software

Hi there,

I’ve been playing guitar almost 4 years now, of which the last year has been professionally taught. I’m only just starting to really develop as a player and start improvising properly with stuff that I can almost be proud of (but not quite). Until about a month ago I’ve been playing on a crappy Marshall solid-state amp with a GT-8 plugged into it, but now I am using a rather nifty Laney LC30-II all-valve Class A amp instead of the arsey Marshall. It’s really good – clean channel is amazing and the distortion has so much gain I often just cant stop smiling whilst chugging away on a few power chords.

Thing is I’m playing on an Epiphone Les Paul Std., with stock pick ups. My guitar tutor a few weeks ago commented that the pickups weren’t all that great and for humbuckers they had a particularly low output.

Now that I’m playing with what I think is a fairly decent amp I cant help but think that I’m being robbed of sweet, glorious, tone because of the stock pickups I’m using – which is why I’m here

I need some new pickups to help me in my quest for the ultimate tone so could do with some suggestions. Here’s a few artists that I like, to give you an idea of what stuff I play – Pink Floyd, Satriani, Metallica, Guns n Roses and a whole bunch of other stuff kinda floating round those styles. I think I’m leaning towards metal/heavy rock these days, but don’t want to be left with pickups that only sound good with this style of music. So kinda high gain but also able to do smoother stuff and classic rock.

Any suggestions would be helpful, but at the moment I’m thinking SH-4 JB for the neck and SH-2 jazz for the neck. Is this going to give me a sound in that ballpark or have I lost the plot somewhere?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Cheers
Alex

I would suggest APH-1 Alnico II Pro for the neck and SH-5 Duncan Custom for the bridge!

As for your favs:
Pink Floyd - Fender Strat with EMGs,
Satriani - Ibanez with DiMarzios,
Metallica - ESP/Gibson LesPaul with EMGs,
Guns n' Roses/Slash - Gibson LesPaul with Duncan APH-1 Alnico II Pro set!

Have fun!

i think jazz and custom five, you'll find the JB to be flat and thin and sort of trebbly. It lacks balls.

I'd go with the APH in the neck and a C5 in the bridge. The normal Custom is very cool too, but I find it a bit too aggressive for low gain OD tones.


Originally Posted by DmitryI would suggest APH-1 Alnico II Pro for the neck and SH-5 Duncan Custom for the bridge!

As for your favs:
Pink Floyd - Fender Strat with EMGs,
Satriani - Ibanez with DiMarzios,
Metallica - ESP/Gibson LesPaul with EMGs,
Guns n' Roses/Slash - Gibson LesPaul with Duncan APH-1 Alnico II Pro set!

Have fun!

I was thinking the exact same thing!!!!!

Alnico II Pro in the neck and Custom or Custom Custom bridge.

Funny your tutor said that about the stock pickups. The neck measures between 7-8K DC resistance and the bridge measures around 15K DC resistance. Mine do anyway. If they were a little more open sounded they would be fine but you cannot go wrong by slapping some s in there.


Originally Posted by motorboy29i think jazz and custom five, you'll find the JB to be flat and thin and sort of trebbly. It lacks balls.

I think this combo or the AIIpro are the best suggestions so far IMHO. Depending on how hot you want the bridge pickup, the Jazz neck and '59 bridge would also be a great choice. It's the pickup set I have in my Epi Paul (see sig) .

59 in the neck would be quite cool too.