More bass response in bridge pickup

jtwoods4 · Dec 22, 2018

Hey guys, I have a 1994 custom shop R7. I had historic makeovers modify the neck to a slimmer 59/60 profile. I have also experimented with changing the original pickups to Burstbucker Type 2 and 3 and also tried the Wizz PAF clones. This guitar does not have a great bridge sound. Seems to be missing a little low frequency grunt. I am comparing the guitar to a stock 2010 custom shop G0 (R0) that has a great sounding bridge position... really thick with plenty of bite.

Any ideas how I can get more grunt out my 1994 R7?

J.D. · Dec 23, 2018

I'd suggest trying a higher wound pickup like a BB#3 or '57 Classic+, and/or perhaps trying an Alnico V magnet.

jtwoods4 · Dec 23, 2018

J.D. said:
I'd suggest trying a higher wound pickup like a BB#3 or '57 Classic+, and/or perhaps trying an Alnico V magnet.

I've already tried the BB3 (see original post). What Alnico V pickup would you recommend?

J.D. · Dec 23, 2018

I'd personally buy the magnet aftermarket and swap it out.

Might recommend going to a Duncan Custom 5 or JB model. Something with 43awg or 44awg wire (vs std PAF 42awg).

jtwoods4 · Dec 23, 2018

J.D. said:
I'd personally buy the magnet aftermarket and swap it out.

Might recommend going to a Duncan Custom 5 or JB model. Something with 43awg or 44awg wire (vs std PAF 42awg).

I think I'm going to try the Seymour Duncan BroBucker. Sounds interesting

http://customshop.seymourduncan.com

J.D. · Dec 23, 2018

Been using Duncan pickups for decades but haven't tried that one. Post your results if you end up going that direction.

Another option I really liked is the Custom "hybrid" which is one 42awg coil and one 43awg coil, which can be combined with any Alnico magnet.

Each guitar has its own voice and it can be a lot of fun to find the pickup that compliments it and gets the player to the sound he is after.

jtwoods4 · Dec 23, 2018

J.D. said:
Been using Duncan pickups for decades but haven't tried that one. Post your results if you end up going that direction.

Another option I really liked is the Custom "hybrid" which is one 42awg coil and one 43awg coil, which can be combined with any Alnico magnet.

Each guitar has its own voice and it can be a lot of fun to find the pickup that compliments it and gets the player to the sound he is after.

I actually just learned about the Lindy fralin modern paf. You can specify the winding output during the order I think I'm going to try to get one with an 9.5 k on the bridge and a 8.5 k on neck. They come with alnico for magnets to make up for some of the treble loss associated with the higher winding.

brandtkronholm · Dec 23, 2018

I've been led to understand that the position of the bridge pickup relative to the bridge is not "historically accurate" throughout the 1990s and into the early 2000s on the R7, R8, R9, R0 reissues. The pickup is farther from the bridge than that of the corresponding late 1950s instruments. The thinking is that the greater distance in the reissues causes the pickup to emphasise a different harmonic and frequency content from the strings resulting in a different (non-50's) tone. It is possible that you may be hearing this. Some owners have gone to the extreme of having the pickup route re-done so that the pickup can be repositioned to the "historically accurate" location. I suspect that Gibson had relocated the bridge pickup before 2010.

However, I've never had any issues with any of this with my 1995 R9. The bridge pickup on my R9 sounds great.

AND remember that all late '50s Gibsons are slightly different - there are very few set-in-stone rules. The position of bridge pickups on Les Pauls from the 1950s varies slightly from instrument to instrument -- and this is true (perhaps less-so) of the modern reissues too!

Also, how do you dial in your amp? Turn up the mids and reduce the bass for more chunk from the bridge humbucker...it'll make sense with a drummer...

