I could use some new pickups

  • Thread starter Thread starter thebigcheese
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thebigcheese

thebigcheese

"Hi, I'm in Delaware."
I've been debating for a while whether or not to put new pickups on my guitar. I have a Gibson "The Paul" from the '70s. Originally, I didn't want to swap them out because it would lower the value of the guitar, but it's not a guitar I'd ever sell, so I'd rather just have it sound like I want it to sound. I have a couple problems with the stock pups:
1) They are way too friggin' loud. With the pickup selector at the rhythm position, it is nearly impossible to get a totally clean sound out of a tube amp. I can't use my BYOC tremolo pedal because it clips, no matter how much I've modified it. I want something that can still get a nice distorted tone, but will let me actually use my gear.
2) They seem to lack some of the nice crispness of real LP pickups.
I know nothing about pickups. I have some EMGs on my Schecter bass, and the bass sounds phenomenal, but that's all I know. What are some suggestions you have? Are there any special considerations I will need to know about when looking for them? Is there any way I can try out different ones without buying them?
 
the paul pups

I have a "the paul" too and the pick ups are real "hot" but I don't have the problem you described. Have you lowered the pickups down away from the strings? That might help some.
 
The vintage humbuckers are based on the original PAF and have lower output. The SH-55 would be a good choice for the type of pickup that are looking for. The SH-1 is also very nice.
 
Get just about any "vintage" output pickups, and you will likely be happy - at least, judging from what you say you want. Top of my list for that would be a set of Lindy Fralin Unbuckers, followed by a Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro in the neck and a Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates in the bridge. I'm pretty sure you would NOT be happy with a high output rig such as a JB/Jazz combo (popular, yes, but not - I think - for you). The Seth Lover's (SH-55s) sound really nice, but they are a real pain if you need a lot of gain or volume from your amp, as they are not potted and can get really squeally.

If I were you, I'd get the Fralin's, but it's up to you.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
your vintage gibby pickup should fetch some cash on ebay, just a heads up
 
owwmyfoot said:
your vintage gibby pickup should fetch some cash on ebay, just a heads up
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Not much, at least not with the pickups from a The Paul. Junk, I think, is the right word.

However, do keep them in case you ever DO want to sell the guitar.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Oh. I thought they were pafs. My bad. But yeah keep them if you ever want to sell the guitar. People lowball you left and right if a part isn't original.

And in retrospect, what a funny name for a guitar.
 
owwmyfoot said:
Oh. I thought they were pafs. My bad. But yeah keep them if you ever want to sell the guitar. People lowball you left and right if a part isn't original.

And in retrospect, what a funny name for a guitar.
Click to expand...



There are very few PAFs out there. More common would be the "Patent sticker" pickups, which are the same pickups, but after the Patent had been granted (PAF=Patent Applied For, which is what it said on the sticker that gives them their name). Patent Sticker pickups can still be worth some money (though not nearly as much, of course), but unless my memory is failing me that is NOT what The Paul's had.

Oh yeah, and I STRONGLY advise looking into changing the pots in there. A lot of those 70's Gibson's had some bizarre pot choices. 300K linear is not an appropriate pot for a volume control!


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
I might just change those pots while I'm at it. The volume pots seem to suck tone, too, in my opinion. When I turn them down at all, I lose a considerable amount of the crispness, so I always have to leave them cranked. If that wasn't the case, then I could probably get away with just turning it down, but I'd like some new pickups anyway. I'll take a look at those unbuckers. Which output option would I be looking for? And what do all those terms mean (like coil tapping, etc)?

Also, if I'm looking to change the pots, should I keep the same resistance value and just switch to audio taper? Would you suggest swapping out ALL of the pots, or just the volume?
 
Light said:
Get just about any "vintage" output pickups, and you will likely be happy - at least, judging from what you say you want. Top of my list for that would be a set of Lindy Fralin Unbuckers, followed by a Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro in the neck and a Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates in the bridge. I'm pretty sure you would NOT be happy with a high output rig such as a JB/Jazz combo (popular, yes, but not - I think - for you). The Seth Lover's (SH-55s) sound really nice, but they are a real pain if you need a lot of gain or volume from your amp, as they are not potted and can get really squeally.

If I were you, I'd get the Fralin's, but it's up to you.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
Click to expand...
Why do you recommend the Unbuckers over the SDs? They're a little more expensive and I probably couldn't convince GC to install them for me for free. I could install them myself, but I don't know anything about adjusting the height, so that would be a problem. The price difference isn't big enough to be a huge deal, so I could go with either set, I'm just curious why you like one over the other.
 
thebigcheese said:
I might just change those pots while I'm at it. The volume pots seem to suck tone, too, in my opinion. When I turn them down at all, I lose a considerable amount of the crispness, so I always have to leave them cranked.
Click to expand...

