The Pickups Thread

James Freeman

James Freeman

Rock Star
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3,767
Share your pickups journey, preferences, suggestions, angst and experience here.

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My pickups journey have only started recently but I've tried enough to have an understanding that they all sound and feel different.
Currently I am on a journey to find a perfect humbucker, so far I really like the SD JB but I have a Duncan Distortion on order and maybe a few more passives in the future.
I have a cheap Ibanez GRG121DX on order with some locking tuning pegs for quick string removal and reinstallation, this will be my guinea pig for pickups.
Also, I will buy a few Aliexpress humbuckers (Alnico, Cermaic) to try which supposedly clones of the more popular SD variants.
 
Took apart a bunch of Seymour Dumplings over the years, and made hybrids enough to learn that I really love asymmetric winds.

:chef
 
GFS pickups are pretty nice considering the cost... Though it's been quite a while since I bought any.

I really like the Tom Anderson HC3 for a bridge humbucker - I have them in both my TA guitars, I put one in my Kiesel Delos and I just picked up a used HC3/HC1 pair that I'm replacing the Suhr Thornbuckers in my Modern with...

For singles, I'm happy with the Duncan SSL-6. They balance well with humbuckers.
 
So far the active pickups I've tried which are EMG and Fluence, sound different than the passive pickups I have (SD, Gibson), not necessarily lower gain but thicker and maybe feel less dynamic.
 
After a long and costly journey, I have found the end of the road with:

  • Dimarzio Bluesbucker neck with a EP1108 3-position on-on-on DPDT switch. Sweet or wild P90ish flavor
  • Dimarzio Gravity Storm neck
  • Dimarzio Saturch-8 bridge
  • Suhr Aldrich bridge
  • Harmonic Design Z90
  • The stock IBZ/USA on the S540FM are also special. I don't know if it is the guitar, or these pups, or the combination of both, but the tone and versatility is amazing.

  • For the Strats: one with SSL-5 bridge, Fat 50 neck, and another with EMG DG20. Depending on the season: love one and hate the other, or viceversa.
 
The journey was a result of getting more guitars and either getting them with the intent to install specific pickups (Gilmour Strat and Edwards, both with EMGs) or not digging what was in them originally and wanting to find something that worked for me better.

At this point I can’t say I have any specific preferences, just lots of pickups I’ve enjoyed. I thought for a while medium output humbuckers were my thing, but then I got the Duncan Nazgul and Suhr Aldrich, both fairly high output and I love them both for very different reasons. Nazgul is great for tight, modern metal and the Aldrich is pretty thick, with the intent of pushing Marshall inputs pretty hard. Makes sense why it’s voiced the way it is.

Outside of the EMG SA’s, I think I’m done with active humbuckers. I’ll keep the Fishman Devin Townsend set in the guitar they’re in because they do everything I want from active pickups and a little more.
 
Pickups do matter. Definitely.

As most likely everyone here knows, my favorite pickup is the EMG 81, paired with a 66 in the neck. „Why the 66 and not the 85 that everyone uses with the 81?“ you might - or might not - ask. It‘s common knowledge that the magnetic field of EMG pickups is so weak that they can‘t cause any issues with string pull. Unfortunately that‘s a myth. In my case I had two 25,5‘ guitars that had terrible string buzz with an 85 in the neck position. And it just didn‘t go away, not even with the most precise PLEK setup service. It took me and and the very experienced PLEK technician a long while to figure it out eventually. EMG pickups (at least the 85) have a very short magnet. It‘s actually shorter than the string spacing from the 1st and 6th string. Now if the pickup sits at a position where its magnetic field can pull the strings quite easily (as it apparently was with my 25,5‘ guitars in the neck position), the 85 pulls the outer strings diagonally to the middle of the fretboard and not vertically, because of the short magnet. Everyone with an 85 and a piece of metal can easily test this. Move the piece of metal from the side of the pickup and you can see how it gets pulled towards the middle. And even if the magnetic pull isn‘t that strong in theory, this causes the outer strings to be pulled towards the radius of the frets. The outcome is - or can be - terrible buzz. The solution was to install a 66 instead. It has individual pole pieces which pull the strings vertically towards the fretboard. Problem solved, buzz gone.
 
PLX said:
Took apart a bunch of Seymour Dumplings over the years, and made hybrids enough to learn that I really love asymmetric winds.

:chef
Click to expand...
The most famous asymmetric wind wasn’t deliberate . Actually damage to the slug coil left the JBJ reading 8 k on the screws and 160 k on the slugs.
IMG_4078.jpeg

The tape was added to prevent further damage. Ed preferred it to the original sound.
 
EDIT:

What I currently have (most are in use):

- BKP VHII
- early 80's SD SH-5 Custom ("DCD")
- newer SD SH-5 Custom
- late 80's SD SH-4 JB ("JBJ")
- SD SH-55 Seth Lover bridge
- SD SH-55n Seth Lover neck
- SD SH-10 Full Shred bridge
- SD SH-10n Full Shred neck
- Callaham H/SRV set
- sets of Gibson '57 Classics
- Gibson/Bill Lawrence "The Original" circuitboard-back set from '89 LPC
- Pickguard ass'y that I ripped out of my Charvel So-Cal has brand new set of SD SH-6 Distortions (bridge, neck)
- Various Fender SCs ripped out of God-knows-what
- I think I have a DiM HS-2 somewhere but I may have sold it
- prolly some others I can't think of stashed in a box somewhere collecting dust

I don't fuck around with pickups too much and never have; just a little bit. I found my Preferred Pups at an earlier age.

