Best Pickup For An Epiphone Les Paul?

[cunnins4]

What do you guys reckon are the best pickups to stick in an Epiphone Les Paul? I was going to get Burstbuckers just like the Gibson Les Pauls have, but i was just wondering if you guys think there's anything better out there for the same price, or hopefully less?

Edit: it's an LP Standard BTW if that makes any difference

[Ledzendrix1128]

I just installed a Gibson Classic 57 plus in the neck, and a gibson 57 classic in the bridge of my friends LP like 2 days ago... it has a really nice humbucker sound to it... the clean setting sounds really good... and it has more of a classic rock sound to it... you really need to know what style your lookin for though... my other friend got EMGs for his lespaul... hes in a local metal band... and they sound damn good for what he wants... but they wouldnt be for me cuz im more of a classic rock kinda guy

[cunnins4]

I'm more into my classic rock too, but i'd also be looking for something that can handle a fair bit of distortion from time to time. I mostly play zepellin, thin lizzy, ac/dc, sabbath etc... i'd sometimes crack out some metallica, but none of that slipknot nu metal nonsense. At the same time, i love a nice clean tone too, so would the setup you described above deliver that too? what sort of price am i looking at to get those pups?

Cheers for the reply.

Bouli

[crafty]

Check out either the Seymour Duncan JB/Jazz set or the Rio Grande Texas BBQ set. Probably the two most popular sets that'll cover just about anything plus not that expensive, either.

The Gibson's will set you back about $200 for a set. The SD's are about $120-130 for the set, the Rio's you can find for about $140-150.

I'd also completely replace the electronics, including the caps and pots, with premium parts like CTS. RS Guitarworks makes some pretty good upgrade kits for that purpose, too. If you save money by not going Gibson, you'll have more to spend on a quality pot and cap kit.

EDIT: I just noticed you're in Ireland. You may want to check out Bare Knuckle Pickups because you may be able to get them cheaper than Gibson, Rio, and Duncan over there, given they're a UK outfit. We've heard good things about them on the forum and they can build pretty much whatever you want. Good Luck.

Edited September 15, 2005 by crafty

[Marzocchi705]

I second bareknucle pups too. there quality and a few people on this board have them and they love em, do a search and you should find a thread with a few more UK pup manufactuers in it, theres one not to far from me, wizzard pups i think it is.

[cunnins4]

Cheers lads. I checked out the bareknuckle and rg websites. I didn't consider completely changing the electronics, but now that it's been highlighted i'll definitely be getting a kit to replace the lot.

As for the pups, i'm even more confused than when i started out. I'm going to contact that guy at bk because everyone speaks highly of him for his help. I think i'll be buying there.

Just one more question: what on earth is braided wire? what's the difference between it and regular wire?

Thanks again for the help.

Bouli

[ZoSo_Spencer]

cough cough................jon moore.................cough......

ive heard (read) he makes some finnnneeee pickups at a VERY VERY good price too

read this

Jon Moores Pickup reviews

you can contact him at

rhonjon@sympatico.ca

he makes humbuckers wound to your specs at only 120us a set

if you ask me thats a deal especially when you consider his review ratings

hope u get a set so i can have a listen - i am VERY seriously considering them - well its more alike - i will get them, when i get the money

[crafty]

what on earth is braided wire? what's the difference between it and regular wire?

Braided wire is simply a two-conductor cable with a center conductor surrounded by insulation and a braided jacket on the outside to form an outer conductor for the ground.

Most aftermarket pups use four-conductor cable, which has four wires and a ground braid.