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I finally got to the breaking point...tired of being overly anal about magnet types, covers or no covers, potting or lack thereof, output levels, symetrical windings or not, not to mention whether I should go with Gibson 57's or god knows what else.......

Back to basics. THE classic tone. And a Classic look (as far as I'm concerned).

Pair of Zebra 59's should be here by the end of the week

I found a 15 or so year old horrible taping of me playing my 1988-ish Explorer that I pulled the DF's out of and had 59's put in (eventually went to a custom in the bridge). I was running it through an old Jackson 50 watt EL34 head (not lee jackson, but Jackson guitars), and a Laney 2x12 cab w/ Celestions and there I heard it. That FAT Gibson/Marshall type sound. The bloom, the bite, the warmth.

Yeah the neck can get a little woofy, but good gawd do I love that FAT, singing sweet tone of a oversaturated neck 59 ...That Gary Moore quot;parisienne walkways/still got the bluesquot; or John Sykes quot;is this Lovequot; tone.

The bridge of course also is classic. Medium to low ouput. Less middy and harsh, fat bottom end and a biting but not harsh top end. Can you say quot;Kerrrrraaaaaannnnngggggquot;?

Can't wait to get 'em in and get rid of the BB pro's :fing25: Don't get me wrong The BBPros ARE really nice pups, with a nice even response and excellent clarity...but more along the lines of a slightly lower output JB than a PAF..not necc a bad thing...but that style of pup kills the unique sound of a Les Paul, IMO.

I'm excited, can ya tell?

Good for you, man. Play the heck out of them when you get 'em. Originally Posted by JeffBI
Yeah the neck can get a little woofy, but good gawd do I love that FAT, singing sweet tone of a oversaturated neck 59 ...That Gary Moore quot;parisienne walkways/still got the bluesquot; or John Sykes quot;is this Lovequot; tone.If the boomyness of the 59 starts bothering you after a while, change the mag to an Alnico II. I did it when I had the 59 in my LP and I loved it.


Originally Posted by Benjy_26Good for you, man. Play the heck out of them when you get 'em.

Indeed I will. I've been agonizing over this for 2-3 weeks There are jes too many damn pups to choose from If the boomyness of the 59 starts bothering you after a while, change the mag to an Alnico II. I did it when I had the 59 in my LP and I loved it.

Thanks for the tip. I'm electronically challenged, so I'd have to have the shop do so for me. Where would I purchase a new magnet?

And how did it affect the tone of the 59 otherwise?


Originally Posted by JeffB

...but good gawd do I love that FAT, singing sweet tone of a oversaturated neck 59.

I share your thoughts and feelings about the '59 neck bro! Can you say: quot;Woman Tone''. The '59's are THE Les Paul pickups in my opinion. Besides, they are SD's faithful repro of the original Gibson PAF so how can it not sound great. The '59's bring out the TRUE TONE of the Les Paul like no other pickups out there can, period.

Good call Jeff....I'll be anxious to hear how you like them. I just picked up a 59' neck from Wattage, and it will be here soon. I have a PG to try in the bridge of my Standard, and if that doesn't do it I'll try the 59' bridge.

I know what you mean about the BB's sounding much hotter than their output, ohms reading. I think the bridge especially hits my amp about as hard as the C5, even tho it's 9k or less. Not a bad sound at all, and I'm still leaving them in my 57' RI for a while. The bite of the 59' bridge is awsome. The neck can get woofy, and in the past I have HATED the 59'(n), but I have a feeling that it will sound different in a Les Paul....besides, the one I have comming from Wattage is double cream....and we all know those sound better!!!! LOL


Originally Posted by JeffBThanks for the tip. I'm electronically challenged, so I'd have to have the shop do so for me. Where would I purchase a new magnet?

And how did it affect the tone of the 59 otherwise?You can get the Alnico II mags from Torres Engineering.

The Alnico II 59 wis going to be creamier than a PG but with a bit more chime and with a tighter low end than a Seth.

It works great for jazz and clean lues leads in my LP, and well, the OD tones are awesome, of course.


Originally Posted by Jeff_HThe neck can get woofy, and in the past I have HATED the 59'(n), but I have a feeling that it will sound different in a Les Paul....besides, the one I have comming from Wattage is double cream....and we all know those sound better!!!! LOL
But of course they sound better

I'm not sure which guitar you had one in (the 59N), but in some guitars they are def too much. In my first Explorer, it was too much..no maple cap to brighten it up a tad. In my second one (mentioned in the post above), it was much nicer due to a brighter/snappier ebony board. In a Paul, I think they offer such great tones the majority of the time, that the slight quot;woofinessquot; on occasion is worth it. I don't tend to use the neck for anything but higher register saturated leads or clean/slight breakup bluesy/jazzy stuff, and it's jes fine for all of those. If I was using the neck pup for high gain chord work, or playing alot on the lower frets/strings under gain I'd prolly choose something else...a APII or similar. Then again, I'm sure a satisfactory compromise can be made by tweaking the bass string side of the pup


Originally Posted by Old GhostI share your thoughts and feelings about the '59 neck bro! Can you say: quot;Woman Tone''

Woman tone!


Originally Posted by Benjy_26You can get the Alnico II mags from Torres Engineering.

The Alnico II 59 wis going to be creamier than a PG but with a bit more chime and with a tighter low end than a Seth.

It works great for jazz and clean lues leads in my LP, and well, the OD tones are awesome, of course.

Thanks Benjy. This is good to know.

Anyway, I don't think you'll ever need it if you love the 59 af much as I do