The Gibson Les Paul is known as one of the first solid-body electric guitars and one of the most renowned.
These guitars were first introduced to the masses in the 1950s, and that was the time when their legendary reputation started. The original Les Paul had the iconic gold top, four knobs, pickguard, signature toggle switch, and trapeze tailpiece.
They also had P90 pickups, Gibson’s version of single-coil pickups. Even though these are excellent pickups, Seth Lover devised an even better design – the humbucker.
When these pickups were paired with Les Paul’s mahogany body, the Les Paul sound that we all know and love was created.
Thus, here are the best Les Paul pickups for classic rock and a smart buying guide to ease your shopping experience.
 | 1.Best Les Paul Pickups for Classic Rock Editor’s Choice – Seymour Duncan APH-2s Alnico II Pro Slash This neck/bridge humbucker set provided a warm, moderate output which is great for classic rock but for blues and jazz too. | Buy on Amazon |
 | 2.Best Les Paul Pickups for Classic Rock Overall – Seymour Duncan Antiquity These pickups are designed to look and sound like a ’50s humbucker and built to traditional standards. It features its character and DC resistance. | Buy on Amazon |
 | 3. Best Les Paul Pickups for Classic Rock for the Money – Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates Pearly Gates has a PAF (Patent Applied For) with a unique tonal characteristic and more midrange than typical humbuckers from the 50s. | Buy on Amazon |
Best Les Paul Pickups for Classic Rock Reviewed
Editor’s choice for best tenor saxophone mouthpiece for jazz: Seymour Duncan APH-2s Alnico II Pro Slash
Alnico II Pro Slash neck and bridge humbuckers are available individually or in pair. They come with different prints and colors, such as black, zebra, and reverse zebra bobbins.
If you like playing classic rock, then this is the right product for your guitar. The pickups on Slash’s “Appetite for Destruction” guitar were the inspiration for this signature model.
Seymour Duncan has attempted to replicate the pickups on the instrument by creating a signature model of the Pro Slash APH-2 humbuckers. It’s easy to see why these pickups became such a popular humbucker combination for rock guitars.
This set feature a single conductor cable, a long-legged bottom plate, and a wooden spacer. The neck pickup has a thick, warm tone that pairs well with minimal distortion or overdrive.
You can effortlessly get that legendary, full, and magnificent slash neck guitar tone with them. There are many mids in the bridge pickup, as well as a lot of highs.
It easily cuts through a full rock band and is ideal for a screaming rock guitar lead tone. The bridge pickup provides a lot of sustain and may also be used for power chords.
The output of the Pro Slash is higher than that of traditional-sounding pickups, but it is mild compared to metal guitar pickups. It goes great with classic rock but with blues music as well.
Despite their exceptionally high-quality tones and specifications, these pickups are nonetheless reasonably priced.
Let’s check how Seymour Duncan APH-2s Alnico II Pro Slash sounds with electric guitar.
Pros
- Great quality with beautiful design features
- Great mellow sound
Cons
- None
Best Les Paul Pickups for Classic Rock Overall: Seymour Duncan Antiquity
Pickups are subjected to a lot of wear and tear, which gives them the appearance of having been around the block a few times. As a result, these are among the most authentically vintage-looking Les Paul pickups available.
Our favorite feature is its special plain enamel mag wire which includes two bars and 2.5-inch alnico magnets. It also features a single conductor braided lead wire, so there’s no split-coil wiring. The pickups feature nickel-silver covers and bottom plates with lengthy mounting legs.
The Seymour Duncan Antiquity has an authentic design because the humbuckers are not wax potted, which creates its sound.
What might be the most impressive thing is that each Antiquity humbucker is being wound using a vintage Kalamazoo Gibson winding machine. Therefore, you are getting an original Antiquity, where each bar magnet and bottom plate are signed.
The pickups are very smooth and mellow with an unmistakable vintage feel. They are well-balanced with consistent frequency responses. The breakups are responsive when using a tube amp, but the smoothness remains.
