How do you choose new pickups?

[kushdingies]

How do you folks usually go about choosing pickups to upgrade to? My Schecter guitar feels great to play but it has Duncan Designed pickups in it and just sounds kinda muddy. I'm tempted to go with the classic Crunch Lab + Liquifire combo (because I'm a big Petrucci fanboy and absolutely love the Black Clouds and Silver Linings sound) but I've never swapped out pickups before so I'm just curious how people generally approach it, what resources are good for comparing different choices, etc.

 

[warlockII]

All of this is MY OPINION:
1. Don't read reviews!
2. Only listen to recordings if they are in a similar guitar to yours.
3. Figure out what you don't like about your pickups or you'll have a hard time finding something better.
4. Most important in my mind, play guitars with different pickups and see which grabs you.
5. Try raising and lower your pickups to see if that gets you where you want to be.
6. Make sure you really like the tone of someone and not just their style. Long story short, I wasted a ton of time chasing George Lynch tone until I realized I LOVE his playing and HATE his tone.
I have a silly amount of pickups sitting in a drawer because I wanted to see if the grass was really greener. After all my swaps, I almost always go back to the same pickup I've been playing for almost 30 years.

 

[Budda]

How do you folks usually go about choosing pickups to upgrade to? My Schecter guitar feels great to play but it has Duncan Designed pickups in it and just sounds kinda muddy. I'm tempted to go with the classic Crunch Lab + Liquifire combo (because I'm a big Petrucci fanboy and absolutely love the Black Clouds and Silver Linings sound) but I've never swapped out pickups before so I'm just curious how people generally approach it, what resources are good for comparing different choices, etc.

A few things to try before you splash cash:

1. are your strings dead?
2. is your pick worn down?
3. Are you listening to the guitar at low volume?
4. Can you raise your pickup(s) to be closer to the strings for more high end?
5. Is the muddiness something you can dial out with your rig, after evaluating the above?

 

[kushdingies]

A few things to try before you splash cash:

1. are your strings dead?
2. is your pick worn down?
3. Are you listening to the guitar at low volume?
4. Can you raise your pickup(s) to be closer to the strings for more high end?
5. Is the muddiness something you can dial out with your rig, after evaluating the above?

All great considerations - it's got fresh strings, same pick + rest of the rig as my other guitar but the difference is night and day. I've been trying to compensate with EQ but the signal also seems more compressed than I'd like which can't really be undone.

 

[steadystate]

I record the raw output of a pickup onto a track in my DAW. I can then compare them directly and reamp them. I have a project with about 25 tracks, each containing the raw output of a pickup.

 

[steadystate]

I have a silly amount of pickups sitting in a drawer because I wanted to see if the grass was really greener.

Same here. And the pickups I preferred most wound up being the least expensive.

 

[JoKeR III]

I'll agree that the Duncan Designed for Schecter pickups are quite lackluster.

When I'm choosing pickups, the guitar's construction is verified first (type of wood for the body, neck and fretboard). Then I'll determine what I want the resulting tone to be. From there I'll choose about 3-5 pickups and look at comparison reviews, making sure one of the pickups in the comparison is one I'm familiar with.

Don't be afraid to think outside the box. I have a PRS CE-24 with a set of TV Jones Power 'Trons, humbucker size and it's one of my favorites to play, great tone. I also have an Ibanez RGDIR6M (extended scale) that has a set of Bareknuckle Black Dogs (supposed to be more vintage sounding) that is great for most all high gain stuff. At the end of the day, it's your guitar and the only one who has to be happy with it is you.

Don't get wrapped up with what you're "supposed" to do. Do what sounds best. Whomever you buy from, try to make sure they have a return policy. Dimarzio is great in this area, just don't cut the leads and be careful not to burn the insulation.

Finally, higher price doesn't always mean better and don't assume an artist's pickups will sound the same in your guitar.

 

[Rick]

Don’t be afraid to call a pickup maker and talk to them about it. They can give you insight and offer suggestions based on guitar, styles, amp types.

Does the guitar sound good unplugged? I’ve discovered that a guitar that sounds dead and lifeless acoustically delivers tone that is DOA at the amp. YMMV, but that’s been consistent for me.

You say the pickup sounds muddy and compressed, which point to an overwound pickup type. As a general rule, hotter pickups sound more midrangey and compressed, and lower output types tend to sound brighter and less compressed. In your case, you might try lowering the pickup away from the strings as a way to tame some of the output and clean them up a bit.

I have found that I like the sound of pickups wound more like early PAFs and T-Tops that Gibson did late 50s to early 70s. They are clear and open sounding and can be boosted with a pedal to hit the front of the amp harder when you want. They are useful in all positions, and you can get many tones with just the pickups and controls. Once I figured that out, I looked for pickups with those characteristics. You will need to run down those “what I like and don’t like” questions, and it’ll narrow your searches considerably.

By the way, everybody has a favorite pickup type, brand, or philosophy. I never had any success paddling in that river. Take in the info, use what’s useful, then find your own way.

 

[RevDrucifer]

I spend about 2 months debating if I'm going to change pickups, then two months torturing myself over which ones I want to get. Eventually, I get fed up with this self-torture and make a decision on the spot. Once I remind myself 50x that I can just pop them out if I don't like them, I'm good to go. For some reason, it ALWAYS takes me forever to get there, though.

 

[Rex]

All of this is MY OPINION:
1. Don't read reviews!
2. Only listen to recordings if they are in a similar guitar to yours.
3. Figure out what you don't like about your pickups or you'll have a hard time finding something better.
4. Most important in my mind, play guitars with different pickups and see which grabs you.
5. Try raising and lower your pickups to see if that gets you where you want to be.
6. Make sure you really like the tone of someone and not just their style. Long story short, I wasted a ton of time chasing George Lynch tone until I realized I LOVE his playing and HATE his tone.
I have a silly amount of pickups sitting in a drawer because I wanted to see if the grass was really greener. After all my swaps, I almost always go back to the same pickup I've been playing for almost 30 years.

All of this. Forget about reviews. They won't help you. And ignore the manufacturer's descriptions of their pickups. This one has "soaring highs." That one has "commanding highs." Try figuring out which one you want from those descriptions.

 

[steadystate]

For me, pickups are like IRs in that I have to actually listen to them with my setup. Descriptions, recordings, manufacturers comments, etc. are all meaningless.

 

[Muad'zin]

I lack the Golden Ears of the Gods. Most pickups sound the same to me. So my decision making process is:

• What kind of pickups do I want? Single coil, P90 or humbucker?
• Which cheapo ones do I have that sound fine to me?
• Get more of those.
• Profit!