Members dadaduck Posted July 28, 2007 Members Share Posted July 28, 2007 I've never been a fan of the hot "Texas-style" pickups. I much prefer a chimey, vintage clean sound. But I'm wondering... can a vintage pickup still sound good through a distortion pedal? I'm not looking to drive a tube amp. I just want to know if, say, a 6k pickup is going to sound like {censored} if played through a stomp box. Will the distortian pedal make up for the low output? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members myway Posted July 28, 2007 Members Share Posted July 28, 2007 Well I have always prefered low to mid rnage output P/U. I drive the amp a little harder, and I have never had a problem with a pedal out front. High output P/U's seem scratchy and magnify string noise too much for me. I hate to drive an amp so hard that it compresses and turns to mush. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members whatever Posted July 28, 2007 Members Share Posted July 28, 2007 I'm wondering... can a vintage pickup still sound good through a distortion pedal?If you get a good pickup and a good pedal. I'm thinking a good PAF type pickup and a nice pedal. I myself love a DiMarzio super distortion at the bridge without a pedal through a cranked amp. I think it's a better sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wyatt Posted July 28, 2007 Members Share Posted July 28, 2007 My tastes will always lean vintage, I love having that clarity, snap and bell-like tone that they give. There are benefits to hotter pickups, often they still more focused in high-gain situations. But since my taste lean more to blues, classic rock, rockabilly, country, I prefer the old tones and to use a Tube Screamer, Big Muff, Fuzz Face or just turn up the amp for warmed and it works well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members csm Posted July 28, 2007 Members Share Posted July 28, 2007 I've never been a fan of the hot "Texas-style" pickups. I much prefer a chimey, vintage clean sound. But I'm wondering... can a vintage pickup still sound good through a distortion pedal?? Of course they can! Check the late 60s/mid-70s 'classic rock' recordings by Hendrix, Beck, Clapton, Page, Santana, Mick Ronson and dozens more, which were cut at hellacious gain and distortion levels using vintage or vintage-style guitars and pickups long before Larry 'Super Distortion' DiMarzio, Seymour Duncan and all the other aftermarket PU designers went into business. And while I'm no fan of T-specials either (too harsh, coarse and shrill for my taste), the Fender 'Hot Noiseless' PUs in my Jeff Beck Strat sound almost as soulful and juicy played clean as the stock units in my real-life 1963 Strat. They handle high gain situations better than a standard Strat PU set, but there's no trade-off: the hi-gain capability is 'in addition to' rather than 'instead of' the classic Strat sound library. According to the Fender website, they're rated at 10.4k (as opposed to 5.3k for the 57/62 Vintage set), but they still deliver the goods in style at clean and crunchy settings for lo/med gain blues and funk sounds. Some 'hot' PUs -- HBs and SCs alike -- are only good for doing the roaring and screaming stuff, and their clean sounds can be dull and uninspiring, but the 'Hot Noiseless' Strat set manages to do it all. Keep your amp gain down, or roll back the guitar volume, and you can sound as vintage as you like, but when you turn it up to 11, they won't fall apart. That's the mark of an EXCELLENT pickup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Liberty Belle Posted July 28, 2007 Members Share Posted July 28, 2007 I find my vintage mustang pups ( 5.6k ) are too thin with distortion,a little thin with fuzz and really nice clean in a twin reverb. Also i reckon 8k is a minimum for fuzz to sound excellent and distortion to sound pretty good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Help!I'maRock! Posted July 28, 2007 Members Share Posted July 28, 2007 a low output PAF is still going to overdrive a small combo amp. try playing anything rated under a Deluxe Reverb, and by the time you get to gigging volume you're in dirt city. if you're at 40 watts or more, then a pedal will work. you just have to pick the right one. my setup is a PRS w/ dimarzio virtual PAF's -> tonefactor mule -> fender blues deluxe. its a really great sound that took me a long time to get to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Burningleaves Posted July 28, 2007 Members Share Posted July 28, 2007 I've never been a fan of the hot "Texas-style" pickups. I much prefer a chimey, vintage clean sound. But I'm wondering... can a vintage pickup still sound good through a distortion pedal?I'm not looking to drive a tube amp. I just want to know if, say, a 6k pickup is going to sound like {censored} if played through a stomp box. Will the distortian pedal make up for the low output? (imo) It all depends on what kind of gain you are talking about. Got an example? Also are we talking single coil or humbuckers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dadaduck Posted July 28, 2007 Author Members Share Posted July 28, 2007 I prefer single coil pickups. I used to play with really heavy distortion, all of the time (think: ""), but lately I've been trying to find something that can nail the Johnny Cash sound, or that Sixties jangle (can't afford an actual Rickenbacker, unfortunately). I had thought about getting lipstick pickups, but I've no experience with them, and was worried that they might turn out to be too much of a one-trick pony. My main guitar is a Tele copy, and I'm in the midst of swapping-out the pickups on my Mexican Strat (vintage soap bar in the bridge position?). I haven't heard the Fender Hot Noiseless. Something to think about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dadaduck Posted July 28, 2007 Author Members Share Posted July 28, 2007 I prefer single coil pickups. I used to play with really heavy distortion, all of the time (think: "Zen Arcade"), but lately I've been trying to find something that can nail the Johnny Cash sound, or that Sixties jangle (can't afford an actual Rickenbacker, unfortunately). I had thought about getting lipstick pickups, but I've no experience with them, and was worried that they might turn out to be too much of a one-trick pony. My main guitar is a Tele copy, and I'm in the midst of swapping-out the pickups on my Mexican Strat (vintage soap bar in the bridge position?). I haven't heard the Fender Hot Noiseless. Something to think about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Burningleaves Posted July 28, 2007 Members Share Posted July 28, 2007 I prefer single coil pickups. I used to play with really heavy distortion, all of the time (think: "Zen Arcade"), but lately I've been trying to find something that can nail the Johnny Cash sound, or that Sixties jangle (can't afford an actual Rickenbacker, unfortunately). I had thought about getting lipstick pickups, but I've no experience with them, and was worried that they might turn out to be too much of a one-trick pony. My main guitar is a Tele copy, and I'm in the midst of swapping-out the pickups on my Mexican Strat (vintage soap bar in the bridge position?). I haven't heard the Fender Hot Noiseless. Something to think about. The "boom-chika-boom" sound? You can get that with just about any vintage voiced single coil. The kind of amp and picking tech' plays a good part in it as well. I believe they earlier stuff was on a Fender tele. What spec's are your tele copy? Mabye a pickup change would help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 6942 Posted July 28, 2007 Members Share Posted July 28, 2007 I'm using vintage Gotoh PAF PU's (from an old Tokai Love Rock)....about 8K.Run through a modded EV Jr. tube amp & Celestion G12H30 speaker.Can sound sweet or crunchy without pedals. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jerry_picker Posted July 28, 2007 Members Share Posted July 28, 2007 I've never been a fan of the hot "Texas-style" pickups. I much prefer a chimey, vintage clean sound. But I'm wondering... can a vintage pickup still sound good through a distortion pedal?I'm not looking to drive a tube amp. I just want to know if, say, a 6k pickup is going to sound like {censored} if played through a stomp box. Will the distortian pedal make up for the low output? They sound best (IMHO) through an amp with good pre-amp overdrive (Marshall or Tubescreamer), or pre-amp onto power amp overdrive (Champ). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.