Three Humbuckers but what to buy? Technically.

[sugarcool6]

I have a Vintage boulevard black guitar, wich is a mock black beauty Les Paul type of guitar.

It has three humbuckers. Obviously one Neck and one Bridge Humbucker. But the third one in the middle what is it?

Is it a second Neck or is it a second Bridge Humbucker. Of course it is all wired differently but I just want to know,

if to replace the middle humbucker, is it a Bridge or neck?

[Dad3353]

Typically, a bridge p/u is wound slightly 'hotter' than a neck p/u, to compenstae for there being less string movement for the p/u to capture in that position. The mid p/u of a Gibson would, I would think, be closer to the neck p/u in its response to the strings, so would choose that as a 'default' option. It's quite admissible, however, to mix things up and try other options; there are are no laws, written in stone in these matters. Hope this helps. 

[EdwardMarlowe]

On 08/08/2022 at 14:05, sugarcool6 said:

I have a Vintage boulevard black guitar, wich is a mock black beauty Les Paul type of guitar.

It has three humbuckers. Obviously one Neck and one Bridge Humbucker. But the third one in the middle what is it?

Is it a second Neck or is it a second Bridge Humbucker. Of course it is all wired differently but I just want to know,

if to replace the middle humbucker, is it a Bridge or neck?

To the best of my understanding, the original three humbucker guitars Gibson did in Les Paul and SG format had very low output mid-pups. Gibson used the same three way switches on those guitars as they did on the regular HH Les Pauls, though, so the order was: neck, mid and bridge, bridge. The middle pickup was never used on its own; instead, it was alongside the bridge to give a different sonic flavour than the bridge alone (and obviously different again from the neck and bridge middle position on other Les Pauls). If memory serves, the middle pickups on those were also wired differently - out of phase maybe? - to give them a very bright tone which would have been too much on its own, but in tandem with the bridge HB the way they were wired, it gave it a fuller sound with a better mid-range than the bridge alone, if my recollection is correct. I remember way back in the olden days seeing John Squire wield a pair of those 3HB Les Paul Customs with The Seahorses. Cracking sound - pity they never hit their stride with all the internal problems in that band. Anyhow... 

What you've got is (obviously) a modified version of the Strat format with - I presume - still the standard, five-way Strat wiring system. The convention option there would be to go with the same pattern the "normal" SSS Strat does, i.e. the hottest pup in the bridge, a slightly lower output in the neck, and one in between those two in the middle. If your guitar is a factory-spec model that came originally HHH I'd assume it to be done like that, otherwise if it's an aftermarket alteration it could be anything. I've not seen a HHH Vintage like that, but that doesn't mean they didn't do it! 
 

The theory with a Fender approach as I recall was that the neck could be lower output because where the string vibrates over it is pretty strong, but the closer the bridge you go the less the vibration, so the pup needs to be stronger to, well, pick it up. That's my crude understanding of it anyhow. 

 

Plenty of room for you to experiment, though. The only think I can see limiting you really (budget aside!) is routing. If the body is HHH routed, you're in set positions without major work. If, on the other hand, it's a swimming pool rout (the whole point of which was to facilitate any pickup arrangement Fender fancied with a standard production line body), you can have a lot of fun playing around with positioning - you just need to have a plate cut with the positions you want. I think it would be pretty cool to take inspiration from the "Contemporary Stratocaster Special HT" model Fender / Squier do, and switch up the positions, thus: 

 

Imagine that with three HBs, wired up like those 3HB Les Pauls.... that could be fun. 

Otherwise, you've got a lot of freedom to play around with different pickup styles. I think three Gretsch-type humbuckers could be fun in a Strat format, for example. Alternatively, what about three HB-sized p90s - like three GFS Surf 90s would sound great imo. (Vintage, fwiw, at one point did do a Strat type model with three actual p90s in it; I'd have jumped on one, but no left handers alas.) 

When it comes to pickups, I've had good experiences in the past with Guitar Fetish - https://www.guitarfetish.com/GFS-Guitar-Pickups_c_7.html They're not crazy money and very nice, so if you're wanting to experiment and try a couple of ideas, one option you might consider is something from their 'kwikplug' range, which would let you wire up your plate to quickly slip between different pup combinations and types in different orders with just a screwdriver.  They've got quite a range of quirky, Teisco-style pups as well, so you could come up with something pretty unique looking, and sounding. 

Do please post a photo of your guitar - and keep us up to date with what you do with it.

[EdwardMarlowe]

Sorry, ignore the bit about Strats, I just realised I misread your post and it is a Les Paul type you have. Vintage originally launched the "Boulevard black" on a Strat type; the name is a Clapton reference... I'd missed they now use it as a generic name for all their black finishes.

 

So the conventional way to set it up would be as per the LP type I referred to above. I'll leave the Strat bits up in case anyone else is looking ideas in that vein!! 

 

With the LP style, you might also consider either adding another toggle or a push/pull pot that would switch the middle pup in and out of the loop so you could also get the neck and bridge, neck and middle, and all three on options. 

 

I have in the past wondered about the idea of something like a jangly, Gretsch type neck hb and two p90 types in this sort of set up. HB sized p90s are an wasy alternative here as they are, obvs, designed to drop straight into a HB hole, and ime don't sound any different than a trad p90. Always another option!