Suggest upgrades for my LP studio

Reverend

I have a black 2000 studio and I was wondering what sort of upgrades people might suggest. Currently have a zombiedust custom in the bridge. The neck is probably stock but is a little under  powered. I was thinking of maybe goung for a jb in the bridge  and 
Possibly a p90 for the neck. Any ideas?
Tuners are grovers and they seem decent. 
The finish has been scoured so will need work. Any ideas or suggestions for that?

Lestratcaster

What tuning is it in an what styles do you play?

I have a 2010 LP studio, I whacked a BKP Aftermath in the bridge and it sounds great for drop c and b. I also changed the nut to an Earvana and the tailpiece to a Gotoh aluminium one, much more sustain. Then stupidly I changed the Aftermath out and put a BKP ceramic Nailbomb in, thinking it'd be better. Ran with it for about 5 years before putting an Aftermath back in after weeks of considering other pickups. Tone pot was disconnected too when the Nailbomb went in which made it too shrill and fizzy. It was since reconnected.

I'll wanna upgrade the neck pickup at some point but not rushing as I don't use it a lot anyway.

HerrMetal

A Kahler.

 Don't hit me, don't hit me. Not the face, not the face. Aaaarrrggghhhhh !!!

Moloch

I've recently been making some updates to my 1994 Studio. Added a pair of BKP Riff Raffs (great sound, especially for someone like me who ventures from bluesy cleans to grindcore in single playing sessions) and also Hipshot locking tuners, with a String Butler added. When the Coronavirus catastrophe abates I'm probably going to get it refretted with stainless steel jumbos and I might possibly get a new nut fitted too.

Fuengi

Trade it for a Strat 

Fishboy7

I'd be tempted to go for EMGs.  

prowla

How do the Seymour Duncan JB pickups suit these?

FelineGuitars

Earvana nut
Lightweight aluminium tailpiece with locking tail studs 

robdynamite

prowla said:

How do the Seymour Duncan JB pickups suit these?

I have a pair in my 90's studio and they are superb.

TTBZ

My favourite pickups in my Les Paul were Bare Knuckle Black Dogs. They're not crazy output but enough and I found them great for everything. Had more character than lower output PAF style pickups which I can find a bit bland. For a bit lower price the Oil City Airship Trooper seems to be aiming for a similar kinda feel - I've already planned for a pair when I get a Les Paul again!

Fez

Sperzal locking machine heads. Bare Knuckle crawler or Holy Diver pick ups. Not sure I would mess with the Bridge but if I did I might go for a tone pros.

Boromedic

I was impressed with the difference a Faber aluminium tailpiece made, even the Faber tailpiece studs seemed to make a slight difference as I added them later. I added an ABR1 too but I had an issue with the B string sitar'ing and I needed some other work doing so it's gone to Feline for a whole new wiring harness and pickups plus an Earvana nut, can't wait to get it back now and see how it sounds. 

chris78

Fuengi said:

Trade it for a Strat 

Beat me to it virtually but I was going to suggest a PRS singlecut if the op wants that style of guitar

rico

FelineGuitars said:

Earvana nut
Lightweight aluminium tailpiece with locking tail studs 

Sounds familiar plus a tonepros bridge. 

Stevepage

I had a 2013 Studio that had EMG 81 and 60 pickups. That guitar sounded fecking huge, so I'm recommending them

Rocker

Earvana nut.  I am considering getting one for my Epi LP.  A retro fit Earvana nut made an amazing difference - a big improvement - to a Squier Tele I had up to recently.  

roberty

I had an earvana on my Les Paul but went back to just a normal Tusq because it was digging into my hand when playing certain chords. It definitely does something because when the guitar was intonated the saddles were in perfect lines. You have to adjust your playing to not compensate for wonky intonation, at least that's what it felt like

The same guitar came with an aftermarket tonepros locking bridge which I think made it sound a bit percussive and harsh until I took the grub screws out. When the screws are in it doesn't rest on the thumbwheels at all

It massively depends what sound you're after but I really rate Oil City Nightfighters. Very sweet and musical with enough muscle to play through high gain. They split extremely well too

Maybe you could go a new harness with coil splits? 50s wiring is pretty cool and an easy mod to do on its own

prowla

robdynamite said:

prowla said:

How do the Seymour Duncan JB pickups suit these?

I have a pair in my 90's studio and they are superb.

Thanks!

I've got the bridge one in a couple of Strats and I quite like them.

I've also got a Studio and an unused bridge/neck pair which I've been wondering about fitting...

Plus a Freeway switch...

Lestratcaster

prowla said:

robdynamite said:

prowla said:

How do the Seymour Duncan JB pickups suit these?

I have a pair in my 90's studio and they are superb.

Thanks!

I've got the bridge one in a couple of Strats and I quite like them.

I've also got a Studio and an unused bridge/neck pair which I've been wondering about fitting...

Plus a Freeway switch...

Got one in my Strat too and love it. I play that in standard tuning though so not sure how it would react in drop tunings.

earwighoney

Reverend said:

I have a black 2000 studio and I was wondering what sort of upgrades people might suggest. Currently have a zombiedust custom in the bridge. The neck is probably stock but is a little under  powered. I was thinking of maybe goung for a jb in the bridge  and 
Possibly a p90 for the neck. Any ideas?
Tuners are grovers and they seem decent. 
The finish has been scoured so will need work. Any ideas or suggestions for that?

I don't know what kind of metal you plan to play with it or what tuning but I've got Alegree HB sized P90's in my Tele Deluxe which I keep in C standard and I use to play doom and the P90 at the bridge in particular is a delight fuzzed out.

So I'd recommend one of those in addition to an HB if you're looking for something along those lines.

Reverend

Ive been playing doomy stuff foe about 30 years. Usually down a couple of steps. No fuzz, mostly light drives into a jmp 2203.