Yet another thread about metal pickups for Gibson Les Paul Custom...

[0T]

I'm looking for pickups for playing metal in low tuning (B standard, I don't go lower than this). I had Rebel Yells in my previous Les Paul and I absolutely loved them. They gave me almost everything what I expected from pickups: upper midrange character, a tight bass and "presence". I would go with another set of RY but I want something with a bit more modern feeling. I know that some of you will probably say that I should go for Nailbomb, but I have Abomb now and it's not IT. I may also add that I like Gibson 500T pickup in bridge position due to similar character.

[JimmyMoorby]

I think all bkp's will work well in a les paul depending on what you're after.

If you like the 500T and want a more modern, more aggressive than rebel yell I'd say go for the painkiller and they work a treat in a les paul custom.

Cold sweats are also a no brainer in a les paul and not a million miles away from a rebel yell.

I personally see bkp's as all being related.  In short if you want a slightly different flavour the rebel yell but going in a more aggressive direction go for the cold sweat.  At the risk of stating the obvious do you like John Skyes' tone?  If so Les Paul plus Cold Sweat will sound like John Sykes and you can choose to make it sound more or less aggressive but that's its foundation.

 if you really wanna go for the brootz go for the painkiller which is like a leaner, meaner and cleaner Duncan distortion....lots of mids which also compliment the mids on a les paul in a really ott kinda way.

[0T]

I think all bkp's will work well in a les paul depending on what you're after.

If you like the 500T and want a more modern, more aggressive than rebel yell I'd say go for the painkiller and they work a treat in a les paul custom.

Cold sweats are also a no brainer in a les paul and not a million miles away from a rebel yell.

I personally see bkp's as all being related.  In short if you want a slightly different flavour the rebel yell but going in a more aggressive direction go for the cold sweat.  At the risk of stating the obvious do you like John Skyes' tone?  If so Les Paul plus Cold Sweat will sound like John Sykes and you can choose to make it sound more or less aggressive but that's its foundation.

 if you really wanna go for the brootz go for the painkiller which is like a leaner, meaner and cleaner Duncan distortion....lots of mids which also compliment the mids on a les paul in a really ott kinda way.

I don't like John Sykes tone. I've heard Cold Sweats in a LPC and they are meh. Actually I was thinking about Painkillers or Aftermaths, maybe Cbomb.

[Dave Sloven]

Painkillers sound like what you are after.  It will give you the aggression, mids, and modern character

[JimmyMoorby]

The c-bomb is an overwound cold sweat and whilst I'm a huge fanboy of the alnico nailbomb the ceramic magnet makes all the difference to my ears it kind of loses it's magic to my ears...it's very balanced which some might like but it's not for me kind of a good dash of everything and good output typical amazing clarity but I'm not a fan.

I'd go for a painkiller.  Under hi gain you'll retain all the magical mids of a les paul with additional aggressive hi mids thrown in and hi end for great harmonics and presence and also a tight bass. 

The aftermath is cold and surgical really designed for tech, machine like metal.....seems a waste in les paul imho.  The mids of the aftermath take away from the beautiful mids of a les paul

I've settled on pickups in my other guitars but I've spent so much time swapping out pickups in my les paul because its my favourite and I want to perfect it.  I'm going for painkillers myself now.....just waiting to fit them.

[0T]

The c-bomb is an overwound cold sweat and whilst I'm a huge fanboy of the alnico nailbomb the ceramic magnet makes all the difference to my ears it kind of loses it's magic to my ears...it's very balanced which some might like but it's not for me kind of a good dash of everything and good output typical amazing clarity but I'm not a fan.

I'd go for a painkiller.  Under hi gain you'll retain all the magical mids of a les paul with additional aggressive hi mids thrown in and hi end for great harmonics and presence and also a tight bass. 

The aftermath is cold and surgical really designed for tech, machine like metal.....seems a waste in les paul imho.  The mids of the aftermath take away from the beautiful mids of a les paul

I've settled on pickups in my other guitars but I've spent so much time swapping out pickups in my les paul because its my favourite and I want to perfect it.  I'm going for painkillers myself now.....just waiting to fit them.

This. This is really useful info. Thank you. I'd go for Painkiller then.

[Yellowjacket]

The c-bomb is an overwound cold sweat and whilst I'm a huge fanboy of the alnico nailbomb the ceramic magnet makes all the difference to my ears it kind of loses it's magic to my ears...it's very balanced which some might like but it's not for me kind of a good dash of everything and good output typical amazing clarity but I'm not a fan.

