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A pickup is a transducer that captures or senses mechanical energy vibrations and converts them to an electrical signal that can be amplified. Les Paul style guitars typically have two pickups, a bridge and a neck pickup, each with their own volume and tone controls.
20 Best Pickups For Epiphone Les Paul
Product Image
Product Name
Features
Price
Seymour Duncan APH-1n Alnico II Pro Humbucker Neck Pickup – Black
Neck position
Recommmended for jazz, blues, classic rock and slide
The Alnico 2 magnet and moderate windings yield a warm, sweet tone with more natural string vibration for great sustain. Classic rock players who get their distortion from the amp rather than the pickup love the APH-1.
It allows them to back off the crunch and get beautiful clean tones with softer attack. Compared to the ’59, the Alnico II Pro has a rounder sound with a spongier bass response. Comes with four-conductor hookup cable and no logo.
Often the APH-1 is used in both neck and bridge positions. Or, in the neck with a higher output pickup like an SH-11 Custom Custom or SHPG-1b Pearly Gates for heavier rock or hotter blues sounds from the bridge position.
For brighter toned instruments. Works especially well with maple and ebony fingerboards. Also works great with hollow and semi-hollow body guitars.
The Alnico 2 Pro Humbucker neck uses the soft treble attack and low string pull of an alnico 2 bar magnet, combined with a special vintage output coil wind to create a warm, sweet tone that is smooth and full, with tons of natural sustain.
The highs sound thick and really sing, while the lows are warm and buttery, giving you a pickup that is very sensitive to pick attack. The Alnico 2 Pro bridge humbuckers highs are articulate and smooth, and the lows are warm and spongy.
Combined with a high gain tube amp, the overdriven tone is expressive and soulful. Model # Alnico II Pro Set Features: Iconic voiced humbuckers deliver classic rock and blues tones loved by millions.
Hand built in Santa Barbara, CA, the Alnico 2 Pro humbuckers use an alnico 2 bar magnet, nickel silver bottom plate, 4-conductor lead wire for multiple wiring options, and are wax potted for squeal free operation.
The classic tone of Appetite for Destruction in a pickup. When Slash was given the honor of having a Gibson Les Paul Signature model built, Seymour Duncan sent over the same Alnico 2 Pro humbuckers that he has used for decades.
Turns out, the new guitars sounded noticeably different than the original. So they accepted the challenge to make him a new pickup that would make all of his new signature guitars sound just like the original AFD Les Paul.
The result is the Slash Signature Model humbucker. Seymour Duncan used a different mag wire and winding spec, that, when combined with the alnico 2 bar magnet, provided exactly what was needed to push a stock Les Paul toward that familiar sustain, crunch, and midrange that was so characteristic of the tone of Slash’s original Derrig Les Paul copy.
The Slash humbucker set is hand built in Santa Barbara the same way they built his originals in the 80s, using a nickel silver bottom plate with long mounting legs, single conductor braided lead wire, maple spacer, paper tape, and wax potting.
Slash Alnico II Pro Humbucker Set Black – 11104-08-B
Product Type
Pickup
Product Color
Black
Reviews From Real Customers
I bought a DBZ (Dean B Zelinksy) now Diamond guitars model Royale FM in Tobacco. Excellent Korean made guitar but the pickups never meshed with me. I wanted it to sound more Les Paul-ish. The pickups that came with it are well made by G&B but seemed more geared for metal.
Triple ceramic bridge and alnico neck. These pickups give this great guitar Body and Neck a more traditional sound. I love them both, in humbucker and even split coil. The thin large body on this guitar has resonance for days due to its unique shape despite being light.
I took a chance and love this guitar. The neck and hardware is great too. The JB and Jazz set are Seymour Duncan favorite combination so what more is there to say? I still wonder about the 59 in the neck instead but I love the SH-2 Jazz so I am not disappointed.
Vintage-style Neck Humbucking Electric Guitar Pickup 4-conduct Cable – Black The Seymour Duncan ’59 Model SH-1 humbucking pickup is Seymour Duncan’s take on the classic Seth Lover PAF (Patent Applied For) humbucker found on the Gibson’s iconic late-1950s Les Paul.
