.htm but older.  No maple veneer and basically a solid mahogany guitar with a bold on mahogany neck, (very thin neck design) a rosewood fingerboard, and a 24 3/4 scale 24 fret neck.  Yes, they used less frets on the later models. 
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v338/TraumatizedRat/HPIM1237.jpg?t=1306906659

I have tried some different pickup combinations in it and so far the best was a set of Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro pickups. 
Stock, the guitar came with a Modified Seymour Duncan Custom 5  in the bridge and a Jazz II in the neck.  The Jazz II was too glassy and the bridge was really thick and muddy sounding.
I swapped them out for Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro pickups.  The tone became clearer and crunchier.  By far my favourite.
I tried a PRS HFS in the bridge and it just didn't suit the guitar at all.  The Godin LG has a more emphasized treble response than the PRS Singlecut and that particular pickup seemed to enhance it.
I now have a Custom Custom in the bridge.  It sounds good but it is really saturated, thick, and grainy sounding.  It is a really BORING distortion tone.  I'd like it to crunch much more.

The Godin LG has a sound that is roughly like a cross between a Les Paul and a Strat.  My goal is to try and find the Bare Knuckle pickup model that matches the best with the natural sound of the instrument.  I want it to be the best LG it can be. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqdbRCf4LV0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zz4Ju9Rj6hU&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cSPvgpr0WE&NR=1

This should give some sort of idea what this instrument sounds like, even if this is the SP-90 version.

So far,
I think the following pickups look promising but I am open to other suggestions.

Black Dog

Abraxas

Crawler

Holy Diver

I want a pickup that can clean up by turning down the volume knob.  A pickup that really crunches and adds a real clarity to the tone of the guitar, especially when handling gain tones.  I'd like the clean to be a bit more powerful, full, and chimey than it is but without being thin. 

Black Dog and Crawler are my two top choices. 

[Mr. Air]

Maybe you should considder the Riff Raff as the LG is one big lumb of mahogany (all though it has a bolt on neck). I'm pretty sure they'll give you the crunch you're after. I got a LG myself, but haven't swapped pickups in it. It still has the stock Godin Tetrad pickups which were made by Schaller.

How's the intonation on your LG. Mine is off and I don't think it can be corrected as there isn't enough backwards space for the saddles. I read somewhere that because of this problem Godin switched from 24 to 22 frets, but I'm not sure about that statement.

[Nolly]

I'd recommend trying out the Abraxas. Don't let the DC resistance fool you - it's a very dynamic pickup, with a naturally smooth top end and an open midrange crunch.

[BigB]

I really like my Crawler set, but it's rather on the thick and warm side. Works JustFine(tm) to fatten and warm up a bright guitar if that's what you're looking for.

[Keven]

i have a godin exit 22 which is kinda like the LG but with a maple neck. it's still a very bass heavy guitar. but then i have a mahogany set neck 8 string which is bright as hell so as i've learned (and from what tim told me in a recent email exchange) mahogany's rep for being dark isn't so consistent!

[Yellowjacket]

i have a godin exit 22 which is kinda like the LG but with a maple neck. it's still a very bass heavy guitar. but then i have a mahogany set neck 8 string which is bright as hell so as i've learned (and from what tim told me in a recent email exchange) mahogany's rep for being dark isn't so consistent!

Yes, it is difficult to put the tone of this guitar into words.  When played acoustically, I think it is even more boomy sounding than my Les Paul.  The Les Paul has a depth to the tone and the wood just sings with a particular richness in the midrange.  The LG sounds duller acoustically but I think this is because of a slight scoop in the mids.  It really DOES sound like a cross between a Les Paul and a Strat.  The muddy distortion tones really do result because of the massive solid slab of wood that makes up the body of the guitar.  It almost weighs what my Les Paul does.  The Seymour Duncan Custom Custom pickup has a tone EQ of Bass / Mids / Treble 3/7/7 so it really is quite similar to a Rebel Yell, only that it has an Alnico II magnet and a hotter output.   Even then, the Godin actually has more bass than my Les Paul with the Rebel Yells in it.  That being said, the Les Paul had HUGE bass with the stock Burstbucker Pro pickups and the neck pickup was so boomy that it was almost unusable.  (the stock to Rebel Yell swap in my Les Paul was a HUGE improvement which really worked out in my favour)

