Favorite Pickups for Les Paul Custom?

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JohnnyGtar said:
Well, I've and played both and I love 'em. Buying expensive vintage pickups isn't in the cards for me anymore.

The Aldrich works very well for me. I don't expect it to sound like a vintage DF. It's got it's own thing going on and I love that thing. LOL

The last vintage DF I had I found on eBay for $100 over 10 years ago. The seller didn't know what they had.
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The thing is the vintage Mighty Mites, Bill Lawnreces, Jackson J90, Schaller, Hagstroms, and Japanese pickups can be had for similar prices to the Aldrich (the Schaller's are underratedly cheap). I guess looking now on reverb Dirty Fingers went up in price, but these other ones are all reasonable, I'd actually argue even great values in tone per dollar (if we could quantify that lol)

The Aldrich is nothing like the DF like you said (not much really is), different flavors, but I feel for the relative strengths of what that pickup offers the vintage Mighty Mite 1400, Bill Lawrence L100, Jackson J90C or some Schaller's think all can potentially render the Aldrich obsolete depending partly on what exact quality one hones in on liking in it

I understand the Aldrich and some of these other pickups can all potentially be good/"right" fits for the right guitar and styles, I just as a goal always like to push for how we can do even better, not just settle when we don't always have to. My goal is more to try to intend well rather than argue lol
 
SpiderWars said:
I put a Tonenerd Psykes in my LPC and love but it’s pretty hot. It’s a Dirty Fingers clone but it doesn’t squeal like the originals. It still is able to balance with the original 7.6k neck pickup.
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Yep.

I'm running a PSykes in one Custom and a 500T in another. I'm happy with both.
 
JohnnyGtar said:
Just a heads up, the 500T runs 3 ceramics. I'll bet a ceramic 498T would be great, though. Have you ever tried a 496R in the bridge? I wonder what that sounds like.
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Damn I didn’t know they run stacked ceramics in the 500T. I bet a single bulk 498T would be a good mix then. I’ve always felt the 500T is a bit over the top and too sharp sounding for solos. The 498T is just too sweet sounding for rhythm though - it turned my guitar into a solo beast but weak sounding rhythm chords.
 
I've always liked the stock 498t and 496r in my customs. I do have a 2006 custom that has the classic 57s and they sound killer also. I will also say I've owned several sets of Jim Wagner's pickups and he makes great stuff!
 
scottosan said:
As far as my pickups, I’d recommend an whiskey with a P’AF 4 neck
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Great set! I'd put that in my LPs or Explorer. 335, too.

As for the newer pups vs older debate....
Imo, there are plenty of great new pups that hold up, or even improve on the older ones.

I have an Suhr SSH+ in my Modern, and have played an Aldrich in an LP.
The Aldrich was a bit dark for my tastes. The SSH+, like the Aldrich, is pretty hot with quite a bit of low end, but is more open sounding and nicely reactive. I have no desire to change it, which is saying something! That guitar with that pickup holds up soundwise to anything I have or have played. Come to think of it, that Modern has a mahogany body with maple top, pretty much like an LP. I think the SSH+ would work well in an LP, if you want a lot of output with meaty low end, but still open and reactive. It's not a polite pickup, but it's not a beast. Just really good.

Scott's Psykes is pretty close to an old DF, without the squealy tendencies. It's def hot and somewhat scooped.
Liked it so much I put one in my Explorer, and I tend to dislike ceramic pickups.
I was recently thinking about replacing it with a Whiskey, which is just a killer pup in any guitar, but I was playing the Explorer through this vintage voiced amp on Sunday, and the Psykes pushed it so hard, it was fat and mean and screaming, no pedal needed. That's where that pup really shines, pushing vintage circuits into the zone. It has a bit more character than the SSH+. Where the SSH+ would probably be more commonly well regarded, I can see the Psykes being a love or hate thing, depending on what a person was looking for.

One thing I've learned over the years. A pickup that you love in one guitar may sound like poo in another guitar. A Burstbucker 3 sounded thin and tiny in my SG, but like the best raunchy PAF type in my LP. Sometimes you have to try a bunch to find the magic combo for each guitar. That particular SG ended up with a Motor City Detroiter, and it's just perfect. So much so, I'm afraid to pull it out. Or even bump it wrong. I loooove it.
 
Dirty Fingers or 500T (I think the 500T is a modern DF without the double row of screw pole pieces).
 
LPMojoGL said:
Great set! I'd put that in my LPs or Explorer. 335, too.

As for the newer pups vs older debate....
Imo, there are plenty of great new pups that hold up, or even improve on the older ones.

