Electric Guitars

[peskypesky]

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Dr. Scottie C wrote:

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billybilly wrote:

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peskypesky wrote:

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Why are you buying cheap shit like DiMarzio instead of Lollars? Remember, being too frugle is just dumb.

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I have had Lollars, have Fralins and like some things that Dimarzio have to offer.  For the most part, the aforementioned pickups will be better than GFS or Duncan Designed or whatever.  For the most part, you get what you pay for and I'm happy that I prefer a bit of quality and not much of an extra cost.  We all have a choice, I just find it interesting that people like you are obsessed with being cheap.

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This brings up a good point Billy, Billy , Billy..... I don't know if Pesky is like this..... but I know Douchnozzle's that will spend $30 in gas driving around for two hours so they can get an extra $10 off a piece of gear, and feel better that they got a good "deal."

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Not me! I don't own a car. I live in Manhattan.

[billybilly]

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peskypesky wrote:

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And I find it interesting that people like you are still living in the past, when you couldn't get good gear for low prices.

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????????????  I need a little more content than that to proceed with a worthwhile response.  You're arguing like a little boy in the playground.

[peskypesky]

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billybilly wrote:

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peskypesky wrote:

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And I find it interesting that people like you are still living in the past, when you couldn't get good gear for low prices.

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????????????  I need a little more content than that to proceed with a worthwhile response.  You're arguing like a little boy in the playground.

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Nah, just reading your gear-snob posts and responding to them. But you don't stand by your own words, so what point is there in "arguing" with you? None that I can see. 

[Mad Tele]

price has zero to do with quality.pickups, no matter who makes them only cost a few dollars to make, what they sell for is independant of that.  I have a lollar p90 I paid $10 for and that pickups sounds great. I aslo have a set of rumpelstiltskin pickups that were cheap when I bought them but are now expensive. 

[docjeffrey]

I still think that mass produced cheap boutique pickups like GFS can be killer if you know your guitar and are after a specific tonal shift. Duncan's are fantastic as well. I have a set of Alnico II Duncan Custom Shop 50th Anniv. that are the best PAF replicas I've ever heard.

I have to take issue with the statement that "Lollars suck for the price." They cost the same or less than other hand wound pickups. But the three sets I own are incredibly open and tactile with an extremely detailed top end and tremendous punch in the mids and bass. I'm blown away by whatever fairy dust Jason adds to his products. Tele pickups do not get any better than his Vintage T's. The same can be said for TV Jones, my other favorite brand.

The cool thing is that with the range of aftermarket pickups, from low priced but excellent GFS to pricy Fralins and Rio Grandes, we, the guitar playing community, are ALL winners!

[honeyiscool]

What I don't get is people who try to associate price and quality in a vacuum without considering what you want to sound like. Instruments are just tools, after all. If you really like a DiMarzio Super Distortion in the bridge, using a Gibson Classic 57 isn't going to make your tone sound better, so who gives a shit that the Gibson is many times more expensive? Some people need to spend good money to get a certain sound they want.

It wasn't possible for me to get the acoustic sound that I wanted in a $400 guitar, so I had to spend a good chunk of money on a Taylor. Meanwhile, I could give a shit about a $2500 Les Paul Standard because that doesn't reflect a sound, feel, and look that I want. So if I have a $800 Tribute model instead, might it be because it offers certain features that I like, regardless of price?

People here just act like price tag is the only thing that matters and say weirdly odd things like "DiMarzio pickups suck" when they offer like 50 different models and one of them probably would work well for you.

[twotimingpete]

Pickups are overhyped. Plenty of cheap pickups are great.

[steve_man]

Even GFS pups are getting rather expensive...  maybe we need to define "cheap"

[Mad Tele]

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steve_man wrote:

Even GFS pups are getting rather expensive...  maybe we need to define "cheap"

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according to this thread that means thier quality is going up. Its a direct correlation, the price to tone ratio is 1:1

remember all cheap pickups bad : all expensive good

[gardo]

Expensive or cheap, pick ups are only part of it. Certain pick ups are best for certain tones.but it may be possible to have so many pedals and effects in the chain that the subtle differences become moot. There will be some who find  little or no difference.and some who believe that if it cost more it must be better. Let your ears decide.

[phatphred]

On the path to the jailhouse blues

http://www.harmonycentral.com/t5/Open-Jam/Our-own-Rodney-Kinkade-from-Skatterbrane-com-Pickups-is-of...

[allthumz]

What I don't get is people who try to associate price and quality in a vacuum without considering what you want to sound like. Instruments are just tools, after all. If you really like a DiMarzio Super Distortion in the bridge, using a Gibson Classic 57 isn't going to make your tone sound better, so who gives a shit that the Gibson is many times more expensive? Some people need to spend good money to get a certain sound they want.

