Gibson Les Paul Standard 2017 neck pickup choice

[Obo]

Hi Guys,

My first post :

I have Gibson Les Paul Standard 2017 with Gibson Burstbucker Pro´s pickups. I am not really happy with them. The bridge pickup is always sounding thin but not very tigh and harsh at same time at band volumes. On the other hand the neck one is really woofy, muddy and undefined. It is next to impossible to balance those.

Prior to Gibson, I had Epiphone les paul custom pro with epiphone pro buckers 2 and 3 and those were much better in terms of balance, the same thing with my esp eclipse with emg´s. 

I am looking for something really versatile. I am using now fractal axe ax8 with 2 Friedman ASM-12 frfr speakers, so tons of tone sculpting options :)

I am looking for a great neck pickup to compliment BKP Black dog in the bridge (I believe BD is made exactly for me) :)
I am thinking about getting maybe the Mule for neck position ?
 Do you think it will be the right choice next to Black Dog tone/output wise?
 I need a neck pickup which is capable of nice full-bodied, warm but still defined and tight humbucker tones and chimey, a bit like fender type tones when using in single coil mode.
Sure I know it will be still les paul but you know, something close to those jangly tones :)

 thanks in advance for your reply and sorry for my english, I am from Slovakia.

Best regards, Tomas.

[Telerocker]

I think you want a RiffRaff-neck. That's the brightest of the vintagehot neckpickups. I think the Mule-neck might be just a tad too warm for what you're after.

[Obo]

Hey Telerocker,

thanks for your reply.

Ben French wrote me in email :

A Mule neck is a very popular option and is often used with the Black Dog bridge. The Mule is smooth and rich. In full humbucker mode it is nice and full with useable single coil tones. The other option is to move up to a VHII. This uses the same classic wire but is a bit stronger and with alnico v magnet. The VHII has a stronger screw coil so will definitely offer a better single coil tone.

Now I am starting to think that maybe Mule/Riff Raff would be not hot enough in single coild mode... So maybe VHII or Abraxas ? 

[Telerocker]

Hey Telerocker,

thanks for your reply.

Ben French wrote me in email :

A Mule neck is a very popular option and is often used with the Black Dog bridge. The Mule is smooth and rich. In full humbucker mode it is nice and full with useable single coil tones. The other option is to move up to a VHII. This uses the same classic wire but is a bit stronger and with alnico v magnet. The VHII has a stronger screw coil so will definitely offer a better single coil tone.

Now I am starting to think that maybe Mule/Riff Raff would be not hot enough in single coild mode... So maybe VHII or Abraxas ?

If you desire beefy splitted tones you need to take a neckpickup with a little higher output. Personally I think the in between sound of a Mule-set delivers better crispy singlecoil-esque tones than a splitted neck-Mule, but that's my preference.

[Muffler]

I agree with Ben, the Mule is an astonishing neck pickup, I love it in my PRS SC245, but it's not that great when splitting coils. It sounds too thin and weak, I almost never use it in split mode. It's not a dark pickup at all, but neither is my guitar, so if your guitar lacks high frequencies, maybe you should check even brighter pickups, as Riff Raff or VHII
VHII is a great pickup too, brighter and a bit thinner, compared with the Mule splits better but lacks a bit of "character" for my taste

I've never tried a Riff Raff, so I don't know how good it's when splitting.

I had a quite dark Les Paul with Rebel Yell bridge and Emerald neck, great combo too, I guess the Emerald should work fine with the Black Dog too, but I didn't installed the split-coil in that guitar, so I don't know if it's a good "splitter"

[Obo]

Thank you guys.

Ok, got that.
What would be the best neck pickup for Black dog bridge for overall versatility ? Don´t mind now splitting options :)

[Dave Sloven]

The brightest of the hotter BK neck pickups would be the Nailbomb neck

[Telerocker]

If you don't split: check out the RiffRaff-samples as I suggested.

[timmy_pix]

I'm curious why you're discounting the Black Dog neck as an option? The calibrated sets exist for a reason, unless you're looking for something specific?

[Obo]

I'm curious why you're discounting the Black Dog neck as an option? The calibrated sets exist for a reason, unless you're looking for something specific?

I think that BD neck pickup will be muddy in my les paul, I need some brighter neck pickup. But, to be honest, I don’t know if my les paul is darker or brighter by nature and have no idea how to found that. It is a weight relieved so maybe it´s a brighter one ?

The bridge pup is always shrill and neck one woofy, so I’m guessing bridge BD, and neck Mule/VhII as suggested

The BD for bridge is my choice because I think this pup will have nice inherent full tone.
When I am trying to make my burstbucker nice and full (kind of like a Hetfields load/reload tone), it only gets woofier and boomier as I am addind bass/depth. I hope BD will solve that.

Btw, I’m new to les paul and Bkp world. I am always wondering when reading on forum and see how you know which les paul is dark and which bright, it was my understanding that standard les paul is dark and they are installing burstbucker pickups to compensate😃

[Telerocker]

Potvalues make a difference too.

[Obo]

Potvalues make a difference too.

Can you reccomend any ? Which one should I buy for bridge and neck ?
I know nothing about that :)

[Telerocker]

Potvalues make a difference too.

Can you reccomend any ? Which one should I buy for bridge and neck ?
I know nothing about that :)

Gibson uses 300K pots, but check it before changing pots.  Personally I would go up to 500k or 550K. It wil brighten up your guitar for sure. You could start with changing pots and see what that does to your sound. The neckpickup will have more chime. But anyway, I don't hold much of the Burstbuckers. BKP will be a step up in dynamics, clarity and refinement.

[Brow]

I have Black Dog/Riff Raff in a Les Paul and its a great combo.

The Riff Raff splits well in the neck too.

[Obo]

Potvalues make a difference too.

Can you reccomend any ? Which one should I buy for bridge and neck ?
I know nothing about that :)

Gibson uses 300K pots, but check it before changing pots.  Personally I would go up to 500k or 550K. It wil brighten up your guitar for sure. You could start with changing pots and see what that does to your sound. The neckpickup will have more chime. But anyway, I don't hold much of the Burstbuckers. BKP will be a step up in dynamics, clarity and refinement.

Thank you for your info :)
I have decided to order BD for bridge and VHII for a neck. As Ben suggested, VHII has a bit more power so it´s a better choice for single coil kind of sound.
I need my bridge pup to be darker as it is now and neck one the exact opposite.
Maybe I don´t need new pots at all. Will try first new pickups, and will see what if that is enough :)