Gibson LP Studio, help?

[Jackalicious]

Hello all,

   This is my first post here but bear with me. I have a 2004 Givson Les Paul Studio that I'm modifying. It's solid black with chrome hardware & the main thing is that I'm replacing everything that's chrome with black or black chrome. It's looking sweet but I swapped the chrome covers out on the stock pickups with some  black ones & I got to thinking I should upgrade them like I did the tuners & the bridge. Here's the catch, I play worship music at my church, mostly clean with occasional light overdrive. But I write metalcore/djentish music at home so I'm stuck on what pickups to get.

    I'm split up between the cold sweat & the juggernauts. No doubt about it the juggernauts take it with the metal style but I don't think the cold sweats are far off. My problem is that I like the clean sound of the cold sweat more, specifically in the neck position. I guess what I need is any suggestions or opinions on these pickups in a LP studio. I've thought about getting a neck cold sweat & a bridge juggernaut but I'm wondering what the center position will sound like. Any suggestions?

[Yellowjacket]

Oh, you poor POOR soul.  You need two guitars, but there may be another, simpler solution.

I say Mule / Riffraff and a boost pedal for the heavy stuff.  If you have a super aggressive / modern sounding amp for the heavy stuff, this should get you right in the ballpark. 

[Kiichi]

Hi and welcome mate!

I canīt say much about the pickup choice, as this is a bit of a tough one, but I am fairly certain that the CS neck should work well with the Jugg bridge.

In terms of the middle it is a lot about what you want it to be. Even the Jugg has suprisingly good cleans, and there are several possible wiring tricks and combos that can help you shape the sound. Things like splits and series / parallel switches can do a lot for versatility and middle position shaping.

[Jackalicious]

Ok guys thanks for the input. I gave the the mule & riff raff a listen & I can't bring myself to pick them. The mule reminds me of Lenard skynard & the riff raff reminds me of ratt. I kinda like the sounds but it's not the direction I'm going for & for me to lay down $350 I have to be certain.

I've listened to the sound samples over & over again with some good headphones & I think I'm going to go with the juggernauts. It's tough for me to decide. Though I like the CS cleans on the neck more than the juggernauts, I don't want to sacrifice the darker deeper sounds of the juggs for it since I like their clean sound as well. Unfortunately I have no idea about splits & parallels because I'm a noob at that stuff. I taught myself guitar without lessons or any help so I didn't try to learn the technical side of guitar anatomy. I just knew I needed strings & speakers, haha.

With that said, to continue the theme of my all black LP, I'm looking to get a juggernaut set with black no holes covers. I am curious, is it possible to get the bulb etch on a black no holes cover? I'm real weary of using someone's logo or something of that sort BUT the bulb etch looks pretty sweet.

[Dave Sloven]

You could get a juggernaut set with black covers and black hex bolts.  That would look pretty good and give you some adjustment.

I can also tell you that the Cold Sweat set should sound pretty great in a Les Paul.  If you are worried that the bridge doesn't have enough beef tonally the CS neck works well with the Miracle Man bridge.

[Yellowjacket]

From the sounds of things, the 'lightly overdriven' sound is a very distant second priority.  The Series / Parallel wiring option would probably be your best bet to 'downshift' the pickups for lighter music.  Or, just getting a different guitar like a Strat...

Juggernauts in a Les Paul should be ::interesting::   Littleredguitar had a good result with a Juggernaut Bridge in a Les Paul but my juggerset I have in my Superstrat is so incredibly aggressive that I can't imagine how bassy and overbearing the neck pickup would sound in a Les Paul.

My Les Paul currently has an Alnico Nailbomb in the bridge with a Rebel Yell in the neck.  I don't know that this combination would get as aggressive as you would like.  The A-Bomb is a gnarly pickup but it's got this thrash vibe going on. 

If you get a juggernaut bridge, definitely consider something different for the neck so the tone balances out.  Muddy neck pickups suck and the Juggerneck sounds thick and rich in a very bright guitar already.  Personally, for ultra heavy styles, I'd choose an Aftermath for a Les Paul, mostly to keep the bottom clear and tight.  Neck would be a more difficult choice, because one needs tight lows but also enough output to get that shred feel.  From what folks here are saying, CS neck is the go to for a Shred Style LP and a proper tonal balance between pickups is hugely beneficial in my mind.  Be sure to upgrade the pots and caps, since you'll want as much top end as you can get from that Juggerbridge.

In my case, I opted to let my Les Paul be a Les Paul and get a guitar outfitted specifically for metal.  I'm glad I did, since the tonal contributions and tighter strings on a Super Strat are much more suited to aggressive music.  The LP still sounds awesome, but I use it for blues and rock mostly. 

[crankyrayhanky]

I have an Aftermath in a Gibson Gothic Studio LP. It screams, but I wouldn't say mid rock or clean tones is the strength there. The Juggernauts somehow have an awesome clean tone that goes along with the modern hi gain attack. I can;t imagine not loving that set in any guitar at this point, though it is a specific hollow mids sound. I may try a different Bk just to mix it up, but Juggs are unbelievable!(never tried a CS)

[Dave Sloven]

It could be the case that the Rebel Yell set is the best option.  I would take a closer listen to it.

