Rio vs WCR vs Voodoo vs Bare Knuckle...

If you think the Darkbursts are to thin and don't have enough mids run don't walk away from the Voodoo 57s. I used them for a long time, and they are much brighter than the Darkburst. The Goodwood, and Darkburst neck pickups are almost the same (if not the same), buth the bridge Goodwood is much warmer. I hate Rio pickups so i won't talk about them at all. In the Duncan Family try the Custom Custom in the bridge, and a seth or Alnico II in the neck (slash did Alnico IIs).

 

For a hot PAF type pickup, I dig the Wolfetone Marshallhead

 

I'm really confused by what you are looking for in the bridge, so give me an artist that get's the sound you want. You say you don't want highs, but you don't like the idea of the Mids of the Custom Custom. One thing to keep in mind is that if your CU22 has a trem it's hurting for mids to start with. The darkbursts from WCR as some of the sweatest over wound PAF style pickups i've heard.

 

The CC might be a good bridge pup to try in a PRS, I might try one myself in my McCarty i hear the work real well in PRS guitars. Like your self I didnt care to much for the DarkBurst in my PRS and preferd the McCarty pups tone over the Darkburst.

Did the CU22 come with Dragon II pups, I have a pair of those sitting in a draw but think they are very good pickups!

 

sounds like you need to stick with pickups that use alnico II magnets to keep round highs. Slash used Alnico II in both positions with GnR. You might talk to Jim at WCR about adding a II in your darkbursts.

 

The other part of that tone equation is the Les Paul, IMO. I think it's going to be tough to really cop that tone using a CU22.

I have a Custom Custom in the bridge of my Thorn, but it has a wraptail and is 1/8" oversize korina body. I would say that it gets clost to G'n'R era Slash, but still probably doesn't have that low-mid push that is inherent in Les Pauls. IMO, to cop that middle of the road vintage+hard rock with PRS-style guitars, you need a bit hotter pickup, with a Alnico II magnet. This seems to work well, the extra output combined with less string pull is the winning combo, IMO. The difference between the Duncan Custom and the Custom Custom is the Alnico II magnet in the CC vs. the Ceramic Bar in the DC.

I also have a Wolfetone Marshallhead pickup in my LesPaul. It is a good choice for the over-wound PAF style pickup, regardless of how it is described on the website.

 

There's a fairly cheap set of Rio Grandes on ebay right now. I'm not the seller, but have been tracking them. Seems like they would be a good deal, and you could probably break even on a re-sale or just leave them in a backup guitar if you decided to go with something else:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=170203160962&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=007

 

Also, check out the WB pickups. I heard the Reverends are very nice and may be just what you're looking for. Competes nicely with WCR and Bare Knuckles. Soundclips included on this website:
http://wbpickups.com/pickups.php

 

My Oxblood Les Paul has the Rio Grande BBQ in the bridge and a WCR Crossroads in the neck. I have not heard of anyone using this combo before but I guess I got lucky because they go well together. The BBQ is a little hotter and rounds the highs off a little which works really well with my setup. It is not a dark or muddy pickup though.

 

I have the BK AIV Mules in a Les Paul...
Put on ZZ Top's First Album and listen to Brown Sugar and Just got back from babys for a good idea of how the bridge and neck pickups sound.

 

Definitely don't want the Voodoos. I hated the pair I had (59s A3/A5) for what I wanted, which sounds sort of like what you want. I like the Rio BBQ/Gen TX sets that I have for that. I like the Duncan Customs too though.

If you were looking for clarity and sustain in a PAF, the WBs are simply fantastic, but I'd say anything but "greasy". I just got a set of the Gregwinds and they're extremely articulate and bold. Probably not what you're looking for.

 

This is definitely what you want, but with A2 magnets rather than A5's.

 

Slash only uses one kind of pickup: Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pros. A friend of mine has a Gibson Les Paul (studio lite model) with the same pups in them, and he gets perfect slash tone. Slash also uses Silver Jubilee 25th anniversary Marshall amps. You can probably get pretty close to that on a Marshall vintage modern and a Duncan Alnico II pro. Hope that helps.

 

A friend has a Rio Texas and BBQ in his Les Paul, and it sounds great. I was surprised due to the high output. The BBQ was fat
with a growl I loved.