CONFESSION: I put same pickups in most guitars....

Tremonti

Tremonti

Fractal Fanatic
I own 6 guitars and all of them have a Suhr Thornbucker in the bridge and most in neck too. I have 2 HSS guitars that have Dimarzio blade type pickups in M and N. I found that with so much gain on hand with modelers, I would rather have the articulation.

This being said...every guitar has a different resonant frequency it lives in. So different pickups is probably warranted. Case by case and I think I may try something else in 1 of my guitars. But then sometimes chasing that dragon blows
 
It is another rabbit hole that is easy to fall down into.

At one point all of my guitars had only Motor City (2nd Degree Black Belt, Afwayu, Angel Dust, .............) or Suhr Aldrich pickups. Then began swapping out for something different. Never really sticking with a particular brand.

Finally decided to leave what is now in each guitar and just play. No more chasing the dragon.
 
Pick ups matter for sure and choosing them can be tricky but it’s also part of the fun. I prefer passive pickups because they sound less aggressive than active.

There are so many options these days, I look for split coil pickups so I can have the best of both worlds.
 
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Most amps have lots of gain, no need to use it all. That doesnt dictate the same pickups to me, ymmv.
 
I have stock pickups in 75% of my guitars. I mean, if I picked up an Ibanez and it sounded like shit when I played it, my first thought has never been buying it anyway and replace the pickups. Every so often, I've bought a used guitar with non-stock pickups.

I did go down the experimental route a few times. EVOs in an RG550, some hotter pickups in a Les Paul, and the zebra SDs I put in an original 4-knob ESP Eclipse. Plus whatever junking around I did in younger days that I don't even remember.
 
Tremonti said:
I own 6 guitars and all of them have a Suhr Thornbucker in the bridge and most in neck too. I have 2 HSS guitars that have Dimarzio blade type pickups in M and N. I found that with so much gain on hand with modelers, I would rather have the articulation.

This being said...every guitar has a different resonant frequency it lives in. So different pickups is probably warranted. Case by case and I think I may try something else in 1 of my guitars. But then sometimes chasing that dragon blows
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I've gone to Thornbuckers in most of HB guitars as well. They are just a good balanced pickup with just enough push but not too much IMO. Great frequency response without any overblown peaks or valleys. I love their midrange--Its just right. They seem to work in anything I've put them in.
 
Tremonti said:
I own 6 guitars and all of them have a Suhr Thornbucker in the bridge and most in neck too. I have 2 HSS guitars that have Dimarzio blade type pickups in M and N. I found that with so much gain on hand with modelers, I would rather have the articulation.

This being said...every guitar has a different resonant frequency it lives in. So different pickups is probably warranted. Case by case and I think I may try something else in 1 of my guitars. But then sometimes chasing that dragon blows
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Yep, I have Motor City Hot Heads in three guitars right now. Recently I needed a humbucker for a fourth guitar, and even though I still love the Hot Heads, I tried something different and went with an EVH Wolfgang…..another good one!
 
I've only got one traditional hum bucker guitar, but I've got thornbuckers in that axe, and if I were ever to bet another, I'd probably put them in there as well- I really like them. They sound good in almost any style, with excellent clarity, and they split well too.
 
I have them in my Suhr and they have an annoying high frequency content that I don't like... I really like the Anderson HC1 (neck) and HC3 (bridge) humbuckers.

I have an Angel with both, a Drop Top HSS with the HC3 and put an H3 (non-covered) in my Kiesel Delos (along with Duncan SSL-6 single coils, which I also really like).

I'm planning on swapping the TBs for Anderson's in my Suhr.

It might be the guitar, because I haven't seen this complaint about the pickups from others...
 
At some point I'm going to own every Seymour Duncan and Bare Knuckle pickup. It's a slippery slope. I like having something moderate output, and some high output for the brootalz
 
BUUUUUT...then there's no variety. Sometimes I want to play a Marshall and by BKP VHII sounds awesome with that, and other times I want 5150-style chuggzzzzz and only high output hits me in the chest (or ears). Variety is the spice of life.
 
mzajac said:
At some point I'm going to own every Seymour Duncan and Bare Knuckle pickup. It's a slippery slope.
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LOL! I think I got 90% there about 10 years ago! Definitely a slippery slope, but I've learned a lot and am still rather addicted... ;)

I've installed enough pickups to have a decent idea of what I like and what works for me in different types of guitars. I try to let the guitar tell me what it wants (tone-wise) and cross that with what I want the guitar to sound like. Like @warlockII said above, some guitars need to sound similar. Sometimes, though, I want them to be different. For instance, I have a couple of Les Pauls, some with PAF-like vintage, some with higher gain). My favorites at the moment...

Bridge Humbucker:
  • BKP A-Bomb - Modern
  • BKP Crawler - Great in my PRS, smoother than the Rebel Yell.
  • BKP Mule - Vintage
  • BKP Rebel Yell - Somewhere between the two.
  • DiMarzio Tone Zone - Modern, but not overly so.
  • Duncan Custom Custom (SH-11) - High output, but not so OTT.
  • Duncan Distortion (SH-6) - Definitely OTT, but it just works sometimes.
Neck Humbucker:
  • BKP Stormy Monday - Sweet
  • Duncan Alnico II Pro (APH-1) - New ones don't sound quite the same as old ones.
Strat:
  • BKP Apache - Sweet
  • BKP Slow Hand - Hotter
  • Duncan Antiquities Texas Hot
Tele:
  • BKP Flat 50s - Perfect
P90:
  • BKP Nantucket - Perfect (haven't yet tried their Mississippi Queen)
Honorable mention:
  • Fender AV2 '57s Strat - really surprised me, but really nice!
  • Fralin - Love his Strat pickups!
  • Gibson Custombucker - Getting better, I think. I've got a set of MHS, which are also really nice, and a Burstbucker-II that doesn't sound like anything else I've ever heard including other Burstbucker-IIs. It's got an unusual amount of "thrust" to it.
  • Lollar - Rich and sophisticated.
Still a list of things I want to try, too.

Anyone know of any good Firebird pickups (not mini-humbuckers)??? :cool::laughing::laughing::grin: Yep... still chasing that dragon... LOL
 
I’m of the opinion that lower output pickups sound better. Unless you’re a metal player and need the high output. I do have some original pickups still installed but most have been changed, and some more than once. I see nothing wrong with having the same pickups in many guitars. If you like them then you like them. Like the amp models in the FAS units. There’s a ton and I use 2 of them. Just curious, do the guitars with the same pickups sound fairly similar?
 
I'm a big fan of Suhr pickups, recently put SSV and SSH+ into my Ibanez MM1 and it was a significant improvement from the Seymour Duncan's that came in it.
 
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