les paul STUDIO upgrade??

[threshhold2]

so i bought this LP STUDIO cause the STANDARD is beyond my budget.the trouble is, i don't like her pickups.so i was thinking simply to replace them with the ones that are on the standard. is this a great idea or what???? am i getting here a les paul standard for hundreds of $$$ less?

 

[Jamal Bucket]

What A Completely New And Inventive Idea?!?!?!?! :d

 

[danny.guitar]

Why not?

What kind of tone are you going for, and what kind of music do you play? That would help when deciding which pickups to get...

 

[threshhold2]

problem with the current p/ups

is that they are MUDDY!

turning the tone knobs help-----but if you need to turn them ALL the way up---whats the point? in other words :these pickups are not versatile at all.

 

[Codmate]

IME the Les Paul Studio can be a great guitar. It can sound muddy with some amps or settings though, in the normal channel of my Vibrolux for instance. In the bright channel it sings though.

The reverse is true of my Strat however. It's too thin through the bright channel (unless I engage the S1 switching), and sounds just great through the 'normal'.

 

[toad]

I put Seymour Duncan '59s in mine....

 

[Yareek]

Well I've got a '93 Les Paul Studio which has an ebony board, but it's still an incredibly dark and muddy guitar. I don't know about the current pickups for the Standard, but the Studio used to share the same pickups as the Standard (490R & 496T I believe).

I've tried hotter pickups, but they end up sounding way too distorted and don't fix the mud. I believe the key to getting a good sound out of a dark LP is either a bright low-output bucker or a P90 style single-coil.

Here's a few options:

Seymour Duncan Phat Cat - Humbucker-sized P90, very well regarded

Lindy Fralin Split Singles and Twangbucker - Humbucker-sized single coils

Lindy Fralin Unbucker - Humbucker with mismatched coils

Personally, I'm planning on trying out the Unbuckers. I like the idea of a PAF style 'bucker, but I still have a feeling it would be too dark in my LP (it's a very muddy guitar!). The Unbucker has one coil that is underwound that gives it a brighter sound with more sparkle. I've made a hybrid of mismatched coil humbuckers and it does make a big difference. I don't know that I could use a standard humbucker in anything other than a bright guitar. So the vintage PAF sound with additional sparkle really makes me interested.

 

[flamin-gitaur]

I've gotta 94' LP Studio Lite, with the 490R/500T ceramic pup combo, and it's muddier than shit too. I have to eq the shit out of it to get it sounding good. It sounds beautiful with clean sounds but for distortion it sorta kinda sucks shit. The LP Standard I believe comes with 490R/498T Alnico Pups, which is probably why it sounds so much better.

 

[dgatwood]

is that they are MUDDY!

turning the tone knobs help-----but if you need to turn them ALL the way up---whats the point? in other words :these pickups are not versatile at all.

Try repositioning them closer to the strings unless they're already so close that you're losing too much sustain.

 

[Flamin Lip]

Pretty sure they are the same PuPs as the standard.........Burstbuckers would be my recomended upgrade. So many choices though!!! Go to Seymour Duncans and Dimarzios sites and do your homework of whats out there.

 

[skyguitarworks]

i have 2 les pauls and my favs have got to be the emgs i have in one (81 &85) it is great for the heavy stuff, and the other i have duncans in ( pearly gates in the bridge and a 59 in the neck)