My faves are:

- PAF type like Seth Lover set
- BKP VHII
- SD SH-4 JB
- SD SH-5 Custom
- Callaham H/SRV set

I don't really need anything else for what I do, which is a wide range.
 
Last edited:
I went down a paf rabbit hole about 10 years ago. Had a lot of fun trying out different winds, magnet type, covers on vs covers off and potted vs unpotted. It was fun but I spent entirely too much money.

These days I just order from the same winder. I love his pickups and he knows what I like. I just tell him what guitar it's for and what I want to do with it then I just buy what he recommends. In the rare occasion it's not quite right he'll adjust it for me and send it back. The best benefit with ordering from small pickup makers is the personal touch and custom work.
 
For single coils I’m in deep with the Fender Pure Vintage 64 tele set. I have them installed in 5 different guitars. Recent rejects include the SD Jerry Donahue bridge which I couldn’t rip out fast enough. Fender Fat 50s and especially 57/62 sets have worked well on Strats. Honorary mention for the old Lace Sensor Gold set for those who need silent single coils.

On the humbucker side I prefer lower output PAFs in my Gibsons generally. It’s been a solid 2 decades since I’ve needed to push an amp at the pickup level. I find more clarity as the pickup output goes down.

I did the EMG81 thing for a couple years in a metal band and was quite pleased to eventually return to passives. I just thought the EMGs compressed all the dynamics strangely.
 
SillyOctpuss said:
I went down a paf rabbit hole about 10 years ago. Had a lot of fun trying out different winds, magnet type, covers on vs covers off and potted vs unpotted. It was fun but I spent entirely too much money.

These days I just order from the same winder. I love his pickups and he knows what I like. I just tell him what guitar it's for and what I want to do with it then I just buy what he recommends. In the rare occasion it's not quite right he'll adjust it for me and send it back. The best benefit with ordering from small pickup makers is the personal touch and custom work.
Click to expand...
I have this with BK.
 
My first pickup swap was In 1984. I had bought a ProCo Rat and thought it sucked so i took it back and the store only gave credit for returns. So i grabbed a EMG 81 with the credit. It was so much better than the stock pickup. It made every amp sound amazing.

That gave me the mod bug so i tried a Dimarzio Super Distortion. That cured my mod bug. It was like putting a moving blanket on my amp. That seemed to be a theme with Dimarzio and any time I got a guitar with them installed, i’ve replaced them. I have a rational hatred for the ironically named “the Tone Zone”.

When i got my first Les Paul the P90s were pretty good but I got some Lollars for it anyway. They were way more open and breathy like the guitar went from a wageslave to someone that loved his job. For single coils I choose Lollar every time. I’m on a Gold Foil kick and they’re amazing.

Bare Knuckle is probably the best for High Gain Humbuckers though. I love the Holy Diver and Naikbomb in the bridge position. I have a set of PG Blues but I’m not really a PAF guy. I’m going to keep the neck and swap in a Holy Diver in the bridge.

I’ve tried a number of Seymour Duncan and found them to be better than stock. But once you go the Lollar/BK it’s hard to go back to that tier. SD’s Whole Lotta Humbucker is really good, i can’t remember the names of the others that I’ve tried.
 
HomespunEffects said:
My first pickup swap was In 1984. I had bought a ProCo Rat and thought it sucked so i took it back and the store only gave credit for returns. So i grabbed a EMG 81 with the credit. It was so much better than the stock pickup. It made every amp sound amazing.

That gave me the mod bug so i tried a Dimarzio Super Distortion. That cured my mod bug. It was like putting a moving blanket on my amp. That seemed to be a theme with Dimarzio and any time I got a guitar with them installed, i’ve replaced them. I have a rational hatred for the ironically named “the Tone Zone”.

When i got my first Les Paul the P90s were pretty good but I got since Lollars for it. They were way more open and breathy like the guitar went from a wageslave to someone that loved his job. For single coils I chose Lollar every time.

Bare Knuckle is probably the best for High Gain Humbuckers though. I love the Holy Diver and Naikbomb in the bridge position. I have a set of PG Blues but I’m not really a PAF guy. I’m going to keep the neck and swap in a Holy Diver in the bridge.

I’ve tried a number of Seymour Duncan and found them to be better than stock. But once you go the Lollar/BK it’s hard to go back to that tier. SD’s Whole Lotta Humbucker is really good, i can’t remember the names of the others that I’ve tried.
Click to expand...
The tone zone is actually the original EVH bridge pickup in the music man but they won’t ever admit it because of copyright infringement. It’s basically a tweak to a JB.
 
Eagle said:
The tone zone is actually the original EVH bridge pickup in the music man but they won’t ever admit it because of copyright infringement. It’s basically a tweak to a JB.
Click to expand...
That would explain their popularity then. Considering my experience with them, which is in a Carvin DC127 and an Ibanez RG655, which should be bright guitars, it seemed that they were made for more output at the expense of sounding good.

Oh, one SD that i hate is the Screamin Demon. Bleh. Lame pickup
 
HomespunEffects said:
That would explain their popularity then. Considering my experience with them, which is in a Carvin DC127 and an Ibanez RG655, which should be bright guitars, it seemed that they were made for more output at the expense of sounding good.

Oh, one SD that i hate is the Screamin Demon. Bleh. Lame pickup
Click to expand...
Most high output pickups sound bad in any other application. The one exception imo is BK and they manage to have clarity and balance with output.
 
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