Favorite Pickups for Les Paul Custom?

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SFW said:
For Les Pauls, my current two favorite sets are the Suhr Aldrich and the Duncan Slash 2.0s.

The Aldrich set is just blazing. Big fat tones.

The Slash 2.0 was actually a big surprise to me. They behave like lower output pickups when played clean, but when you throw some dirt on them they behave more like higher output pickups. Big percussive bottom end and the highs remain sweat. These have replaced the Aldrichs in two of my Les Pauls.


Same guitar...

Aldrich:


Slash 2.0:
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Wow, those Duncans sound great. You know how to get some ripping tones, man. I can see why you'd want Les Pauls with the Aldrich set and a Les Paul with the Slash set.
 
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braintheory said:
Ah ok interesting, I may sort of be able to see that. I wonder also how close those pickups were to the strings in the guitar.
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I don't remember, but I am pretty thorough. The difference in the way he hit the strings would have been apparent regardless or the height.
I know. I was there. LOL
 
JohnnyGtar said:
Wow, those Duncans sound great. You know how to get some ripping tones, man. I can see why you'd want Les Pauls with the Aldrich set and a Les Pauls with the Slash set.
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It really just depends on what you want for the guitar. If you want to straight out burn… Aldrich. If you want some more versatility, Slash 2.0. I bounce back and forth on what I want my guitars to do from month to month…lol. So I have three sets of both pup sets. lol.
 
JohnnyGtar said:
I don't remember, but I am pretty thorough. The difference in the way he hit the strings would have been apparent regardless or the height.
I know. I was there. LOL
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Maybe, hard to say, but I would say having a couple of them now they are pretty height sensitive (along with my other Bill Lawrence's), but I also by default tend to pick pretty hard by a combination of my pick choices and technical style. I also noticed my blade Bill Lawrence's where the blades stick out more tend to sound better IME. I still though tend to like most still lower output '60's and '50's pickups and may have also preferred the Gibson pickup you mentioned (depending what it was, not if it was a T-Top lol)
 
braintheory said:
Maybe, hard to say, but I would say having a couple of them now they are pretty height sensitive (along with my other Bill Lawrence's), but I also by default tend to pick pretty hard by a combination of my pick choices and technical style. I also noticed my blade Bill Lawrence's where the blades stick out more tend to sound better IME. I still though tend to like most still lower output '60's and '50's pickups and may have also preferred the Gibson pickup you mentioned (depending what it was, not if it was a T-Top lol)
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The Gibson pickup was whatever came stock in "The Paul"...the Walnut one. I think the similar Mahogany ones were called "Les Paul Firebrand."

EDIT: I looked it up. Those guitars came with T-Tops. But I've played several of "The Paul" guitars and never thought they were bright. Did they use 300K pots back then? I don't remember anymore. Were there different eras of T-Tops?
 
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DanTravis62 said:
Wagner godwood, tonenerd Roxy for medium output

Tonenerd Psykes, Wagner ironman, vintage dirty fingers for high output

Wagner crossroads or Scott's A2 for neck
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Had never heard of Wagner pickups before. I need to check them out after a few mentions here.
 
jbru91 said:
Had never heard of Wagner pickups before. I need to check them out after a few mentions here.
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They are fantastic - one of those gear purchases that "just work"

All of his models do exactly what he says they do

They are definitely pricey, but well worth it IMO
 
I used to have an '81 or '82 Gibson SG standard with what I'm assuming were the stock pickups (I vaguely remember the Patent Applied For sticker or something else on the bottom indicating it was a Gibson pickup). I also tried those pickups in a few guitars before putting them back in the SG and I must say they were better than 57+ Classics and SD Seth Lovers. Any idea of what Gibson pickup model came stock in early 80's SGs?
 
thegame said:
I used to have an '81 or '82 Gibson SG standard with what I'm assuming were the stock pickups (I vaguely remember the Patent Applied For sticker or something else on the bottom indicating it was a Gibson pickup). I also tried those pickups in a few guitars before putting them back in the SG and I must say they were better than 57+ Classics and SD Seth Lovers. Any idea of what Gibson pickup model came stock in early 80's SGs?
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My guess would be either Tim Shaw PAF’s or T-Top’s of some sort, but others who know those guitars better may be able to say better. Both I think would be a big step up from 57+ classics or SD’s, but imho not the highest bar to improve on with those 2. The Shaw PAF’s are imo some of the better alternatives to real ‘50’s PAF’s
 
Another vote for the Gibson 500T. Killer pickup for anything heavy.

FWIW, I don't think the 500T is just a 498T with Ceramic magnets. Based on the DCR, I think it's got a few more winds on it as well.
 
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jbru91 said:
Had never heard of Wagner pickups before. I need to check them out after a few mentions here.
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They’re imo one of the better recent made pickups for the price, although I felt still for my taste bland/sterile when I compared to good vintage pickups mentioned before

I tried almost his entire line-up and liked most the Darkburst’s and Iron Man. The Darkburst for me had a better midrange and overall voicing than the Godwood, Ice Buckers and Fillmore’s I had, but to cut to the chase they weren’t as inspiring for me anymore once I got deeper into the pickup rabbit hole
 
I didn't realize T-Tops were desirable.

The one vintage Les Paul I've tried had T-Tops which, on top of being really bright and pretty underpowered, were microphonic in the particular guitar I played.
 
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Rex Rocker said:
I didn't realize T-Tops were desirable.

The one vintage Les Paul I've tried had T-Tops which, on top of being really bright and pretty underwpowered, were microphonic in the particular guitar I played.
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Yeah they’re not my favorites either nor are the T-Top inspired pickups like the MCP T-Wrecks or Wolfetone one, but there’s demand for them for whatever reason

Sounds like you may not have played the best example, but they are IME generally more in the direction you describe. Thinner and not as tonally complex as other vintage Gibson pickups, but put them in a great vintage Gibson (which I’ve done), the guitar will still sound great, but not up to its full potential, which is always my goal
 
JohnnyGtar said:
The Gibson pickup was whatever came stock in "The Paul"...the Walnut one. I think the similar Mahogany ones were called "Les Paul Firebrand."

EDIT: I looked it up. Those guitars came with T-Tops. But I've played several of "The Paul" guitars and never thought they were bright. Did they use 300K pots back then? I don't remember anymore. Were there different eras of T-Tops?
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I have one "The Paul" I got a few months ago and love it. Plays amazing! It is walnut so a bit dark but has a Super Distortion in the bridge (still has original neck pickup and bought it that way). I'll have to check sometime and see what it is.

I have an Aldrich in my Les Paul Classic which replaced the Tonenerd Whiskey which replaced the 2nd Degree Blackbelt. I love all three. I'm thinking of putting the Whiskey in my "The Paul" but we'll see. Eventually I'll put the 2nd Degree Blackbelt back in something.

My Classic is a 2013 and lighter than a lot of Les Pauls so doesn't have as much low end as my 2019 Standard or 2021 Classic. The Aldrich is tight and works great in a Les Paul for sure.
 
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