Well, they all do that to some degree. You can minimize it by putting in a treble bleed cap across the volume pot, but I find that makes the whole thing a bit brighter over all in a not so pleasant way, and I don't like them much. People usually use a 1000pF cap, but when I do it I like 500pF a lot more. You may as well try it, though. If you don't like it, just snip it out - easy.


thebigcheese said:
Also, if I'm looking to change the pots, should I keep the same resistance value and just switch to audio taper? Would you suggest swapping out ALL of the pots, or just the volume?
Click to expand...

May as well do them all. 500K audio is the right thing for humbuckers, imho.





thebigcheese said:
Why do you recommend the Unbuckers over the SDs?
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`Cause I like them more.

They are a little brighter, which I like, and they have a nice articulation to them. I tend to go very traditional in my output, so 7.5K for the neck, and 8.5k for the bridge.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Ok, I found some local dealers for the unbuckers, so that should be okay. Actually, I suppose I could drive down to Richmond if they sell them there, but that's a little farther than some other dealers. I'm asking them exactly which pickups these are, but they come with some caps, though they say those are for the tone knobs:
http://angela.com/lindyfralin85k75kpafstylehumbuckingpickupswithnickelcovers.aspx
So, 500k for the volume knobs... are you saying I should also do 500k audio for the tone knobs? I would think I'd want linear for that, though I have no idea what resistance I would want them to be. Is there any advantage or disadvantage to having those covers on the pickups?

Thanks for the help so far :) I'm pretty clueless...

Edit: The ones they have in stock are the regular humbuckers, so I'd have to special order Unbuckers either way. How do they compare to the standard humbuckers? The web site says the primary advantage of the unbuckers is for coil tapping, which I would not be doing, but I imagine there has to be another benefit.
 
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thebigcheese said:
So, 500k for the volume knobs... are you saying I should also do 500k audio for the tone knobs? I would think I'd want linear for that, though I have no idea what resistance I would want them to be. Is there any advantage or disadvantage to having those covers on the pickups?

Thanks for the help so far :) I'm pretty clueless...
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Either will work, but most people use audio taper for both volume and tone controls. It is traditional with humbuckers to use 500k, though Gibson has been known to use 300k.

Covers don't really make much difference - get them if you like the look, or don't if you don't.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Sorry, I had a late edit. What's the advantage of the unbuckers over the regular humbuckers? The local stores seem to only keep regulars in stock.
 
I have a 78' the Paul as well and the sound has a brittleness and brightness that I have never been too fond of either. I think it's probably a characteristic of the Walnut that is used in the body & neck. The bridge pickup was only working on 1 coil when I bought it and I replaced it with a Les Paul Custom's bridge pickup that a friend sold me super cheap. Still has that sound so again I suspect the wood.
 
Anfontan said:
I have a 78' the Paul as well and the sound has a brittleness and brightness that I have never been too fond of either. I think it's probably a characteristic of the Walnut that is used in the body & neck. The bridge pickup was only working on 1 coil when I bought it and I replaced it with a Les Paul Custom's bridge pickup that a friend sold me super cheap. Still has that sound so again I suspect the wood.
Click to expand...
Really? Brightness is what I think mine is lacking, but it's hard to say for sure when the pickups are so loud.
 
I got new pots and knobs (one of my old knobs was kinda busted), so I can put those in, but I think I'll wait until I get the new pickups. GC has the SDs for a total of about $50 less than what I would pay for the unbuckers, so... I dunno, I have to figure out which is going to be best for me. As much as I hate spending money, I do know that it's best to go for the better thing first instead of getting it anyway later.

What's the deal with capacitors? I had no idea they had those in the chain between the pickups and the knobs. Am I going to need to get new ones? If so, which ones should I be looking for?
 
thebigcheese said:
I got new pots and knobs (one of my old knobs was kinda busted), so I can put those in, but I think I'll wait until I get the new pickups. GC has the SDs for a total of about $50 less than what I would pay for the unbuckers, so... I dunno, I have to figure out which is going to be best for me. As much as I hate spending money, I do know that it's best to go for the better thing first instead of getting it anyway later.

What's the deal with capacitors? I had no idea they had those in the chain between the pickups and the knobs. Am I going to need to get new ones? If so, which ones should I be looking for?
Click to expand...

have you considered using Guitar Fetish Pickups?
they are really good pickups and have just about any style you may be looking for. I know you are like me, tight on money and looking for the biggest bang for the buck and these do without a doubt fit the bill.
just a thought you mihght want to concider.:)
 
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