It wasn't possible for me to get the acoustic sound that I wanted in a $400 guitar, so I had to spend a good chunk of money on a Taylor. Meanwhile, I could give a shit about a $2500 Les Paul Standard because that doesn't reflect a sound, feel, and look that I want. So if I have a $800 Tribute model instead, might it be because it offers certain features that I like, regardless of price?

People here just act like price tag is the only thing that matters and say weirdly odd things like "DiMarzio pickups suck" when they offer like 50 different models and one of them probably would work well for you.
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Honeyiscool,

I think you nailed the issue. Thanks. I learn from your posts.

[Mister Zero]

I've owned several GFS pickups - Alnico 2, Crunchy PATs, JHEXP single coils - and I thought they sounded really good. 

I've owned Dimarzios I really liked - PAF Pro, Evolution, Tone Zone, AT-1, Super Distortion, 36th Ann PAFs.

There have been a couple I didn't care for - PAF Joe, Fred.

I've played lots of Duncans - JB, 59, Jazz, Pearly Gates, etc. most were pretty good. 

For some guitars, a big-name pickup is what it takes to make the most of the natural acoustic properties in the axe.  Sometimes, you can achieve your goal with a cheap pickup. 

There are no rules.

[GilmourD]

It really depends on what you want.

For my Orange Strat project I ordered two DiMarzio Area '67s for the middle and neck. I'm pairing them with a GFS VEH. Not because of money issues but because I know it will give me the sound I want out of this particular guitar.

And those who love only Duncan, DiMarzio, or whatever... I love them, too, but not ALL models. For instance, I can't stand the JB. By some people's logic that's enough to hate ALL Duncan's, but not mine.

[6down1togo]

This is just a stupid premise. Define cheap for me and then define just as good. To a guy used to buying Lollars, a Dimarzio is a cheap pickup. To a guy playing with lots of distortion, maybe a low priced pickup sounds just as good (to his ears) to an expensive pickup because it has ceramic magnets and a high output signal.

If you are asking does a GFS Vintage 59 have the same tone characterisics and string to string definition as an SD 59 or Gibson Classic 57, no way, but they sound good enough to put in a cheap import guitar to upgrade its tone.

[honeyiscool]

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GilmourD wrote:
And those who love only Duncan, DiMarzio, or whatever... I love them, too, but not ALL models. For instance, I can't stand the JB. By some people's logic that's enough to hate ALL Duncan's, but not mine.

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Yeah, what's with that, man. Being a DiMarzio fanboy is great. But are you going to tell me that everything they make is gold and everything someone else makes is shit? Basically, like this... if you have been floating with a DiMarzio PAF Pro in a guitar where it sounds perfect and someone installed a Super Distortion while you were sleeping, you would hate what you woke up to... whereas if you woke up to a Duncan Alnico Pro, you might not even notice the difference right away. So how can you really have brand loyalty when all these people make so many different kinds of pickups and there is so much similarity across brands?

There are certain exceptions, of course. Nobody does what Kinman does quite like Kinman does, and nobody does Lace like Lace does, Bill Lawrence, etc. But for the most part, most people are working with the same 1950s technology when it comes to pickups. So whether you like a pickup or not will largely depend on the specs you're working with, wire gauge, wire type, magnet type and strength, number of windings, etc. Who winds it is distinctly secondary. The fact that the specs are correct is what will make you like or dislike a pickup, and certainly anybody above a certain price range will make a more than functional pickup.

As for hand winders, sure, they wind a good pickup. But I kinda think the reason why people choose handwounds is not because scatterwound sounds that much better, but because being in touch with the guy who winds your pickups is a great way to make sure that your specs are spot on.

[wankdeplank]

I'm basically a wood and hardware guy, i.e., I believe that the tonepath is the most important part of the equation.  Still pickups are important.  I think that Gibson and Fender both purposely put cheaper pickups in their budget lines to increase the differentiation regarding their more expensive stuff.  That being said, I think the differentiation soundwise between a good mass market pickup like the GFS Boutique Strat and a handwired pickup is infinitesimal at best.  People are willing to pay a premium for a name and a little better build quality.  At least that was my experience.

I recently put a scatterwound alnico V made by Pete Biltoft in the neck of one Strat and a set of GFS boutiques in another Strat.  The set cost less than the neck Biltoft (vintage vibe) but I wanted to hear the difference for myself.  Years ago I bought a set of Pete's Strat pickups and swore they were the best I'd ever heard, and after hearing all the buzz about the GFS and Rose stuff, I thought I'd put it to the test.  And I did put the expensive one in both guitars to hear it with the GFS stuff as well as apart.  They don't sound identical but both are very clear and articulate with great bell tones.  The big difference for me was that the GFS pickups were self--threading and the holes actually had to be bored out to accomodate the screws that came with them.  In one case the pickup rises at a slight angle because it is very difficult to get the screws to grab right.  The Biltoft pickup's mounting holes came with metal threads on the other hand.  I like them both a lot and in both cases they were a big improvement over the ceramics that came stock.

PS  The pickup winding business must be lucrative as Pete has recently moved his operation from Calli to the big Island.