Members PigWings_v2.0 Posted November 26, 2009 Members Share Posted November 26, 2009 I have a a Les Paul VM with the BB Pro pick-ups. I like the neck p'up but the bridge seems way too thin and shrill to me. I have a 498t in another guitar that I want to replace the bridge with but I might try something new. Looking for a humbucker thats fat sounding with fairly hot output for hard rock and metal. But not too hot because I have an EMG guitar for extremes. Thick yet clear and not muddy. Also something that responds well to split coils and series/paralell wirings because I'll be using a Seymour Duncan Triple Shot pick-up ring. And of course it will be paired with the BB Pro neck pickup. Any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members docjeffrey Posted November 26, 2009 Members Share Posted November 26, 2009 BB Pro should be really fat. I have one on my SG Standard and it sounds huge. Try rolling back the tone and turning up the power section of your amp (back off of the preamp distortion). They are very close to just about every other PAF-alike out there; so unless you get something radically different, your gonna be in the same boat. By far, the best sounding humbucker I have for rock is the EVH Frankenstein Humbucker (Duncan); on sale for 10% off of its $150 price. I have the relic version, but I think that the regular version is pretty much identical. Output is in the 15K range, so it will drive just about any amp easily. It sounds great clean too. Words cannot express how much I like this pickup for good old fashioned rock. If you have more money than brains, you'll get the relic version with EVH's sig on the back. That's what I did and it's a total animal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jjpistols Posted November 26, 2009 Members Share Posted November 26, 2009 have you tried adjusting the pup height, or playing around with those knobs on the guitar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Clinically Deaf Posted November 26, 2009 Members Share Posted November 26, 2009 Pickups that came to mind: 498T (like you mentioned) SD Custom 5 Bryan Gunsher made me a set of his BG bucker darks that sounds fabulous in my les paul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members docjeffrey Posted November 26, 2009 Members Share Posted November 26, 2009 have you tried adjusting the pup height, or playing around with those knobs on the guitar? Good advice. I've wasted so much money replacing pickups over the years (EVH not withstanding). I have a large box full of OEM pickups that, to be honest, were probably just as good as what I replaced them with. You wrap some 42 gauge wire around some slugs and stick an AlNiCo V magnet underneath--how many variations are you gonna find? It's a psychoacoustic thing. A $400 pickup should sound better than a $39 version. So we think it does. The only thing that makes a difference big enough to hear would be a totally different design like a TV Jones Filtertron or a PAF that has significantly more or less output than what you currently have. Like JJ said, tone controls on your amp and guitar are there for a reason. I'd rather have too much top end on a guitar than not enough, any day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PigWings_v2.0 Posted November 26, 2009 Author Members Share Posted November 26, 2009 I have played around with the pick-up height as well as the tone knobs. Though for the bridge I'm just looking for a more modern sound that takes high gain better. It is suprising however how much the pickup height can affect the sound! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members docjeffrey Posted November 26, 2009 Members Share Posted November 26, 2009 I have played around with the pick-up height as well as the tone knobs. Though for the bridge I'm just looking for a more modern sound that takes high gain better.It is suprising however how much the pickup height can affect the sound! I'd try swapping a pickup from another guitar (like the 498t you mentioned) to make sure that any pickup is going to radically change the tone of your guitar. The BB Pro is an aggressive pickup with AlNiCo V magnets. It should do modern sounds with ease, even metal. The guitar itself effects the tone a lot more than most people realize. If your all-mahogany LP is relatively light like my SG, it may be hard to coax midrange from it without the right pedal and amp settings. What kind of amp or modeler are you using? http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Divisions/Gibson%20Gear/Pickups/_Burstbucker%20Pro/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members super56k Posted November 26, 2009 Members Share Posted November 26, 2009 This is an interesting post to come across. A good friend is getting ready to ditch the BB pro bridge in his VM les paul as well. I'm going to let him have a go with a BG Bucker I have around to see what that does. docjeffrey, your post has me wondering though. From what I can tell he is having a midrange problem when he gets some gain going (through a Marshall Haze head + V30s), and his VM les paul is extremely light. It gets a mushy quality to it while a mahogany Schecter I have with a BG Bucker has a bright and clear sound with the same settings (I know, totally different guitars). To the OP, you might check the values on the pots. Do they have 500k pots stock in these guitars? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Quarter Posted November 26, 2009 Members Share Posted November 26, 2009 ... Bryan Gunsher made me a set of his BG bucker darks that sounds fabulous in my les paul. I recently put a BG Dark through the paces and liked it a lot! Another BG worth checking out is the Hellabucker, a big balls rock monster with great split tones too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cats-o-caster Posted November 26, 2009 Members Share Posted November 26, 2009 I have a a Les Paul VM with the BB Pro pick-ups. I like the neck p'up but the bridge seems way too thin and shrill to me. I have a 498t in another guitar that I want to replace the bridge with but I might try something new. Looking for a humbucker thats fat sounding with fairly hot output for hard rock and metal. But not too hot because I have an EMG guitar for extremes. Thick yet clear and not muddy. Also something that responds well to split coils and series/paralell wirings because I'll be using a Seymour Duncan Triple Shot pick-up ring. And of course it will be paired with the BB Pro neck pickup. Any ideas? Try Dimarzio Fred, very interesting PU Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cratz2 Posted November 26, 2009 Members Share Posted November 26, 2009 If you want something that never sounds thin, get a Tone Zone or a Norton. NOT thin at all.I think the BB Pro in the bridge sounds great, but I don't play high gain. I think it's a great sounding pickup for edge of break up through moderate gain though.Being a single coil guy, usually if a quality HB sounds thin to most folks, that's probably the pickup I'm going to like but I always like to keep one true modern pickup in a guitar. For several years, that was a Custom 5, but I ended up selling it in the guitar. Now I have a Tone Zone that's been in a couple different guitars. It sounds pretty uninspiring clean (through Fender DRRI, old Twin, AC15CC, AC15 Handwired, Marshall DSL401, Tonelab) but it almost always sounds great with crunch or high gain.Plus you can find them used almost everywhere for chump change. $25 to $30. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Norcal_GIT_r Posted November 26, 2009 Members Share Posted November 26, 2009 If I can answer any questions about BG Pups just let me know!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Brewski Posted November 26, 2009 Members Share Posted November 26, 2009 No other pickup solves the LP shortfalls better than the Seymour Duncan Jeff Beck (JB SH-4) It just works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ACLONERANGER Posted November 26, 2009 Members Share Posted November 26, 2009 took out the bb3 in my paul and put in a Dirty Fingers...WOW!! classic gibson paf tone with way more ass !! to me it sounds very similar to the 57 with just twice the output. im in love thus far Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MikeCampbellCKY Posted November 26, 2009 Members Share Posted November 26, 2009 DiMarzio Super Distortion, Seymour Duncan JB, or Seymour Duncan Invader might be good choices. Maybe a PAF Pro? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.