Gibson Les Paul Swamp Ash Pickups

[Segovic]

Hello, I have a Gibson Les Paul Swamp Ash. It is a swamp ash guitar instead of a mahogany guitar. I really like it, it has a sound a bit less dark than a mahogany guitar.
I am tempted to change pickups, it has 490R and 498T. I have built an explorer starting from a lutein kit, and it has seth lover pickups...and I love them.
What pickups do you recommend for a good u2 sound?
Thank you!

[drumu2]

Hello, I have a Gibson Les Paul Swamp Ash. It is a swamp ash guitar instead of a mahogany guitar. I really like it, it has a sound a bit less dark than a mahogany guitar.
I am tempted to change pickups, it has 490R and 498T. I have built an explorer starting from a lutein kit, and it has seth lover pickups...and I love them.
What pickups do you recommend for a good u2 sound?
Thank you!

I've owned a swamp ash Les Paul, and the nature of that wood is different enough that it won't ever quite nail the exact bright and clangy Edge tone from his Les Paul Custom.

Swamp ash is in nature a brighter wood than mahogany but it is not brighter than Maple, which is what most Les Pauls are capped with.

This doesn't mean it won't get you close because it will, and those are great sounding guitars. But if you are really looking to nail his tone you need a maple capped Les Paul.

I do actually still have a demo from when I sold mine, and luckily enough I played some U2 with it:


I had a Duncan Alnico Pro II in the neck and a Duncan Custom Custom in the bridge. The Custom Custom is NOT what you want for U2, it's too hot. You want something lower output like T-Tops, which are what came in Edge's '74 LP Custom.

For a modern replacement, look at a Manlius recreation or contact ReWind pickups. Those are both great, but of course it you really want the same tone you'll need to find a set of 70's Gibson T-Tops that are rated in the 7.5-7.7 range.

Seth Lovers will get you close as well, but the frequency response of a T-Top pickup is slightly different than a typical PAF - they have less honky mids.

[Segovic]

Thank you so much for your advice Drumu2...I heard about manlius. I'll look for something

[schnitzolaus]

I got some T-Top-Clones from Q-Pickups in Croatia. There is no "T" on the bobbins but they Sound great. You can tell him what you Need and he is doing it: Gold screws, hotter Bridge, vintage braided wires... I paid 145 US$.