New pickups for a Gibson Les Paul Studio Premium Plus

[Fourth Feline]

i take lots of gibsons apart , i have never seen a 300k pot

I assume there must be some variance on that, as my Gibson  1976 S.G and 1997 Les Paul Standard both had the dreaded 300k pots fitted as stock.


F.F.

[Yamhammer]

Couldn't it be something with the electronics? When I look into the cavity it seems fine, both pickups are wired the same way.

It could be the Gibson thing of using 300K/100K pots, as already mentioned - if your guitar does have low-value pots, then maybe it would "strangle" the higher-output 498T more than the lower-output 490R?  I'm just guessing.

Anyway, it sounds like the problem is definitely with the bridge pickup, not the neck pickup.  Hopefully all will be fine when you get the Black Dog!  :D

Maybe you're right about the pots

[fps_dean]

Man i don't usually give advice on pickup selection cause i only got one bkp set, but what you describe sounds just like what i wanted for my lp: thick, fat but still bity, and the crawler bridge i installed in my all mahogany lp is just about all those things, really. The sound's just got huge balls and loads of agressivity now... it's awesome...and not too dark as i could have read it sometimes...but i advise you to switch your pots to 500k, it's not that pricey

They should already be 500k.

[Yamhammer]

Man i don't usually give advice on pickup selection cause i only got one bkp set, but what you describe sounds just like what i wanted for my lp: thick, fat but still bity, and the crawler bridge i installed in my all mahogany lp is just about all those things, really. The sound's just got huge balls and loads of agressivity now... it's awesome...and not too dark as i could have read it sometimes...but i advise you to switch your pots to 500k, it's not that pricey

They should already be 500k.

Yes, it definately should be.

[Yamhammer]

YES!!

[Philly Q]

Veeery nice!  :D  I like the look of the LP without binding.

Glad the Black Dog worked out.

[Yamhammer]

Veeery nice!  :D  I like the look of the LP without binding.

Glad the Black Dog worked out.

Thanks!

[Philly Q]

The Black Dog is quite dark, full and thick in this guitar, but with still enough highs coming through. Really a ballsy pickup.

It's funny, everyone says that, but in my V it sounds quite bright and crunchy.  Still good, but not at all dark.

[Yamhammer]

The Black Dog is quite dark, full and thick in this guitar, but with still enough highs coming through. Really a ballsy pickup.

It's funny, everyone says that, but in my V it sounds quite bright and crunchy.  Still good, but not at all dark.

Maybe that's because it's a Flying V with different body/specs than a Les Paul.
With 'dark' I mean low middy instead of high middy.

[Philly Q]

Maybe that's because it's a Flying V with different body/specs than a Les Paul.
With 'dark' I mean low middy instead of high middy.

True, of course - and it's a very lightweight V as well, which probably plays a part.

And I was thinking about the low mids too - that's what I've always read about the BD, but it doesn't seem to come through much in the V.  I might try the BD in another guitar some time and get a Riff Raff for the V (which is brighter again of course, but I think it'd suit the V and go well with the SM neck).

That's just given me an idea...

[Yamhammer]

Maybe that's because it's a Flying V with different body/specs than a Les Paul.
With 'dark' I mean low middy instead of high middy.

True, of course - and it's a very lightweight V as well, which probably plays a part.

And I was thinking about the low mids too - that's what I've always read about the BD, but it doesn't seem to come through much in the V.  I might try the BD in another guitar some time and get a Riff Raff for the V (which is brighter again of course, but I think it'd suit the V and go well with the SM neck).

That's just given me an idea...

Haha, lol!

[fps_dean]

Yes, it definately should be.
After some good testing I came to the conclusion the volume pots in my Les Paul are probably 500K, not 300K.
I think they're 500K because of the way the neck pickups sounds...it's alnico 2 and a pretty dark pickup, but isn't too bassy or boomy at all. With 300K it should be muddy and overly bassy from past experience with my other Les Pauls, especially with an alnico 2 neck pickup.

Yeah, I think sometimes people replace the stocks with 300ks to try to make a modern pickup sound like a PAF...  which is downright stupid if you ask me.

Also there was a time in the 70s or early 80s where Gibson was using 300k pots too... but for the past 20 plus years Gibson pots have been 500k.

[Yamhammer]

Yeah, I think sometimes people replace the stocks with 300ks to try to make a modern pickup sound like a PAF...  which is downright stupid if you ask me.

Also there was a time in the 70s or early 80s where Gibson was using 300k pots too... but for the past 20 plus years Gibson pots have been 500k.

Yes, the best way is to go with 500K for volume instead of 300K in Les Pauls.

[fps_dean]

Yeah, I think sometimes people replace the stocks with 300ks to try to make a modern pickup sound like a PAF...  which is downright stupid if you ask me.

Also there was a time in the 70s or early 80s where Gibson was using 300k pots too... but for the past 20 plus years Gibson pots have been 500k.

Yes, the best way is to go with 500K for volume instead of 300K in Les Pauls.

In the past I had a calibrated set of Mules and the neck pickup sounded very bassy and wooly because of the 300K pots. The bridge pickup sounded very painful for my ears in the upper mids, all this because of the 300K volume pots. I changed them for 500K and it sounded exactly how it should sound.
My new Les Paul Studio Premium Plus sounded amazing right out of the box (besides the weaker 498T pickup which I've replaced with the Black Dog).
It's definately not overly bassy at all; that's the reason why I think it's 500K instead of 300K.

Like I said if it's a Gibson in the past 20 plus years and the pots are stock its 500k ;)

I don't know why any manufacturer would offer anything else stock.  Maybe if they have a custom shop, but it certainly shouldn't be a standard option.

[Yamhammer]

The Black Dogs are nice