The Pickups Thread

[Jarick]

I just got a CE22 stoptail in the mail that came with Dimarzio Fortitude pickups in it, they are Joe Duplantier from Gojira signature humbuckers. Based on the PAF 36th anniversary, with very specific tweaks, like a mild bass boost at 160Hz, and a slight scoop in the mids. So PAF tone with a bigger butt and smaller waist

I've been chugging on a Seymour Duncan SH-14 Custom 5 for the past 20 years for the same similar qualities, it's self described as a higher output 59 with more bass and scooped mids.

But Duncan's are i think vacuum wax potted and machine wound, tone is super consistent and super quiet.

Dimarzios like to do this scatter wind thing, and if potted at all it's some proprietary stuff and/or process. I mean to say, with Dimarzios you can hear the air gap between the wires! Like old Zeplin tone. The pick attack is more present, sounds faster, distortion is clearer, note separation is more defined. If Duncan's are like a clinical lazer, Dimarzios are like a kaleidoscope of harmonics. They seem too add actual harmonic content to the signal like all the copper wire windings in real studio rack gear does. Dimarzio to Duncan is to me like Passive to Active. On a smaller window of cable sniffing

Fortitude is a really cool pickup! I'd totally through those in a guitar (I think the neck is just a standard PAF 36th). You're right, you can hear and feel that air gap, it's pretty cool to play with the right guitar. The Fortitude is also crazy as it has MASSIVE screws (if you look at the bottom of the pickup you can see they're way bigger than normal).

 

[0XI0]

You're right, you can hear and feel that air gap, it's pretty cool to play with the right guitar. The Fortitude is also crazy as it has MASSIVE screws (if you look at the bottom of the pickup you can see they're way bigger than normal).

that's pretty crazy about the screws, I didn't notice when I pulled them up to see what they were.

when I first tuned it to drop C with 10s they actually kind of sounded really bad compared to dragon IIs I was expecting, they aren't automatically juicy like dragons. i was going to gut them immediately.

but i tuned it to drop A with 10s and omfjc, a non adjustable stoptail core PRS at drop A with 10s, and these fucking pickups, there is so much low tension string movement it puts out like double the voltage and all of a sudden it's akin to the lundgren M8 in the M80M/M8M, just a huge tanker barge of balls, but the top end dimarzio crunch sounds like the SLO/Rectifier buzz, just coming out of the pickups now. bass is huge and hollow and tight af and the mids scooped and airy. there is so much more dynamics you get from PAFs into high gain compared to actual "high gain" pickups.

I'm really looking at swapping the magnets in these to ceramic, they just came out with a Super PAF ceramic last year but it's way higher output and I want to keep this PAF voicing with ceramic clarity

 

[GTR37]

Looks like Seymour Duncan just released the Slash 3.0 and they sound great , tighter lows and attack , softer top end
Mean AF

 

[Jarick]

Looks like Seymour Duncan just released the Slash 3.0 and they sound great , tighter lows and attack , softer top end
Mean AF

Wow that's a real deviation away from the old ones. Really high wind with alnico 5 magnets. I would worry the neck pickup at that output will be super tubby. The Slash were already pretty warm sounding compared to A2 Pros IMO.

 

[Jarick]

Been a bit but I did a pickup swap on my PRS McCarty, replacing the Wolfetone Dr Vintage / Marshallhead combo with a pair of Suhr SSV's. I found the Wolfetones were sounding a bit mushy and tame and was thinking about putting the USA 85/15 pickups in the McCarty but decided on the SSV's instead. They do seem to have woken up the guitar adding some more punch and clarity. It's less of the Tele on steroids thing and more like a standard humbucker tone.

 

[GTR37]

Wow that's a real deviation away from the old ones. Really high wind with alnico 5 magnets. I would worry the neck pickup at that output will be super tubby. The Slash were already pretty warm sounding compared to A2 Pros IMO.

Perhaps I would probably pair it with something different I the neck
Like a Area or maybe Cool Rails
A higher output strat variety

But that bridge sounds great it’s big open and tight on the drop tube it sits around a fortitude albeit a bit more classic to my ears

 

[Jarick]

Pulling out the EMG's from my Tele today and will go back to the Dimarzio Area T set with the Hot bridge.