The SH-1 sports plain enamel wire, a long-legged bottom plate, 4-conductor cable, and the absence of a Seymour Duncan logo. This vintage re-creation serves up a slightly more scooped midrange than the Seth Lover model and is vacuum wax potted for squeal-free performance.
For flexible tones with vintage flair, the Duncan ’59 Model SH-1 is a perfect fit.
The classic tone of Appetite for Destruction in a pickup. When Slash was given the honor of having a Gibson Les Paul Signature model built, Seymour Duncan sent over the same Alnico 2 Pro humbuckers that he has used for decades.
Turns out, the new guitars sounded noticeably different than the original. So they accepted the challenge to make him a new pickup that would make all of his new signature guitars sound just like the original AFD Les Paul.
The result is the Slash Signature Model humbucker. Seymour Duncan used a different mag wire and winding spec, that, when combined with the alnico 2 bar magnet, provided exactly what was needed to push a stock Les Paul toward that familiar sustain, crunch, and midrange that was so characteristic of the tone of Slash’s original Derrig Les Paul copy.
The Slash humbucker set is hand built in Santa Barbara the same way they built his originals in the 80s, using a nickel silver bottom plate with long mounting legs, single conductor braided lead wire, maple spacer, paper tape, and wax potting.
Bring new life to your guitar with the humbucker set. SH-2 Jazz model at the neck and SH-4 model at the bridge. Seymour’s favorites. Great versatility.
Gnarly yet warm set of alnico pups! Great chrome finish and decent quality shielded wire. Unit was wax potted and is near silent when not playing. I highly recommend trying out this set. and oh yeah, the price.
If you are looking for a cheap but better replacement for your poor stock pups, this is a really nice choice. Nice build quality, richly waxed, little crunchy hot sound. Thumbs up!
The Alnico 2 magnet and moderate windings yield a warm, sweet tone with more natural string vibration for great sustain. Classic rock players who get their distortion from the amp rather than the pickup love the APH-1.
It allows them to back off the crunch and get beautiful clean tones with softer attack. Compared to the ’59, the Alnico II Pro has a rounder sound with a spongier bass response. Comes with four-conductor hookup cable and no logo.
Often the APH-1 is used in both neck and bridge positions. Or, in the neck with a higher output pickup like an SH-11 Custom Custom or SHPG-1b Pearly Gates for heavier rock or hotter blues sounds from the bridge position.
For brighter toned instruments. Works especially well with maple and ebony fingerboards. Also works great with hollow and semi-hollow body guitars.
For humbucker equipped guitar, any position By combining ceramic magnets with a narrow aperture, the EMG-60 has increased sensitivity and high-frequency response. The 60 features the attack of a single-coil with the power and the punch of a humbucking pickup.
In the mid-to-high frequency range, EMG gave the harmonics a boost. There’s more high end in the EMG-60 than you would expect from any humbucking pickup. With a distinctive tone for soloing, the 60 works equally well for singing leads or for melody chording.
And now for something completely different. The EMG-60 was originally designed for Fender in 1979 and was to be featured on the Tele-Elite Model as a mini-humbucking pickup. Fender changed their plans so EMG released the EMG-60 in a full-size humbucking housing.
The EMG-60 still features the close aperture coils loaded with ceramic magnets for the brightest attack of any of their many humbucking models.
These are awesome!!! I’ve put off for the longest time getting EMG’s because of the premium price and the use of batteries, but a recently failed neck pickup in my Dean V prompted me to give em a go.
I was not disappointed in my decision! The 81 is hot yet very meaty, lots of sustain, bite, & clarity. The 85 is surprisingly loud, even set all the way flush with the pickup ring, but it had that deep rich “woman” tone you’d look for from a neck positioned pickup.
They both are very quiet, and you seem to have a lot more control over them, especially if you love using feedback to your advantage. A happy surprise is that they shine just as nicely with clean tones, adding more depth & sustain than was expecting.
They’re aimed at hard rock & metal, I’d be willing to bet you can use em for any style. I installed them myself, and you don’t need much more than some simple small hand tools. Installation was fairly easy, and the instructions are fairly easy to follow if you’re any way mechanically/technically inclined, giving options on setup depending on your volume/tone/selector switch arrangement.
The solderless layout was a big selling point for me since I’m not the greatest at soldering, and the “plug n play” setup is well thought out. My only gripe is that the kit does not give a short shaft pot option, and the cables for the output jack could stand to be a bit longer, but that’s as far as the complaining will go.
