Excellent vintage microphone
2nd June 2016
"I have a Les Paul 3 of '79: two bridge, one neck. They were installed by the previous owner, a maker: I have the guitar for 2 years and am considering changing the pickups for versatility, although I'm afraid of regret ... For jazz, blues and rock'n'roll, it's a great kit. For the metal, there's more! I tested a SD Distortion on the same guitar and a DiMarzio Virtual Hot PAF: the BKP has less bass and more treble. I never played on a real Les Paul '59, but I guess it would sound like that!
In series (old wiring of my guitar), the sound is huge, very hot: it sounds AC / DC without pushing the attack and gain more flexibility.
Alone or in parallel, these pickups give her a typical PAF sound. In general, they make better with a tube amp (or a simulation, like on my BOSS GT-5), especially by pushing the volume and allowing an average gain. Providing a distortion pedal or overdrive sounds also allows more fat without losing too much gain. A modern amp with a gain in depth has no interest with these pickups: they are crushed by the gain and lose all identity.
The bridge pickup is very slamming and precise: it returns every subtlety of the game, especially the attacks. In crunch, it can sound BBKing on a Les Paul ... This is impressive! Even for the funk, it can be great, if you play well! Finally with a wah-wah, in any position, it sounds good: this is the first time I see it. A tone is essential to play in a group: 10, the spring always mix scratching and must be reduced to four to let another solo voice or switch to the neck pickup. Mounted on a knob of 250k, it's less smacking and softer without losing treble.
The neck pickup is, as always, more rounded, with rich gain and it is very hot: solo blues, I never know which one to choose! For an intro to Sweet Child O'Mine, it works very well also.
With two pickups in parallel we have a familiar Gibson sound.
In summary, if you want sound like Slash, you can but the price is worth, in my opinion, not worth it. An SD or Dimarzio are both cheaper and distortion (except perhaps if you suffer from low too high as on my old LP, and even if you do not play that distortion, it's the mess ...).
However, if you play in crunch or clean sound and you are looking for that typical sound of Gibsons '59, then go for it! It is expensive but it's great. It is always cheaper than the real vintage and this pickup is as close as you can get to that.
On a semi-hollow I would not hesitate."
