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


JonathanLA

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Worst? Hard to say, I've had some {censored}ty beginner guitars. As far as 'nice' pickups go, the Duncan Full Shred was the worst. I hated my Carvin's stock pickups (M series).

Best - I like the Duncan JB and Jazz a lot, the stock Gibsons from my Les Paul Faded Special were pretty cool too.

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Originally posted by theGhost
+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.
I've heard other people compare 498s the JBs and say the sound very similar too
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Love:
-DiMarzio Evo and Evo II
-DiMarzio X2N
-DiMarzio Super D
-Duncan Custom
-Duncan Distortion
-Duncan JB Jr.
-PRS McCarty Soapbars

Like:
-Duncan JB
-Duncan Hot Rails
-DiMarzio Fred
-DiMarzio PAF Pro
-DiMarzio Tone Zone
-Lawrence XL500
-EMG 60

Neutral:
-Gibson 496R/500T

Dislike:
-Stock Gibson 490/498
-Ibanez V-Series
-Fender Japanese Jaguar RI stock SC's
-EMG 81/85 (a lot of people like them...I don't. Too sterile and not natural @ all with me playing them)

Hate:
-Stock Washburn HB's
-Stock Epi HB's

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Ibanez S1. . . GRRR. . HATE.

I actually like the midrange growl of the old Ibanez V2, but its just too dry/rough/noisy overall. If DiMarzio made a pickup with a similar voicing. . .love.gif

I thought the Ibanez V7 had a cool tone, very clean and airy. But, like the rest of the Ibanez V series pickups, its just had a bit of a dry, gravely, noisy haze over it. Cool voicing. . meh quality.

Pickups are strange. I have a DiMarzio Super Distortion that I used to HATE. HATE!!. . . but. . .now. . .I like it. smile.gif


Paf Pros used to be my very favorite pickup. . .but. . I think I got tired of them. I still like them, but I wont ever put one in the bridge position again.

Tone Zone = love.giflove.giflove.gif LOVE! Sweet Jesus it good!

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Originally posted by JonathanLA
The best I've had must be Dimarzio Super Distortion, very nice for mye use... worst...hmm, I've never had a super-crappy pickup smile.gif
I would agree with the Dimarzios. I had a PRS Custom 24 and I swapped out the stock pups for at least 4 different Dimarzios while I owned it. I can't remember them all but the Air Norton was one of them. They were all killer and varied sounds. Much better than any Seymour Duncan IMO.
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Best: Lace Sensors (Gold, Silver, Blue)... Ibanez Powersound (stock in the lower-end Ibanez guitars, like my RG270 and the RX20)... DiMarzio Evolution... the Screamin' Demon.

Worst: whatever Fender put into the older Squier guitars... quite poor. The Ibanez single-coil pickups are all anemic and poorly voiced. The DiMarzio Fred was not at all to my tastes.

If I can think of more, I'll post 'em. I'm getting tired.

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These garbage pickups that came in my old ass beater Ibanez.

It's a 1987 RG100.

That thing came iwth pickups that were just UGH... redface.gif Total sludgey blubbery undefined mud. My Ibanez V series pickups on my newer RG's were miles and miles and miles ahead of them. redface.gif

I'm a packrat, I dont like throwing shit away that works, but those things just got trashed.

My V series pickups are still in storage! thumb.gif

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Best:
Original MIJ strat PUs
Gibson 496/500T


Good/OK:
Dimarzio IBZ
Dimarzio Mini humbuckers
Dimarzio FS-1
GFS Alinco '59s
GFS Premium 60s strat PUs
Various Washburn Alnico 'buckers and SCs.


Bad
Duncan SH-1 '59s (shrill AND muddy, thin and nasty)
Duncan hotrails (shrill and abrasive in a bad way)


I've found timber/construction makes a big difference to PU tone, and a mis-match will normally result in bad tone.

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Worst:
GFS Crusader, it squealed like a pig, just horrible.

Stock bridge humbucker in a cheap Lyon Dan Donegan model.

Stock pickups for the Ibanez DT420, QM1 and QM2 I beleive were the model numbers, pure mud

Duncan Designed

OK:

Dimarzio Steve's Special, a little scooped on the mids.
Dimarzio Dropsonic, sounded OK, just didn't think it did as much as advertised for low tunings, overall a decent pickup though.

Best:
Stock Wolfgang Pickups

Kent Armstrong M215K

Kent Armstrong M214K

Duncan Custom

Lace Drop & Gain humbuckers

Duncan 59

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Some of teh Best I have had were DiMarzio. You really cant go wrong with something like the Super Distortion, I played the Fs-1's for a long time in a strat with good results as well.


Did not like the Duncan Seth Lover pups. They sounded cold and thin in a Guild S300 I had. Took them right out. Mabye it was the guitar though.


I am using the stock Gibson pups in my Explorer at the moment. 496/500. Havent decided on them yet. They sound pretty good as a set but alone the 500T isnt really doing it for me.

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