It is a good guitar, and I love the neck and weight. Just as a whole, it's not floating my boat. Not sure why. The neck and weight of my Tempest is very similar to my LP. Both suit my stubby hands. But the B.K. PUps leave the burstbuckers in the dust. But I wouldn't expect the same results if I was to put a set in the Gibby. The resonance of the Tempest kills the LP. It's been mistaken for an acoustic guitar because of the unplugged volume is quite loud. So I'm picking it's partly a wood combination thing, although both are mahogany with a maple cap. I like your descriptions of the LP PUps. I can totally relate to what you're saying. Definitely fall short for heavier rock and metal. Good up to a point, but I found them to sound flubby when playing really fast riffs/picking
Gibson could start calling the pickups the Moby Dick or the Ahab: flubby and undefined down low, grainy and scratchy up high. I've heard nothing but good things about the Bareknuckle stuff and would like to try them out one day but I'm good with what I've got planned. I'll say this though and pickups are a rabbit hole. A potentially exorbitantly expensive rabbit hole. Your description of the Tempest ironically reminds me of my R8 lol
I enjoy playing my $300-$375 ESP 400-AT's more than I did my Les Paul Traditional. I sold the LP, and now have 3 ESP 400-AT's, all purchased used.
I've found that the bridge pickup location is very important, especially when it comes to articulation. The further the pickup is from the bridge, the looser sounding the low end.
Hmmmm..... I've been looking closely at ESP as a possible replacement. I know that ESP is made in Japan. Is that their country of origin? Or are they made in the States as well? Just trying to gauge the quality, as I've seen some Japanese made ones here and was wondering if they're worth it
Ok, this is interesting, so I guess the placement of the bridge pickup depends on what guitar is being used. I use mainly 2 Les Pauls and I’ve never had a problem with articulation, or anything else for that matter, with the bridge pickup on either guitar. On the other hand I adjust the pickup height to get the tone I’m looking for, and neither of my LPs have high output pickups. One has Vintage output pickups, and the other has moderate output bridge pickup.
I think when it gets to the equation where there's gain from the preamp, the power amp, the headroom of the speaker, dirt pedals, and then start ramping up the output of the pickups as well as the type of magnet used and add all that together, it's a matter of being able to get all of those factors working together instead of fighting each other. Some pickups add muscle for sure but start to sacrifice articulation while others are clear and articulate but don't have the balls and can get pretty bright if not careful. As far as the pickup distance from the bridge, I can see that from a physics standpoint. I'm sure someone around here can chime in and articulate but my guess would be the vibrations from picking the strings and the way the wood resonates as a result. I could be totally wrong but something along those lines would be my guess.
Yes, I think they're a Japanese company. I had a newer ESP (256, I think), and didn't really bond with it. For some reason, I just like the earlier LP style models, mainly the 400-AT. They're pretty heavy, solid bodies, and came with Duncan pickups (JB and 59). I also have an ESP ST203 FR super strat, which I play 80's metal stuff on. Don't know much about the newer models, mine are all older beaters. Not the greatest photo... Vlcsnap-00032 by marshallmellowed posted Sep 9, 2020 at 9:50 AM
I already have a couple of Plexis. Love them. Sumptn bout this lil 20 watt 800 that comes romping. It can do a lot of different stuff. Still exploring. However I feel excessive right now and the SC accommodates easily...
My Gibby's PUps are ok for rock, I guess, but it's the heavier genre's I play is where they fall short
