Pickups for "that" Warrren Haynes tone.

[SuperReverb2]

I realize that this has most likely been asked MANY times before, but my "search" didn't really yield the info I was after. I saw Warren Haynes and Gov't Mule here in Vancouver (Canada) at the Commodore Ballroom on the 16th of November. (2004 obviously) GREAT show, GREAT tone!! I recently viewed a Guitar One video that had Warren's tech giving a "small" tour of his gear. He mentioned that the pickups in Warren's "old" main guitar (a darker burst Les Paul) were Pearly Gates, (bridge and neck) but he failed to mention which pickups were in Warren's "new" main guitar. (a much brighter burst Les Paul)
From the search I did perform, I found a thread that stated the pickups in Warren's "new" main guitar were Burstbucker 1 and 2. (true?) (I'm assuming 1 in the neck and 2 in the bridge?) To be honest with you, I'm NOT a big fan of Gibsons pickups per say, as just about every one of the Gibson guitars I've tried (Les Pauls and ES-335's) sounded too "boomy" to my ears with the Classic 57's or the Burstbuckers. I'm a BIG fan of Seymour Duncan pickups! My Heritage Classic 535 came stock with Seth Lovers and I have yet to find a reissue ES-335 Dot that can hold a candle to that guitar.
I have recently come across a "stellar" sounding Epi les Paul that was just too good a deal to pass up. It has the stock Epi Classic 57's (which are OK) but for obvious reasons I want to upgrade the PUPS to something better, and something more along the lines of what I heard at the Gov't Mule concert. (yes, I do have a Soldano SLO 100)
I guess my question(s) to the learned masses would be this: Should I just bite the bullet and put the Burstbucker 1 and 2's in my guitar, or is there a pickup combination from Seymour Duncan that will give me Warren's tonality with (hopefully) a little more tonal versatility than the Burstbuckers may provide?

Thanks for your time in this matter

Chuck

[JB_From_Hell]

It seems like I've heard him mention the JB & '59, and maybe that the JB was in a guitar he used for more aggressive parts.

You've got me curious, so I'm gonna have to go digging through all the old GW & GP mags to try to find that now

[Curly]

from the artist section of the main site:

Artist: Warren Haynes
Band: Allman Brothers Band; Gov't Mule
Instrument: Plummer resonator, 59 reissue Gibson Les Pauls from Custom Shop, Alvarez and Gibson acoustic
Pickups: SL59-1b, SH-PG1n, SH-PG1b, SH-4, APH-1b, APH-1n

[dd12939]

I don't know the answer to your question, but I get to see Gov't Mule next month, so I'm pretty stoked about that... If I happen to run into him after the show (yeah, right!), I'll ask.

[captain cavman]

I think I read somewhere that WH uses antiquity bridge PU in his main LP but I can't remember where !

BTW I get "that" WH tone with a Mc Carty loaded with Seth Lover PUs through a Soldano head & Mesa vintage 30 cab.
I also have great result with a LP loaded with Antiquity bridge and '59n .

I would not advise the burstbuckers, I find them to much harsh to get the WH sweet tone , I would go with :

Bridge : Seth Lover or Antiquity
Neck : '59 or A2P

[Lewguitar]

For Warren's recorded tones I'd go with the Pearly Gates. I think they are one of the best choices for a Les Paul ever created and many of your favorite tunes by Warren are featuring the Pearly Gates pickups...guaranteed.

A set of Antiquitys would be fabulous too...a slightly more open and even more complex tone from the Seymour or MJ wound Antiquitys.

I've played the alnico 2 Burstbuckers in my buddy's Les Paul Historic Plaintop. I don't know the Burstbucker model in there but they are alnico 2 and the coils are slightly mismatched as they are in the Antiquity and Pearly gates set. I thought they sounded great...lots of complexity to the mids and the tone took me right back to 1970 when I owned some of those late 50's Les Pauls with the original pafs...you could buy those guitars for well under $1000. in 1970.

