Members wankdeplank Posted March 1, 2015 Members Share Posted March 1, 2015 Posted a thread a couple weeks ago kinda poking fun at the PAF humbucker market. Convinced myself that I was completely satisfied with the 59/JB I'd recently slipped into my Les Paul Custom Lite to replace the original 490R/498T combination. It did sound considerably better than the originals (JB sounded massive) but it looked a bit odd with chrome cover pickups (had them on hand) in a guitar with gold hardware and tuners. Started scouring Ebay looking for a nice PAF set that perhaps I could get a deal on. Found a set of Sheptones with gold screws at a decent price ( http://www.ebay.com/itm/171672427077?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT ) but didn't pull the trigger soon enough and was beat out on the deal. Kept looking and found a set of buckers that filled my qualifications, floated him an offer, then another after a counter and the rest is history. Here's the link: http://www.ebay.com/itm/111599845734?_trksid=p2060778.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT All I can say is, my eyes have really been opened as to what's possible with a good pickup. I obviously got an amazing deal, but only because I was willing to take the chance on a new builder. These are absolutely the best humbuckers I've ever had the good fortune to play - warm, articulate, totally 3D and alive. Even sounds creamy and alive through my SS practice amps. The neck is blues rock heaven, the bridge is even crunchier than the JB was only not as compressed sounding. And surprisingly, the middle really does have that Dickey Betts tone (total throwaway position with the 59/JB). Whereas I always reached for a Strat before, I just can't stop playing this LP now. And for some reason the dang thing even feels easier to play than it did before (go figure). Haven't tried his Strat offerings but I'd definitely recommend the Sharp- tone PAFs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted March 1, 2015 Members Share Posted March 1, 2015 Congratulations. Happy New Pickups Day. Play them in good health. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BeanoBoy Posted March 1, 2015 Members Share Posted March 1, 2015 Congrats!! You got a good deal but the handwound boutique stuff definitely has THE mojo! You'll never consider Duncan, DiMarzio etc. EVER again!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members billybilly Posted March 2, 2015 Members Share Posted March 2, 2015 Right on man, love the mismatched coil, it's gold! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wankdeplank Posted March 2, 2015 Author Members Share Posted March 2, 2015 Thx DE and BB. Congrats!! You got a good deal but the handwound boutique stuff definitely has THE mojo! You'll never consider Duncan, DiMarzio etc. EVER again!! Yep you may be right Beano. I don't know if it's the mismatched coils or not but these things have unbelievable presence. These things sound like single coils only creamier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members billybilly Posted March 2, 2015 Members Share Posted March 2, 2015 I do believe the mismatched coils add an openness to a humbucker wankdeplank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted March 2, 2015 Members Share Posted March 2, 2015 I'd be curious to know what you had in there before. Those pickups are pretty close to vintage wind and I suspect you may have had something hot wound before which adds allot of mud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wankdeplank Posted March 2, 2015 Author Members Share Posted March 2, 2015 I do believe the mismatched coils add an openness to a humbucker wankdeplank. Hey Billy, yeah you right. It adds to the tone of the guitar in so many ways it's really hard to describe. It's almost like I'm running a reverb when I'm not. Overtones, sparkle, I don't really know the right words but I can't stop playing that guitar now. I think Les Paul freaks that require a ten pound R9 or something would be shocked at what I'm getting out of this Studio Custom Lite. WRG wrote: I'd be curious to know what you had in there before. Those pickups are pretty close to vintage wind and I suspect you may have had something hot wound before which adds allot of mud. Hey WRG, yeah the stockers were 490R/498T replaced with an SD 59/JB combination I'd pulled out of a Hamer Mirage II. I really didn't experience any mud per se either with the stockers or the SD combination. To me, the stock Gibson humbuckers lacked character though the neck was really quite articulate - liked it a lot more than the 498T. The 498T had a frequency response that caused my mics to feedback when played with gain. I also thought it sounded a little oversaturated. With the Duncans it was just the opposite, the JB in the bridge sounded absolutely epic with a little gain, though it did sound too compressed to me at low gain. The 59 was fine and creamier sounding than the 490R but it lacked a little definition (sparkle) for chordal work clean. This combination which I've used a bit kind of hurts the middle position IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted March 2, 2015 Members Share Posted March 2, 2015 The 490R/498T are hot wound and up to 13K. Frequency response has Allot has to do with magnet strength and what you plug the pickups into of course. I don't use anything over 8~9K in guitars any more. I even like them a little lower than that. I don't like the signal to be overly hot. I want the pickups to go from driven to clean when I turn the volume down from 10 to 8. If they don't clean up with a nice chime at 8 they are useless to me. Below 8 the pickup tone starts to darken. When I need more drive or compression I have dozens of pedals to get me there. I don't need the pickup adding that and masking my pick attack. As you likely noticed, you can probably get great string harmonics at the 12th, 9th, 7th and 5th frets with vintage wound pups with both clean and driven dialed up as well as those ZZ Top type pinch harmonics with your right picking hand when you dig in. What I mean by mud is when you have overly hot pickups and try to get those harmonics happening they just don't cut through nice and sharp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wankdeplank Posted March 2, 2015 Author Members Share Posted March 2, 2015 You right, the harmonics just fly off the board. Haven't worked on my pinch harmonics for awhile. As far as mud, I guess you're right then. I did notice that with the 59 alnico Vs that my strumming chords had less sparkle than with the alnico II (Gibson 490r) or alnico III in the Sharp- tone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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