Humbucker Pickup advice

[Slick Willy]

My friend’s I need help on the right pickup. I play mostly country music and blue’s with some classic rock now and then. I want a warm smooth bridge and a clear clean neck that’s not muddy. I’m not looking for anything hot. I’m guessing around 7K. I’m also going to go with a vintage type wiring. I’m basically taking a Les Paul Traditional that’s had its guts changed out. But it was done with crappy pots and the wiring is trash. It has stock 57’s in it. They are the 4 wire type. So I’m guessing it originally had push pull pots. Can I do away with the extra wire? I’m not doing the work. Going to have a good shop do the work. Thanks for your help and advice.

 

[cooljuk]

So are you replacing the pickups with something clear clean and not muddy or are you trying to use the ‘57 Classics you have?

I don’t really understand what you are doing but you don’t HAVE to use switches with four conductor wire pickups, if that’s the question.

 

[Leee]

I’m a huge fan of the 57 Classics.

Unless you need to swap them out for some reason, I say simplify the wiring with good quality pots and enjoy the guitar.

 

[Slick Willy]

I’m sorry I didn’t say. But yeah I’m going to replace pickups. The the ones that are in it now don’t have the sound. The neck comes pickup is kinda off muddy and not as warm and woody. The rear pupi is kinda shrill and harsh sounding. Would I get a better tone switching out the harness and caps?

 

[Slick Willy]

I’m sorry I didn’t say. But yeah I’m going to replace pickups. The the ones that are in it now don’t have the sound. The neck comes pickup is kinda off muddy and not as warm and woody. The rear pupi is kinda shrill and harsh sounding. Would I get a better tone switching out the harness and caps?

I also have been looking at RS wiring harness. Would the vintage style be better?

 

[dc007]

For your type of music I'd go with P90s

 

[icantshred]

I did most of my country gigs with a tele. I was never satisfied with the split humbucker sound.

I'm assuming you messed about with the pickup height and weren't satisfied?

I think 57s', 498T, and some of the Burst Buckers can be pretty spanky and get a good country sound. A mix of bridge pup, hybrid picking, and riding the tone control should get you in ballpark with nearly any of the popular Gibson offerings.

I don't know if it's true, but I've heard '50s wiring is a tad brighter than modern. That might get some additional clarity on the neck pup. A woofy neck pup is my lifelong nemesis as well.

 

[Leee]

I also have been looking at RS wiring harness.

I can’t make a specific recommendation, but I’ve bought several kits from RS over the years.

Certainly couldn’t hurt to give them a call.
They might be able to walk you right in to what you need.

If the 57s aren’t working for you, and the sound is that far from what you want, I got nothing for you there.

Maybe do the wiring like you want it and go from there?

 

[ARandall]

A replacement wiring harness tends to help tonally only if the pot values are way off (as in low). And on the bridge it can often make an already harsh bridge pickup more so.

I've found 57's to be exactly what you describe.....muffled and bright.
You might need to look to a mixed set. Clarity in the neck with similar wind (even calibrated) in the bridge will give you biting - so you might want an overwound PAF type bridge for the extra mids, paired with a low wind neck for the clarity.

 

[TaterNuts]

Sound like it was a Trade Pro of some sort. I would start with the wiring first, then see where you are. Low quality pots will kill a great pickup.

 

[cooljuk]

The neck comes pickup is kinda off muddy and not as warm and woody. The rear pupi is kinda shrill and harsh sounding.

That's a very common complaint about the '57 Classics. Also, it's the most common complaint I hear about all humbuckers, in general, but definitely about the '57 Classics.

The neck is muddy and congested, thick and creamy but not open, detailed and breathy. The bridge is bright and crisp but not sweet and breathy, just harsh and shrill. Exactly as you said.

You can make a difference with manually selected harness components (maybe something like 450k bridge pots and 600k neck pots) but we're talking about a band-aid on a bullet wound, based on your description.

The most open and clear harness in the world will not put clarity in a neck pickup if the pickup isn't capable of reproducing those frequencies and details to begin with. The spiky harshness of the bridge can be tamed (roll the tone back to hear about what you'd get with lower pot values there) but you're only taking away even more open breathy clarity as you try to bring that spiky harsh bite down.

 

[LPTDMSV]

Dependent on which variant of Trad you have, there’s a strong likelihood it was originally fitted with push-pulls or push-pushs - all the specifications are on the Gibson Traditional website.

My experience of the original set on my guitar was underwhelming:
Bridge Pickup: ’57 Classic Plus
Neck Pickup: ’57 Classic

Neck was better than bridge, however …they give an *approximation* of the hoped-for “PAF” sound and are merely okay rather than great - you can do better, as @cooljuk knows well

A couple (or three or four or five or …) of hundred on some humbuckers that are closer to the original design would be a good investment in my opinion - you can get a neck tone similar to a P90 and an almost Tele-like bridge tone, will do everything you want.