Neck pickup is quite similar to the Cold Sweat.

Bridge is tight and bright, but not a huge amount of bass.  If your LP is fairly dark and bassy it will be a godsend.  If it is one of those lightweight ones and pretty bright though give it a miss in favour of something with more beef like an A-bomb.

[Duck2587]

First and foremost, what does your guitar sound like acoustically? Also what is your rig? (Amp cab speakers etc.) important to remember tone is subjective. Also, BKP are very choosey in the guitars you put them in. Answer what you can and We will try our best to give you advice and guide you in the right direction. 

[Yellowjacket]

It could be the case that the Rebel Yell set is the best option.  I would take a closer listen to it.

Neck pickup is quite similar to the Cold Sweat.

Bridge is tight and bright, but not a huge amount of bass.  If your LP is fairly dark and bassy it will be a godsend.  If it is one of those lightweight ones and pretty bright though give it a miss in favour of something with more beef like an A-bomb.

Agreed.  Studios can be very dark and bassy.  I can attest to how good the Rebel Yell sounds in a dark and bassy guitar!

[Jackalicious]

Sorry for the late response. This is actually embarrassing but I have no cabinet or even a head. See, after playing guitar for 6 months I joined a band playing bass because a friend needed a bass player. So I spent what money I had at the time (I was 16) on a bass, then a 450 watt bass head & a 2x12 & a 15. Then I bought another 15, then a 4x10 & a power amp to push all that at once. (I know, ridiculous & in called for. Lol). Then I joined another band called 1st Dead Witness & we were pretty big locally & we ended up playing shows all over Texas. Cutting the random story short, I spent all my money on bass & related stuff. I just got lucky & bought my gibson new in 04. Now I'm married with kids as well so it's hard for me to convince my wife to let me buy that stuff now a days.

But, for church I plug my guitar through my pedalboard (walrus voyager overdrive, ernieball vp-Jr. with T1M mod, boss feedbacker/booster, boss DD-5, mxr carbon copy, micro POG, Bluesky reverb & a boss rc-3 looper) & then into a boss me-25 which can give me a crazy amount of tones. With the me-25 having an amp simulator I run directly into the board. I also have a boss metalcore & phase shifter that are on the board but I plan to sell them to help fund my pickups. So yeah, what do think now? Lol. I have a little peavy practice amp that came with my first guitar my dad bought me (peavey raptor plus)

[Dave Sloven]

1. What does your wife think about you buying expensive pickups??

2. If you are going into a solid state amp or practice amp then Rebel Yells can be underwhelming.  I would go with a fatter sounding pickup like a Juggernaut

[Jackalicious]

1. She thinks it's stupid, lol. All those pedals costed like $1500 all together but I sold some of those old bass amps & some other stuff & my music leader at church pulled together a love offering from the church that brought in like $400 so that helped.

I have a 1972 Buick riviera I plan to sell & use the money to build a home recording studio in my back yard. I'll probably buy an can then. My old guitarists from the band had a JSX with a random can & the other had a Madison with the red light on a random can. Anyone recommend those?

[Dave Sloven]

The JSX can be a monster if set up right.

See this video on the JSX and the changes he made with tubes etc to get it sounding like that.  Stock it can be a bit honky.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohEZTGjEVss

Like most of the big Peaveys it likes four V30s best.  For example the Orange PPC412 cab

[Yellowjacket]

1. She thinks it's stupid, lol. All those pedals costed like $1500 all together but I sold some of those old bass amps & some other stuff & my music leader at church pulled together a love offering from the church that brought in like $400 so that helped.

I have a 1972 Buick riviera I plan to sell & use the money to build a home recording studio in my back yard. I'll probably buy an can then. My old guitarists from the band had a JSX with a random can & the other had a Madison with the red light on a random can. Anyone recommend those?

UURGGHHH you bought $1,500 worth of pedals?      I've been playing guitar 15 years and just ordered my first pedal from Protone.  We'll see how that goes.  =-/

A good tube amp goes a long way but it can also expose very sloppy playing which sucks.   In my honest opinion, you'd gain a lot more from taking the $400 offering, selling the pedals, and acquiring a really good / small format head and an excellent 1 x 12.   The pickups are helpful but stock Gibson pickups do not suck and honestly, the best bang for your buck will be to upgrade in the amp department at this point.  If you require more brightness / aggression from the stock pickups, you can upgrade the pots and caps for relatively cheap and use the 50s style wiring?  Also, adjusting pickup height and the pole pieces will help.

How much can one get the EVH 5150 50watt for used?  (It comes as a combo as well, which could be advantageous in your situation)  Also, if you got an amp head,  the Mesa Boogie RA 27" 1 x 12 extension cab is KILLER.   You should be able to track one down used in the US of A.  As for good low volume tones, get a Shure SM57 and practice micing the cab until you find the sweet  spot.  Use that live too and be rest assured that mic placement is really "THE" secret sauce for good recorded or mic'd tones. 

My top interest / recommendation for a small format head would be the Mesa Mark V 25 but I think that would be well over budget.  I also know of another mini head that is making a debut at NAMM but I'm not going to say much about it until it is officially released.  Let's just say that I was involved in the product testing and it's really killer and very versatile.