For a LP, Gibson Classic 57's or Burstbuckers or ???

[Byrdman]

Personally speaking, I'd take (no disrespect!) SOTS's comments about Gibby pickups with a grain of salt.
He's a notorious Gibby PU hater, and wears that merit badge proudly!

LOL, No worries!

What do you think about a P90 in the neck?

 

[Byrdman]

I absolutely hate 57 classic + in the bridge of an LP. When I had an LP with one in there I replaced it with the SD Pearly Gates and it was a monumental improvement


I also dislike the burstbucker pro bridge. Not sure about the other BB versions but my current LP came with a pro. Replaced it with an SD Pegasus and it’s just awesome for high gain stuff. That one’s a departure from classic LP style pickup though

I’d get a 498T if you were wanting to keep it Gibson EDIT: derp looks like that’s what you went with lol. Good call!

@spawnofthesith If you still have any of those Gibson PU's laying around and dont want them, let me know if you want to sell them.

 

[spawnofthesith]

My Clasic 57's in my 335 sound awesome! I did change the wiring to 50's from Toneman. Just enough Growl without being overbearing if that makes sense. The BB 1 & 2 my Epi 59 came with sounded better than decent, but when I put in a 50's wiring kit from Toneman, they really came alive IMO.

Yeah, I got a 498T heading my way for the bridge, any other suggestions for the neck? I can wait for the right deal to come along too, since I play mostly on the bridge anyway or blend it with the neck dialed down to around 7.5-8 on volume. Hell the Epi Neck PU that is in there now may work with it too. They are the ones that originally came with my Epi 335 CS that has push/pull pots.

Definitely open for any and all suggestions!

Personally speaking, I'd take (no disrespect!) SOTS's comments about Gibby pickups with a grain of salt.
He's a notorious Gibby PU hater, and wears that merit badge proudly!

To be fair, I have no experience with the non-plus 57s and BB 1+2s and by most accounts I've heard people prefer those to the + and pros

Still have the BB pro in the neck of my LP with no intention to change, and I've enjoyed the p90s, 498t and 500t in the past

@spawnofthesith If you still have any of those Gibson PU's laying around and dont want them, let me know if you want to sell them.

Long gone unfortunately!

 

[Cirrus]

For heavier music, the standard BB3 is amazing- it's not that overwound but it's got loads of attitude. BB1 in the neck would suit it well. Better without covers in my opinion, which goes for basically anything alnico 2 that I've tried.

 

[itchyfingers]

Gibson Custombuckers. I think it's what they use for the CS and Murphy Lab stuff. They are not cheap, but they sound so freaking good.

 

[Cirrus]

I'd be interested to try a pair of Custombuckers - I had some A3 7.5k humbuckers by a local winder for a while, they were really great for clean, low gain, and particularly pleasing and spanky on the low strings, almost single coil like with a good amount of dirt, but felt they lacked some of the compression and midrange roar/aggression of BBs, Ttops etc on the bridge pickup as the gain went up.

 

[Stone]

Toneriders, Poverty gear for the broke !!

 

[Jarick]

FYI there's a good deal on Custombuckers at TOP, $275 for a pair.

I have BB 2 & 3 in my Epi 335 and it's a good set but the neck is a bit hot. I really prefer ~ 7.5k or so for neck pickups. The BB3 is good, would probably swap to BB1 although not sure I'm keeping this guitar.

 

[Byrdman]

FYI there's a good deal on Custombuckers at TOP, $275 for a pair.

I have BB 2 & 3 in my Epi 335 and it's a good set but the neck is a bit hot. I really prefer ~ 7.5k or so for neck pickups. The BB3 is good, would probably swap to BB1 although not sure I'm keeping this guitar.

Thanks for thinking about me. I already bought and received (today) a 498T for the bridge. I already have my ES 335 & one LP set up for vintage rock, Led Zep, AC/DC, etc. Looking to go a little harder/higher gain on my Silverburst Custom, STP, Velvet Revolver, Lit, etc.

I have 6-7 HB pickups out of various Epiphones and other guitars over the years, so I'll probably just pick one that mostly resembles the tone of a BB and matches up with the 498T for now.

 

[la szum]

Sounds like you are taking a sane approach, Barry! No sense in having 3 guitars
that sound the same/similar.

Very wise!

 

[EOengineer]

Jury is still out on the 490 set that came in my 2021 Gibson SG Standard. I think I much prefer the Burstbucker 2/3 set in my Burny LP. They seem to work for everything I play.

 

[FuzzyAce]

Anyone have experience with a Dimarzio PAF Pro for the neck? Found one for a decent deal $50 shipped

Sounds like you already got it figured out. But my take on the PAF Pro neck -- if you want a bit of that "cocked wah" flavor then it's a great option. A lot of clarity and bite. Clean sounds are cool when wired in parallel imo. It's a great pickup (shines in bridge position too), but like many pickups it will favor certain guitars over others.

 

[Jarick]

Jury is still out on the 490 set that came in my 2021 Gibson SG Standard. I think I much prefer the Burstbucker 2/3 set in my Burny LP. They seem to work for everything I play.

My Gibson came with 490s and they were not bad. If the neck was 5% under wound and bridge was 5% overwound they’d be fantastic.

 

[Achilles]

BNP Mules!

 

[EOengineer]

My Gibson came with 490s and they were not bad. If the neck was 5% under wound and bridge was 5% overwound they’d be fantastic.

I’d probably bump the values to 10% but I think we’re in the ballpark. I do generally feel like the neck is too hot to properly balance with the bridge, and that’s coming from someone who has lots of experience with the Les Paul pickup balancing act.

 

[Cirrus]

Have to admit I enjoy totally matched neck/bridge pairs, gives you an excuse to really crank the bridge up and lower the neck right down, which I think helps both respective positions anyway.

I really wanted to like 490s, and I did at home, but at practice I much preferred Burstbuckers - it was the low end if anything that put me off the 490s, felt like they never properly leave the ground when you dig in, whereas the burstbuckers make me feel like the bass yields for snarling mids if you get aggressive.

 

[Jarick]

I’ve found that if you lower a pickup too much the tone gets blurry and indistinct. So a lot of times neck pickups will sound better to me a little closer to the strings as there’s more clarity. Then on the bridge pickup if it’s too bright and you lower the pickup it loses too much output.

 

[LeftyLoungeLizard]

I would grab a set of SD Seth Lovers (SH-55b & SH-55n).