Humbucker relacement

  • Thread starter Thread starter thebigcheese
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thebigcheese

thebigcheese

"Hi, I'm in Delaware."
I've got a The Paul from '79, still with the stock humbuckers ("Gibson humbuckers", whatever that means), and I'm wondering if I should replace those things. I mean, they sound fine, but then again it's the only good electric I've played with, so I don't really know what I could be missing. I know some people are all about replacing stock humbuckers, but mostly I want to know if it's worth the money and would save me the trouble of wanting a new guitar. Would this lower its value in the long run?

If they are worth replacing and they won't lower its value (because from what I understand, it's going up in value now), then I'm looking for a good, standard les paul sound. I really like having a great clean channel, and while I think I would like a bit more twang, it just doesn't seem right on a paul... suggestions? Thanks.
 
I swapped out my 355's p/u's but mostly as part of a conversion to get split-single coil and 'stereo (dual output).
The after-market p/u's offer lots of tone choices, but how to try/decide? :confused: :)
This does reduce the original value doesn't it?
Wayne
 
Ok so honestly, I know absolutely nothing about pickups. Any advice at all would be nice.
 
Sounds like you might want to just try some different flavors to see what's out there. Maybe connect with some local tech or shops.
 
I would think long and hard about mods. Your guitar is a Gibson nearly 30 years old and in original condition. You also say you like the way it sounds.

That having been said, you can always put the original pickups back in. The solder jounts will not have much effect on the value. If you decide to modify anyway, keep the original parts and don't make any changes that cannot be reversed.

The price of a set of high quality humbuckers puts you in the ballpark of a workable import guitar. Consider getting a Strat or Tele knock-off if you want to add twang. Those are great for experimenting with.

JMHO
 
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I wouldn't worry about the value

a guitar as an investment is a fickle thing. Much better to put your money in an IRA, 401K, mutual fund, whatever. You didn't buy it as an investment, you bought it to PLAY. I don't think stock pickups from a '79 The Paul are likely to be collector's items, but I could be wrong. Stranger things have happened. Anyway, like Milnoque said, just keep all of the original stuff and you should be OK. Don't hack anything up. If you're happy with the sound you've got, forget it. If not, experiment. Read through the board. Do seraches on various pickups you think you'd be interested in. There's a lot on pickups here.

And as far as twang on a Paul, the intro to 'Sweet Home Alabama' was done on a Les Paul. I was floored when I found that out. Would have bet everything I owned that it was either a Tele or maybe a Strat.

If you need more twang than that, get a Tele, Strat, or big ol' Gretsch.
 
I don't know that I really want twang all that much... just something more crisp, like a real Les Paul. I figure I won't really ever need to buy one if I just switch out the pickups for a nicer set. A good, clear, crisp clean sound with nice sustain is what I'm going for.

For twang, I'll probably have another guitar at some point in the future anyway... never really liked the Strat styling, tho, so we'll see... Thanks guys.
 
Try dropping the neck pickup in the bridge and see if that gets you the clean tone you want.
 
You might try some different capacitors in the tone circuit, that could brighten up the high end a bit.
 
thebigcheese said:
I've got a The Paul from '79, still with the stock humbuckers ("Gibson humbuckers", whatever that means), and I'm wondering if I should replace those things. I mean, they sound fine, but then again it's the only good electric I've played with, so I don't really know what I could be missing. I know some people are all about replacing stock humbuckers, but mostly I want to know if it's worth the money and would save me the trouble of wanting a new guitar. Would this lower its value in the long run?

If they are worth replacing and they won't lower its value (because from what I understand, it's going up in value now), then I'm looking for a good, standard les paul sound. I really like having a great clean channel, and while I think I would like a bit more twang, it just doesn't seem right on a paul... suggestions? Thanks.
Click to expand...

I have an old Gibson catalog from 1978 and that is the total description of those pickups-("Gibson humbuckers")-and no number or anything else. By the way, my 'the Paul' has a date of Aug. 16, 1977 written in pencil in the control cavity area, you might check to see if the date is on your Paul too.

Oh and even in '78, there were a dozen different Les Pauls models in the catalog, I can't even begin to count all the various models now....
 
if you want hot pickups i would try a Gibson 500T in the bridge. You get a more modern distorted tone and still keep it looking like a lespaul as opposed to using EMG's (ugly).

I don't know what tone your looking for though.
 
I want a very clean clean sound; I like distortion, but I also don't want any distortion of my clean sound. It's a Gibson, so I think it ought to sound like it ought to sound when I don't have distortion on.

How do I go about trying different capacitors? I don't know anything about the wiring in guitars... I have some experience with electronics, but not enough to know what's going on. I can follow instructions and solder reasonably well, though.

I'm sure I can find somewhere how to replace the pickups, so I won't bug you about that... but how can I "try out different flavors"? Should I go to the store and try guitars that have the pickups on them? Or will stores let me try them on my guitar and exchange them if I don't like them? I don't have a lot of money to spend (I might put this on my X-mas list), so I can't just buy a bunch at once.
 
I would go to guitar center and try out some lespauls. Research them and see what pickups threy are using. I have a Gary Moore Sig LP. I has burstbuckers in it. It's a great medium tone for clean and distorted. They may not do better than what you have.
 
You might also try lowering your pickups way down, or even getting some humbucker-sized P-90s, which I love. They're sparkling and bright and clean, and they distort beautifully with a nice tube drive.
 
Check out these guys pups: Wolfetone or WCR . If you're willing to spend the coin, they'll both work with you to get you what you want. Wolfe wound me a set of hot PAF clones for my Lester that will go to my grave with me. Hand wound 9.2k bridge, 8.5k neck; A5 mags; unpotted and the same type of wire used on the originals.
 
The WCR link doesn't go to the right page (I'm assuming it's not supposed to be a page on HTTP). How much did they end up costing you?

Also, is it the winding that affects the tone?
 
thebigcheese said:
Also, is it the winding that affects the tone?
Click to expand...

Lots of things affect tone; type and strength of magnet, how the winding is done (machine, hand, scatter), etc. Resistance is just the easiest to measure. More windings=more resistance=hotter output. At the same time, it increases the inductance of the coil, which rolls off highs. So hotter pickups are also less bright, all other things being equal.

That's why I suggested trying the neck pickup in the bridge, it is usually weaker than the bridge pickup, and if you want twang, a weaker pickup might be a good place to start.
 
pickups ?

hey there .... changing your pickups will affect your gibsons value..... a few years ago i changed the pickups in a [ the paul ] for a friend of mine...cant remember exactly what i put in it but the tone was almost exactly the same...many things affect your tone ... the guitar wood.your strings,your style,your amp,..... if you want to experiment w/ pickups buy a less expensive guitar and have at it........
 
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