The really weird tonal characteristic with the LG is the pronounced high end you get when running a distortion tone.  It was very audible using the PRS HFS pickup, especially when compared back to back with a PRS Singlecut.   With all the Seymour Duncan pickups I tried, it was not a problem. 
The Alnico II Pro (neck) and Custom Custom (bridge) really do work and they do sound good.  I just find that Seymour Duncan pickups tend to sound very thick and with this guitar they can get muddy fast.  I also find that a lot of replacement humbuckers are test driven with a Gibson Les Paul in mind while single coils are test driven in a Strat.  This guitar sounds like a cross between the two which makes finding a suitable pickup difficult.  The idea is to make the guitar sound the best that it can. 

Mr Air: how would you describe the tone of the Godin LG?  I'm guessing you have one of the later models with the beefier neck?  Mine seems to tune alright . . .    I'm curious about the Riff Raff but it probably wouldn't be quite high output enough for my tastes.  I REALLY like the Rebel Yell humbuckers.

Nolly:  Clips?  Those pickups look cool and the open tone may work well.  It is just a question of whether or not they would 'get on' with my guitar.  I have a young family and I am studying music in school so funds are tight.  I am hoping I can nail this swap first time.  (I know, that is crazy)  If I had $$$s, I'd buy a Les Paul Studio and hotrod that for gigging instead.  The LG was my learner guitar and I kept it for sentimental reasons.

BigB:  The Crawler set really has my attention.  I am only concerned about the bass of my guitar, which is why the Black Dog also seem like an attractive option. 

[Mr. Air]

I'm really bad at describing tone and I haven't played the LG for a while, but I'll give it a go. I think the Tetrad pickups were the "original" pickups for the LG and somewhere down the road Godin decided to switch to Seymour Duncan pickups and now they put in their own (my LG has a slim neck like yours so I think it's one of the earliest models). Tone wise my LG is somewhere between a LP and a strat - just like you said, but leaning more to the LP side because of the Tetrad pickups (where each pickup has 4 magnets). The neck pickup is quite boomy so normally I don't use it. I like the bridge pickup which is in the vintage hot spectrum I think. Position 2 and 4 gives a bit of volume drop which I find quite annoying and in position 4 the tone is somewhat bass heavy like in position 5 (neck). Some more clarity and a little less bass would probably work wonders.

I think the LG is a great player, but mine could do with a pick up swap that hopefully would make the five pickup positions more interesting and useable.

If you're considdering the Riff Raff you could go for a custom bridge model with a thicker magnet. Forum member Eric Hellstyle has done this and he was very pleased with the result which was a buffed up Riff Raff that suited his taste for heavy music well. PM him if you any questions. I'm sure he'll tell you a lot more.

[Nolly]

Nolly:  Clips?  Those pickups look cool and the open tone may work well.  It is just a question of whether or not they would 'get on' with my guitar.  I have a young family and I am studying music in school so funds are tight.  I am hoping I can nail this swap first time.  (I know, that is crazy)  If I had $$$s, I'd buy a Les Paul Studio and hotrod that for gigging instead.  The LG was my learner guitar and I kept it for sentimental reasons.

I did the clips on the BKP website, unfortunately we only did the "classic rock" and "clean" with the Abraxas but hopefully you can hear the open but fat voicing it has.

[Yellowjacket]

You did the clips?  GREAT JOB!  I like your playing style, you sound great!

Listen, you did the Crawler Classic Rock clips?  What guitar had you put them in? A Les Paul style guitar?  I REALLY like the sound of both the Crawlers and the Black Dogs. 

[Nolly]

Thanks, the humbucker clips were done with an 80's Gibson Les Paul Custom

[Telerocker]

I'm with Nolly here. The Abraxas looks best of both worlds for this guitar, althought when the Godin has a bright tonewoods a Crawler might work too.

[Yellowjacket]

I think the LG is a great player, but mine could do with a pick up swap that hopefully would make the five pickup positions more interesting and useable.