I hope that others will chime in to double check my claims!

jtwoods4 · Dec 23, 2018

Interesting information. Also this is not an amp issue the guitar sounds distinctly thin when compared to my number one Les Paul. I'm a professional musician so I understand completely how to operate the eq on the amplifier. I don't like to admit it but it could be that the build of this guitar is not the same caliber as my 2010 G0.... Hopefully I can resolve the thin sounding bridge pickup with one of these hotter modern paf's from Lindy fralin. If you're interested in seeing the guitar check out our music video link below.... the guitar you hear in the video is not the gold top but the gold top is the guitar that's in the video. there's a lot of good footage of it during the middle of the song in my guitar solo. Our recent music video release should be at the very top of our website. Give it a few seconds to load.
https://www.thelastchanceriders.com

brandtkronholm · Dec 23, 2018

Ah, here's the info: https://www.lespaulforum.com/forum/showthread.php?139795-Year-by-Year-History-of-the-Historic-Les-Paul-Collection

See especially 1997 & 1999.

J.D. · Dec 23, 2018

jtwoods4 said:
I actually just learned about the Lindy fralin modern paf. You can specify the winding output during the order I think I'm going to try to get one with an 9.5 k on the bridge and a 8.5 k on neck. They come with alnico for magnets to make up for some of the treble loss associated with the higher winding.

Duncan will do the same sort of thing through the custom shop. A production pickup will likely be cheaper.

jwalker · Dec 24, 2018

Check your pots. If your guitar has 300k pots you will have a more muffled low end compared to 500k pots. Also check to see if you are wired 50’s style.

Dreman · Dec 24, 2018

If the BB3 didn't work for you, then no A2 humbucker likely will.

A P-90 style pickup offers a significantly lower frequency response than a humbucker. I see SD offers an A2 model with the Phat Cat.

As was mentioned, A5s give a big bass response, at the cost of mids.

WytLytnyn · Dec 30, 2018

OP: Curious to know if you noticed a change in tone after the neck was modified? I'm sure it's not as dramatic as you would notice with a pickup, nut or a speaker swap, but could this affect how the notes are ringing out?

jtwoods4 · Dec 30, 2018

WytLytnyn said:
OP: Curious to know if you noticed a change in tone after the neck was modified? I'm sure it's not as dramatic as you would notice with a pickup, nut or a speaker swap, but could this affect how the notes are ringing out?

unfortunately I really didn't play the guitar enough when I first got it I just immediately had the neck reshaped to a 60s profile. but at this point I've tried Wizz pickups burstbucker pickups and now I've got a set of custom bucker pickups on the way. So that'll be all different types of pickups with alnico v, iv and and iii magnets. unfortunately I hate to say it but I think it's just the wood of this guitar that doesn't have that something magic like my other 2010 1960 Reissue. Would plays a huge role and how these guitars sound I know it doesn't sound scientific but it actually makes a huge difference. That's why all Les Paul sound different even with the same pickups. anyway I totally get what you're saying I wonder if it sounded a little thicker before I reshaped the neck. but keep in mind the neck was reshaped to exact same specifications as my 2010 1960 reissue we actually measured it with dial calipers. And that guitar just sounds phenomenal.

El Gringo · Jan 8, 2019

jtwoods4 said:
Interesting information. Also this is not an amp issue the guitar sounds distinctly thin when compared to my number one Les Paul. I'm a professional musician so I understand completely how to operate the eq on the amplifier. I don't like to admit it but it could be that the build of this guitar is not the same caliber as my 2010 G0.... Hopefully I can resolve the thin sounding bridge pickup with one of these hotter modern paf's from Lindy fralin. If you're interested in seeing the guitar check out our music video link below.... the guitar you hear in the video is not the gold top but the gold top is the guitar that's in the video. there's a lot of good footage of it during the middle of the song in my guitar solo. Our recent music video release should be at the very top of our website. Give it a few seconds to load.
https://www.thelastchanceriders.com

Good Job on the video, I enjoyed that very much and liked the vocalist and the guitar and the nice wah wah lead . Bravo !!!

fakejake · Jan 8, 2019

If you feel slightly more adventurous, try the malpeflame-mod (do a search here on the forum or on google).
In my case, replacing the bridge studs with longer stainless steel one quite significantly increased the bass response of the whole guitar.

eace2

More bass response in bridge pickup

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