Pickups for a Gibson SG (vintage output/possibly ceramic)?

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Hi all,

I've fallen in love with a '74 Gibson SG which I recently acquired but the pickups are squealing with any considerable gain.  As I'd quite like covered ones anyway, I'm tempted to just replace them (time is against me too).

Any recommendations?  Output around 8.5k and I understand they're ceramic magnets.  The neck pickup has a lovely warm jazzy sound when not driven hard and the bridge pickup has that nice Angus Young-like bite when similarly driven a little (think Ride On or something).  I'd quite like something similar.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

Trading feedback info here

My band, Red For Dissent
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Comments

  • JohnPerryJohnPerry Frets: 1616
    my stock answer: http://ox4pickups.co.uk/product/ox4-humbucker/

    I got some low-winds which transformed my SG from the 57 Classics in there

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  • I had an SG Standard in 76, I loved the sound, (Reference: Jimmy McCulloch / Wings Live over America).

    If you can check your pick ups are not faulty, I'll swap you a pair of Gibson 57 Classics for them?


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  • @JohnPerry They sound interesting. 

    @veldt666 Sadly they're not the originals. Mighty Mite 1400s, I believe. 
    Trading feedback info here

    My band, Red For Dissent
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  • TeyeplayerTeyeplayer Frets: 3132
    edited January 2018
    Speak to @TheGuitarWeasel or @Alegree ;;and see if one of them can pot them and add a cover, shouldn’t think it’ll cost much. If you essentially like these pickups and want the same thing, then you really don’t want to change them.
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  • The OX4s are very interesting.  Some amazing reviews, although very pricy.  Such a tough decision...
    Trading feedback info here

    My band, Red For Dissent
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  • TrotterTrotter Frets: 516
    I have a set of shed PAF's in one of my SG's and it completely transformed the guitar. couldn't recommend them enough. 
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  • DanielsguitarsDanielsguitars Frets: 3261
    tFB Trader
    I'd recommend Marc at mojo, his pafs are bloody good, I swapped out a bare knuckle bridge for one of his

    I also have shed but I don't think Spence makes them anymore or it got a hit and miss delivering them, shame as they're great pickups too
    www.danielsguitars.co.uk
    (formerly customkits)
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  • ThorpyFXThorpyFX Frets: 6090
    tFB Trader
    we are very spoilt in this country at the moment.

    For my SG i went with Montys Pafs https://www.montysguitars.com/products/montys-paf-pickup-set
    they have that "hollow" sound that all good pass seem to exhibit, more like a hum free P90 than a humbucker. 

    I also use Pafs from:

    Bareknuckle Pickups (mules) which suit Les Pauls really well imho.
    Mojo Pickups, Marc is a wizard and i have four guitars using his pups, all of them sound immense to my ears. There is a reason Patrick James Eggle chooses Mojo to outfit his guitars.

    I haven't used any Pafs from Oil city but.... Having used their other offerings I'm sure they would be great too.

    The only ones i haven't owned of the big hitters in the UK are the OX4's. that being said, i have played guitars with them in and they have that hollow p90 vibe too.


    so in short choose a company and go for it.







    Adrian Thorpe MBE | Owner of ThorpyFx Ltd | Email: thorpy@thorpyfx.com | Twitter: @ThorpyFx | Facebook: ThorpyFx Ltd | Website: www.thorpyfx.com
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  • TeyeplayerTeyeplayer Frets: 3132
    ThorpyFX said:

    Mojo Pickups, Marc is a wizard and i have four guitars using his pups, all of them sound immense to my ears. 







    Which mojos have you used if you don’t mind me asking @ThorpyFX?

    I’ve been looking at both his paf copies and vintage voiced humbuckers and can’t make my mind up between the two. Got no need or great desire for a dead copy paf pickup in terms of appearance and spec, but definitely do want that paf hollowness of tone. Was going to post on here asking if anyone had tried both and could advise.
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  • SchnozzSchnozz Frets: 1926
    Seymour Duncan Phat Cats - Perfect for an SG.
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  • DanielsguitarsDanielsguitars Frets: 3261
    tFB Trader
    ThorpyFX said:

    Mojo Pickups, Marc is a wizard and i have four guitars using his pups, all of them sound immense to my ears. 







    Which mojos have you used if you don’t mind me asking @ThorpyFX?

