Picking out pups for '81 LP custom (dark sound and heavy body)

[O731]

So I know I posted a thread a little while ago asking this same thing, but now that I actually bought the guitar, I have more specific details. Since you guys were a tremendous help last time, I'm asking for some more assistance on finding new pups.

I basically want to get some BK's for my gibson LP custom I just bought. Its a 1981, sounds beautiful (ebony fretboard). This thing weighs around 9.6-9.7 lbs and sounds very very dark. When my pickup selector is at the middle or bridge you get this sort of very boomy almost basslike low tone that sounds a bit too dark (Maybe EQ could fix this)
This thing has tim shaw pickups too, so maybe the fact that i'm using old ass pickups has to do with it too.

But I thought about getting a nailbomb (ceramic or alcino) and was leaning toward the alcino side already. My gibson SG is gonna use ceramics Nailbombs for sure, so i'm gonna already get to try this beast out.

The thing is, is I would love to have that creamy biege tone that alcino's have, especially in this LP, but also want that silvery bite that ceramics are known for. The thing is though that with the situation I'm in with the tonal quality of my LP, I feel like I need to be very careful about which one's I pick.

I play hard rock and metal (more of the pop stuff) but also use my crunch and clean channels alot. More rhymatic and groove, with screaming 80's bendy solo's (by this I mean articulate and well phrased solo's with emotional bends and what not, not the crazy batshite insane technical shredding on an ibanez type stuff)  Stuff like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eV9M5bgABLo    Notice here how the tone sounds smoky and warm, and the power chords still have a nice chug (something I hope to get from the ceramics), but still stay smooth and articulate.

[Gibson 1964]

It is probably the pots.  replacing pickups will not change much if the original pots  are in their. 

[O731]

Damn what a good point  :shock:

I might as well by a whole new set of internals for this baby while im at it. All im interested in is this nice piece of wood right here  8)

While we're on the subject, any recommended brands of electronics and pots?

[Dave Sloven]

I just bought a soldered '50s style harness with 500K Mojotone CTS pots and WD Music blue oil-paper caps.  I'm based in Australia so I went with a local company to save postage, but there were similar ones available in the USA.  You can expect to pay around $100 for it but on the positive side you only need then to solder the four pickup wires to your harness and it's all done.  The place I went to is called SCS Custom Guitar Workshop based on the south coast of New South Wales (I bought it via ebay) but I noticed there were a lot of similar places in the USA.  The most expensive ones have bumblebees but I read that these WD caps are pretty good.  You can then set all of your original pickups and wiring aside in a box and reinstall them later if you want to switch thing around and/or sell your LP.

[Slartibartfarst42]

BKP 550k pots and BKP caps will do the trick nicely. As for the pickups, I wouldn't describe an A-Bomb as 'creamy' at all. It's the least 'alnico' sounding pickup I've ever used but it sure as hell has plenty of bite. It's also not particularly bright for a very dark sounding guitar but it's so tight and aggressive I can see it working quite well in your guitar.

[Telerocker]

In case you want not only swap the pots, but also the pickups, the Rebel Yells might fit a dark sounding Gibbo.

[Slartibartfarst42]

Cold Sweats would be a great choice too. They bridge is ceramic but very different to something like the C-Bomb and the neck is fantastic. They'd suit your guitar and styles very well indeed.

[Zaned]

I recall reading that Tim stated the Nailbomb sounding too bottom heavy on the 80s customs. I would be vary of this, maybe someone else can remember the exact conversation.

Listening to that HIM song (I'm from finland btw, probably going to see them next month :) ), it did sound like the Nailbomb would suit nicely. So I'm kinda wondering, I mainly wanted to sort of..warn you. The Nailbomb is not light on the bottom.

The big question is: is the guitar dark acoustically? If the guitar is bottom heavy, I wouldn't necessarily pair it with a scooped mid (relatively speaking) pickup, like the Cold Sweat is. Of course, if there are also a lot of mids, then the Cold Sweat might do very very well, with the bright but not harsh bite is has in the highs. It also borderlines very nicely between modern and classic voicing.