Aside from that it’s a Grade A upgrade for those who love humbuckers and rock n roll, SOOO worth the price, can’t believe I waited so long. I’m not one to tell people what to do, but I definitely without a doubt recommend these🤘🏻😎.
EMG is a love or hate relationship with guitarists. I was once in the hate camp until I bought an ’86 Rhoads w/ the classic Jeff Beck / Jazz configuration. I had a set of EMGs molding in a box so I busted them out and installed them.
Being a metal player, and mostly stupid most of the time, I reasoned it a temporary fix to quell the ultra noisy Duncan pickups until I could decide on something better. Serendipity. My guitar came Alive! Not being much of a mystery, I wondered how I could’ve been so wrong, and predictably stupid about the 81/ 85 set.
They’re extremely agressive (little Kreator reference there hehe), quiet and grab all the signal. I own 12 guitars ranging from Jackson, ESP, 2 Les Pauls, 2 Ibanez, a strat, a neck thru Warlock blah blah blah.
all of them have undergone reconstructive EMG surgery. The only divergence in tone is relative to the wood of the particular guitar. People argue this but having 12 guitars all loaded with the same pickups tells the tale.
The cheapest, crappiest Ibanez I spent $700 between a new neck, Shaller Hannes bridge, Grover tuners. all because it sounded the heaviest of all my guitars. This set is exceptional. It’s right there with the ZW 81/85 sets in terms of tone, clarity and silence.
Don’t Tell the Wife Guitars did me a supersolid deal on these. Highly recommend for people who’re going to shred. If you’re going to play Grandpa music (Roy Clark is exempted here), go buy some boring, Vanilla pickups.
The Seymour Duncan Antiquity humbucker for the bridge is, like the neck position model, a faithful replica of the great sounding patent applied for humbuckers that Seth E. Lover designed in 1955. The pickup comes with slight variations in DC resistance, just like the old ones.
Seymour Duncan decided to wind the bridge pickup a little hotter and better balanced for its position. The mounting ring is slightly higher for the increased pickup height. Seymour Duncan Antiquity Humbucker Features Faithful replica of Seth E.
Lover’s Patent Applied For PAF humbuckers Slight variations in DC resistance, true to the original design Bridge pickup is wound slightly hotter with better balance for its position Mounting ring is slightly higher for the increased pickup height Built by hand in Seymour Duncan’s Antiquity room The pickup is not wax potted to retain the sound and appearance of the originals.
Again, each pickup is built by hand in Seymour Duncan’s Antiquity room and every magnet and bottom plate are signed to guarantee that you are getting an original Seymour W. Duncan Antiquity. Hookup wire includes the classic braided push back cloth braid wire.
You can drop a lot of cash chasing the tone these pickups offer, but other than going on internet forums and bragging to others about how much $$$ you dropped on a set of (insert boutique pup company here), theres not a lot reason to do so.
I have been down that path and have found that the tones are not really proportional to the money spent. These pups offer the same vintage sounds and looks at a far better value. As long as Seymour and Marciella keep building these you can save your money and invest in other pursuits.
I have played these and more expensive pickups through vintage Marshall & Fender amplifiers a long with other builds and am completely satisfied with these compared to the offerings of far more expensive pickups.
If youre on the fence wondering if you should go all in on a set of pickups costing 3-5 times as much, save yourself some time and a considerable amount of money. These will give you what you want if youre after vintage PAF tones.
These Antiquity Retrospec’d Humbuckers sound amazing! They are everything the Holy Grail 50’s PAFs should be. They are very clear and articulate. When played clean, they have a soft, chimey sparkle-like quality.
When overdriven, they have a velvety smooth crunch. You could use these for a variety of musical styles but they excel at classic rock. If you play super high gain, you could encounter some squeal as these are not wax potted like the PAFs in the 50’s.
No wax potting gives these an airy quality to the sound. I highly recommend these pickups! AMS shipped quickly, has great customer service, has great promotions, and great payment options when you are short on cash.
You can’t go wrong shopping at American Musical Supply!.
Duality is a new concept in pickup design, merging the best active and passive technologies to create a versatile and dynamically rich tone palette. Duality humbuckers dispel the notion that you can’t have your cake and eat it too.
