What's your favorite Les Paul Pickup and Why?

[wal]

In my LPs I've changed: the tailpiece to alum., bridge to steel,
Tone Caps to bumblebees, pots to 500k, all as tone upgrades and it's all
Been for huge payoffs. That being said, I still have stock, older,
GIBSON PUPS in all of them. After listenining to quite a few sound clips
On YouTube for The various scatter wound PUPS, I'm starting to feel
Like I'm really ' missing ' out on just how much better my Pauls could
Be sounding. Any of you guys to comment on what your favorites
Are and why? Almafitano, Wolfetones, Bare Knuckles etc.

 

[FennRx]

Throbak SLE 101 + MXV. They were exactly the sound I was looking for. I find them to be far superior to Burstbuckers, Zhangs and Sheptones I had before them.

My second favorite is the WCR CR/DB combo in my R8. The CR is a great neck pickup- especially since I use a NMV Marshall.

 

[AD3]

If you can afford it Seymour Duncan has teamed up with Joe Bonamassa to make a special set of pickups for him to make it sound like his favorite 59' Les Paul (he's got 3 and 60' as well) They have only made 1959 of them. Everyone on the Joe Bonamassa Forum that owns a set loves them. And some of these guys I trust their judgement because they own gear that would make anybody cry. When the guy on there Spider says they are the best he's ever tried and he did, you know something has got to be up. Seymour Duncan custom shop even agreed to make some people special pickups like Gold covers or Zebra coils even though they were not counted in the1959 limited run its cool to know you can have one made up like that.

http://jbstore.jbonamassa.com/equip...ssa-signature-pick-up-with-free-guitar-strap/

 

[Sancho]

Mine will stick out like a sore thumb here : JB.
I had a Traditional that I couldn't get to sound right. Suhr DA's, BKP Nailbombs... They were OK but not killer. Put in a JB/Jazz set and that was it.
It depends on your application obviously. I play 80s hard rock and heavy metal.
For blues or more vintage tones, you could do worse than try the Seth Lovers.

 

[jfwund]

I have a Sheptone Heartbreaker/Tribute combo in my R8 and they're absolutely fantastic. I'd highly recommend that combo. Haven't tried some of the more expensive pups, like Throbaks, Stephens Design, or OTPG, but for $250 I'd find it difficult to believe there's something out there that would suit me better than the Sheptones.

I actually was so pleased with them that when I switched pups in my ES-333, I put Sheptone Blue Skies in there -- they're also very good.

 

[Bluesdaddy]

I make out fine with 57 classics , I like a warmer sound with some bite when I dig in. I love mike Bloomfield's tone . Playing a les Paul with 57 classics through a twin gets me close

 

[illini]

I can only speak on PAF style pups. I have tried a few, and found that most of the good ones all sound great, and it depends more on the guitar they go into than the pickup. The Duncan Seth Lover made my Wolfgang sound amazing with just the right amount of mids, but the same pickup in my L.P sounded too bright. With that being said, I think Wolftone makes great pickups. I love his Marshallheads.

 

[brianr0131]

WCR American Steele by Far

Crossroads Neck

Godwood Bridge

The Crossroads because it's not muddy and dark and it cleans up well too. It's still got a chubby, fat tone but it has some edge and bite to it as well. Best Neck Pup I've ever tried in a LP

The Godwood because it is aptly named....for sure. Girth, beef, bite, smooth, punchy, clear, articulate, powerful. All of these terms suit the Godwood depending on what you set the amp and your guitar volume/tone knobs at.

I couldn't be happier with a set of pickups...also, they're in the PAF "family" to my ears so to speak as well.

 

[choucas09]

Bareknuckle's Mules are very good.

 

[Steve73]

WCR Darkbursts are my fav LP pickups. I went through a bunch before settling on those. No need or desire to look for anything else. Pickup selection is very guitar and player specific though.

 

[fuzzyguitars]

wolfetone marshallheads

wcr darkbursts.

59n jb combo

 

[gtraddict]

seth lovers or alnico II pros

 

[ElectricMojo]

I really like the Sheptone Blue Sky.

 

[paintguy]

Just from my experience and I haven't tried a ton of different pickups.

Tom Holmes.

I wouldn't hesitate to try so many others. WCR, Arcane, Wolfetone, Sheptone, Skatterbrane, Bareknuckles etc.... the list goes on and on

 

[custom53]

Not trying to highjack the thread but has anyone used Suhr Aldrich pickups in their Les Paul..? And how did you like them..?

 

[guitguy28]

I was very happy with Duncan Alnico II Pros in both positions. This was in a mid 90s LP Standard.

Prior to that I had the Gibson, stock 490R/498T set. Switching to the Alnico II Pros not only improved the dirty tone but the clean; before using them I never thought humbuckers could sound so good clean.

My ideal LP tone is Jimmy Page on the SRTS movie. The Alnico IIs gave me that.

 

[alberob]

Peter Florance VooDoo,s ended my search.

 

[27sauce]

I have an old set of Duncan '59's, no logo, wood spacer... And they sound just fantastic. Clear, medium output, not super compressed. They really let the guitar retain its natural tone. I've had them in 3 or 4 LP's since I've had them. I would love some double whites.

 

[TubeStack]

57/57+

 

[TonyBony]

I have a set in my R0 and they are great. The neck pickup gets that hollow articulate thing very nicely. The bridge pickup is what makes them my favorite set though. it is clear, articulate and bright without being piercing. It is low output, but sounds very powerful. The middle position is very usable as well. I hope that SD makes them a regular set.

If you can afford it Seymour Duncan has teamed up with Joe Bonamassa to make a special set of pickups for him to make it sound like his favorite 59' Les Paul (he's got 3 and 60' as well) They have only made 1959 of them. Everyone on the Joe Bonamassa Forum that owns a set loves them. And some of these guys I trust their judgement because they own gear that would make anybody cry. When the guy on there Spider says they are the best he's ever tried and he did, you know something has got to be up. Seymour Duncan custom shop even agreed to make some people special pickups like Gold covers or Zebra coils even though they were not counted in the1959 limited run its cool to know you can have one made up like that.

http://jbstore.jbonamassa.com/equip...ssa-signature-pick-up-with-free-guitar-strap/