The Pickups Thread

[metropolis_4]

I haven’t gone too crazy with pickups.

Strat:
The stock pickups in my Strat were terrible and I wanted noiseless so I put a set of HS-3’s in. Later I changed to Area 58/67/61. Briefly tried an Air Norton blade in the bridge but didn’t like it. I went to EMG SAX for a while, briefly went 85/60A, then SAVX for a while. Now I’m back to HS-3’s.

Les Paul:
Hated the Epi pickups and swapped for a Jazz set. Loved the neck but the bridge was a little too thin so I traded it for a 59/Custom hybrid and kept that setup as long as I had the guitar. My Gibson still has the stock Burstbucker ‘61s in it.

Tele:
I started with Twisted Tele pickups, then needed to get rid of some noise and went with SD Classic stacks. Used those forever. I tried the DiMarzio Area T for a while and also liked those. With my Tele build I went with EMG T set before swapping for DiMarzio True Velvet just because I wanted the neck pickup to have a chrome cover.

Ibanez:
My RG started with the V 7/8, which I swapped for an Air Norton neck and Tone Zone bridge. I hated both and sold the guitar

And that’s about it

 

[bikescene]

I haven’t been very adventurous with pickups. I’ve made some swaps and stuck with them for the most part.

Bridge Humbucker - PAF Level - I’ve installed a Wolfetone Dr. Vintage, Wolfetone Marshallhead, and Dimarzio 36th Anniversary in various guitars. I was initially surprised by how much brighter the Dr. Vintage was than the higher output pickups I was using, but have come to prefer it for classic rock.

Bridge Humbucker - High Output - I went with a Duncan Custom over a JB about 20 years ago as an impressionable kid reading forums. I remember reading about how the JB was hit or miss with many users back then, but am interested in trying one out now. The SH-5 has a nice combination of of EQ, output, and decent cleans for me.

I’ve stuck to these aftermarket combos for other pickup types:
Strat - Dimarzio Area 61 middle / Area 58 neck
Tele - Cavalier Nashville Lion / Lion King; Dimarzio 615 / Area T Neck
P90 - Wolfetone Meaner P90/Mean P90; GFS Mean 90s

 

[Eagle]

What I have ATM;
Several sets of Abby Y fender Strat and tele .
54 Strat Strat spec and 50 spec Tele.
MJ made Duncan’s ;
Dg Strat bridge and a set of 61 spec Strat.
JBJ ,CCJ .
Seymour made;
Two sets of antiquities prototypes pafs.
The original Evh .
Regular SD;
Sh6 set
Sh4
Sh1
Ssl4
Ssl5
Original 1960 paf set
Gibson custombucker set A3
Throbak 101set
Lollar paf set.
Tom Holmes paf set
Ron Ellis paf set.
Gibson custom shop p90 set
Dimarzio;
Area 61 , 58.
VV blues.
Paf set ( Shawn Lane set ).
36th anniversary
SD rail
Evo 2
BKs
Ragnarok pair
Paf set Tim wound them.
Aristides bk set
Emgs
Luke set
81
85
60
S
Sa
Carvin Holdsworth
Evh Wolfgang bridge.
PV Wolfgang bridge.
Jackson
J100
J50
J80
Some stuff I’ve forgotten and a load in the parts cupboard.

 

[Jynx]

I started with what ever stock pickups were on my Ibanez Elon Musk's kid's name.

My second guitar has Fishman FLuence Moderns. I love these pickups.

My Schecter Apocalypse came with a Seymour Duncan of some sort. The person I bought it from changed the stock pickups. I didn't like this pickup so I bought a BKP Nailbomb with an Elden Ring logo, as seen in my avatar picture. I love this pickup.

My KM7 has a Sentient/Nazgul set. Not a major fan of these. Will probably get a Nailbomb* set for this with more Elden Ring-based etching.

My new Baúm Wingman has stock Baúm Jabmasters. These are loosely based on the Jazzmaster pickups though I think they are supposed to be 'punchier'. Not sure, they sound great anyway.



Then lastly I want to talk about my biggest pickup fail of all.

I got a Schecter Tao 6. At the time I purchased it I also purchased a set of BKP Warpigs with Elden Ring etchings for it. The pickup arrived first then the guitar. When I played the Tao 6 I absolutely loved the Schecter pickups that came with it. They were so good, but I already spent money on the other pickups so I had them swapped. I wasn't that worried because of how much I love the Nailbombs.

When I had them swapped the tech loved the Tao 6 pickups so I sold them to him.

When I got home I wasn't wowed by the Warpigs. They don't sound as good to me as either Nailbomb or Tao 6. I find them a bit muddy. On top of this I don't think the designs on them worked out as well as I'd hoped (no fault of BKP, they did exactly when I asked). And I'm kind of stuck with them.

This is also the reason I'm getting *Nailbomb for my 7 string even though I'd like to try Ragnarok or something. It's made me risk adverse. I'm sticking with what I like.

 

[James Freeman]

My second guitar has Fishman FLuence Moderns. I love these pickups.

I've read your tip about Voice 1 gain reduction jumper on Reddit.
So far I'm liking what I hear in both Voice 1 and 2 and it is pretty balanced with two Ceramic Moderns in both Bridge and Neck positions.

 

[Jynx]

I've read your tip about Voice 1 gain reduction jumper on Reddit.
So far I'm liking what I hear in both Voice 1 and 2 and it is pretty balanced with two Ceramic Moderns in both Bridge and Neck positions.

