Just installed a JB and Jazz combo in my Les Paul...better, but still not perfect

[danbronson]

Just like I wanted, these pickups cleaned up the low end and made the guitar more defined sounding. BUT...I lost the 'vibe' the guitar had almost completely.

 

The Jazz in the neck still has lots of bass, but it's cleaner now. A lot of the midrange is gone, and the treble seems...bright. I like it, it's a really clean sounding pickup, in the direction of a strat's neck pickup. Or at least as much as a LP can sound like one.

 

The JB in the bridge has tons of midrange now. Before, the pickup had lots of bass and mids, not tons of treble (what it did have for treble sounded really distorted). Now it's still got bass and now has clean treble that it didn't have before, but the mid emphasis is pretty strong. Like a warm, lower output EMG 81 kind of.

 

So my rig doesn't sound like mud anymore, which is good. But it also doesn't blow my mind anymore either with warmth and rich LP tone. Rather than sounding like a warm (although dark) slab of beautiful wood, it sounds closer to a more even toned piece of plastic.

 

I'll keep the neck pickup, but the bridge pickup might need to go unless I just get used to it. Is there anything (specifically Seymour Duncan) that'll match what I'm looking for a little more? I've heard the Pearly Gates is good...?

[danbronson]

after playing a bit more, i gotta say with the gain up on the neck pickup, lead playing sounds awesome. these are both pretty good 'gain' pickups. maybe i'll just bring the bridge pickup closer to the strings to get it more aggressive sounding like my stock pickups were.

[Johnny Sunshine]

I'd suggest the Duncan '59 in the neck, and the Custom in the bridge.

the custom doesn't have that huge mid-spike of the JB, which just sounds like ass to me. Its got great definition, the highs aren't too harsh but its got a ton of beef.

And i just really like the '59. Its a great rock pickup. Can produce great rhythms, great fuzzed out leads, with lots of bite and definition. Never Muddy.

[solomon1979]

I gotta say that with that proven formula for pups you really can't complain. It is a great sound and maybe you were just too adjusted to the previous tones you were getting. Oh well, you can't please everybody. Try a dimarzio super distortion and paf pro next time and you'll be in where I think you wanna be.

[danbronson]

maybe i'll try the custom. the Jazz is good, so i don't think i'll need the '59 in the neck. as for dimarzios, i can't stand them.

thanks for the help!

[Europa760]

you want 57 classics dude.

57 classics.

i have 2 in my es 135 and one in my artcore.

[Tonemeister87]

i agree, keep the jazz in the neck as it is excellent. Its interesting that you don't like the JB. (I recommended it to you)

I was under the impression you wanted less bass....nevermind

try the custom custom, it has less mids for sure.

You might also want to look at the seymour duncan website as they have sound samples for every pickup they make, just in case the next one you pick still isn't the right one

I would keep the JB though man. Its one of the greatest pickups for cutting leads from blues to hard rock.

The custom custom looks like a better choice if you want broader mids.

Tim

[Tonemeister87]

BUMP

[Cackalacky]

Just out of curiosity, what pups did your LP have before?

[Tonemeister87]

bump!

[jjpistols]

I would play around with them for a couple of days at least before deciding. Adjust the pickup, adjust the pole pieces, find the best tone you can get out of it, and then play on it a few times, you may end up liking them. If not, you've only lost a couple of days.

How long does SD give you to exchange?

If you're running a high gain set-up, another thing to think about is whether or not you need distortion pups, distortion pedal, distorted amp, and speaker distortion all at once. I personally like low output pickups, no pedal, dirty tube amp, and high wattage speakers that don't distort too much (50W head into 150W 2x12) and have a pretty much 70s rock tone, just with more speed and aggression in the style.

Whatever - I'm just another jerk with a computer, but it may be something to consider.

[thrill74]

Custom Custom or Rio Grande BBQ for the bridge. 59' for the neck.

[danbronson]

well i'm definitely starting to like them more, i guess it was such a radical change from the stock pickups that i didn't really 'get' it at first.

i'm going to keep fiddling with them, adjusting the height and the polepieces.

on a side note, if i pick up on the fretboard using the JB, i get a really cool tone. like an out of phase sounding neck pickupy thing.