This is EXACTLY the problem.  It plays amazingly well but for whatever reason, the sound doesn't match.  (I can guarantee that a pair of Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro pickups will sound better than what you have in there right now.   I can also say that a Seymour Duncan Custom Custom absolutely rips in that guitar.)
While you cannot expect a lower tier Godin to sound as good as a Gibson LP Standard, the guitar actually sounds quite good unplugged so I'm guessing pickups are much more a problem than the tone woods.  My guitar is also quite bassy which caused it to be muddy while using distortion tones.  It sounded particularly bad with Marshall heads but jived well with Mesa.  Living in North America, I could actually afford a Dual Rectifier. ;) Strangely enough, I never found the cleans to be muddy, but they are kind of dull.  (probably because of the stock electronics.)  When running with dirt, the guitar does have quite intense highs, especially next to a PRS Singlecut.  It would probably be the least pointy metal axe ever if I bothered to put appropriate pickups in.  (Godin has a version of the LG with EMGs now and it sounds EPIC for metal)
Did you notice -by chance- that the LG feels kind of 'spongy' in its response while a Gibson is much more direct?  I wonder if this is a result of the bolt on neck?

In regards to tone, humbuckers will always be an integral part of that 'Gibson' tone.  When I speak of the tonal crossover between a Les Paul and Strat, I'm talking about the acoustic tone of the instrument.  The LG can really cop that strat vibe with the coil splits, which was probably why it was designed that way.

On the topic of Godins, their 'signature series' line are really stinking nice instruments.  I had the opportunity to acquire a Black Trans-burst LG Signature for $650 used and I'm still kicking myself that I didn't pick it up.  The Signature Series line didn't suffer from the mud problem and had a great and very unique voice.  Maybe I'll have the chance to pick one up sometime in the future? 

Thanks, the humbucker clips were done with an 80's Gibson Les Paul Custom

So basically this is a heavier lump of much higher quality honduran Mahogany?  Good to know.  If crawlers sound this good in a HEAVY Les Paul and a Strat, they should be right at home in an LG.  They just seem like the most logical choice right now but the Abraxas pups are also an attractive option.  How is the bass response with these sucker?

I'm with Nolly here. The Abraxas looks best of both worlds for this guitar, althought when the Godin has a bright tonewoods a Crawler might work too.

Ben French actually recommended the Crawlers (or the Rebel Yells) so I am considering them quite strongly.  The plan is to upgrade the electronics to let more high end through which should work well with the mahogany guitar.  I'm just wondering if an Abraxas or Crawler set would have too much bass for the guitar.  Something like the Black Dog or Holy Diver with more bass cut could be promising.  My brother mentioned that high output pickups tend to work best with an LG, which is something I have noticed.  It is probably the most aggressive $700 axe I have ever played and it looks more like a lumpy potato than a weapon.

[Telerocker]

The Crawler is not too bassy and has still enough treble (at least for my swampashstrat). It's quite middy, but the balance is ok en it cleans up wonderful.  It will be less cutting then the Rebel Yells, which have stronger uppermids.

[Yellowjacket]

This is a tough call but so far I am somewhat leaning toward the crawler set, namely because that was the 'official' recommendation and it really sounds like what I am looking for.  I'm still thinking about the Abraxas set though, as they were described as having an 'extremely pure and clear dynamics'.  The crawlers were explained as 'getting dirty and muddying up a bit'.  The mention of the word 'mud' just scares me because that 'thickness' is the thing I find distasteful about the Duncans in there already.  Don't get me wrong, Seymour Duncans are FANTASTIC pickups and they sound great if the amp is EQ's right.  I just love the sound of unevenly wound / scatterwound coils with vintage specific parts. 

Another thing I was considering was the overall character of the Godin.  I really do think it would make a great metal guitar which makes it tempting for me to consider a painkiller set.  The question is whether I'd ever use the guitar if I did that.  Anyway, I'll agonize a little more over the decision since I have time.  I have to sell some gear to afford these things . . . 

[Telerocker]

The Crawler doesn't mud up in my plank, even with serious highgain. Of course you need the eq the amp in a right way, but I'm impressed with the clarity and stringseparation with highgain or dist.pedals.