The Pickups Thread

[TheTrueZoltan!]

[…] I may try some EMG's […]

Finally someone with common sense!

 

[Jarick]

That sounds like a great combo. Interested to hear how it turns out.


You can always remove the quick connects and solder wire directly to the solder points. I’ve had to do that with other pickups.

Not a bad idea!

I got them installed, basically routing the cables to the side of the plug. They are pretty underwhelming. Not bad by themselves but in split positions it sounds really muffled. I may play around with them for a couple days but likely will swap them out.

 

[Jarick]

Cruisers are insanely quiet though. There's almost no noise through high gain with the noise gate turned off.

Noise levels:
Single coils: -40 dB
Humbucker: -52 dB
Cruisers: -60 dB (or less)

Messing with pickup heights to see if I can get them to sound better. They are eerily quiet which would be amazing.

 

[Jarick]

Still messing with these pickup heights, there are some really cool tones in the Cruiser neck though. It's kind of like a humbucker voiced to sound like a single coil somehow. Volume matches really well with the 59 PAF level bridge. You can do pinch harmonics really easily though which I don't know that I've experienced with a neck pickup.

 

[Jynx]

So what's the deal with rail pickups?

 

[Jarick]

Cruisers are the brightest and lowest gain of Dimarzios but still have a humbucker tone. I’d be curious to try Joe Barden pickups otherwise maybe the best bet is a properly designed rail in parallel to get a more single coil tone.

I’m reinstalling stacked Area pickups in my guitar this week and putting the Cruisers back in the sell pile.

 

[gergohajer]

One of my favourite passive pickups, the Lundgren M7C has been installed in my trusty ESP E-II Horizon NT-7B guitar. Dude... I can chug for days with this beast!

Check the tone below!

 

[newholland]

In the right guitar, the JB slays.

that is one of the most bizarre pickups in its fussiness. a buddy of mine played a routed norlin deluxe with a jb through a mesa and a 1960. he sounded amazing. i played a norlin custom through a mesa and a 1960- but my pickup went microphonic. i figured.. no prob.. good match- jb it is! i sounded like a duck fart. fucking awful. pulled the jb and went a2pro and carried on for a decade and a half.

jbs are oddly specific in their needs for the right guitar and player. i had neither in myself.

 

[Jynx]

Are Humbucker-sized P90s compromised on sound?

 

[Humbug]

Are Humbucker-sized P90s compromised on sound?

Some are quite good, but I don't think it's possible to get them 100% as the coil shape is different.

 

[Eagle]

Anything in particular you'd recommend for a '60s slab board style strat with an ash body? Preferably ones that aren't the same price as a new guitar?

Fender fat 60s are pretty nice . Old hat like Duncan alnico 2 are still really good and now overlooked. Bare knuckles boot camp old guard singles are 7k and alnico 2 . So full sounding but still got the top in a nice way . Don’t be tempted to go hot and alnico V .

 

[Eagle]

Cruisers are the brightest and lowest gain of Dimarzios but still have a humbucker tone. I’d be curious to try Joe Barden pickups otherwise maybe the best bet is a properly designed rail in parallel to get a more single coil tone.

I’m reinstalling stacked Area pickups in my guitar this week and putting the Cruisers back in the sell pile.

Joe Barden are bright but ceramic sounding imo

 

[Eagle]

Still messing with these pickup heights, there are some really cool tones in the Cruiser neck though. It's kind of like a humbucker voiced to sound like a single coil somehow. Volume matches really well with the 59 PAF level bridge. You can do pinch harmonics really easily though which I don't know that I've experienced with a neck pickup.

Considering a paf is 7-8.k and vintage single coils are around 6 k that balance is good already.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

Fender fat 60s are pretty nice . Old hat like Duncan alnico 2 are still really good and now overlooked. Bare knuckles boot camp old guard singles are 7k and alnico 2 . So full sounding but still got the top in a nice way . Don’t be tempted to go hot and alnico V .

Thanks Andy. My current pickups are around 6k neck, middle and 7k Bridge with alnico iii. I'm just not digging them. First set of Mojos that haven't really floated my boat. I definitely need to get something else to compare.

 

[Jarick]

Swapped out the Thornbucker set on my CE-24 for a set of Suhr SSV's. I've gone between Thornbuckers and the stock 85/15 pickups a bunch of times but figured I had these and worth a shot.

Thornbuckers are 7.0k A5 neck and 8.7k A4 bridge
SSV's are 7.5k A5 neck and 8.7k A5 bridge
Stock 85/15 are 7.8k A2 neck and 8.5k A2 bridge

 

[Jarick]

Ordered a Woodbucker neck pickup to match the bridge pickup I got earlier this year. Really curious how these sound and will put them in my PRS S2 Standard 24 which is my detuned/heavy guitar.

 

[Jarick]

Ordered a Woodbucker neck pickup to match the bridge pickup I got earlier this year. Really curious how these sound and will put them in my PRS S2 Standard 24 which is my detuned/heavy guitar.

Finally installed the Suhr Woodbucker set into my PRS CE-24. This guitar tends to be brighter and more scooped that my other PRS because of the bolt on maple neck most likely, so I figured hotter alnico 2 pickups would work well. The stock 85/15 set are alnico 2 as well and measure about 7.8k neck and 8.5k bridge. The neck pickup is a bit too fat sounding and the bridge pickup is a bit underpowered for my tastes.

They sound killer! Really nicely balanced. I had tried the Woodbucker bridge with the Thornbucker before and it was too different sounding. The Woodbucker neck has a "juicy" tone to it like most alnico 2 humbuckers I've tried but has excellent clarity. No mud. Where the Thornbucker is bright with a bit of a scooped tone the Woodbucker neck seems more balanced. The bridge pickup has a nice heat boost; I had tried the Thornbucker 2 recently and the Woodbucker is a step up but not too hot and again balances well. And it's still pretty clear sounding in the middle position.

I'm surprised the Woodbucker isn't getting more hype...if you liked the Thornbucker set but wanted a bit more juice, this seems perfect.

Also FYI the pickups measure about 7.5k neck and 12.5k bridge. My Thornbuckers measure closer to 7.0k neck and 8.7-9.0k bridge (depending on the model) and SSV set measures about 7.5k neck and 8.5k bridge.