The Duality architecture revolutionizes pickup design, combining passive voicing and active dynamics into one. Duality simultaneously delivers a strong midrange, punchy and articulate lows with a three-dimensional high end.
The feel is responsive, providing an organic experience that plays as good as it sounds. The output is incredibly versatile; powerful and tight enough for metal but open and clear enough for blues and rock.
Chorded riffs take on new levels of chunk, and single-note runs are as fluid as they are punchy. Unlike traditional active pickups, Duality’s unique, hybrid design brings the same tonal flexibility as passive pickups with the added benefits of an on board active preamp.
Duality is made in Santa Barbara, California. Available in 6-string as a set, or individual neck, bridge or Trembucker.
One variation that’s highly sought after by vintage PAF players is a pickup that is quiet, bright, and very dynamic. The PAF Master Neck Model is truly special. It has a great balance of full, richness with a throaty tone but its not too fat and notes still come through nice and clear, with beautiful smooth and creamy highs.
DiMarzio gave it just the right amount of windings to allow the pickup to sing, sustain and still be articulate. Recommended for neck. Can also be used in bridge position. Tech Talk DiMarzio has done the research and seen all the mythology around pickups made with NOS wire, unoriented magnets, butyrate bobbins, vintage alloys, unbalanced coils, et al.
They prefer to focus on results rather than on replicas. The PAF Master Neck Model uses several of our patented ideas to create a pickup that pays tribute to the original sound without imitating it. Instead of accidentally unbalancing the coils, they tuned them to different frequencies to get the same effect without compromising hum-cancellation.
Replaced the bridge pickup in an older ibanez as 93 semi hollow body. Really made a huge difference in the sound quality, very crisp and clean tones with great harmonics. Glad I made the switch.
A great compliment to the PAF Master bridge. I was surprised how tight it was for a neck pickup. Most neck pickups are really fat sounding (yes it’s also a function of where it’s placed along the string), which is what it’s suppose to do, but this pickup, though it’s still a warmer tone than the bridge, it almost as tight as the neck.
With the way I play (usually only use my neck alone for leads or in combo with my bridge for more funky cleans), it suites my tonal tastes. Best of all, it still retains string/note clarity even when hitting chords, sweep picking, and shredding through really fast alternate picking.
Actually sound very good but unremarkable, couldn’t pick them out of a lineup. Great choice if you don’t already have a guitar with vintage style humbucers, but even with a unique magnet (alnico 4) in the bridge unit they don’t set themselves apart.
Over a lot of years and loyalty I expect more from DiMarzio.
When Slash was given the honor of having a Gibson Les Paul Signature model built, Seymour Duncan sent over the same Alnico 2 Pro humbuckers that he has used for decades. Turns out, the new guitars sounded noticeably different than the original.
So, their designers accepted the challenge to make him a new pickup that would make all of his new signature guitars sound just like the original AFD Les Paul. The result is 11104-08-NC APH-2s Alnico II Pro Slash Signature Model humbucker pickup set.
They also used a different mag wire and winding spec that, when combined with the Alnico 2 bar magnet, provided exactly what was needed to push a stock Les Paul toward that familiar sustain, crunch and midrange that was so characteristic of the tone of Slash’s original Derrig Les Paul copy.
The Slash humbuckers are hand built in Santa Barbara the same way Seymour Duncan built his originals in the ’80s, with a nickel silver bottom plate with long mounting legs, single conductor braided lead wire, maple spacer, paper tape and wax potting.
Hard-rocking Humbuckers. The Seymour Duncan ’78 is modeled after that same hot pickup, built for discerning tone chasers who crave an authentic PAF tone, but with a more powerful punch. Sweetwater guitarists find that the ’78’s uncompressed and overtone-filled sound is perfect for capturing old-school hard-rock and classic metal tones.
That said, when it comes time to dial back the gain, these ’buckers also offer uncompromising crystal-clear cleans. If high-gain dive-bombs and tapped solos are your thing, look no further than the ’78! Seymour Duncan ’78 Neck Humbucker Features:
Modeled after one of Seymour’s rewound PAF pickups from the late ’70s. Alnico 2 magnet design perfectly captures old-school hard-rock tones. Hot-rodded PAF-style tones with greater output and punch. Loaded with harmonic richness.
