Hey you tone experts out there!
What's the consensus on pick ups? Is it worth buying really expensive ones? Do they really sound that different?
In 10 years of playing guitar, I had always focused on what *type* of guitar I play, the thickness of the strings, the pick technique, vibrato, amps, effects, etc. But I never changed the pickups in any of my guitars; always kind of took them for granted I guess.
The reason I'm asking is that I'm having a lot of trouble dialing in a patch, where you can play distorted chords, but where each note still rings out clearly. (Think Periphery-style stuff) I've been through every single amp on the Axe Fx, with or without a Drive pedal, I've tweaked the Drive, Master Volume, Damp, Depth, etc. and there still is this annoying muddiness when I play chords. And it recently occured to me that I had never really found a satisfactory setting that fixes this.
Since I don't doubt the Axe Fx's capabilities, I'm beginning to wonder if the PICK-UPS could make that big difference.
Does anyone have experience with this? What can I expect from newer, expensive pickups?
What's the consensus on pick ups? Is it worth buying really expensive ones? Do they really sound that different?
In 10 years of playing guitar, I had always focused on what *type* of guitar I play, the thickness of the strings, the pick technique, vibrato, amps, effects, etc. But I never changed the pickups in any of my guitars; always kind of took them for granted I guess.
The reason I'm asking is that I'm having a lot of trouble dialing in a patch, where you can play distorted chords, but where each note still rings out clearly. (Think Periphery-style stuff) I've been through every single amp on the Axe Fx, with or without a Drive pedal, I've tweaked the Drive, Master Volume, Damp, Depth, etc. and there still is this annoying muddiness when I play chords. And it recently occured to me that I had never really found a satisfactory setting that fixes this.
Since I don't doubt the Axe Fx's capabilities, I'm beginning to wonder if the PICK-UPS could make that big difference.
Does anyone have experience with this? What can I expect from newer, expensive pickups?