Les Paul Custom Lite pickups for rock/punk

[No_Direction]

Hi guys,

I've got a Les Paul Custom Lite 2013 (which is basically a standard mahogany neck/body with a maple top, although the mahogany body has been cut away a bit, to a level a little above an SG thickness), it's got a 490R in the neck and 498T in the bridge, running into an Orange TH30 with an orange PPC212 closed back cabinet.

It sounds pretty good but I'm looking to switch the bridge pickup for something with a little more balls. I mostly play rock/punk rock/melodic hardcore, kinda in vein of Bad Religion, Rise Against, Social Distortion, so not so much the old stuff from the 80's. Kinda like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2u6DeXvLDM

In contrast I'm looking to replace the neck pickup with something that does cleans and bluesy tones really well.

Anyone got any suggestions? I've been looking at the Nailbomb, Emerald and Holydiver from BKP and the Super Distortion from Dimarzio so far. Thanks!

[darrenw5094]

I like the Abraxas in my Les Paul, extra mids, but not overhot. More modern choice would be the Nailbomb or the Painkiller,  that has balls the size of your head.

[Yellowjacket]

A-Bomb bridge just ROARS!!! 

[Dave Sloven]

I would suggest an Emerald in the neck and an alnico Nailbomb in the bridge for what you want.

[littleredguitars2]

Yeah those stock pickups are junk. I just ordered some VHIIs for my les Paul to replace the same ones.  But I agree a Nailbomb should work for you in the bridge.  Unsure about the neck.  The rebel yell neck is really nice

[lamp]

+1 Love the RY neck, especially paired with a Nailbomb.

[Philly Q]

Another Custom Lite owner here.  I don't know what pickups to suggest for you, but welcome to the forum anyway!  :D

[Dave Sloven]

I would have recommended the Rebel Yell neck to pair with the Nailbomb but the OP asked for a bluesy neck ... I tend to think the Emerald might be the better choice from that perspective.

Only qualm is that I haven't heard an Em neck and A-Bomb together, although I've heard them separately in different guitars.  The Emerald neck does what it says on the tin: straight up Robbo bluesy lead playing.

[littleredguitars2]

i would just send BK an email and ask them if they'd say they work well together, i honestly think they would.

[No_Direction]

Thanks guys :)

I ended up heading to my local guitar today and tried out the nailbomb bridge in a les paul studio. Wasn't a particularly good les paul studio, handled like cr@p with a few obvious flaws in the finish, but with the nailbomb the tone hit exactly what I was looking for. Had a warpig in the neck which was interesting but not my kinda thing.

Sold on the nailbomb. I'm liking both the emerald and the rebel yell in the neck from the clips on the BKP site, although to be honest i use the bridge probably 80%+ of the time so the bridge is the one I wanna get sorted sooner, and then have a think about what to pair it with in the neck.

Any other good neck pickup combinations for the a-bomb in general aside from the rebel yell and emerald?

Cheers!

[Dave Sloven]

Any other good neck pickup combinations for the a-bomb in general aside from the rebel yell and emerald?

Others to consider would be the VHII and the Nailbomb neck pickups.