I was recently tasked with restringing & setting up of this 2004 Gibson Classic Les Paul and after some play testing, was a bit confused, and shocked as to the sort of sounds coming out of this guitar, particularly from something designated with 1960 and “Classic” designations.
I decided to do some digging on to the pickups loaded in this particular model.
Magnet – Ceramic
Bridge 500T Humbucker :
Measured DC 11.42K ohms
Neck 496R Humbucker :
Measured DC 8.55K ohms
So, apparently, for some reason, the people in charge of Gibson, decided to fit a 1960 reissue Les Paul Classic model with “Super + Hot” pickups suited for a, more modern player.
This is definitely noticeable when comparing using a clean or low gain tube amp, especially back to back with a guitar loaded with single coil pickups or even more normal humbuckers, as the Super + Hot ceramic magnet design, just simply pummels a tube amp into more compression. These may very well be, the hottest pickups available from the Big G.
A trade off does occur thou, with some loss of dynamics and definition, particularly when paired with higher gain settings, but these pickups still managed to retain some top end clarity and bite. Think chunka chunka chugs, with the ability to pull off pinch harmonics and squeals with ease.
To summarise, a more classic rock player may very well hate these pickups, (especially if they are after a more authentic Gibson 1960 Les Paul package) but for more modern playing, leaning towards a more, heavy chunka chuggah and “Authenthicc” sound( see what i did there) may very well find these perfectly paired.
electricpickupartist 