That said, I prefer the Duncans and when we did a shoot out between my buddy's Les Paul with the Burstbuckers and my own guitars with Duncans we all thought my Hamer Monoco with the Seth Lover neck and Custom Custom bridge was the best sounding guitar of all those we tested that day.

I'd go with Duncans: Pearly Gates, Antiquitys or Seth Lovers.

Lew

[Thames]

IMO, the Warren Haynes tone contains 3 major points :

- SLO (even better with the WH mod)
- PAF style pickups with mismatched coils and A2 magnets
- Warren Haynes himself!

Lew, correct me if Im wrong, but I dont think the Ants have mismatched coils. They sound too buttery and creamy, as a matched-coils HB sounds like. I dont hear that "edge", like the PG and others. But still are, fantastic pickups!

We were talking alot about the PG recently... I dont know if I should try a set in my LP

[Lewguitar]

I've never taken one apart, but that hollow quality that comes with the Antiquitys seems to indicate to me that the Antiquity coils are at least slightly mismatched.

Christian, the Guy Who Invented Fire, has talked with MJ about this and he has some insights into the Antiquitys that maybe he'll share with us.

For one thing, MJ says the Antiquitys are wound with 42 gauge wire like the Seths and PG's and others....but it's differant. Differant spec wire is used on the Antiquitys even though it has the same enamel coating and is 42 gauge!

Lew

[SuperReverb2]

Thanks for the replies. It's GREATLY appreciated!

Duncan's it is. Now I just have to decide on which ones....

Chuck

[dr.barlo]

Lew, correct me if Im wrong, but I dont think the Ants have mismatched coils. They sound too buttery and creamy, as a matched-coils HB sounds like. I dont hear that "edge", like the PG and others. But still are, fantastic pickups!

Try an a5 magnet in an ant bridge! But you are right still it would not have them extra uppermids that are present in PGs (even with a2s).

B

[Luke Duke]

Ahhh another Heritage fan I see! I read in a Guitar 1 (I think) he uses an antiquity bridge in a custom shop gibson and the 59 in a standard and the burstbuckers in another custom shop piece. The PG's I don't remember what they were in.

I'm a big advocate of the A2P for warm sounds.

Luke

[badco33]

Here is a link to a Warren Haynes interview that was on the Duncan site. He goes into details about the pickups he uses. It sounds like his current Les Paul reissue is still stock so that would be burstbucker 1 and 2 set.

http://www.seymourduncan.com/website...e.shtml#warren

I got a set of Pealy Gates pickups once I found out Warren used them and they were in my 04 Les Paul Standard. Just for a switch I took the Seth Lover set out of my ES-333 put them in my Les Paul and now I think the Seth's get me closer to Warren's tone with my set up than the Pealy Gates set did. I like the Pearlty Gates but I think the Seth Lover is just about the best A2 humbucker going (haven't had much experience with the Antiquities though).

[Lightning]

On the first Mule album and on ABB Seven Turns he had 2 Custom Shop LPs (as he referred to them) the cherry burst had a 490 and 498 and the root beer burst had 496 and 500. I haven't seen the original Cherry burst in about 5 years it has been replaced by the Vintage Cherry burst. Certain videos suggest that there are two Vintage Cherry burst. I talked to him again 2 years ago. He went down the list of each guitar and their respective pickups. Warren had a pen but you couldn't have bought a matchbook cover for 5 dollars at that moment (paper is for autographs). All I remember him saying was "Stock", "Seth" and "Antiquity" and I think the later two were in a 335 and 345 but don't quote me. There's also 3 Firebirds.

[Tweed]

Try an a5 magnet in an ant bridge! But you are right still it would not have them extra uppermids that are present in PGs (even with a2s).

B

I've got A4 in a set of Ants. They sound so good, I've been in no hurry to try A5s. One of these days...