Mark v (90) + Les Paul + x pickups

[elpingua]

Hi Guys,

I recently re-acquired a Mesa Mark V big boy. Previously have had a 25 , 90 and JP2c. I love Boogies!

I do find that pickup pairings really seem to mattery with this Amp (Jp2c is the same but way more forgiving). I'd like to request what type of pickups you find really Gel well this this amp with a newer Les Paul standard. The default LP pickups are nice but more vintage and just not what I'm going for.

WHat I am going for:
Ch1 Clean: Smooth clean - Fat mode something clean in the Petrcui space. I don't need edge of breakup or any type of hair here- just nice & clean / warm &sparkly clean (the default pickups do fine here just as long as I control the treble control).

Ch2: I use this for crunch and old school low gain through mid gain and lower high end gain. Think AC/DC through 80s heavy metal. I Mainly use Crunch mode and go for Marshall type of tones. I really like Crunch mode but I find it doesn't have enough juice if using the default LP pickups. It sounds good just needs oompf...I add a TS and this helps but I think better pickups would solve this problem.

Ch3: Using for high gain. My definition of high gain is not the new high gain but think more of like Slayer / Thrash type of sound - but also that liquid mark iv lead tone. Scooped the mids and I run enough highs to get sizzle and thats it. This channel on its own im pretty happy with - boost helps but only because these LP pickups are so laid back. My only concern here is to get the level of gain that I like I need to run the gain high and the treble high and the 6600 above the mid line. Therefore a pickup with alot of high end I think may not work (but again if I'm wrong here let me know).

Gear:
Bogner Uber Cab (v30s and GT75s - by default this cab adds some nice girth and thickness which I love).
Guitar 2021 Gibson Les Paul standard - default pickups but they are just a different vibe and must get replaced.

My question is this:

What pickups do you find really gel well with with a Les Paul and Mark v - for 80's hair and thrash type of sounds. I prefer passive. My concerns is ch2 has a lot of mids so I think I prefer pickups without tons of mids.

Candidates I came up with on my own:
SD JB/Jazz
SD Nazghul / Sentient (only concern here is will I need to lower volume and tone when switching from high gain ch3 to channel 1)
Dimarzio Super 3
Suhr Adrich pickups
Duncan Custom 5
Duncan Alternative 8
Duncan Duality

Open to other ideas.

Thanks!

 

[Joey1970]

SD Pearly gates (neck) and Custom-Custom (bridge) with my goldtop and C+ with EVM-12L cabs. The CC rolls off some of the brightness compared to the Custom 5, or Custom 8. I swapped the magnet between an Alnico 2,5,and 8. Came back to the Alnico 2. It worked better in that guitar.

 

[b00g13mk2B]

Try Gravelin pickups. Send this post to Josh and he can custom wind what you are looking for.

http://www.gravelinpickups.com/

 

[rarebitusa]

Gear:
Bogner Uber Cab (v30s and GT75s - by default this cab adds some nice girth and thickness which I love).
Guitar 2021 Gibson Les Paul standard - default pickups but they are just a different vibe and must get replaced.

Curious, is your Lester a 50's Standard w/ BBkr's 1&2 or a 60's Standard with 61 R&T?

 

[KRichter]

I use 3 guitars, I use a Custom Tele style guitar with a Duncan hot rails in the bridge and a Dimarzio Air-Norton the the neck. A EBMM John Petrucci JP6 - LiquiFire (neck) & Crunch Lab, and last and Gibson LP standard with the ThroBak Peter Green set. So as you can see, I'm doing a lot of bouncing around during a show. I pretty much change guitars depending what I'm playing, but that's always not the case. I go from blues, to Gary Moore to Ted Nugent and each guitar (as different as they are), is capable of doing all of that. For me it's pretty easy transition. #1, I set the channels at a pretty loud volume, #2 I have a Sonic Maximixer on my board, that a really easy goto tone fix right at my feet, Highs & really huge bottom. # 3 I keep the treble higher and if I feel the need, I'll kick up the presence. Although I don't like to knob-dick when I'm playing sometimes I do, or the sound guy (if you have one) can dial you in pretty good. So I know I didn't touch on the LP issue, but I can tell you this, Playing my LP thru it is heavy AF! There's a lot of tone in that amp, you can probably find it right there. My example was just outlining how I have 3 totally different guitars and could really play all night with either. Pick-ups and like asking what is a good amp?.. Pick up a maximiser, put it on your loop. Sweetwater will take it back if you don't like it....Cheers...

 

[elpingua]

Gear:
Bogner Uber Cab (v30s and GT75s - by default this cab adds some nice girth and thickness which I love).
Guitar 2021 Gibson Les Paul standard - default pickups but they are just a different vibe and must get replaced.

Curious, is your Lester a 50's Standard w/ BBkr's 1&2 or a 60's Standard with 61 R&T?

60s standard with Burstbucker. Guitar exactly is:

https://guitarcenter.smart.link/0d5tbbro8?producturl=/Gibson/Les-Paul-Standard-60s-Limited-Edition-Electric-Guitar.gc

Thanks for taking the time to offer suggestions.

 

[rarebitusa]

I've got a few LPs with varying PU sets... SD SH-4, DM SD / BBkr Pro, P90s, Fishman Fluence and EMGs Hetset. Each kinda does it's thing differently with my V:90. Do think your v30s+75s is a good pairing and of course the V:90 is simply a versatile beast.

FWIW...

can't comment directly on some of the other PU suggestions, but in my 07 Std with the stock BBkr Pros it sounded much like you have described. While tonally pleasing the bridge just didn't have enough "juice". Fortunately had a vintage DM SD laying around from the late 70's and that did the trick. Did stick with the BBkr in the neck as it had good clarity and brightness without being flubby. The SH-4 set is a worthwhile choice if you want to retain more of the vintage feel and up the gain a little. Personally I have grown to like the Fishman actives with the V for higher gain settings.

Interested in what you come up with. Good luck 8)

 

[danut]

I have a LP Traditional with '57 Classic/Classic Plus pick-ups and two LP Customs with 490R/498T pick-ups.
Keep the stock pick-ups in your Les Paul but adjust amp accordingly and use boost, especially since MKV90 is so versatile.

Fat Mode in channel 1 benefits enormously from vintage, PAF-type pick-ups and I'm sure you really like it with your current Les Paul. Hint: use a trasparent compressor, on a mild setting, to move more into Pettruci-esque tones. Yes, the tap dancing will increase, but it's well worth. I use a Maxon CP-9 Pro+.

For the Brit setting on channel 2, if you want more juice and oomph just max the gain on the amp and work with the volume control on the Les Paul, for futher adjustments. If that's not enough, kick in that TS-9, with drive at zero and volume slightly past unity gain. If needed, you can even add bass on the sliders, as this channel stays pretty tight on the lows, as long as you don't crank them on the rotary dial.

Finally, on channel 3, you like it already, as it is. More recently, I moved from MkIV to Extreme, which is way more present, especially in a dense band-mix.

The conclusion is PAF style stock pick-ups are gold in a Les Paul Standard. On my Les Paul Customs, the 490R/498T pick-ups are way hotter than those PAF-style, but the cleans on Fat mode of channel 1 are not as expressive and colorful as on the LP Traditional. Also, on the Crunch mode in channel 2, I can get the lower gain AC/DC style easier and with more expressivity with the LP Traditional, than with the LP Custom, by lowering the volume on the guitar.

Really, I saw a lot of people that changed the stock, lower output PAF style pick-ups on their Les Paul, went through all sorts of higher outpit iterations, only to come back to those Classic '57s, BBs, or whatever...

I hope this helped a bit