I have an Suhr SSH+ in my Modern, and have played an Aldrich in an LP.
The Aldrich was a bit dark for my tastes. The SSH+, like the Aldrich, is pretty hot with quite a bit of low end, but is more open sounding and nicely reactive. I have no desire to change it, which is saying something! That guitar with that pickup holds up soundwise to anything I have or have played. Come to think of it, that Modern has a mahogany body with maple top, pretty much like an LP. I think the SSH+ would work well in an LP, if you want a lot of output with meaty low end, but still open and reactive. It's not a polite pickup, but it's not a beast. Just really good.

Scott's Psykes is pretty close to an old DF, without the squealy tendencies. It's def hot and somewhat scooped.
Liked it so much I put one in my Explorer, and I tend to dislike ceramic pickups.
I was recently thinking about replacing it with a Whiskey, which is just a killer pup in any guitar, but I was playing the Explorer through this vintage voiced amp on Sunday, and the Psykes pushed it so hard, it was fat and mean and screaming, no pedal needed. That's where that pup really shines, pushing vintage circuits into the zone. It has a bit more character than the SSH+. Where the SSH+ would probably be more commonly well regarded, I can see the Psykes being a love or hate thing, depending on what a person was looking for.

One thing I've learned over the years. A pickup that you love in one guitar may sound like poo in another guitar. A Burstbucker 3 sounded thin and tiny in my SG, but like the best raunchy PAF type in my LP. Sometimes you have to try a bunch to find the magic combo for each guitar. That particular SG ended up with a Motor City Detroiter, and it's just perfect. So much so, I'm afraid to pull it out. Or even bump it wrong. I loooove it.
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I've found the newer pickups just don't have the raw, organic quality I like or the same nuances going on around the notes. They just come off a bit bland/sterile, not alive to me every time I compare in the same guitars. It's more inspiring to play for me in both sound and feel. I agree that a lot of it is about finding the right pickup to fit what we want in the guitar and sure I've had even some '60's guitars sound great with newer pickups in them (tinkered with lots of pickups in my vintage guitars despite that being blasphemy lol), but pretty much every time so far when I tried to optimize in my guitars for me it's been something vintage since getting deep into that rabbit hole since 2022 and doing comparisons. There are many cheaper hidden gems too with vintage pickups and that's really why I see not that much reason to go back since besides a few exceptions

For recent pickups I do like Lundgren M6's a lot (nothing else also sounds like them) and Tone Specific's, but the former I'd think would probably be too modern for what the OP wants and the latter probably too vintage or low output, but both imo are great for recent pickups
 
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braintheory said:
I've found the newer pickups just don't have the raw, organic quality I like or the same nuances going on around the notes. They just come off a bit bland/sterile, not alive to me every time I compare in the same guitars. It's more inspiring to play for me in both sound and feel. I agree that a lot of it is about finding the right pickup to fit what we want in the guitar and sure I've had even some '60's guitars sound great with newer pickups in them (tinkered with lots of pickups in my vintage guitars despite that being blasphemy lol), but pretty much every time so far when I tried to optimize in my guitars for me it's been something vintage since getting deep into that rabbit hole since 2022 and doing comparisons. There are many cheaper hidden gems too with vintage pickups and that's really why I see not that much reason to go back since besides a few exceptions

For recent pickups I do like Lundgren M6's a lot (nothing else also sounds like them) and Tone Specific's, but the former I'd think would probably be too modern for what the OP wants and the latter probably too vintage or low output, but both imo are great for recent pickups
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I hear ya on the cheaper gems. I have an old Harmony Vibrajet with DeArmond gold foil pickups. Fun!
 
braintheory said:
I've found the newer pickups just don't have the raw, organic quality I like or the same nuances going on around the notes. They just come off a bit bland/sterile, not alive to me every time I compare in the same guitars. It's more inspiring to play for me in both sound and feel. I agree that a lot of it is about finding the right pickup to fit what we want in the guitar and sure I've had even some '60's guitars sound great with newer pickups in them (tinkered with lots of pickups in my vintage guitars despite that being blasphemy lol), but pretty much every time so far when I tried to optimize in my guitars for me it's been something vintage since getting deep into that rabbit hole since 2022 and doing comparisons. There are many cheaper hidden gems too with vintage pickups and that's really why I see not that much reason to go back since besides a few exceptions

For recent pickups I do like Lundgren M6's a lot (nothing else also sounds like them) and Tone Specific's, but the former I'd think would probably be too modern for what the OP wants and the latter probably too vintage or low output, but both imo are great for recent pickups
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I think alot of the older pickup you like are a combination of things. Some you mention are unpotted. I 100% agree that unpotted pickups have complexity to them thats not there in the same pickup that's wax potted. Some people can tolerate and control the microphonics and some cannot. The other thing is that the insulative coating of most wire types develops small cracks over time resulting some levels of parasitic leakage. This certainly impacts the tone. Think of it like crosstalk except with musical results. This is not something you can design or replicate in a new pickup.
 