    I’ve been looking at both his paf copies and vintage voiced humbuckers and can’t make my mind up between the two. Got no need or great desire for a dead copy paf pickup in terms of appearance and spec, but definitely do want that paf hollowness of tone. Was going to post on here asking if anyone had tried both and could advise.
    I have used both his vintage paf types, just recently I put in a set of his low wind versions in a lp build and they're getting on for pretty much perfect to my ears, very clear almost p90 like, he uses alnico 3 magnets, these are nothing like a mule which is like a generic rock pickup to me

    It really depends on your taste as all of them are different flavours

    I will get some demos done at some point with the normal mojo paf and low wind and i still want to swap magnets around just to hear the difference

    I forgot I also put his standard paf in a set neck strat with a split coil and that's bloody good too, nice rock tones roll volume down cleans up nicely and the split coil gives another tone

     
    www.danielsguitars.co.uk
    (formerly customkits)
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  • TeyeplayerTeyeplayer Frets: 3132
    edited January 2018
    ThorpyFX said:

    Mojo Pickups, Marc is a wizard and i have four guitars using his pups, all of them sound immense to my ears. 







    Which mojos have you used if you don’t mind me asking @ThorpyFX?

    I’ve been looking at both his paf copies and vintage voiced humbuckers and can’t make my mind up between the two. Got no need or great desire for a dead copy paf pickup in terms of appearance and spec, but definitely do want that paf hollowness of tone. Was going to post on here asking if anyone had tried both and could advise.
    I have used both his vintage paf types, just recently I put in a set of his low wind versions in a lp build and they're getting on for pretty much perfect to my ears, very clear almost p90 like, he uses alnico 3 magnets, these are nothing like a mule which is like a generic rock pickup to me

    It really depends on your taste as all of them are different flavours

    I will get some demos done at some point with the normal mojo paf and low wind and i still want to swap magnets around just to hear the difference

    I forgot I also put his standard paf in a set neck strat with a split coil and that's bloody good too, nice rock tones roll volume down cleans up nicely and the split coil gives another tone

     
    Cheers for the advice, would definitely be interested to hear sound clips.
    It was the low winds that were getting most of my attention. How do they compare to Montys which seem very similiar and are are price, bar using alnico4’s (in the montys)?
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  • RiftAmpsRiftAmps Frets: 3113
    tFB Trader
    Montys, Mojo, or House of Tone
    *I no longer offer replacement speaker baffles*
    Rift Amplification
    Handwired Guitar Amplifiers
    Brackley, Northamptonshire
    www.riftamps.co.uk

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  • DanielsguitarsDanielsguitars Frets: 3261
    edited January 2018 tFB Trader
    ThorpyFX said:

    Mojo Pickups, Marc is a wizard and i have four guitars using his pups, all of them sound immense to my ears. 







    Which mojos have you used if you don’t mind me asking @ThorpyFX?

    I’ve been looking at both his paf copies and vintage voiced humbuckers and can’t make my mind up between the two. Got no need or great desire for a dead copy paf pickup in terms of appearance and spec, but definitely do want that paf hollowness of tone. Was going to post on here asking if anyone had tried both and could advise.
    I have used both his vintage paf types, just recently I put in a set of his low wind versions in a lp build and they're getting on for pretty much perfect to my ears, very clear almost p90 like, he uses alnico 3 magnets, these are nothing like a mule which is like a generic rock pickup to me

    It really depends on your taste as all of them are different flavours

    I will get some demos done at some point with the normal mojo paf and low wind and i still want to swap magnets around just to hear the difference

    I forgot I also put his standard paf in a set neck strat with a split coil and that's bloody good too, nice rock tones roll volume down cleans up nicely and the split coil gives another tone

     
    Cheers for the advice, would definitely be interested to hear sound clips.
    It was the low winds that were getting most of my attention. How do they compare to Montys which seem very similiar and are are price, bar using alnico4’s (in the montys)?
    I've had montys in another Lp and while I liked the bridge the most, didn't like the neck as much, I've just stopped looking now, every pickup I've had has been great from Marc
    I will now get some magnets from Marc just to see how that affects the low winds, going from alnico 3 to 4

    I've got access to a real 58 to compare, I was pretty close with his vintage pafs last time but I've made a couple more Lp's since then and they're having both vintage relic types

    My set neck strat gets in the sg terriotory with his standard bridge paf
    It's made of limba so its got mahogany type tone

    I'll get some good demos done when they're finished 

    also look up the guitar show on you tube, it's Ramon goose playing mojos 

    Mike Bradley on you tube did some demos with the montys and mojos 

    these are the mojos, I like the tone of them



    www.danielsguitars.co.uk
    (formerly customkits)
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  • TeyeplayerTeyeplayer Frets: 3132
    ThorpyFX said:

    Mojo Pickups, Marc is a wizard and i have four guitars using his pups, all of them sound immense to my ears. 