I'd go for a painkiller.  Under hi gain you'll retain all the magical mids of a les paul with additional aggressive hi mids thrown in and hi end for great harmonics and presence and also a tight bass. 

The aftermath is cold and surgical really designed for tech, machine like metal.....seems a waste in les paul imho.  The mids of the aftermath take away from the beautiful mids of a les paul

I've settled on pickups in my other guitars but I've spent so much time swapping out pickups in my les paul because its my favourite and I want to perfect it.  I'm going for painkillers myself now.....just waiting to fit them.

Let me know how the painkillers work in that guitar.

The A-Bomb in the bridge of my LP is pretty rad and it is already more than modern enough for how I use that guitar.   If I was using it for metal, aftermaths would be tempting for me.  Interesting to hear your take on the Painkiller.  One can never have enough mids and upper mids from an instrument for modern metal tones!

[JimmyMoorby]

I've actually had painkillers in my les paul before.

It's a long story but it took me a while to figure out how to get the best out of my EVH 5150 iii in a bedroom setting and now i've been in a band for over a year i've changed this again.  My 'rig' and how I use it has changed massively.

Because of this i've changed my pickups a lot too BUT i'm settled on a nail bomb set in my super strat and settled on a miracle man set on my SG they offer great versatility and are balanced in a way I love.

The Les Paul is a funny one its always sounded great but i've never settled on what I want from it i've had way too many pickup changes in it it's frankly embarassing but part of the problem was being a cork sniffing bedroom player and then only jamming with a drummer.  Now after playing in a full band, gigging and recording I know what I want and fingers crossed I settle with the painkillers like i have with my other guitars.

[one]

I've actually had painkillers in my les paul before.

It's a long story but it took me a while to figure out how to get the best out of my EVH 5150 iii in a bedroom setting and now i've been in a band for over a year i've changed this again.  My 'rig' and how I use it has changed massively.

Because of this i've changed my pickups a lot too BUT i'm settled on a nail bomb set in my super strat and settled on a miracle man set on my SG they offer great versatility and are balanced in a way I love.

The Les Paul is a funny one its always sounded great but i've never settled on what I want from it i've had way too many pickup changes in it it's frankly embarassing but part of the problem was being a cork sniffing bedroom player and then only jamming with a drummer.  Now after playing in a full band, gigging and recording I know what I want and fingers crossed I settle with the painkillers like i have with my other guitars.

C-bomb and 5153 aren't totally working for me in my ERG superstrat, too much shrillness and bland palm mutes. I was going for the C-pig but someone said it would even worsen the problem, since 5153 and C-pig are two beasts difficult to tame. Now I'm considering the Holy Diver, have you tried that? My only concern is that the HD might not be reaching the level of extreme metal music I like, but I am willing to sacrifice it for more versatile sounds if that is enough to tame the 5153

[ericsabbath]

I love the bridge miracle man in lower tuned les pauls
it just sounds right

[ericsabbath]

Now I'm considering the Holy Diver, have you tried that? My only concern is that the HD might not be reaching the level of extreme metal music I like, but I am willing to sacrifice it for more versatile sounds if that is enough to tame the 5153

any pup can go extreme with the proper rig
I used to get this from maxon overdrives and tube screamers
now I have a tc electronic compressor/parametric equalizer and it does the job really well without changing the core tone like an overdrive usually does
the holy diver takes pedals really really well

[JimmyMoorby]

I've just had a holy diver in the les paul and in many ways it was great.  PAF like cleans and real thick weighty mids even in a band mix and it did cut through BUT in a band setting it wasn't tight enough at times.  I think a tubescreamer would have sorted this but I'm a minimalist when playing live I hate unnecessary pedals and extra overdrive pedals are at the top of my no no list!
I'm NOT saying the holy diver isn't for you im just saying it's a THICK pickup and I put it in a thick sounding guitar and I couldn't be bothered to tigten it with an overdrive.....in a super strat it could be a different story but I don't know.

This is why I've re-opted for the painkiller I get those mids but also tightening up and more cut.  I'll lose some versatility BUT the vast majority of what I do in my band is heavy riffs and shredding solos.

The holy diver in the Les Paul though is awesome but I need a more modern tone as you say.

As for taming your 5150 iii if you elaborate on what you mean i'll be happy to offer advice if I can.

I have nailbombs in my superstrat, miracle mans in my SG and had different things in my Les Paul through the 5150 iii and I'm not blowing smoke up my own arse here but I've only ever has sincere compliments about my tone at gigs etc people who record all bands on the local scene and venue owners have effectively said I have the best metal tone going :-)  Guess that's reaping the benefits of obsessing in these forums and spending a ridiculous amount on swapping things in and out of my rig!