new pickups for my gibson pat martino, help!

[funkychiken70]

hello!
I'm new here, and french! sorry for the bad english...Well, i want to upgrade my gibson pat martino who is a sort of les paul with holes (think les paul florentine, es336 and es356, ...). I play jazz solo on neck (think george benson, paul jackson jr) but love the sound of zztop in deguelo too, funk with lot of rythm parts(tower of power, james brown...), and do solo with overdrive too. So i need beautifull and fat clean jazz and blues tone on the neck, a good funky rythm with the two pu, and a good clean and classic rock crunch (think zztop, led zep, ...) on the bridge.
I first think stormy monday for the neck and a mule for the bridge. but after reading on the forum and harmony central, i don't know...They're all seems too good , i can't choose!!! i write a lot but it can help for advise... :oops:  Thanks a lot for your answers

my other stuff:lonestar special 2x12,teese rmc1,maxon od808,strats,xotic robotalk,line 6 mm4

[WezV]

manhattan neck (not on the website but its a jazz voiced humbucker sized p-90)

Mule bridge

[Philly Q]

Welcome to the forum, funkychiken70!  A Gibson Pat Martino, very cool guitar!  :D

Not sure what to suggest for the pickups, Stormy Monday neck springs to mind, but I was wondering - what don't you like about the '57 Classic pickups?  Are they too mellow, too bright, too dark?  That might give an idea of what BKPs would suit you.

[funkychiken70]

thanks for answering!
i like the classic sound of the 57, but i think a bk neck pu can be a lot better for clean work. it seems it lacks some harmonics and depth, some vintage personality and some fattness (always speak about clean sound). it's not rich and juicy...the martino have a sound really les paul, just a little bit of air, but not an es guitar. it's not a real hollowbody.
 i listen to sound clips and heard some beautifull neck pu sound. maybe the mule will be more allroad?
ok, the 57 are not so bad, but you know what it is....tonefreaks always want the best! and the martino desserves it!!!

[Philly Q]

For the neck, I think the Stormy Monday definitely has a bit more chime, sparkle and "airiness" than the '57 Classic.  And it gives a lovely sweet singing tone.

But I don't know about the bridge - it sounds like you want something vintage(?) but with a bit more muscle than the SM.  Riff Raff would probably be a bit bright, so I guess a Mule (Alnico IV?), but I've never tried one so I really can't say.

[PhilKing]

Go for a set of A2 Stormy Mondays, I have them in my 335 and they can go all the way from Clapton's Cream era through to Larry Carlton.

[funkychiken70]

thanks for all your answers!!!
i think i would go for the stormy monday on the neck, but still hesitate for the bridge :stormy or mule ? i use the bridge pu only for solo with saturation, or with the neck for funk clean rythm. so i will love a classic rock sound , but with a good clean sound when combine with the neck. i'm frigthen the stormy on bridge position will not be ballsy enough. but someone say to me he can play everything with a set of stromy, so.....
maybe it's better to have a calibrated set of one model? or a stormy neck and mule bridge can be consider like a "custom"calibrated set?
thanks for the help!

[Will]

I have seen on ebay a 'set' of stormy mondays(neck) and mule (bridge), and contacted the seller, said that they were wound at the same time, and Tim said they were a good combo...
and Tim is clever!

(got outbid on the P ups though :( )

['Ash' J. Williams]

Hey funkychiken, me again ;)

I have a Stormy set AND a Mule bridge/Stormy neck set.
While the last one is excellent and full of qualities, i think that the middle sound is not as excellent or 'coherent' (for lack of a better word) as the one of a Stormy set.

And while the Stormy bridge don't have the output of the Mule, it still has a lot of balls and is an incredible classic rock machine.

Good luck !

[funkychiken70]

oohhhh!!! ash, you convince me! :D
your experinece with your sets is a great help for me! so i will go for a stormy monday set, i think like you it's more coherent (do you say "coherent" in english? ). thanks for all your advices. and be funky!!!

['Ash' J. Williams]

do you say "coherent" in english?

Well the word do exist so i guess you can :)

Glad i could help, i'm sure you'll like them.

[funkychiken70]

well i consider a stormy monday set...but i'm asking about the potted / unpotted options. i think i will ask unpotted neck with gold cover and potted bridge with gold cover too. is there any problem with unpotted but covered pu?
i play mostly clean or crunch wirth the neck, and sometimes big overdrive on the bridge. am i on the good way to have the heaven set for me???
thanks for your help :D

['Ash' J. Williams]

Unpotted isn't a problem with covers.

You may ask Tim about this but i think it would be better to choose a full potted or unpotted set...
When unpotted, the pickup becomes more sensitive to pick attack nuances and the sound open up a bit.
That said, i had an unpotted Mule set in a Les Paul, and the sound is noticeably different from the potted Mule... so i wonder if mixing the two will still give you this excellent middle sound that you get with proper calibrated sets...

As always, you're best bet is to mail Tim  

[fps_dean]

I am definitely thinking Stormy Monday for the neck.   Maybe a Black Dog for the bridge?

[funkychiken70]

hi tone freaks!!!
thanks for all your help!!!
well... i wrote 2/3 mails to tim and he reply me:
tadam!!! :
   for the best clean fat jazz tone of the world , the winner is :
 hello hitchc--k!!!
      peter green neck humbucker!!!!!
yes misters, he think the best neck pu for clean work is the pg neck humbucker, wired normally and not out of phase.
and he recommend peter green or the mule bridge pu, but wired normally. i will tell you what i buy and how it's sound!!!
thanks again