Burny VH-1 Pickup (observations)

Some of you may recall I recently got a Burny SG (which I love) with VH-1 pickups (gray wire). Many commented how good the Vh-1s sound and said that I should not replace them without giving them a chance.

I played the guitar and was indeed surprised by how good they sounded. They had a certain "hi-fi" uncompressed sound that was reminiscent of a hand-wound pickup (although I'm 99.999999% sure they aren't). Unfortunately I found them a little too dark and replaced them.

I've since taken them apart and had a look at their guts. I was surprised to find they were not wax potted (which would explain in part why they were so open and uncompressed sounding). I'm sure this is what sonically reminded me of a hand-wound pickup--although (again) I am sure they are not)

Now the downside (which would explain why they were dark sounding). They have brass baseplates which is going to increase capacitance and make them sound darker. All other parts seemed to be of high quality and the pickups overall were well made.

With these observations in mind, I can't help but wonder what they would sound like if I replaced the stock brass baseplate with a quality nickel silver baseplate (an investment of $4.75). I suspect this will make a good sounding pickup a great sounding pickup. I seriously doubt I'll have a chance to try it out any time soon...but I suspect curiosity will eventually get the best of me and I'll install the silver nickel baseplate.

Just thought I'd share for those tinkerers (or pros) that have the chops to change a baseplate themselves. It would almost surely be a worthwhile investment.

Oh...and it has a ceramic magnet...so I'd be inclined to install an Alnico.

I'm surprised to hear that they are ceramic magnets. I think the later 80s VH1s weren't quite the same as the original mid 80s VH1, which was an expensive aftermarket option and fitted to the high end models (so I hear). so maybe that's where the change was made. I do find that the neck pickup to my grey wire late 80s VH1 in my lester can be a shade too dark sounding at times too

I find a little strange to look for a bright sound playing a Les Paul. If I want a bright sound, I play a strat, or a Gretsch 6120, or a Rickenbacker 360 that's the brightest sound ever.

and I will use a fender better than a Marshall.