What pickups work best with Les Paul and Axe FXII?

jiggajewjay

jiggajewjay

Inspired
Instead of searching online and reading thru all the different sites dedicated to les paul humbuckers, I wanted to ask my fellow Axe'ers what you are using. I have a Strat so i have those clean like tones spoken for. I have a hot rodded Ibanez so i have my super high gain covered as well. The sound i am going for is more of a mid gain dirty sound. I suppose going for those aggressive cleans cant hurt either. so that is basically what i am after. something that really sings when playing lead and had good clarity on the low end - something that CAN clean up as well (really not going for that EMG super gain sound). Ive seen online Burstbuckers and and BurstBuckers Pro. there is also an Angus model that i saw... I really dont want to go off of a websites description. i am looking to cut thru the marketing BS and get some real life tested experience from a LP user. my setup is just guitar and Axe FX.
 
There's nothing special about an Axe FX in terms of pickups. So the same pickups that would work with any other setup in an LP will work with the Axe. It sounds like you are basically looking for PAF's. In which case, get ready for pages and pages of everyone posting what their favorite PAF-style pickups are (mine are Suhr SSV's btw). Assuming you already have an LP-esque guitar, what pickups do you have in there now? What do you like/dislike about them?
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Austin
 
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My Paul still has the stock Burstbuckers in it. I think they are the 3's. They sound just fine for that classic rock stuff all that mid gain Zepplin to AC/DC stuff. They are set up to coil tap and you can also pull them out of phase I think that was an attempt at the Gary Moore mod but to me it doesn't sound like Gary's mod.
 
Depends on the LP. I used Bareknuckle Nailbombs (Alnico) in my 2008 Standard and they sounded phenomenal. Later I tried them in my 79 Custom and hated it. A heavier and very dark sounding guitar and the Nailbombs were way too muddy. Now I use a SH-5/SH-1 combination in my Custom and I'm very happy with it.
Had a pair of Suhr DA in my LP Classic 2005 and they were awesome.
 
Truth be told mate, I use semi acoustic with 57's...Les Paul 57's.....A Frankenstrat 498t...SG with 490 R and T. And you you love them all....and then hate them all! So long as you don't programme stuff with a high output ceramic 496R and 500T then switch guitars to lower output pickups it's all much of a muchness. Some will be too bassy some too trebly. Some will overdrive a crystal clean preset and others will sing. Time and effort dude. Good luck
 
Bareknuckle Riff Raff/Mule set. Most people go with the Mule in the neck and Riff Raff in the bridge but, I have them the other way around in my guitar. The Riff Raff neck is fat and glassy but still has good pick attack and bite (something I really like) and the Mule bridge is very warm and rich sounding while still having good clarity IMHO. I also have a free-way, 6 position switch installed on my guitar that gives access to the standard offerings of a normal 3 way plus 3 split-coil options.
 
just to clarify, my current Les Paul has stock pickups... they have a chrome pickup cover so they are likely Burstbuckers. i am not sure what it is but ive had clients come to the studio with lower end Les Pauls (mine was like 3 grand) and i hate how my pickups sound. i think that something probably happened to them. they sound very flubby on the low end and it sounds like something is distorted with them. perhaps i can take them to a tech guy but at this point i dont have the time. i would rather just get pickups that make sense for what i need.
 
What kind of bread makes the best sandwich? What kind of spread? What color shoes do you have to be wearing when you eat the sandwich, to optimize the taste?
 
Also, I appreciate the responses, but instead of just letting me know what you have in your LP, i would rather limit the responses to I have X pickups and they work for the sound that you are going for (mid gain crunch , not high gain).. Thank you in advance!
 
I think you'd be better served experimenting. Stock pickups work great if everything else is in order. Maybe the tone you are looking for is in that strat!:)
 
I had borrowed a buddies Gretsch Duojet with filtertrons and they (and the guitar) sounded fantastic for rock with a plexi. Very clear and bell like but with a real spanky initial attack and burst of hair. How much of that comes from the semi-hollow and Bigsby, I don't know, but I really dug it a lot.

I'm thinking of trying a set of Lollartrons in one of my guitars to chase that tone.

Lollartron Humbucker
 
Scary said:
I think you'd be better served experimenting. Stock pickups work great if everything else is in order. Maybe the tone you are looking for is in that strat!:)
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im a total strat junkie!!! I like the feel of my Paul but not its sound... your prob right :)
 
IMO you don't want high output pickups. They are not as versatile as lower output pickups. You can get gain out of the Axe, you don't need a high gain pickup to get gain like they did in the 70's. High gain pickups have a more compressed sound and narrower frequency response generally speaking. For a more open sound (single coil pickups have the most open sound) look in the low to vintage range. My personal favorites are my Suhr Thornbuckers. They sound great overdriven and clean up better than any pickup I have tried. They have guts and chime too and are very articulate. I can use the same presets that I use with my Strat. I am a Strat guy, but when I do the HB thing, Thornbuckers are my first choice. Great pickups!
 
Randall d said:
IMO you don't want high output pickups. They are not as versatile as lower output pickups. You can get gain out of the Axe, you don't need a high gain pickup to get gain like they did in the 70's. High gain pickups have a more compressed sound and narrower frequency response generally speaking. For a more open sound (single coil pickups have the most open sound) look in the low to vintage range. My personal favorites are my Suhr Thornbuckers. They sound great overdriven and clean up better than any pickup I have tried. They have guts and chime too and are very articulate. I can use the same presets that I use with my Strat. I am a Strat guy, but when I do the HB thing, Thornbuckers are my first choice. Great pickups!
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This is what i needed to hear... thank you for this info, i will look into those pups. :)
 
jiggajewjay said:
Also, I appreciate the responses, but instead of just letting me know what you have in your LP, i would rather limit the responses to I have X pickups and they work for the sound that you are going for (mid gain crunch , not high gain).. Thank you in advance!
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The response I gave about the BKP Mule/Riff Raff set was in response to your "mid gain crunch" stipulation. :) They are vintage/medium output by Bareknuckle's standards. The Riff Raff neck has an almost single coil like quality when you back off on the volume pot.

Cheers
 
Poozer79 said:
The response I gave about the BKP Mule/Riff Raff set was in response to your "mid gain crunch" stipulation. :) They are vintage/medium output by Bareknuckle's standards. The Riff Raff neck has an almost single coil like quality when you back off on the volume pot.

Cheers
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Thank you ! i am looking into all the options posted above. Wish me luck!
 
I know you were asking about. Les Paul's but, I have a PRS Moderen Eagle that I changed the pups in. They are a small company out of the UK called axetec. The ones I stuck in that PRS are the Tesla Sharks. They say those sound like the Slash pups. I'm not sure they are 100% like his Duncan's but they are in that neighborhood.

I find that I can get just about any tone I want out of them. I use that guitar for everything. I can play 80's hair metal to pop country if I split the coils. They are very clear and not a real boomy pick up. They are a solid all around pick up but they really shine to me when you are using a Plexi type amp. The HBE sounds really good and my go to patch is the Atomic High that amp sounds amazing with that guitar.
 
For vintage or mid-gain, I tend to reach for my 2013 '58 Reissue, which uses CustomBuckers. For more modern tones, I gravitate towards the 490/498's in my LP Custom and Premium Plus. While the latter can clean up and do mid-gain fairly well also, the CustomBuckers have more character and "grit", and seem to allow more of the guitar's tone to come through.
 
Just installed Seymour Duncan Slash Alnico II's into my self made Les Paul and they sound great for mid-gain classic rock - GnR, Journey type stuff. Nice and bright.
 
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