Talk to me about pickups

[Firesource]

My only guitar with stock pickups is the one I specced out myself - go figure

But yeah, like someone has said already, I hear MORE of a difference with pickups than with any other amp/FX system I've had, and while you might get close to what you want by altering the core tone using various EQ's I simply won't bother. I would rather make the guitar sound like I want it to, and then have to "treat" it as little as possible with various "tone shapers". I the guitar sounds great, you don't need to do a lot in the AX8 than choose an amp + cab combination that you like.

I haven't went through a lot of pickups though - I had a set of BKP Aftermaths in my first Setius (the one in my profile pic), and swapped them out for something less sterile and hot - BKP Rebel Yell and VH II in the neck. I haven't changed them since, and when I placed the order for a Setius to my specs, I went for the Rebel Yell in the bridge, as I already knew I liked the pickup, and since I wanted an HSS setup, I just asked BKP support what single coils the recommended for my guitar (ended up being the Slow Hand singles), and I went with that. The guitar sounds splendid, so I doubt I'm ever going to make a change to that.
My Tele (a japanese 62 Custom Telecaster) came with a BKP Brown Sugar set, when I bought it (installed by previous owner), and I haven't found a reason to swap them out for something different. I play them all through the same presets, as I like how the character of each guitar shines through, and I don't find differences in level to be a problem.

 

[NeoSound]

With all of the tonal shaping abilities of the AX8, do you think it's necessary to swap out the stock pickups on your guitars? Do you change pickups often chasing the holy grail? Do you buy $200+ boutique pickups?

I've never been too big on changing pickups, but I have this Ibanez RGT42 that plays and feels much better than it should for a $300 guitar. I know the stock Inf pickups are considered garbage. I use it for metal in D standard, so I put a set of Duncan Invaders. They sound fine, I can't really say noticeably better or anything but they're so hot that I need to adjust the input trim and have separate presets for this guitar (and also my 7-string with Blackouts).

For some reason I'm getting the urge to change pickups again, in my PRS CE24 with stock 85/15 pickups and my Ibanez RG1750 with V7 and V8 pups. Then I start looking at all of the options and get overwhelmed and put it off for another day. Should I even bother changing them? Talk me into or out of it.

Don't like the v7 & v8's. The inf pickups are good IF you pot them in wax to get rid of microphonic feedback IMO. I like the Bare Knuckle rebel yells and cold sweats (I haven't tried any others) and they're great but maybe not double the price of a nice set of dimarzios greaterer.

 

[CraigC]

Agree with Firesource and others, it does make a difference.

Like IRs and amps, pickups can sort of be addictive. You 'can' have it if you want (or want to pay!). I found most of my pickup changes have been due in part, to me either loving the feel of a guitar/neck profile/has the switching options I want, etc. but not liking the sound (muffled, too bassy/woofy/thin) or changing PUs to increase flexibility... better humbuckers for split coils, swapping a single coil for a humbucker, etc.

I have found aftermarket pickups (BKs RY and Cold Sweats, Fralins, Motor City, SD antiquity currently installed) are more articulate and clearer than what they replaced. Not everything can be dialed in/out via the amp. Same analogy as a speaker.. it only produces the sound its capable of. Boosting/cutting doesn't necessarily give you the frequency you're after if it can't replicate that. [yeah, over simplification].

No matter how many youtube /audio clips you hear, it's not until you put it in your guitar and run it thru your rig does it work for you, or not. Have I put a $400 set of pickups in a PRS SE guitar costing nearly as much? Yup. Does it matter? Nope because I'm happy with the end result.

Most PU manufacturer's have an exchange program so it's not like it's a lost cause to buy something and if you don't like it, exchange your vanilla for mint chocolate, or strawberry... or metal! \m/

A soldering iron can be a dangerous thing!

 

[maxdown]

I want to find a bridge pickup for a strat type basswood body/maple neck with scratchplate mounted pickups that sounds like my SD Custom Custom in a solid body/surface mount maple capped/mahogany body/maple neck with ebony finger board.

