Wot pickups is goodera than wot others is?

Talk about your Burstbuckers and Seymour Duncans....

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Re: Wot pickups is goodera than wot others is?

Post by bender »

I really like single coils, but find them pretty hit and miss. I'm quite heavy handed (which has been slowly changing since gigging more) which doesn't fit singles well at all, but I love the sound of them. Haven't tried any other in my Jazzmaster to form much of an opinion, but the stock '65 AVRI pickups sound pretty sweet to me. Really keen to try some Novaks at some point. As an alternative, I have a pair of JM sized Wide-Range Humbuckers which give me a nice beefy sound while retaining some of the single coil clarity and twang.

In Gretsch land, I love TV Jones pickups. My Anniversary came stock with a pair of vintage HiLo Trons and I've swapped the bridge pickup between the stock one, a TV Jones HiLo Tron and a Gretsch HS Filtertron. The TV Jones is my favourite of those by a mile. I also have an HS Filtertron and TV Jones Supertron in my Corvette and the Supertron utterly rules.

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Re: Wot pickups is goodera than wot others is?

Post by MrDINO »

SD jazz in neck and JB in bridge sounded great in the 335 when I had one. R7 with Z90s sound awesome but BK mules also are great in a different way but way better than the original classics. Still experimenting with Strat sounds. Fralins are the best tradition sound. Will be trying SSL5/heavy blues and virtual blues and see how they go for more modern.

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Re: Wot pickups is goodera than wot others is?

Post by Mattallica »

In my limited experience, i have so far concluded these (for my personal taste):

. LP - Hot PAF in the neck, medium output HB for the bridge

. SG - some variation of a P90 set

. Strat - leave whatever is in there alone

. Active pickups - leave them for bass guitars

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Re: Wot pickups is goodera than wot others is?

Post by rickenbackerkid »

I have learned on two guitars now that you can change pickups until you're blue in the face and you sometime still can't get to the place you're trying to get. I went though 4-5 bridge pickups in a Strat, never got it sounding right.

The problem wasn't the pickups but just that a Strat scale and bridge don't have the sound I want. I think I'm now in the place where if my guitar wasn't working for me, rather than dick about with pickups I'd probably just start trying out different guitars.

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Re: Wot pickups is goodera than wot others is?

Post by Single coil »

Shorter scale neck or pot values?
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Re: Wot pickups is goodera than wot others is?

Post by willow13 »

bbrunskill wrote:I have learned on two guitars now that you can change pickups until you're blue in the face and you sometime still can't get to the place you're trying to get. I went though 4-5 bridge pickups in a Strat, never got it sounding right.

The problem wasn't the pickups but just that a Strat scale and bridge don't have the sound I want. I think I'm now in the place where if my guitar wasn't working for me, rather than dick about with pickups I'd probably just start trying out different guitars.
could it have been the big reverb tank a strat has on its back?
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Re: Wot pickups is goodera than wot others is?

Post by Aquila Rossa »

I am liking the sound of having both buckers running with the selector in the middle position, but the neck pup running split as a single coil. Makes things a little brighter and get single coil response a bit. Especially nice with the neck pup split and the tone rolled off a bit.

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Re: Wot pickups is goodera than wot others is?

Post by MrDINO »

I really enjoy the clarity and chime of a good Strat. Finding a pickup which has the punch and definition on the bridge is a matter of fine tuning for me. Putting a hotter pickup in is usually something I've always done and never regretted.

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Re: Wot pickups is goodera than wot others is?

Post by Mini Forklift »

I'm a Strat man pretty much. From what limited knowledge on the subject I have I tend to gravitate towards lower output single coils. The Kent Armstrong I've had in the neck position of my #1 Strat is a benchmark I always come back to in terms of A/B'ing against others. I set them low - not far from being flush with the pickguard. I like a little more height on the middle pickup.

Have only ever owned one Les Paul; the P90's in it sound great but TBH I don't really know what I like or dislike in humbuckers or any of their variants.

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Re: Wot pickups is goodera than wot others is?

Post by jimi »

Was looking forward to a bit of a tone quest when I got my LP. Had a list I wanted to try out... 57 classics, 36 anni's, wolf tones.

Burstbuckers it came with sound great though. No need to try anything else.

Have SD Alnico II classics in my Ash custom, love the neck, on the fence about the bridge, needs something tighter, less brittle and treble-y.

BKP Manhattans in the Robin savoy sound great, no need to mess with those, and love having a P9O option from all my HB guitars.

Rio Grandes of some type in my SG sound good for bluesy stuff, which doesn't really work in that guitar, but f-it, it's a 21 year old epiphone so not spending any more $$ there.

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Re: Wot pickups is goodera than wot others is?

Post by werdna »

I have a pair of double cream PAF humbuckers from a boutique maker in the States. They both measure about 7.5, the neck slightly less. They came in a cigar box. I can't remember the brand. The sound is classic LP. Like the Whole Lotta Humbucker set I'd guess. If they were an animal, they would be a rhino.

I also play SD Alnico 2 classics. Warmer, browner, fatter, a bit darker. If they were an animal, they would be a hippo.
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Re: Wot pickups is goodera than wot others is?

Post by bender »

jimi wrote:
Rio Grandes of some type in my SG sound good for bluesy stuff, which doesn't really work in that guitar, but f-it, it's a 21 year old epiphone so not spending any more $$ there.
I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure those are the original pickups from the Robin Savoy. Buffalobucker and Genuine Texas most likely.

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Re: Wot pickups is goodera than wot others is?

Post by Zaulkin »

bender wrote:
jimi wrote:
Rio Grandes of some type in my SG sound good for bluesy stuff, which doesn't really work in that guitar, but f-it, it's a 21 year old epiphone so not spending any more $$ there.
I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure those are the original pickups from the Robin Savoy. Buffalobucker and Genuine Texas most likely.
That'll explain it. The genuine Texas is basically a single coil with a dummy coil so it sounds quite bluesy.

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Re: Wot pickups is goodera than wot others is?

Post by Single coil »

For a real fun time, pull the screws out of your humbuckers and leave only the slug coils. Sounds funky.
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Re: Wot pickups is goodera than wot others is?

Post by willow13 »

Single coil wrote:For a real fun time, pull the screws out of your humbuckers and leave only the slug coils. Sounds funky.
I've done that and yeah it sounds cool...actually you just reminded me to do it to a bucker that I don't like
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