Hard-rocking Humbuckers. The Seymour Duncan ’78 is modeled after that same hot pickup, built for discerning tone chasers who crave an authentic PAF tone, but with a more powerful punch. Sweetwater guitarists find that the ’78’s uncompressed and overtone-filled sound is perfect for capturing old-school hard-rock and classic metal tones.
That said, when it comes time to dial back the gain, these ’buckers also offer uncompromising crystal-clear cleans. If high-gain dive-bombs and tapped solos are your thing, look no further than the ’78! Modeled after one of Seymour’s rewound PAF pickups from the late ‘70s.
Alnico 2 magnet design perfectly captures old-school hard-rock tones. Hot-rodded PAF-style tones with greater output and punch. Loaded with harmonic richness. Clear and uncompressed tone.
Blues rock s golden era with a touch of the supernatural Guitarists have long sought out the lonesome hollow blues rock tones that emerged in the late 60 s. For one guitarist, his signature tone was achieved as the result of a fortunate accident a pickup with a magnet installed backwards and out of phase.
With these humbuckers you ll get the classic neck and bridge tones as expected, but when you activate both Green Magics you ll get the clarity and expressiveness generally associated with single coils.
The Green Magic set recreates this magical out of phase sound by flipping the neck pickup s magnet to reverse the phase when combined with the bridge pickup. They are also voiced for the classic era, warm and expressive with the perfect balance of clarity.
For any guitarist wanting to expand the versatility of their guitar and capture the authentic tones of blues rock s golden era with a touch of the supernatural, get the Green Magic set.
Calibrated PAF-style Rock Tone. It’s based on a re-wound PAF pickup, with 42-gauge plain enamel wire, Alnico 2 magnets (calibrated by hand), and produced to adhere to strict output tolerances. Humbucking pickup based on a specially re-wound PAF pickup.
Special coil winding with 42-gauge plain enamel wire. Hand-calibrated alnico 2 magnets. DC Resistance: 9k. Application: standard HB route.
Guitarists have long sought out the lonesome hollow blues rock tones that emerged in the late 60 s. For one guitarist, his signature tone was achieved as the result of a fortunate accident a pickup with a magnet installed backwards and out of phase.
With these humbuckers you ll get the classic neck and bridge tones as expected, but when you activate both Green Magics you ll get the clarity and expressiveness generally associated with single coils.
The Green Magic set recreates this magical out of phase sound by flipping the neck pickup s magnet to reverse the phase when combined with the bridge pickup. They are also voiced for the classic era, warm and expressive with the perfect balance of clarity.
For any guitarist wanting to expand the versatility of their guitar and capture the authentic tones of blues rock s golden era with a touch of the supernatural, get the Green Magic set.
Hard-rocking Humbuckers. The Seymour Duncan ’78 is modeled after that same hot pickup, built for discerning tone chasers who crave an authentic PAF tone, but with a more powerful punch. Sweetwater guitarists find that the ’78’s uncompressed and overtone-filled sound is perfect for capturing old-school hard-rock and classic metal tones.
That said, when it comes time to dial back the gain, these ’buckers also offer uncompromising crystal-clear cleans. If high-gain dive-bombs and tapped solos are your thing, look no further than the ’78! Modeled after one of Seymour’s rewound PAF pickups from the late ‘70s.
Alnico 2 magnet design perfectly captures old-school hard-rock tones. Hot-rodded PAF-style tones with greater output and punch. Loaded with harmonic richness. Clear and uncompressed tone.
Gibson Pickups It would be a big mistake to assume that all humbuckers sound alike. Truth is, there are a number of Gibson humbucking pickups available, and each one has its own distinctive personality.
The BurstBucker Pro adds Alnico 5 magnets to the original BurstBucker design, which captured the subtle variations in true humbucker tone thanks to historically accurate “unmatched” bobbins. Used in the bridge position, the BurstBucker Pro delivers rich, smooth low end response along with a complex, satisfying midrange crunch.
These pickups sound great clean or they can be used to push your amp into overdrive for the fat, smoky sound you can only get with a humbucker. All BurstBucker Pro pickups are wax potted to minimize feedback and noise.
This is my most favorite bridge pickup! It subtly thickens up the tone and just bumps up the hotness just enough for a rich tone. Just sounds ‘right’ to my ears when played both clean and overdriven.