This probably left you more confused. That's what it did to me :P

-Zaned

[O731]

I recall reading that Tim stated the Nailbomb sounding too bottom heavy on the 80s customs. I would be vary of this, maybe someone else can remember the exact conversation.

Listening to that HIM song (I'm from finland btw, probably going to see them next month :) ), it did sound like the Nailbomb would suit nicely. So I'm kinda wondering, I mainly wanted to sort of..warn you. The Nailbomb is not light on the bottom.

The big question is: is the guitar dark acoustically? If the guitar is bottom heavy, I wouldn't necessarily pair it with a scooped mid (relatively speaking) pickup, like the Cold Sweat is. Of course, if there are also a lot of mids, then the Cold Sweat might do very very well, with the bright but not harsh bite is has in the highs. It also borderlines very nicely between modern and classic voicing.

This probably left you more confused. That's what it did to me :P

-Zaned

Haha for sure my man! I'm from Chicago but was always into metal bands from finalnd since I was like 13. I feel like some sort of a deep connection to the overall vibe and sound the music has (the dark cold feeling). Must have been nordic in some sort of a past life haha.

My Les paul has a decent amount of mids, but definantely sounds really scooped. More of the mids seem to be the lower mids though, sounding like a growling metalic flubber rather than the airy and somewhat muddy mids of the SG. This guitar sounds great for sure, but with a scooped pickup it will FOR SURE sound way too scooped, as it already kind of does sound that way.

I mean I want that awesome metal tone too, but want to maintain that vintage vibe as much as possible (for the more muse type sounds if you will) I'm gonna be playing this bitch through a diezel vh4

[Zaned]

Things are getting clearer :) Now that you mention the vintage vibe too. The Nailbomb does have a certain old school vibe to it, but my gut feeling is that it's not a pickup that would suit this guitar and application.

I personally would probably go for an Emerald set; firmly in the vintage land, but hottish, tight in the lows and a bright one too. Rebel Yell is another contender, it has a firm bottom too. RY has serious punch in the upper mids, whereas the Emerald has more presence and ring in the highs.

If all things go well, an Emerald set would give you a detailed but big tone, and never muddy. Cleans to die for, too! It's always easier to remove brightness than to add it; that's why I would choose it over the Nailbomb.

I would ask the BKP folks too; they are happy to help, and when a decision is made correctly, it's less hassle for them too :)

-Zaned

[O731]

For sure. I guess by creamy I mean fluid and organic/woody, and not so much silver and sizzly

Also, are pots all I need for an internal makeover for this guitar. Or are there more parts that I should change to do so?

[ericsabbath]

HIM always makes me think of an alnico nailbomb or a miracle man
may sound counter-intuitive, considering you guitar natural dark voicing, but sometimes, going with a pickup that will emphasize the same frequencies as the woods actually makes things sound better
I do believe they would sound really good with the proper pots and paired with a diezel

[O731]

Yeah I agree with you on the Alcino. The dude from him uses an sg with JB's Sh-4 and 5, which I personally think sound great, but I want something simular in tone but a tad bit tighter and brighter. Maybe a A-bomb set or A-bomb and emerald combo.

[Gibson 1964]

My main guitar is an '84 custom and until I replaced the pots I thought it was very, very dark. After swapping pots the guitar is actually one of my brightest, so I would strongly recommend changing pots before deciding what BKPs you put in. My original choices were icepicky once I got the pots changed out, but that removed a blanket off the tone. FTR I just used 500k cts which is not exceptionally bright like 1meg pots. The 100k tone pots are the biggest culprit, more so than the 300k volume most had. (Mine had 100k all around)

As such, I would think till you swap the pots, you do not know the guitars real voice.

If it is still dark, I would go rebel yell though. Love them.