I've basically stopped playing this guitar as I don't love the sound, it's too low output and thin. The guitar also has had multiple issues with no sound. The neck pickup was cutting in and out and I had to super glue the mounting washer back to the board, and twice now it has drained the battery completely without being plugged in at all.

So 2 out of 3 guitars I've put EMG's in I've bailed on and gone back to passives.

I still like the EMG SL20 set in my Ibanez, it's definitely better than the other two, but I don't love the bridge pickup. So I would not be surprised if I went back to passives on this one as well.

I'm not sure what I'd put back in the Ibanez...ideally I'd go with my Suhr ML and Thornbucker set with an Illitch but I also have a million Dimarzio Areas too.

 

[EOengineer]

I’ve finally come around to accept I can’t deal with the 490t in my SG. I don’t mind the 490r but think I’m going to throw a 498t in the bridge to give me something just a touch more aggressive. Still poking around at the Burstbucker Pro too though.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

I’ve finally come around to accept I can’t deal with the 490t in my SG. I don’t mind the 490r but think I’m going to throw a 498t in the bridge to give me something just a touch more aggressive. Still poking around at the Burstbucker Pro too though.

I'm the other way round. I prefer the 490t to the 498, admittedly that's in a les paul. I've never tried one in a SG.

 

[FuzzyAce]

Pulling out the EMG's from my Tele today and will go back to the Dimarzio Area T set with the Hot bridge.

I've basically stopped playing this guitar as I don't love the sound, it's too low output and thin. The guitar also has had multiple issues with no sound. The neck pickup was cutting in and out and I had to super glue the mounting washer back to the board, and twice now it has drained the battery completely without being plugged in at all.

So 2 out of 3 guitars I've put EMG's in I've bailed on and gone back to passives.

I still like the EMG SL20 set in my Ibanez, it's definitely better than the other two, but I don't love the bridge pickup. So I would not be surprised if I went back to passives on this one as well.

I'm not sure what I'd put back in the Ibanez...ideally I'd go with my Suhr ML and Thornbucker set with an Illitch but I also have a million Dimarzio Areas too.

I've not had the technical issues you've had with EMGs, they've always been solid in that regard. I feel like some wiring issues might have been the culprit or you got a rare manufacturing issue? Besides that, I've also pulled them out of certain guitars because they just weren't the right fit tonally. It happens. Some do very well though. I'm getting better that when I find a good match for a guitar I just leave it and enjoy if for it does.

 

[0XI0]

i been seeing a lot of videos show up on my feed about removing the pole screws from humbuckers. apparently all they do is shape the magnetic field and if you take them out it opens up the magnetic field to sound worlds different like a completely different pickup. or you can take out just the low E and A and leave the others, whatever u want

 

[EOengineer]

I'm the other way round. I prefer the 490t to the 498, admittedly that's in a les paul. I've never tried one in a SG.

I’m pretty sure something is mechanically unsound with this particular one. I think it’s not sufficiently potted from the factory as mine absolutely SQUEALS with any gain. It’s totally microphonic and unfortunately outside the factory warranty period at this point.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

I’m pretty sure something is mechanically unsound with this particular one. I think it’s not sufficiently potted from the factory as mine absolutely SQUEALS with any gain. It’s totally microphonic and unfortunately outside the factory warranty period at this point.

You could get a pickup winder to see if there's something wrong or pot it for you?

 

[la szum]

Hi,

My name is Dave and I really, really like Seymour Duncan JB and Jazz Pickups."






I know.... how boring and vanilla of me.

 

[Jarick]

Finally finished wiring up and installing the HSS pickguard in my Strat. This one has a Suhr Thornbucker 2 in the bridge with V60LP neck and middle single coils.

I had planned to install the Bzzzzkill dummy coil but I couldn't figure out how to get that to work properly. Maybe I'll try again on the next string change.

Thornbucker 2 sounds KILLER in this guitar. It's a bit fat and chunky but has a lot of clarity and bite. I like it here a lot more than I did with a cover in my PRS CE-24 which now has a set of Suhr Woodbucker pickups in it. That guitar needs a bit of additional output as it's a bit tame.

