Pups for an Epiphone Les Paul Classic 7

[Wound]

I know these topics r quite frequent on this forum, but I need help choosing some pups for the Les Paul 7 I'm buying. I already have 2 guitars with EMG 707's in, and I have one with Seymour Duncan's (JB and 59)
I was thinking I should put something completely different in this one. I still want a pup in the bridge that will give a great punch with distortion, and a nice round type sound for the neck. I have never really tried any Dimarzio's. Are there other good pick ups out there? I appreciate all help I can get. And if you want sound clips would rule!

btw what pups r meshuggah using, I really like their sound.

Thanx

Kim

[darren wilson]

I hear Rio Grande makes some nice pickups.

[Scott of Actual Time]

i have the DiMarzio Tone Zone 7 and PAF7 combo in my Dean EVO, which is mahogany with a maple top like an LP [which the Epiphone is too, i'm assuming]. they were a little too bright and feedback prone until i wired in tone controls [i had no tone knobs at first] and had DiMarzio repot the pickups.

they give a great sizzly, crunchy classic hard rock tone. it's not Meshuggah levels of crunch, but it's great for AC/DC type stuff and my original hard rock band Diesel Chief.

[Drew]

Originally Posted by Scott of Actual Time

i have the DiMarzio Tone Zone 7 and PAF7 combo in my Dean EVO, which is mahogany with a maple top like an LP [which the Epiphone is too, i'm assuming]. they were a little too bright and feedback prone until i wired in tone controls [i had no tone knobs at first] and had DiMarzio repot the pickups.

they give a great sizzly, crunchy classic hard rock tone. it's not Meshuggah levels of crunch, but it's great for AC/DC type stuff and my original hard rock band Diesel Chief.

Too bright?? Man... I mean, i know a maple top does make a difference, but i didn't think THAT much... what are you plugging them into?

I had a paf/TZ7 combo in my 2027 for a while (actually, the PAf might have been a TZ too- check my other thread, that's the only way i can explain ther ebeing one there now), and while the neck pickup wasn't too bad, the bridge was nearly unusable because of the muted high end. Good distorted rhythm tone, but clean it was just too indistinct, and it suffered for leads. I mean, it sounded like a les paul. if i wanted a les paul, i'd have bought one.

This is into a dark-sounding mesa combo, of course- it wasn't too bad through the clean channel of a hughes & kettner triamp, but i can't stand that thing's distorted tone at anything remotely approaching a living-room volume.

weird...

-Drew

[Scott of Actual Time]

Originally Posted by Drew

Too bright?? Man... I mean, i know a maple top does make a difference, but i didn't think THAT much... what are you plugging them into?

actually, the amp made no difference, because i was comparing the TZ7/PAF7 in the Dean to my 2027 w/ TZ7/AN7 and one of my 7 string fixed bridge strats w/ TZ7/PAF7 mounted in a pickguard on an agathis body, all with exactly the same amp settings. there were tons of small differences between the guitars - fixed bridge on two of them vs. LoPro on the 2027, mahogany vs. mahogany/maple vs. agathis, direct mounted in the 2027 vs. pickguard vs. LP style mounting rings on the Dean, no tone control on just the TZ7 in the 2027, separate tone controls on the strat, no tone controls in the Dean. the amp is a 'combo' i built out of rack gear with a ported 1x12, not as dark as a Mesa but it's not shrill.

until i had the TZ7/PAF7 in the Dean repotted, and i added pretty strong tone controls [50 uF caps, 250k resistors, way more than stock Ibanez 22 uF and 500k], those pickups in that Dean were so bright/hot that they were unusable above practice volume, partly because of insane microphonics. the repotting and the tone controls tamed them enough to make them useable on most amp settings, but still nowhere as quiet as my 2027 or strats, where the TZ7 is absolutely silent even on super high gain.

so the guitar is really different. mounting and bridge are a small part, but the wood and maybe the set-neck have to be the major differences.

[Drew]

Hmm. I wouldn't think the set neck would make a huge difference, but i suppose the maple could... See, i almost said screw the peizo and went with the J-Custom 7-string with a flamed top- maybe the TZ/PAF would have cut it better for me in there. But i rpeferred the look of VV on bare mahogany.

Eh, i justneed a lot more money so i can buy a bunch more guitars.

-Drew

[Wound]

Has anyone got any Rio Grande pick ups? What r they like?