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glpg80 said:
Damn I didn’t know they run stacked ceramics in the 500T. I bet a single bulk 498T would be a good mix then. I’ve always felt the 500T is a bit over the top and too sharp sounding for solos. The 498T is just too sweet sounding for rhythm though - it turned my guitar into a solo beast but weak sounding rhythm chords.
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IIRC, they're not stacked. Center magnet, then flanking magnets on each side (on the other side of the polepieces and slugs.) I think the Dirty Fingers used a similar layout. I defer to @scottosan because he would know for sure.

Yeah, if you do try a ceramic in a 498T, please let us know what you think of it. I love your videos, man. Great stuff!
 
JohnnyGtar said:
IIRC, they're not stacked. Center magnet, then flanking magnets on each side (on the other side of the polepieces and slugs.) I think the Dirty Fingers used a similar layout. I defer to @scottosan because he would know for sure.

Yeah, if you do try a ceramic in a 498T, please let us know what you think of it. I love your videos, man. Great stuff!
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I can only speak to the DF's. A main magnet and 2 flanking magnets, close to double the thickness as standard magnets
 
glpg80 said:
Damn I didn’t know they run stacked ceramics in the 500T. I bet a single bulk 498T would be a good mix then. I’ve always felt the 500T is a bit over the top and too sharp sounding for solos. The 498T is just too sweet sounding for rhythm though - it turned my guitar into a solo beast but weak sounding rhythm chords.
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I found some good links about the 500T and the magnets in it.

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=gibson+500t+magnets+type

I wonder what results mixing different types of magnets would give, so I asked my computer. Copilot GPT-4 in the Microsft Edge browser gave me this info: "Indeed! The Gibson Tony Iommi Signature humbucker is a fascinating example. It combines special alnico 2 and ceramic magnets, along with unique windings1. These mixed magnets contribute to its distinctive tone. The Iommi pickup delivers heavy punch, balanced lows, blistering mids, and razor-edged highs, making it ideal for high-gain scenarios2. Interestingly, the Iommi’s combination of ceramic and alnico magnets results in a slightly warmer tone compared to the 500T or Dirty Fingers pickups3. So, mixing magnet types can indeed yield intriguing results!"

The Gibson Iommi pickup exploded diagram looks weird as hell, too. @scottosan have you seen this diagram before?

Gibson-Iommi-Patent.jpg



https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=gibson+500t+magnets+type
 
LPMojoGL said:
I hear ya on the cheaper gems. I have an old Harmony Vibrajet with DeArmond gold foil pickups. Fun!
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Yes those are also among my favorite pickups. So raw, grindy and aggressive yet equally beautiful and sparkly when clean. They just have a magic you don’t here in stuff made the last 30-40 years or so
 
scottosan said:
I think alot of the older pickup you like are a combination of things. Some you mention are unpotted. I 100% agree that unpotted pickups have complexity to them thats not there in the same pickup that's wax potted. Some people can tolerate and control the microphonics and some cannot. The other thing is that the insulative coating of most wire types develops small cracks over time resulting some levels of parasitic leakage. This certainly impacts the tone. Think of it like crosstalk except with musical results. This is not something you can design or replicate in a new pickup.
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Yes I’ve heard those reasons as well. Some have mentioned to me the formvar wire that can’t be replicated as another factor. I’m not technical at all, just go by what I hear, but all could be the case. I’ve been able to mange the noise for the most part, but it does take the right set-up sometimes, some I still need a bit more tinkering with, but worth it to me

The old Bill Lawrence’s seem not to be noisy IME, but to me don’t have the same complexity as my true favorites, but imo still very good. Same for me also with most of the old Schaller’s and they’re cheap. My all time favorites are sadly some of the noisiest: ‘50’s Gretsch PAF, ‘60’s Gretsch Supertron, ‘60’s Gold Foil’s, ‘60’s Gibson Mini-Humbuckers. My ‘50’s Gibson PAF maybe since the highs are more rolled off actually doesn’t squeal much. A higher output ceramic version of some of those could be amazing and unique
 
I used to overthink this a lot

I would just put a Duncan 78 set in there and be done. Output won't be an issue because you're going to be running the (bridge) pickup fairly close to the strings anyways.
 
Honestly, you have tons of options. Some that come to mind are the MCP 2nd Degree Black Belt and WCR Icebucker (maybe a Godwood since he doesn’t make the Icebucker any more and they’re supposed to be similar) in that beefed up PAF range. If you want a bit more heat, the PRS Metal or Tremonti. For a bit more modern voicing while style having some flexibility, the Lundgren Black Heaven.
 
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