I had bought the pickguard and plastics about six months ago and it took forever to put together a set. I will say though it looks absolutely killer, although I don't know if I like it in my super vintage candy apple red Strat. I have been thinking about trying to find a used Strat though...

Anyways, one thing I wanted to do was compare a good HSS set with quality traditional passive pickups to my EMG Luke set. Honestly...the Suhr passives sound better. Yes they are a lot noisier though. The single coils have kind of a juicy sound to them and the humbucker is a lot chunkier, clearer, and louder. The EMG 85 sounds really neutered in comparison.

Will go back and forth here but I still have my loaded pickguard for the Ibanez if I want to go back, it's got a Suhr Thornbucker Plus bridge with ML singles in the neck and middle.

 

[Jarick]

Alright, a really interesting and frankly disappointing comparison.

I spent some time dialing in pickup heights on the Strat with Suhr pickups (real single coils and a humbucker bridge). It sounds really good, not perfect, but really nice. The middle and bridge is surprisingly really useable too. There's a nice clarity all across the guitar.

Flipped over to the EMG Luke set and it's just like a wet blanket on the tone. There's no clarity, volume is lower, it's all just really dead sounding. Back to the Strat, it's night and day.

Then went over to the Tele with Dimarzio Areas in it, and it's again just bad. The neck pickup is a bloated muddy mess and there's just no clarity compared to the actual single coil pickups. Flip back to the Strat, yep it's all there.

So yeah I have to go back to the drawing board here. Maybe I just put real single coils back into these guitars and live with the noise? I dunno but considering how dramatically bad the noiseless pickups sound, it's no wonder I've not wanted to play guitar all that much lately.

 

[Jarick]

Also I did check the battery and it was drained down from 9V to 6.5V, but replacing it with a fresh battery that measured over 9V did not change the sound at all.

 

[Chocol8]

Maybe I just put real single coils back into these guitars and live with the noise?

add an illitch style large coil backplate?

They are expensive as hell these days, but you can also make your own pretty cheap.

 

[Jarick]

Okay the EMG's are ripped out of all three guitars now.

Back to the Suhr pickups in the Ibanez AZ, which means the guitars are now loaded with:

Fender: Suhr V60LP neck/middle and Thornbucker 2 bridge
Ibanez: Suhr ML Standard neck/middle and Thornbucker Plus bridge

The Ibanez is now a lot more open and crisp sounding compared to the EMG's which I just found really dull the last couple weeks. I even changed strings to a fresh set of NYXL's and changed the battery, still just sounded dead. Swapping out the Strat to true singles really woke up that guitar, and I'd say these true single coils have the Ibanez a little more lively.

Direct comparison, the Fender with V60LP has a more traditional scooped sound and the Thornbucker 2 is a bit more lively sounding, where the Ibanez with ML and Thornbucker Plus sounds more mid forward and with rolled off high end. That could easily be the construction though, the Fender is 30 years old and has vintage style hardware where the Ibanez is newer with a roasted maple neck and more modern hardware. But they are in the same ballpark anyways.

One neat thing, I had previously put in a dummy mini toggle switch in the Ibanez because I gutted the original wiring but didn't want an empty hole in the guitar. I looked up the wiring and now have it to split the humbucker to single coil. Surprisingly being the first time I've ever done this, not only did it work on the first try, but the split coil is proper RWRP so that's now mostly hum canceling! It sounds pretty cool, obviously it's thinner than a proper single coil at about 4.5k but it's still an interesting and usable tone.

Next up is the Tele, I'll probably rip those noiseless out and drop the Suhr Classic T set in. Then I'm back to Suhrs across just about everything. Here's my other three guitars with Suhrs at the moment:

PRS CE-24 - Suhr Woodbucker set
PRS Standard 24 - Suhr Thornbucker set
PRS McCarty - Suhr SSV set

 

[Chocol8]

the EMG's are ripped out of all three guitars now.

Congrats. I believe the best use of EMG's is to rip them out and drop them in a recycling bin. Its better than tossing them in a dumpster which is the second best use of EMG"s.