Guitar Pickups Don't Matter?

There's truth to batteries in pedals- it's not just snake oil.
A fresh 9v puts out 9.6 volts

If you notice- the Electro Harmonix 9v power supply- that's a replacement for Boss and Ibanez puts out 9.6v not exactly 9. To mimic a fresh battery.

So you do get different behaviors out of deader batteries- some go crazy for them.
 
Jeries said:
There's truth to batteries in pedals- it's not just snake oil.
A fresh 9v puts out 9.6 volts

If you notice- the Electro Harmonix 9v power supply- that's a replacement for Boss and Ibanez puts out 9.6v not exactly 9. To mimic a fresh battery.

So you do get different behaviors out of deader batteries- some go crazy for them.
Click to expand...
Are you really all that ßure.. for example 7805 IC used for many electronics applications until the end of the nineties make 5Vcc at the output, whether you put 9V or 9.6V in it.
 
The 7805's function is to take a fluctuating voltage input and regulate it to a steady 5v output. That's its job.
 
Jeries said:
A fresh 9v puts out 9.6 volts
Click to expand...

I don't trust battery voltage readings open circuit; I've seen many new 9V batteries (with open circuit voltages all over the place) drop substantially when under load...the final operating voltage in different battery powered pedals, etc. will vary, as well as with different manufacturers.

Some batteries have a very high source impedance; as soon as you draw current and load it the voltage can drop a fair bit. That source impedance changes over time as the battery discharges. I guess there is a sweet spot somewhere on that curve for guys who like the sound of partially depleted batteries.
 
I suspect that pickup choice is more important for players who focus on dynamics & feel as opposed to those who focus on accuracy & speed...
 
Last edited:
I've been a HUGE fan of Dimarzio Super Distortion pickups for longer than I can remember. I do LOVE my peavey wolfgang pickups for Drop D tunes. I've decided to give Suhr pickups and try...my Aldrich set will show up Friday. I'm hoping that I'll love them as much as many people seem to.
 
I have a pv wolfgang that I love whatever pickups are in it- i almost sold it a few times but nothing bites quite like it- so I always keep it
 
They are the most overrated part on the instrument! Especially this day in age and the technology out there, with a Fractal you can literally make ANYTHING sound, well, like ANYTHING!!!! Marinate on that for a while...
 
Billbill said:
They are the most overrated part on the instrument! Especially this day in age and the technology out there, with a Fractal you can literally make ANYTHING sound, well, like ANYTHING!!!! Marinate on that for a while...
Click to expand...
So you have all $10 pickups in all your guitars? Garbage in, garbage out but with technology you can drastically change/improve the garbage out. I do agree with your first statement though.
 
ML SOUND LAB said:


Check this video!

This topic gets mixed opinions but I felt like sharing my attempt of once again replacing stock pickups in one of my guitars. Granted most of my guitars are premium instruments so the stock pickups are usually good to begin with but I've had everything from Ibanez to Squier in the past and I've never really felt a huge difference with new pickups, rather I feel the placebo effect in combination of fresh strings after the pickup switch.

I think I have tried the most common pickups out there and I don't by any means think that all pickups are bad, quite the opposite, I feel like most pickups are really good these days and you're maybe not getting much bang for buck spending hundreds of dollars on pickups (especially boutique premium pickups). I'm intentionally not naming any brands as I don't mean to single companies out.

"Where I'm coming from" is pretty clear so there's no reason hiding it. Luckily most people understand the value of IR's and I can make a living out of it but there's one guy out of ten who thinks IR's are too expensive. Really? After getting a $2.5k/$1.5k unit, two $500 monitors, a $2k guitar with $200 pickups... the most effective part of your signal chain is still IR's am I right? :)

I'd love to hear your experiences as I'm sure pickups have saved some of the guitar for you guys! :)
Click to expand...

I agree 110% with this video the difference is so small the average listener would prob not hear. Oh and for the record, the Duncan's sounded clearer on the G string playing the Jungle intro. Less "G" flutter.
 
jakbur said:
So you have all $10 pickups in all your guitars? Garbage in, garbage out but with technology you can drastically change/improve the garbage out. I do agree with your first statement though.
Click to expand...
Agreed. The whole signal path affects everything and you can't polish a turd. While maybe some think they can take crappy pickups and reshape the tone with drives and EQs, it's never as good a starting with a decent signal in the first place.

I just picked up a new Les Paul Tribute... I could probably get by with the neck pickup, but the bridge pickup is way underpowered for my taste. Thought I could deal with it by using different presets in my FX8, but after A/Bing with various other guitars that have decent pickups with a bit more output AND clarity, I decided I'll swap them out. Got me a set of used BKP Rebel Yells in today and gonna give that a go. Plus they have the cool raygun etched on the cover. LOL
 
Genghis said:
Agreed. The whole signal path affects everything and you can't polish a turd. While maybe some think they can take crappy pickups and reshape the tone with drives and EQs, it's never as good a starting with a decent signal in the first place.

