Gibson MHS Pickups

danban

i have a set of these in my es335 and they are incredible, they're airy and articulate.

I'm after a set for my 2014 Gibson LP Traditional as I'm not bonding with the Gibson 59 tribute humbuckers it came with.

I'm having trouble finding a set so was wondering what other alternatives there are?

I'm a fan of the low output pick ups, that have the low mid freq and less of the high mids.

Any suggestions or recommendations?

p90fool

I know what you mean about the midrange, so I've been playing about with alnico 3 magnets over the last few days. 

They've taken all of that brittleness you get out of some amps with the Classic 57+ and have totally transformed a 498T.
 It's still powerful, but you can really dig in without harshness and it's much more responsive to playing dynamics. 

I haven't tried the 59 Tributes, but it may be worth splashing  fiver on a magnet swap. 

crunchman

They are great pickups.  I have an ES Les Paul with them.

I was talking to someone the other week who worked for Gibson for several years who is of the opinion that they are the best pickups Gibson make.

At the moment, you can only get them in a guitar AFAIK.  They don't sell them as an aftermarket option.

I'm sure it's possible to get something else similar.  It might be worth talking to @TheGuitarWeasel who makes Oil City pickups.

danban

p90fool said:

I know what you mean about the midrange, so I've been playing about with alnico 3 magnets over the last few days. 

They've taken all of that brittleness you get out of some amps with the Classic 57+ and have totally transformed a 498T.
 It's still powerful, but you can really dig in without harshness and it's much more responsive to playing dynamics. 

I haven't tried the 59 Tributes, but it may be worth splashing  fiver on a magnet swap. 

How difficult is the magnet swap?

Exactly that.

danban

crunchman said:

They are great pickups.  I have an ES Les Paul with them.

I was talking to someone the other week who worked for Gibson for several years who is of the opinion that they are the best pickups Gibson make.

At the moment, you can only get them in a guitar AFAIK.  They don't sell them as an aftermarket option.

I'm sure it's possible to get something else similar.  It might be worth talking to @TheGuitarWeasel who makes Oil City pickups.

It's a shame because they are exactly what I'm after and love. They inspire me to play whereas the les Paul I play a little but the pickups are not as inspiring at all.

Gibson would make huge sales releasing the mhs as an after market.

impmann

Best sounding pickups I've heard in a Gibson Semi are the MHS ones. 

Alnico 3 seems to suit me - all my fave pickups recently have had A3 in them (before anyone buts in on that... yes, I'm fully aware that there are other factors in making a pickup sound great :-) ).

p90fool

danban said:

p90fool said:

I know what you mean about the midrange, so I've been playing about with alnico 3 magnets over the last few days. 

They've taken all of that brittleness you get out of some amps with the Classic 57+ and have totally transformed a 498T.
 It's still powerful, but you can really dig in without harshness and it's much more responsive to playing dynamics. 

I haven't tried the 59 Tributes, but it may be worth splashing  fiver on a magnet swap. 

How difficult is the magnet swap?

Exactly that.

It depends on how comfortable you are removing and replacing pickup covers to be honest. It's pretty easy after that, as long as you're exremely careful around the coil windings and the cables.

danban

I've already removed the covers as the waxing was lousy and causing microphonic feedback lol

crunchman

p90fool said:

danban said:

p90fool said:

I know what you mean about the midrange, so I've been playing about with alnico 3 magnets over the last few days. 

They've taken all of that brittleness you get out of some amps with the Classic 57+ and have totally transformed a 498T.
 It's still powerful, but you can really dig in without harshness and it's much more responsive to playing dynamics. 

I haven't tried the 59 Tributes, but it may be worth splashing  fiver on a magnet swap. 

How difficult is the magnet swap?

Exactly that.

It depends on how comfortable you are removing and replacing pickup covers to be honest. It's pretty easy after that, as long as you're exremely careful around the coil windings and the cables.

It's not hard.  I had to flip the magnet on a pickup once as I bought an aftermarket one for the bridge position that was the opposite phase from the neck pickup.

stickyfiddle

I haven't tried the MHS ones but I have alnico 3 57 classics in my SG and they're absolutely brilliant.