Pickup Suggestions (BLUES/ROCK)

[jseth]

In 1983, I swapped out the stock pickups in my 1975 Gibson ES-345 for Seymour Duncan pickups... did a bunch of other modifications at the same time in order to have the output of my guitar be more similar to my bandmate's Les Paul Custom...

I ended up going with a JB (Jeff Beck) for the bridge position and a PAF '59 ('58?) for the 'board. I wanted to be able to get a single-coil tone when needed, so both pickups have coil taps - at that time they were two of the three humbuckers offered by Duncan that had the capability for coil-tapping.

I've been very happy with those pickups - the single coil function is very useful; I prefer the two together when in single coil mode, although I rarely, if ever, use the two together as humbuckers. I am particularly fond of the JB pickup in the bridge - it has more fullness and "meat' on the tone than most other bridge position pickups I've heard or tried.

I do like having the options that my 345 gives me... through my '76 Deluxe Reverb.

[CodeBlueEMT]

Originally Posted by Dothraki

Hey guys, I have played Humbuckers for the past 25 years in a heavy rock band but now I am playing solo. Blues and bluesy rock, just guitar and voice (think Chris Stapleton’s stripped down performances but not nearly as good or handsome) and was debating trading my 2006 Les Paul “Menace” towards something else, but then thought….”why don’t I just get different pickups”.

I know itÂ’s all subjective, but in my opinion the (essentially 498T and 490R) menace pickups are not ideal for the bluesy tone IÂ’m looking for. Would love some pickup suggestions to throw in.

Orange Rockerverb 100 MKii
Orange 4x12 Celestion Vintage 30 speakers

Looking forward to recommendations. Assuming single coil is the way to go but honestly have no clue whatÂ’s out there now-a-days.

Check out Missing Link Audio. They make pedals and pickups focused on classic Southern rock tone . I recently ordered a Peacock dual drive pedal and should have it in a few weeks.

Shayne

[rokdog49]

Originally Posted by Dothraki

I don’t like that tone for blues to be honest. But everyone has their preference.

It’s not my fav either, but it’s what he likes and if I could have half his touch,
I would be thrilled.
He uses a Strat as well. That’s my choice.

[stokes1971]

Mini humbuckers. I put them in my 83 PRS and am in the process of installing them in a Les Paul right now. I wire them with individual volume controls and a master volume ala Gretsch. It gives you a compromise between single coils and humbuckers.

[Joseph Hanna]

I don't really think I know what a "blues" tone is. But having said that, if I had to pick one do-all, cover-all great, great-sounding pickup(s) it would have to be Filtertrons. A very, close runner-up, although with a completely different tone signature would be the aforementioned P-90s. Filtertrons have a rather immovable signature tone. they just always sound like Filtertrons. On the other hand, P-90s are the ultimate Chameleon. I've heard guys (and gals) make P-90s sound like a tele, a strat and a humbucker just using the volume on the guitar. Correct valued pots, caps, and treble bleed are also essential for me.

[Matthew Sarad]

I have a set of Ron Ellis pickups on its way.
Neck and middle pickup are the '64 series. Bridge pickup is the '50 Broadcaster.
I've been playing the Strat, Tele, LP TV Special and PRS, both with P90s for blues gigs over the last 8 years, mostly into a Tweed Deluxe.
I've found I prefer single coil pickups these days after playing a '62 335 with PAFs in the late 70s until 1987.

[PapaLobo]

SD Seth Lovers are great , or any AlNiCo 2 HB's suit blues really well. If you really want to rock and don't mind a wait check out Harmonic Designs Z90, a HB sized P90 , the bridge is 30% overwound.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO8VmTzICJE

PRS 57/08's are warm, delicious and tap well .



As a Luthier I've fitted just about everything over the past 4o years.

[Matthew Sarad]

Originally Posted by PapaLobo

SD Seth Lovers are great , or any AlNiCo 2 HB's suit blues really well. If you really want to rock and don't mind a wait check out Harmonic Designs Z90, a HB sized P90 , the bridge is 30% overwound.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO8VmTzICJE

PRS 57/08's are warm, delicious and tap well .



As a Luthier I've fitted just about everything over the past 4o years.

I replaced the ThroBak Humbuckers with Z90s in my SG.

[abn556]

Doesn’t Stapleton play Jazzmasters? Those are very clean and low output pups. Try playing in the middle position and turning your volume knobs down to around 6. You might also consider rolling off the tone knob on the bridge pup.

Check out the Doug and Pat Show’s pickup challenge. Everything they play sounds great. Conclusion - his old AC10 SRT amp just sound great. Amps are more important than pups. The pup comparisons are on a page called Chasing Oscar:

http://thedougandpatshow.com/chasing-oscar/

[mikealpine]

Fralin has a number of HB-sized noiseless single-coil options like the P92 or Big Single. I'm thinking of a Big Single and a Firebird for a darker sounding T-style I bought, thinking those will clean up and brighten the tone. I think you'll get more of what you want from something aling those lines. You can call and Lindy will guide you.

Another option is Railhammer pickups. They're different, in a good way. I have these in two of my other guitars, both Humbucker and Hum Cutter models.
https://railhammer.com/products/