Best replacement pickups for Epi humbuckers?

[kiramdear]

Mike,

Thanks for a detailed breakdown of several nice options. You can hear what these pickups sound like on my song "Real People Blues" (I'm getting my little package together for you soon Mike) which is on my music page. It's the main rhythm track. They sound all right on this song but I don't do too much blues in general, so I'm looking to opt up for things like you mention, the versatility and balance that will make this guitar get used more.

[soundmasterg]

I've used quite a few Duncan pickups, those Epiphone pickups just like yours, standard Gibson 57 classics, 490R, 498T, etc, and then quite a few boutique ones like Lollars, Wolfetones, Stephens Design. Almost all of the boutique stuff is going to sound better than your run of th emill things, but you pay for them too. You can have stuff custom made to your specs this way. The Duncan stuff is very good, and I personally like the Alnico 2 Pro a lot too, and have one in the neck on my Epi Dot. In the bridge I have a Pearly Gates, but the stock alnico 2 magnet was too bright so I put an alnico 3 in and it made it perfect......not too bright and a snarly and gritty lead tone that is vintage output levels. In my LP Studio, I put some of the new Stephens Design Vintage Lab series, which are exact recreations of vintage PAF's. They're expensive because he handmakes many of the parts inside the pickups to get the correct metals and the correct sounds. Check them out at his youtube page. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZzV2RK1CWY

Greg

[kiramdear]

Nice tip, thanks, Greg.

[whojamfan]

In my LP Studio, I put some of the new Stephens Design Vintage Lab series, which are exact recreations of vintage PAF's. They're expensive because he handmakes many of the parts inside the pickups to get the correct metals and the correct sounds. Check them out at his youtube page. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZzV2RK1CWY
Greg

How do those compare to the Duncan "Antiquity" pickups? I always thought those puppies cost a ton, and never much cared for anything new that has been "ages".

I'm still really digging those Alnico Pro 2s, and the Pearly Gates is a great bridge pickup as well. I understand the brightness issue, and in factory pickups it seems you either get bright and loud, muddy and mid heavy, or a "vintage" that just sounds like the bass response is gone. Oh, and about anything hi-gain or power seems to have majorly decreased highs and a low mid that strangles touch response and tone. This is why I was so hot on the Lawrence pickups, as they are loud, clean, and bright. They're just so different in tone and output that it makes it difficult to use with other instruments in a gig without major volume and tone adjustments. I will say I like the tone of the Alnico Pro 2s better, and the volume balance is nice.

It's very cool that you can modify your pickups to fine tune them to your taste. I took a pickup apart once poor thing, never knew what hit it!

[whojamfan]

My objection to the neck sound is that there's not much room between too thin and too thick. I can't get much variety of strong and clear together.

When I used to sell those, customers were always raving about the pickups, surprised at how good they sounded. Usually, I would replace all of the electronics with the Gibson ones, which required enlarging some of the holes slightly with a simple reamer. Better components last longer, work smoother, and sound better longer. If you are going to take this guitar apart, I highly recommend replacing these components to drastically reduce the need to have to replace them later.

You might try a treble bypass cap(as found on Telecasters)-.001 capacitor-across the 2 lugs of the volume pot that are being used. As you turn the volume down, the highs stay and the bass goes away. This might be an inexpensive solution to your problem untill you find exactly what you want to replace you pickups with. You may find that this gives you enough of what you want to keep the guitar the way it is.

As far as more output, I would strongly recommend getting a Seymour Duncan Pickup Booster pedal(69 bucks or so)to boost the output of your pickups, rather than putting hotter ones in and being stuck with only the higher gain sound. Hearing what I have of your music, I think the most versatility out of your instruments would be the best thing for you. If you mainly just played loud distorted noise, I'd say throw in a Seymour Duncan Invader and have a good day, but your music is much more dynamic than that. Try the cap mod and the booster, and if it doesn't do it for you, MF will refund you on the booster, and the cap mod is an easy fix. Again, though, I highly recommend a complete component change while you have this guitar apart.

As someone who has swapped tons of pickups, it can be hard to really find what you're looking for. Usually you just end up settling for something you think is better than what you had, but not what you wanted. While this is just costly and annoying on Strats and Les Paul, doing that lovely fishing expedition of hollwbodies can be a real pain in the shorts, and/or costly if you're paying someone to do it. Try the cap on both volumes, less than a buck in parts, and easy/quick to install.

Good luck, and keep us posted!

[kiramdear]

That's a great idea. I always wanted to learn about those bass cutter tone controls anyway. I think I've had several candidates in the past for such a mod. This guitar is worth investing in good components. Jeff's got it back right now but when I see it again we'll start out as you suggest.