I've tried a SD Custom Custom but it sounds really thin in comparison to it's bro in the other guitar .... now I'm on a SD JB ..... definite improvement in some bass and mid response but not the same mid 'brrr' that the wood contact seems to add to pickups when surface mounted.

Hate bloody faffing about with pickups

 

[Bman]

I want to find a bridge pickup for a strat type basswood body/maple neck with scratchplate mounted pickups that sounds like my SD Custom Custom in a solid body/surface mount maple capped/mahogany body/maple neck with ebony finger board.

I've tried a SD Custom Custom but it sounds really thin in comparison to it's bro in the other guitar .... now I'm on a SD JB ..... definite improvement in some bass and mid response but not the same mid 'brrr' that the wood contact seems to add to pickups when surface mounted.

Hate bloody faffing about with pickups

I just recently bought a guitar, alder body with quilted maple top and rosewood finger board with a Duncan Custom 5 (SH14). It's got scooped mids and I I was very skeptical but after a few days playing it I'm really liking it for being different than the typical mid bumped pickups. I was expecting it to sound deep and heavy, maybe too much metal for my taste but instead it just sounds a bit more aggressive and I really like the way the leads sound. Like a JB but a tad less compressed and clearer. The bottom end is tight and has some hair. I may change my mind but right now I'm liking it compared to my other two guitars - a Les Paul with a 57 Classic plus and an Ibanez with a circa 1988 Duncan Distortion (because I read Lynch had one in his tiger striped guitar at the time). The Duncan Distortion has always been my baseline pickup because it's always sounded good in every guitar I've put it in and vibes with every amp. I always set my presets using that one.

I think because I set my amps up with a lot of midrange the SH14 pickup doesn't sound scooped to me.

 

[Wigam2]

When I purchased my AX8, I noticed that my American Strat, MIM Strat, and Squire Classic Vibe Tele and Strat all sounded "noisier" than using my old Boss GT-100 and GP-10 rigs. They sounded better because of the AX8 but the noise floor appeared to be higher IMHO.

Happened to borrow a Strat with Lace Golds and was amazed at how quiet they were and sweet sounding.

I now have Lace Golds, Lace Hot Golds, and also installed Fishman Fluence pups as well.
I am totally blown away at how all these pickups perform compared to the factory stock. My Classic Vibe Tele was also modified with Lace as well as a 4 way switch. Suweet!

This is definitely not for everybody but like having multiple guitars without the mortgage that goes goes along with buying high end. Always buy new on sale and cheap second hand.

Next is to modify the 3 guitars I have with humbuckers although the noise was not a problem. (Ibanez RG, Peavey HP Special, Ibanez Artist)

Does it show that I have GAS and a sucker for a good pickup line.....?

I have a MIM Strat with the bridge humbucker, and it is super noisy, so swapping the pickups is on my radar, although I've never done it. What exactly did you put in your MIM strat?

 

[Johan Allard]

I too am very much guilty of changing pickups a lot. The only guitar I have with stock pickups is a PRS Signature Limited with 408 pickups and they are not standard shape so the pickups cannot really be changed. Otherwise it's mostly Bareknuckle pickups - Abraxas being my favourite but I also have a bunch of other Bareknuckle's and a bunch of pickups from other manufacturers as well.

And it's not just how they sound by themselves but also how well they split, work in parallel and together with other pickups. All my gigging guitars have at least one humbucker and all of them have some form of splitting configuration. You can't make a humbucker sound like a single-coil by changing IR.

 

[BitesizeCrayons]

My Ibanez RG752FX came stock with DiMarzio PAFs, which are very nice, but I decided to throw some Bareknuckle Juggernauts in it, and I'm very glad I did. Attack, output, phenomenal cleans, and the harmonics make them the best pups I could hope for; I'll definitely be throwing a set in my Jackson DKA8M. Granted, Bareknuckles are quite expensive, so I probably wouldn't upgrade the Nazgul/Sentient pups (which are definitely no slouch) if I didn't like them that much more. At the end of the day, amps and effects are definitely the meat of one's sound, but I can attest that pickups definitely matter.