Here is how the Seymour Duncan Antiquity sounds!
Pros
- Great quality with beautiful design features
- Great mellow sound
Cons
- None
Best Les Paul Pickups for Classic Rock for the Money: Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates
Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates has that Les Paul sound but a little extra.
Probably the most incredible feature is the amount of punch coming from the mid-range. Besides, the amount of output, and its extra drive, make these pickups sound unique.
However, the mid-range is not the only powerful thing. It’s also clear that the upper notes remain dominant as you advance up the fingerboard. The depth and resonance of lower notes and frequencies may occasionally overpower high sounds; however, with Duncan Pearly, this will not happen.
It features high note clarity and permits any high-end riffs to remain in the foreground and not be gobbled away. Another great feature is that these pickups can sound sharp and crisp yet still extremely powerful without putting forth a lot of effort to get the desired sound.
The thing that sets these pickups apart from other Les Paul pickups is their ability to recreate the sounds of an era. A thick and warm sound, better known as the well-known sounds of the 60s and 70s.
Any Les Paul-style guitar will be transformed into a beast, a roaring classic rock monster. That’s what it does, and if that’s what you’re looking for, welcome to the early 1970s at an affordable price.
Let’s check how this Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates sound when paired with the electric guitar.
Pros
- Vintage sound with a sweet and clear tone
- Goes great with mahogany body instruments
- Great set of pickups for rock, blues, and jazz
Cons
- Not so suitable for country or modern rock
Buying Guide for Best Les Paul Pickups for Classic Rock
What are Les Paul pickups?
Les Paul pickups are compatible with a Les Paul electric guitar, either Gibson or Epiphone. These are usually humbuckers or in traditional model P90.
Humbuckers are two single-coil pickups bundled together and covered, creating one rectangular pickup. The original Les Pual models had the P90 version, Gibson’s version of single-coil pickups.
Magnets in these pickups pick up the strings’ vibration and transmit it as electricity, creating the sound you hear from your amplifier.
In this context, we are specifically looking for pickups that work well with Les Paul electric guitars.
Is Les Paul good for classic rock?
Yes, the Les Paul guitar are great for classic rock. Especially the Gibson Les Paul Standard and SG Standard are excellent choices for playing in this genre. Those models deliver the thick and creamy tone typical for classicrock.
However, these guitars were not always so compatible with the patchwork of tones in Classic Rock music. The Les Paul Standard reintroduces the guitar with its essential core intact and is a significant improvement that expands the guitar’s capabilities much beyond people’s beliefs.
What pickups does a Les Paul Classic have?
Les Paul Classic has Burstbucker zebra 61 R & T and Coil Top. On the other hand, The Les Paul Traditional has Burstbuckers 1 & 2 (Alnico #2), volume, and tone knobs hand-wired with orange drop capacitors.
Both of these guitars are classic Les Pauls in that they harken back to guitars from a bygone era. But, since they are fitted with different pickup sets, they have different tonal characteristics.
The 2019 Les Paul Traditional is inspired by those legendary models from the late 50s, whereas the Classic comes from Gibsons (SGs, as we know them today) from the 60s.
Conclusion and Winner(s)
The top three pickups that we mentioned here are by no means mistakable. If you are playing classic rock and opt for any of them, you won’t regret it!
We did thorough research, collected customer experience, read and watched a lot of reviews, and we do no doubt that these are the three best Les Paul pickups for classic rock. And, if we had to choose the overall winner, we are picking the Seymour Duncan Antiquity.
If you wonder why, simply because this model had no flaws. There was not one thing to complain about. Even though it is a bit more expensive than the other two models, we can’t complain considering its features. It has a beautiful look, vintage, and well-balanced sound, with the perfect amount of sustain.
When paired with your electric guitar, those classical rock sounds from the 60s will become alive again!
Last update on 2023-04-27 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
