I just replaced a set of 81/85s in my custom Les Paul plus (Epiphone). Since it was wired for EMGs it was a simple matter to just unplug and plug in the new 66/57. I did not bother gutting the guitar and using the quick connect pre-wires which are quite cool. My Epi LP had some caps on the tone controls for treble bleed I presume. I left them on pending talking to EMG in a couple of days if these are good or bad w the 6657s. Seems to sound great using them. You are either going to like EMGs or not and that is that. Personally I like these and I have an array of other pickups on my other guitars. I was pretty happy with the 81/85 set but curious about this more hybrid model. Plus these just look too cool w the brushed black chrome for my Epi Prophecy EX. After retweaking all my settings for these, getting them dialed in, they are quite a bit hotter output than the former and I found I needed to back them off a little to get the best clean tones. Unlike other EMG models I think you can get these too close to the strings and it creates a weird breakup sag, not unlike having passives too close for high gain. The 57 burns and indeed sounds like a woody LP PAF the 66 is rich and full sounding. I get great clean range of tones and high gain is amazing. I play a wide range of heavy fusion from blues-jazz-metal and these cover the bases well. Advantage w the Les Paul as one tends to use the volume and tones more these are great pickups for that constant adjust. Best EMG set I have… read more tried so far.

Musical Background:
playing 4 decades no longer doing the band thing, enjoying the freedom to play whatever pops up.

Musical Style:
Heavy Fusion blues-jazz-metal. No country or pop. read less