    Which mojos have you used if you don’t mind me asking @ThorpyFX?

    I’ve been looking at both his paf copies and vintage voiced humbuckers and can’t make my mind up between the two. Got no need or great desire for a dead copy paf pickup in terms of appearance and spec, but definitely do want that paf hollowness of tone. Was going to post on here asking if anyone had tried both and could advise.
    I have used both his vintage paf types, just recently I put in a set of his low wind versions in a lp build and they're getting on for pretty much perfect to my ears, very clear almost p90 like, he uses alnico 3 magnets, these are nothing like a mule which is like a generic rock pickup to me

    It really depends on your taste as all of them are different flavours

    I will get some demos done at some point with the normal mojo paf and low wind and i still want to swap magnets around just to hear the difference

    I forgot I also put his standard paf in a set neck strat with a split coil and that's bloody good too, nice rock tones roll volume down cleans up nicely and the split coil gives another tone

     
    Cheers for the advice, would definitely be interested to hear sound clips.
    It was the low winds that were getting most of my attention. How do they compare to Montys which seem very similiar and are are price, bar using alnico4’s (in the montys)?
    I've had montys in another Lp and while I liked the bridge the most, didn't like the neck as much, I've just stopped looking now, every pickup I've had has been great from Marc
    I will now get some magnets from Marc just to see how that affects the low winds, going from alnico 3 to 4

    I've got access to a real 58 to compare, I was pretty close with his vintage pafs last time but I've made a couple more Lp's since then and they're having both vintage relic types

    My set neck strat gets in the sg terriotory with his standard bridge paf
    It's made of limba so its got mahogany type tone

    I'll get some good demos done when they're finished 

    also look up the guitar show on you tube, it's Ramon goose playing mojos 

    Mike Bradley on you tube did some demos with the montys and mojos 

    these are the mojos, I like the tone of them



    Lovely sound on that clip. 

    Getting the neck neck right is so important, as I use the neck and mod positions far more than I ever do the bridge on its own. 
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  • stickyfiddlestickyfiddle Frets: 26750
    Not sure how I missed this. My current SG pickups are Gibson 57 Classics but with alnico 3 magnets, which give way more treble and less mud, which makes for a really nice lively SG tone, particularly on the neck, which is where regular (i.e. alnico2) 57 Classics tend to fall down.

    If you're going handwound I've had great things from Creamery, Mojo and most recently OX4. Basically all the commonly-mentionned guys are great. I've never heard a bad word about @TheGuitarWeasel's ;Oil City pickups and I'm sure I'll be going his way soon enough. 
    The Assumptions - UAE party band for all your rock & soul desires
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  • The chap at OX4 recommends A4 magnets based on what I've asked for (as above) with low winds.  My only concern is the non-potting, as isn't this likely the problem with my existing pickups squealing?

    A bit confused, as is often the case...

    Trading feedback info here

    My band, Red For Dissent
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  • stickyfiddlestickyfiddle Frets: 26750
    A well-made pickup shouldn't squeal even if not potted, unless you're cranking chunky marshalls with tonnes of gain. As I understand it potting came about mostly to stop pickups that weren't so well made from squealing

    The Assumptions - UAE party band for all your rock & soul desires
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  • TeyeplayerTeyeplayer Frets: 3132
    Somewhat inspired by discussion here I’ve decided to experiment a little with swapping magnets. I’m not entirely against my SD 59’s but know having played other people’s guitars with OX4s and the advice above that they could be much better. So whilst I sell a few things to raise the cash for a decent set from either monty, mojo or OX4, I’m going to experiment with different magnets (and at just 3 quid a pop, nothing ventured nothing gained).
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  • jdbwalesjdbwales Frets: 309

    The chap at OX4 recommends A4 magnets based on what I've asked for (as above) with low winds.  My only concern is the non-potting, as isn't this likely the problem with my existing pickups squealing?

    A bit confused, as is often the case...

    I always say this, but try Iron Gear Blues Engines. Alnico 4, low output but lots of power and punch. Sweet cleans, huge rock sounds, split beautifully and extremely affordable. I’ve tried bloody everything humbucker wise and these are on my LP Custom and SG and are going nowhere.
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