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What's the best and worst pickups you've ever had?


JonathanLA

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you can say i am crazy, but i love the sound of the stock pups in my les paul special. 490r and 498t


but i have not tried very many either. i am in high school, so when i was searching for my "main" guitar, it ended when i heard that lp. MMMMMmmmmmmm i love me some LP TON3AGE lol

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great:

suhr SSV
TV Jones filtertron
emg 85
Duncan JB
Dimarzio Double Whammy
Dimarzio Evolution
Dimarzio Virtual VIntage 2.1
Jackson J-90C
DImarzio Breed

Neutral:

IBZ USA F2
IBZ USA F1
IBZ USA F4
Dimarzio Paf Pro
Dimarzio Super Distortion
DUncan '59

terrible:

Duncan Screamin' Demon
Bill Lawrence USA 500XL (stew mac)
Dimarzio Fred
Dimarzio Tone Zone
Dimarzio Virtual Vintage heavy Blues
any cheap import pickup (except Ibanez QM)

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oh and my worst would have to go to FIRST ACT GUITAR PUPS. OOHHHHHH MY GOODNESS. talk about sounding like a blanket over the amp. ehhh it makes me want to puke. my friends parents wouldnt let him get a job so he STILL has his first act guitar only, and thats why i quit the band. ahaha yall may think he is a crappy guitarist to begin with, but really he is talented he seriously can't afford nething so he has to deal with g-mas christmas present from 3 years ago lol.

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Originally posted by guitarslinger

terrible:
Dimarzio Virtual Vintage heavy Blues
I absolutely love my VV Heavy Blues. Sounds fantastic in my Strat!

I'm starting to think my Hot Rail in another Strat is a horrible pickup. It's out of there as soon as I can get another pickup.cool.gif
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the good ones that I had so far.. Gibson 500T/496R, EMG are decent.

I like the dimarzio in my YJM strat too, good for single coils.

Worst : Dean stock pickups on my Czech handmade V and Jackson stock pickups used in the first USA Select they made were the worst, emg hz weren'T too great

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Originally posted by ztanner25
you can say i am crazy, but i love the sound of the stock pups in my les paul special. 490r and 498t


but i have not tried very many either. i am in high school, so when i was searching for my "main" guitar, it ended when i heard that lp. MMMMMmmmmmmm i love me some LP TON3AGE lol


+1 to that. I'm a say that i recall really liking those, especially the 498t. i'm in college now and when i was in high school i went on a pickup quest thinkin there were better pickups out there.

i tried some emg's, but they were too sterile. i gotta have that passive feel and liveliness in the cleans. so then i tried the tried and true Jazz/JB combo in the old paul. gotta say that i got no complaints.

To be 100% honest, though, i don't remember the 490/498 sounding too much different the the Jazz/JB. i never played em side by side though. i wish i hadn't sold the old gibson pickups. i really can't remember what i did with them, so i'm assuming i sold em.

if i had to guess the differences between them... then i would say that the cleans are a TAD bit better on the gibbo's, but the Duncans are a bit hotter so they sound much clearer when driven. man i really wish i had those gibbo's... i'd prolly get a crap guitar and put em in that just to see what would happen.
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Hate: every pickup ive tried has had a purpose i could find. muddy ones sound good for some stuff i do, super bright ones for some stuff, but i cant stand jacksons pickups or SD jazz and distortion.

Dislike: Whatever is in stock Les paul studios. god those are awful

Like: Emg HZ's sound really good for electronic metal. i might get some put in my hamer. in fact ill head on over to the bay right now and purchase some...

Love: ibanez v8's for tech metal and single note riffage, emg 81/85 for chugging and middle pickup selection cleans. duncan hot rails for telecasters

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Originally posted by ztanner25
oh and my worst would have to go to FIRST ACT GUITAR PUPS. OOHHHHHH MY GOODNESS. talk about sounding like a blanket over the amp. ehhh it makes me want to puke. my friends parents wouldnt let him get a job so he STILL has his first act guitar only, and thats why i quit the band. ahaha yall may think he is a crappy guitarist to begin with, but really he is talented he seriously can't afford nething so he has to deal with g-mas christmas present from 3 years ago lol.
OOOH YEAH. Got some first-hand experience with those puppies, regrettably. But, hey, it was FREE. It's this one...

B000BBS4GA.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_V1126886832_.j

Believe it or not, it looks like they used nonmagnetized pole pieces and a strip of that thin plastic refrigerator-mangnet crap to generate a signal.

That's the worst I have seen so far.

The BEST I have had are the 3 GFS Overwound Vintage Strat pups I installed to replace the Fridge Magnet Specials.

They can talk, squawk, quack, rip, shred and make both heavenly and nasty tones with ease.

And, they were only $53 shipped! Surely your buddy can forgo a quarter-ounce (or a few Forty-Ouncers) for great tone...my cheap StratoFaker is very playable after getting its pups swapped out.

Quality-wise, these are on par with most of the $200 Squier Strats on the market.
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I like the pickups in this list so far:

Dimarzio:
Evolution* (sounds great when tapped! like a strong single coil, or nearly P90 sounding)
PAF Pro*
Super Distortion (an all-around performer)
Virtual Vintage 2.1
Virtual 54
Twang King bridge (rocks for teles!)

Duncan:
59 neck (my go-to neck HB)
JB*
JB Jr. (haven't heard it sound bad in any guitar yet)
Screamin' Demon*
Custom
Custom 5
Custom Custom

The ones with * after them, I've had mixed luck whether they've sounded good or bad in varying guitars. That happens with just about any pickup but in these cases it's easier to get "bad" results, it seems. That doesn't stop them from getting great results in some guitars though.

I like a lot of vintage sounding pickups but I find them a bit hard to deal with for controlling the "twang", or sometimes the bite. So as much as I can truly appreciate a Gretsch type guitar/pickup combination, it's not something I can use on a regular basis.

As for "bad" pickups...I find they're getting fewer in number as stock pickups are getting better and better as the years go by. I also believe that sometimes even a "bad" pickup might be the only match for a certain guitar to get a good sound, depending on the guitar, and it's impossible to predict.

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Originally posted by ChS
Worst pickups I've had are the ones that came on my cheaper Jackson guitars. Just awful.

Favorites are , and Carvin M22SD
+1

As far as best...I seem to change my mind a lot,but ATM it's..(these are all trem.-bridge pup's BTW)..M22SD in one guitar,PAF Pro in the second,and the tone zone in the third(I really hated this pup in the first two guitars but in the third with the right strings and tuning it sounds pretty damn good!...thick and chunky)...I also like the super distortion a lot and may put it back in the guitar with the PAF Pro.
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