Upgrading a Les Paul and wanted to keep this one more on a hot vintage side. Looking for some Throbak's MC's or DW's, Rio Grande BBQ or something like. Standard, long leg. Prefer aged nickel, cream or even zebra.
Hit me up if you've got something mentioned or compatible.
I don’t have any pickups like that for sale, but I’d recommend Tone Specific pickups, particularly the Virtuoso or Bloombucker Set. I’ve tried em all and Wagner and Virgil Arlo’s were my 2 favorites for a while of the modern made pickups, but I’ve sold all of them since getting Tone Specific’s
I did pick up a set of Rio Grande BBQ & Texas. I like the BBQ in it's respective bridge position but the Texas in the neck it's too hot no matter how much I move it from the strings before it looses all clarity.
So with that I'm still looking for some more to try.
Duncan Custom. You'll thank me later. Pure PAF tone, with more bite.
The Dimarzio 36th Anniversary pickups aren't too shabby either. Based on a PAF, tighter in the lows. I put those in my brother's LP, and they're pretty stellar sounding in it.
Have a Duncan Custom Sh-5 Custom 8. It has the Alnico 8 mag swap. Crazy good but not enough roll off clean that I'm needing. Never tried the reg Custom Sh-5.
I had a BBQ Bucker in my '89 Standard for a few years and really liked it. I ended up switching to the Suhr Aldrich, and have stuck with that for the last many years. The next one I'll try is the MCP 2nd Degree Blackbelt, but I'm content for now with the Aldrich.
The BBQ Bucker was really cool though -- lots of mids, fat sounding. I really liked it, but just kinda got the itch to try something new after awhile.
for easily obtainable, I've always liked Gibson '57 Classic PLUS in the bridge, and the SD '59n in the neck.
The '59n isn't muddy but very open, and the '57 C+ has a nice push to it.
You can really go down a rabbit hole with pickups - it is fun but it is expensive. My favorites are the unpotted-with-covers versions that are slightly unbalanced in the windings, and I personally now have mine custom wound by a local guy. However, if you go mega-gain those aren't the right answer.
You’re going to find that not all PAF style pickups sound good with gain but the Marshallhead sounds great. They can sound much hotter than they read but clean up really well with the guitars volume and have a great vintage chime to them.
I had a BBQ Bucker in my '89 Standard for a few years and really liked it. I ended up switching to the Suhr Aldrich, and have stuck with that for the last many years. The next one I'll try is the MCP 2nd Degree Blackbelt, but I'm content for now with the Aldrich.
The BBQ Bucker was really cool though -- lots of mids, fat sounding. I really liked it, but just kinda got the itch to try something new after awhile.
Back when was gigging over 10 years ago, had an Aldrich in my LP Standard and kicked all kinds of ass. Love that pickup!! I have 2nd Degree Blackbelts in my LP Classic. Great pickups too. Wouldn't even know where to start with doing a comparison between those and the Aldrich. I like higher gain pickups that clean up well and that is why I loved the Aldrich.