[soundmasterg]

In my LP Studio, I put some of the new Stephens Design Vintage Lab series, which are exact recreations of vintage PAF's. They're expensive because he handmakes many of the parts inside the pickups to get the correct metals and the correct sounds. Check them out at his youtube page. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZzV2RK1CWY
Greg

How do those compare to the Duncan "Antiquity" pickups? I always thought those puppies cost a ton, and never much cared for anything new that has been "ages".

I'm still really digging those Alnico Pro 2s, and the Pearly Gates is a great bridge pickup as well. I understand the brightness issue, and in factory pickups it seems you either get bright and loud, muddy and mid heavy, or a "vintage" that just sounds like the bass response is gone. Oh, and about anything hi-gain or power seems to have majorly decreased highs and a low mid that strangles touch response and tone. This is why I was so hot on the Lawrence pickups, as they are loud, clean, and bright. They're just so different in tone and output that it makes it difficult to use with other instruments in a gig without major volume and tone adjustments. I will say I like the tone of the Alnico Pro 2s better, and the volume balance is nice.

It's very cool that you can modify your pickups to fine tune them to your taste. I took a pickup apart once poor thing, never knew what hit it!

The Duncan Antiquities are not quite vintage correct in a couple ways. Dave Stephens has done the research and could tell you exactly why if you email him or post a question on the Ampage pickup forum where he often hangs out, but if I recall correctly, I think the bobbin height is not correct, and the metals are not correct either for the keepers or the pole screws. It all changes the sound. That said, they do sound good. I like the alnico 2 Pro myself, and the Pearly Gates too after I changed the magnet, but they aren't vintage correct either. A real PAF is a brighter and more articulate pickup than most of the humbuckers these days, and most players won't be used to that type of sound. I live close to Dave so I've been fortunate to play most of his pickup models nad he does some fantastic stuff. I have his pickups in a Tele, my LP Studio, and plan to get his '59 Strat set, some more of his Lab series humbuckers, some Dirty Harrys, etc. The pickups are so much more alive and touch responsive than your run of the mill stuff, and there aren't any harsh frequencies anywhere. I've played Wolfetones and Lollars like that too in the past.

Greg

[deaconblues]

I'm planning on getting some Antiquities eventually. They're close enough for me...I couldn't justify spending twice as much on those boutique pickups, although they sound dead-on...

The aged covers match the VOS reissue guitars with the aged parts. Shiny new covers wouldn't look right on my Les Paul.

I've really brightened the sound of that guitar with a rewiring and better capacitors - recommended to anyone chasing the vintage humbucker sound.

[whojamfan]

Great info there Greg, really puts things in to perspective.

[jdogric12]

The original "J Dog guitar" is a '96 Epiphone LP Special II; I added a Bigsby B5 and...

Gibson P-94's. They're P-90's made for a humbucker slot. I love 'em. They give me a tone similar to my Casino.

[weemac]

The GFS Mean 90s are very good, they look the same as the Dream 90s but they use AlNiCo II magnets and have the correct shaped Bobbin for the P-90 aperture.
I have used them (after many others) in the 6 string side of my Epiphone G-1275 of all the HB shaped "90s" out there these ones seem to sound the closest to the real thing.
If I ever get round to building my line of custom guitars Dream 90s are what I will be using! (probably in the basses too)
Eden.

[peewee]

I find that the biggest problem that folks run into w/ humbuckers is that they get them too "hot". The best that I ever owned were in a 2001 Historic Les Paul that were made by Jim Rolph. The resistance readings on those pickups were both under 8K, with the neck reading 7.5K ohms and the bridge reading 7.8K ohms. The lower resistance in a 'bucker will give you more clarity and a bite closer to a single coil P90 but still retaining warmth. They'll also sound a bit more "organic" with a more refined note bloom. I've always found that when they're wound to a resistance of 8K or more, that's when they get very "woofy" sounding, especially the neck pickup, and the bridge is a bit too "spikey" and brittle sounding. Another thing to keep in mind is that a pickup will sound entirely different in different guitars, so what may sound great in one guitar may not necessarily work too well in another.

Jim's " '58 PAF " wind is taken directly from his personal set of 1958 PAFs that came from an ES-335 and these came the closest to sounding like the vintage 1955 P90s I have in my reissue '56 goldtop but without the occasional 60 cycle hum that will occur in certain venues. They have a very "woody" and open tone to them and would probably sound killer in a semi hollow or true hollow body. The best boutique pickup on the market, IMHO, but they don't come cheaply -- I believe that they ran me $425 for the set back in '04.