Recommend a... (Tech Room edition)
141What about a second hand set of Humbuckers?Both of my Burny Les Pauls sound great but different despite appearing to be the same model with the same VH-1 Pickups. My favorite one has a really rich, balanced sound in all positions. I like to flip to the middle position to boost the bass. The neck position is big and bassy but not woofed out. Nor does the guitar get any of that honky quack quack sound that the Les Paul nerds love. It's just nice and beefy. The other one sounds very nice and pretty, but really weak and lacking the beef. I've swapped magnets and tweaked heights. It always just sounds not as good as the other one but too nice to (and is too comfortable) get rid of. All pickups in question measure just over 8K.So I was thinking about just trying out a set of Gibson 490 pickups as they seem pretty common used for a good price, and they are common to play in guitar stores. They have always sounded nice and kinda like my favorite Les Paul when I've played Customs or Specials off the rack. It's what I've always test driven guitar pedals with in the store. I forget if I've played the 490t or the 498t in the bridge slot. Alternative suggestions welcome, but I can't afford Fralins or Lollars.I'm not trying to sound like anyone in particular. I just want a little more beef without using super high output pickups. Stuff I play in the lower gain range is kinda like late Sonic Youth, almost clean. Heavier stuff is more Melvins riffy or wall of sound distortion. Note separation is nice all around. (It could just be that this guitar has some anti-beef feature that pickups can't help; I guess I'd find out. It sounds nice unplugged.)