I just picked up a new Les Paul Tribute... I could probably get by with the neck pickup, but the bridge pickup is way underpowered for my taste. Thought I could deal with it by using different presets in my FX8, but after A/Bing with various other guitars that have decent pickups with a bit more output AND clarity, I decided I'll swap them out. Got me a set of used BKP Rebel Yells in today and gonna give that a go. Plus they have the cool raygun etched on the cover. LOL
Click to expand...
I would love to try a set of BKP Mules in my LP Standard.
 
I have various BKPs in 3 different guitars and love them. Mine came in today, but its gonna be a couple weeks before i get em put in.
 
ML SOUND LAB said:
"Where I'm coming from" is pretty clear so there's no reason hiding it. Luckily most people understand the value of IR's and I can make a living out of it but there's one guy out of ten who thinks IR's are too expensive. Really? After getting a $2.5k/$1.5k unit, two $500 monitors, a $2k guitar with $200 pickups... the most effective part of your signal chain is still IR's am I right? :)
Click to expand...

The reason I don't spend a pile of time and money on shopping for IRs is because the Fractal already comes with a couple hundred of them (or close to it).
If guitars came with 200 different pick ups (that could be swapped out in 2 seconds), then nobody would be out buying new pick ups.

IRs are also digital information/data. People don't like to pay for digital anything. They want it free.
 
Come on man. Pickups make a Massive difference. As a guy selling IR's, you have really stooped a bit low here :-(
I just bought another '78 Les Paul deluxe. My main guitar since 1983 has been my main '78 deluxe and after 4 weeks of owning that guitar I had it carved out for full size humbuckers .
Anyway, this other 78 Deluxe I just bought, I changed the pickups out to some DiMarzios but still mini humbucker sized so as not to carve the body out this time. Massive difference in sound
In my original main 78 les paul, for the the majority of its life, it has had DiMarzio Super Distortion in the bridge and DiMarzio DP103 original PAF on the neck. Over the years, I have tried other pickups in this guitar. I hate Duncan 59's in the neck of this Les Paul. Their Jazz is a better choice but I always go back to the DP103. I do like the Duncan Distortion in the bridge position but still prefer the DiMarzio Super Distortion.
Seriously, you have a lost a lot of credibility in this post and just come across as a snake oil salesman.
People need to stop obsessing over firmware, IR's and just start playing more. :)
 
Last edited:
vinnyburns said:
Come on man. Pickups make a Massive difference. As a guy selling IR's, you have really stooped a bit low here
Click to expand...
I guess a part of this generation of people is that they only read the titles and not the actual text. :) Don't worry I do that too. The title is just a title... a conversation starter. I've personally been let down so many times after a pickup switch that I felt like we could discuss it a bit more. I even posted high quality comparisons not made by me of high gain and low gain:





That is something scientific which we can discuss deeper but for some reason no one felt like continuing the conversation after I posted these videos. I think that answers the question better than anything.

I never meant to say "pickups don't make a difference" as they definitely make a difference. Whether they "matter" or not varies from person to person. I'm a strong believer in placebo especially when most people get a re-string after changing pickups and that combined with people GASing for a new set of pickups and wanting them to sound a million times better. Still the point here was to start a conversation. We don't all have to agree to get along.
 
ML SOUND LAB said:
I guess a part of this generation of people is that they only read the titles and not the actual text. :) Don't worry I do that too. The title is just a title... a conversation starter. I've personally been let down so many times after a pickup switch that I felt like we could discuss it a bit more. I even posted high quality comparisons not made by me of high gain and low gain:
Click to expand...

And what generation of people is that?
 
ML SOUND LAB said:
That is something scientific which we can discuss deeper but for some reason no one felt like continuing the conversation after I posted these videos. I think that answers the question better than anything.

I never meant to say "pickups don't make a difference" as they definitely make a difference. Whether they "matter" or not varies from person to person. I'm a strong believer in placebo especially when most people get a re-string after changing pickups and that combined with people GASing for a new set of pickups and wanting them to sound a million times better. Still the point here was to start a conversation. We don't all have to agree to get along.
Click to expand...

I think for me, to continue the discussion, is that guitar pickups is more about feel than anything else. I want to start with the best sound possible coming from my guitar and tweak from there. I want the sound to put a smile on my face when I play. Most of my guitars are dual humbuckers and beyond the basic sound I'm also looking for a good split/parallel sound out of both pickups. Yesterday I tried some new pickups in one of my guitars and the bridge pickup (from a well known boutique brand) just sounded thin and lifeless and even more so when split. I even had to double-check that I didn't get the wiring wrong with some phasing issue. Now, I'm sure I could "get by" at this point and correct this with some EQ, a different amp model or a different IR. It may even sound good recorded but what's the point if it doesn't put a smile on my face. So today I'm going to replace at least the bridge pickup with something else that will sound and feel good through amp models, IR's and EQ's that I've dialled in to my liking.

One thing's for sure though, pickups (and IR's) sure is a rabbit hole :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom