Author Topic: Gibson/Tokai (Gotoh?)/BK pickups in Les Pauls.... (Read 6282 times)

Jamieh · « **on:** October 22, 2006, 12:35:15 PM »

Hey guys... I don't post here much, but often read the forum with interest.

After a bit of advice... from guys who have experimented with the above.

I have a Tokai LS150, my own guitar, which is standard, one piece Mahogany back, deep neck joint and all that... extraordinarily well constructed instrument. I also have just taken in (part ex) a Gibbo LP Studio and just for interest sake I tried playing them back to back... there seems very little difference in tone.. the Tokai is a better made and better looking guitar (properly finished and so on!), but the tone from the Gibbo is just as good. I would say there is perhaps a tad more "liveness" from the Gibbo...

So my question is...

Does anyone know specs of LP Studio pups (around 2003 issue) and the Gotoh Custom PAFs installed in Tokais?

So following on from this... what would make the Gibbo feel a tad more "lively" than the Tokai? I am guessing it must all be in the Pups as the Tokai is a better basic guitar. Perhaps the Gibbo pickups are a tiny bit hotter?

What do you guys reckon.. and since this is a BK forum what BK pups have you guys installed in LP-alikes... and WHY... that last part is importnat because it is very subjective depending on the outcome you are aiming for!

Twinfan · « **Reply #1 on:** October 22, 2006, 12:49:31 PM »

The LP will have a 490R in the neck and a 490T or 498T in the bridge. These are pretty hot pickups with a high-mid focus. They'll sound "edgier" than the PAFs in your Tokai.

Skybone · « **Reply #2 on:** October 23, 2006, 10:59:01 AM »

Aye, the Studio pickups will be 490R & 498T's, which are hotter than the Gotoh PAF type III's that are in the Tokai (earlier models had PAF Mk II pickups which werent wax potted and subject to feeding back). You could raise the pickups in the Gibson to get them to sound a bit livelier, but don't forget to nnot get them too high so as the strings choke.

I have an older LS70F with Black Dog's, and an even older LS60 with Emerald's. I much prefer the Black Dog loaded LS70, it just simply sounds so much better.

What sort of style are you looking at? Your pickup should reflect you style, ie, if you're a metal player, the Nailbomb is a good choice, classic rock players like the "Hot Vintage" style (VHII, Emerald or Black Dog). The Mule is a great "all rounder".

Jamieh · « **Reply #3 on:** October 23, 2006, 12:51:30 PM »

Hmmm... well that would all make sense then

Not really looking for anything in particular.. I never really play a LP anyway, much prefer my G&L Comanche.

Just wondering about specs really, and what the pickup differences are, spec wise...

I might try wacking the pair of VH2s that I have into the Tokai and see what that sounds like, I also have some rebel yells in the shop that I might try... I heard Tim playing something with them in at the LGS and they sounded gorgeous... not sure what guitar it was now though (because my memory's rubbish!) it might have been a Tele actually?

Really, I was just asking the question out of interest's sake!

Skybone · « **Reply #4 on:** October 24, 2006, 10:35:31 AM »

VHII's should sound excellent in the Tokai.

carlaz · « **Reply #5 on:** October 25, 2006, 04:56:04 PM »

Quote from: Twinfan

The LP will have a 490R in the neck and a 490T or 498T in the bridge. These are pretty hot pickups with a high-mid focus. They'll sound "edgier" than the PAFs in your Tokai.

I did a bit of research when I was planning to replace the 498T/490R in my Gibson LP Std. I didn't actually pull out my pups and measure them, but Googling around found me the following rough values:

Bridge: 498T (~14.00-14.50K A5)
Neck: 490R (~7.50-8.00K A2)

My feeling is that they're not a million miles away from the Crawlers I replaced them with:

Crawler Bridge: 15K A5
Crawler Neck: 7.6K A4

... and that was kinda my plan. I didn't hate my Gibson pups, but they were a bit dull and mushy, especially at higher gain and lower tunings. The Crawlers fixed up my gripes very handily! :)