 

[LPTDMSV]

I was never satisfied with the split humbucker sound…

498T and some of the Burst Buckers can be pretty spanky and get a good country sound…

'50s wiring…

Agree with all of that

 

[Elmore]

I play Country on the Duncan WLH set. But they are hotter Alnico V pickups. Clean, the neck is very clear. The bridge bites just right.

 

[1allspub]

I’m sorry I didn’t say. But yeah I’m going to replace pickups. The the ones that are in it now don’t have the sound. The neck comes pickup is kinda off muddy and not as warm and woody. The rear pupi is kinda shrill and harsh sounding. Would I get a better tone switching out the harness and caps?

That’s my experience with 57 Classics as well... muddy neck, shrill bridge. Every Gibson I’ve owned that had them, I have yanked them from. Did leave them in a couple of Epiphones hollow bodies that came with them. They weren’t terrible in a hollow body... and changing pickups in hollow/semi-hollow bodies is such a PITA that it wasn’t worth the effort. But in solid bodies like an LP, they always get booted in favor of something better.

Anyway, you’re getting good advice so far in this thread. And @cooljuk is our resident pickup sage for sure, listen to him. And if you’re looking for specific pickup suggestions/recommendations, by all accounts anything cooljuk winds for you will be dialed-in to exactly what you’re looking for.

If you’re looking for other, more “off the shelf” type humbuckers, then what you’re describing sounds like Seymour Duncan Antiquities territory. Or maybe something like the BKP Stormy Monday. Regardless, looking for PAF clones that are modeled after the early 1957 winds (which were typically a bit lower output than later PAFs) is where you should focus. Or just go with cooljuk....

 

[ErictheRed]

Lots of good advice already, and I would look into what kind of wiring you have, pots and cap values, etc., before changing pickups. You might get the tone you want with about $15 of parts. On the other hand, I would NOT recommend spending money on a wiring harness change if you're just going to get the same value pots and caps that you already have, there's nothing wrong with pots and caps that Gibson uses, the values just might need to be tweaked.

If you're dead-set on changing pickups, I would recommend the regular Suhr Thornbuckers. They're low output, the neck pickup is pretty bright and clear but still sounds like a PAF (not like a Seymour Duncan Jazz neck at all for instance, which is also bright and clear). The Thornbucker bridge is also PAF-like but it has some warmth and isn't shrill in the upper registers. There are plenty of demos of them out there, and lots of Suhr guitars come with them (Suhr Alt-T for instance), so you should be able to make a fairly informed decision by watching some videos and whatnot. Of course there's no substitute for actually playing them yourself, but watching videos and getting advice online is a good first step.

Good luck with your tone search.

 

[bhurst462]

Wolfetone Dr. Vintage. Fantastic pickups. Best deal out there right now.

 

[rosssurf]

I have an Emerson complete wiring harness but I used only briefly in a guitar that I subsequently sold if you are interested.

 

[DickieGarrett]

My friend’s I need help on the right pickup. I play mostly country music and blue’s with some classic rock now and then. I want a warm smooth bridge and a clear clean neck that’s not muddy. I’m not looking for anything hot. I’m guessing around 7K. I’m also going to go with a vintage type wiring. I’m basically taking a Les Paul Traditional that’s had its guts changed out. But it was done with crappy pots and the wiring is trash. It has stock 57’s in it. They are the 4 wire type. So I’m guessing it originally had push pull pots. Can I do away with the extra wire? I’m not doing the work. Going to have a good shop do the work. Thanks for your help and advice.

I’d suggest looking at ThroBak pickups. I have them in 4 LPs and love them. I also have push pulls….they give the versatility to do all that you’re looking for. My $.02

 

[piranhakeet]

My friend’s I need help on the right pickup. I play mostly country music and blue’s with some classic rock now and then. I want a warm smooth bridge and a clear clean neck that’s not muddy. I’m not looking for anything hot. I’m guessing around 7K. I’m also going to go with a vintage type wiring. I’m basically taking a Les Paul Traditional that’s had its guts changed out. But it was done with crappy pots and the wiring is trash. It has stock 57’s in it. They are the 4 wire type. So I’m guessing it originally had push pull pots. Can I do away with the extra wire? I’m not doing the work. Going to have a good shop do the work. Thanks for your help and advice.

For what you're specifying as far as the tone you're looking for, I'd go with a humbucker-sized P-90 type. My favorite in that category are the Lindy Fralin P-92 pickups. I have them on a couple of my guitars and they are fantastic. Great articulation and projection with no muddiness and zero hum. Kind of like a P-90 with bright wound string tones. Here's a link:

Fralin P-92 Guitar Pickups- Hum-Free P-90 Tone In A Humbucker Size.

The Fralin P-92 Guitar Pickup gives you noiseless P-90 tone in a humbucker cover and size. The P-92 will give you big, bold, and beefy P-90 tone!

www.fralinpickups.com