How did you know that was me and not sone other Jynx?

 

[Sascha Franck]

How did you know that was me and not sone other Jynx?

From the smell.

 

[la szum]

Classics are classics and everyone owes it to themselves to try a JB, and a Super Distortion.

Outside of Gibson PAFs I'd argue more great music has been written and recorded using
JBs and SDs than any other Pickups.

Fuck, you get some decent PAFs---from most any brand/winder---a JB, an SD, and call it
a day on the Humbuggy side.

I tend to default to what my heroes used and not what Internet Truthsayers and their eternal
know-betterisms suggest.

Like a tone you hear on a song? Chase it!

Oh, and odds are it was not a Bareknuckle or a Throbak or a Ron Ellis or any of the other
spendy, high-dollar, status-seeking options.




Pickups can be a lot of fun.... or an head-spinning tonal nightmare that discombobulates
your ears. Cheap. Easy to take out and install. No wonder we like the House Of Flavours
they offer us.

 

[mercifulfuzziness]

The most important part is being yourself but also realize there might be room for improvement if you want to do better with the opposite sex.

Eat and sleep well, lose too much body fat. You don’t need to be 10%. Have some passions.

Say “hi” and go from there. Keep eye contact but don’t be creepy.

 

[FuzzyAce]

Classics are classics and everyone owes it to themselves to try a JB, and a Super Distortion.

Outside of Gibson PAFs I'd argue more great music has been written and recorded using
JBs and SDs than any other Pickups.

Fuck, you get some decent PAFs---from most any brand/winder---a JB, an SD, and call it
a day on the Humbuggy side.

I tend to default to what my heroes used and not what Internet Truthsayers and their eternal
know-betterisms suggest.

Like a tone you hear on a song? Chase it!

Oh, and odds are it was not a Bareknuckle or a Throbak or a Ron Ellis or any of the other
spendy, high-dollar, status-seeking options.




Pickups can be a lot of fun.... or an head-spinning tonal nightmare that discombobulates
your ears. Cheap. Easy to take out and install. No wonder we like the House Of Flavours
they offer us.

Yeah, I never quite get how some can spend so much on pickups. I understand if you're getting a special cover or casing, etc, but for a typical HB I have a hard time validating spending over $100.

 

[Eagle]

Classics are classics and everyone owes it to themselves to try a JB, and a Super Distortion.

Outside of Gibson PAFs I'd argue more great music has been written and recorded using
JBs and SDs than any other Pickups.

Fuck, you get some decent PAFs---from most any brand/winder---a JB, an SD, and call it
a day on the Humbuggy side.

I tend to default to what my heroes used and not what Internet Truthsayers and their eternal
know-betterisms suggest.

Like a tone you hear on a song? Chase it!

Oh, and odds are it was not a Bareknuckle or a Throbak or a Ron Ellis or any of the other
spendy, high-dollar, status-seeking options.




Pickups can be a lot of fun.... or an head-spinning tonal nightmare that discombobulates
your ears. Cheap. Easy to take out and install. No wonder we like the House Of Flavours
they offer us.

Real pafs are thousands these days and budget versions don’t sound like them. Even though the output had a range the results were dynamic and clear which is not really true of cheap versions you get now. The “ spendy” replicas fall in to two categories; “sound right”and the very expensive “ sound and look right” some even use the exact same materials from as far as possible the same suppliers. This costs and its not a rip off it’s an option that you can easily pass.
Bks ,Throbaks and RE pickups are not expensive for what you’re buying but don’t pay for vintage accurate metal or appearance if you’re not using them for an application that benefits from it.
Throbak £450 vintage pafs £8k Dimarzio 36th anniversary £250 .
Also BK makes the best high output passives available and are ubiquitous in styles of music that appreciate it.

 

[Sascha Franck]

There we are, all the way back in elitist territory.

 

[Eagle]

There we are, all the way back in elitist territory.

What 36th anniversary’s , good sounding paf and not expensive.

 

[Eagle]

Also if you play digital you’ll won’t hear half the difference.

 

[mercifulfuzziness]

Would there be any point changing the player Strat pick ups to a fatter 60s tone?

 

[Eagle]

I basically agree that a paf a JB and a super distortion is where to start .
Duncan 59
36th anniversary are perfectly usable
And the other two are easily accessible for under £100.

 

[Sascha Franck]

Also if you play digital you’ll won’t hear half the difference.

What an incredible nonsense. Seriously, dude, WE GET IT that you don't like digital. But we ALSO GET IT that you have no clue about the nature of it. No need to prove it over and over again. Rather stick with the things you know something about.

 

[Eagle]

Would there be any point changing the player Strat pick ups to a fatter 60s tone?

Not necessarily. With single coils it is more about the character when you add gain.

 

[Eagle]

What an incredible nonsense. Seriously, dude, WE GET IT that you don't like digital. But we ALSO GET IT that you have no clue about the nature of it. No need to prove it over and over again. Rather stick with the things you know something about.

I do like digital but your guitar pickups are not going to matter as much if you use a modelling amp. The nuances are lost in the process. It can be useful because a particular aspect of the tone of a pickup that you dislike can be dialled around.
I hate Texas Specials in anything unless it’s digital.

 

[Sascha Franck]

I do like digital but your guitar pickups are not going to matter as much if you use a modelling amp. The nuances are lost in the process.

There's *zero* scientifically valid explanations why that would be the case, so please stop it!