Perfect for modern blues and classic rock/pop. I find the burstbuckers tone on the other hand to be thin and lacking, though perhaps they might shine in other applications. This is not the first time I had to replace one of them with a 498T.
Any cons? I guess since the tone is thicker and warmer, adding a whole lot of distortion might make it more difficult to cut through a band mix? Just depends on a whole lot of factors and all the equipment & settings you use.
Overall, I love the tone this pickup helps me to achieve more easily.
I originally had a set of Burstbucker Pros in my Les Paul Standard, and ended up swapping them out. It was primarily the bridge pickup that didn’t mesh with me. The best way I can describe it is too much high mids, which can sound harsh to the ear (for an amp, I use an EVH 5150iii combo, and for recording I use a Line 6 Helix, and my preferred tones range from Jimmy Page up to Van Halen levels of gain).
I ended up swapping them out for the classic DiMarzio pairing of a Super Distortion at the bridge and a Super 2 at the neck, and was very happy with the results – the tone was tighter, more pleasant, with the right amount of output (the BBs output was good too, so I’m not complaining about that.
it was more the tone). All of that said, I don’t think these are horrible pickups and with some parametric EQ’ing, I could get some tones I was relatively happy with (especially with lighter gain settings), but I also factored in that the DiMarzios I ended up with cost less than 1/2 the price of the BBs (around 40% of the cost).
That’s what brought my rating down from a 3 to a 2.
The Epiphone Standard Plustop Pro features two Alnico Classic Pro pickups, each with coil-tapping via push/pull controls on theVolume and Tone pots. These Epiphone-designed pickups are the perfect balance of vintage tone and modern power.
Epiphone Les Paul Custom
There are a few different types of pickups that can be used in an Epiphone Les Paul Custom, but the most common are humbucker pickups. These pickups are typically made with two coils of wire wrapped around a magnet, and they are designed to cancel out the interference that can occur when using a single-coil pickup.
Epiphone Les Paul Classic
s
There are many great pickups out there for the Epiphone Les Paul, but one of our favorites is the classic Epiphone Alnico Classic PRO. This pickup gives the Les Paul that classic, vintage sound that we all know and love.
It’s perfect for those who want to get that classic Les Paul tone without spending a fortune.
Epiphone Les Paul Traditional Pro
There are a few different types of pickups that can be used in an Epiphone Les Paul, but the most common type of pickup is the humbucker. A humbucker is a type of pickup that uses two coils to cancel out the interference that can occur with single-coil pickups.
This type of pickup is often used in rock and metal guitar playing, as it provides a thick, distorted sound.
Epiphone Les Paul Studio
There are many different types of pickups that can be used in an Epiphone Les Paul, but the most common type of pickup is the Epiphone Alnico Classic Pro. This pickup is a great all-around pickup that can be used for a variety of genres and styles of music.
If you are looking for a more specific type of pickup, there are many other options available from Epiphone, including the Epiphone ProBucker and the Epiphone P90.
Epiphone Les Paul Special
The Epiphone Special II is a great value for a beginner guitar. It has two Epiphone open-coil humbuckers and a three-way switch. The body is made of alder, and the maple neck has a rosewood fretboard.
The guitar also comes with a gig bag.
Epiphone Les Paul Standard
As it depends on personal preference. Some people prefer the Epiphone Alnico Classic Pro pickups, while others might prefer the Epiphone ProBucker pickups. Ultimately, it is up to the individual to decide which pickups work best for them.
Epiphone Les Paul Custom Plus
There are many different types of pickups that can be used in an Epiphone Les Paul, but the most common type of pickup is the Epiphone Custom Plus. This pickup is a great choice for those who want a high-quality, classic Les Paul sound.
The Custom Plus pickup is made with Alnico V magnets and has a moderate output level. This pickup is ideal for players who want a classic Les Paul sound with a bit more punch.
Conclusion
As the best pickup for an Epiphone Les Paul will vary depending on the specific guitar and the player’s individual preferences. However, some of the most popular pickups for Epiphone Les Pauls include Seymour Duncan ’59 Model and Alnico II Pro pickups, as well as Gibson Burstbucker pickups.
Ultimately, it is up to the player to experiment with different pickups to find the perfect combination for their guitar and style of playing.
