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


JonathanLA

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I've had too {censored}ing many. And must I made work.. A couple I ripped out quick, tho

Worst:
Bare knuckle Painkiller

Best:
anything but the painkiller.. Lol

But I guess the few that stand out are-

Evh Frankenstein.. Similar to an AirZone, Tone Zone in EQ, but it's got the best chunk on the lows and the lead tones on the highs have a great bite.. It's a perfected TZ with less output and brighter highs..

Seymour Duncan Custom, Custom Custom and Custom5. Just a really great wind.. depending on the guitar, I've used all 3 with great success.. Right now I swapped a degaussed alnico 5 magnet to make it a Custom 5, but it is definitely sweeter, chunkier and more open than a Custom 5 stock from SD.

Dimarzio Super 2- a great neck pickup. Humbucker power with a more open single coil feel..

Paf Pro- not a mind blowing pickup, but in the right guitar it cash be perfect(neck or bridge)

Dimarzio Heavy Blues2- ballsiest and best single coil I've ever tried. In the neck position it's beyond perfect for what I want..

Gibson Dirty Fingers- with almost all real high output pickups I tends to like them a lot for a year, then inevitably I go for something lower in output. And this will probably be the same, but the DF is unique. It has an almost PAF vibe, but with extraordinary punch and cut. It is very tight and to me it sounds a bit like a Painkiller but with so much more control and character. The Painkiller feels out of control and is forcibly tight, if that makes sense.. The DF is truly the super powered PAF style pickup.

And I could name dozens others that are pretty good in the right guitar and blah in the wrong guitar..

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Duncan JB in a Mahogany LP-copy is somehow both bright and muddy. Dimarzio Super 3 in the same guitar was like burying the amp several feet underground.

EMG 81 in a BC Rich NJ Warlock sounded like a synthesizer doing a remarkable impression of an electric guitar.

BBQ bucker was compressed as {censored}.

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I haven't really tried all that many different pickups, so that makes this easy:

Worst: Whatever no-name POS pickups somebody put in my Ibby. Super high output, and waaaaaaayyyy too much bass.

Best: '59. It really rocks in the bridge of my Agile.

I have a few other pickups I need to figure out which guitars they go in still.

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Quote Originally Posted by Spaced Out Ace View Post
What have you got guitar and pickup wise?
I have humbucker sized pickups and single-coil spaces to put them. That's the issue. icon_lol.gif

I have parts for a couple guitars I want to put together this winter. A GFS Crunchy pat that's gonna go in a Strat with just a volume knob (most likely). A Duncan Phat Cat & GFS Mean 90 need homes. One is gonna go in the neck of a tele. The other, I dunno yet. idn_smilie.gif
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Quote Originally Posted by Ovid9 View Post
I have humbucker sized pickups and single-coil spaces to put them. That's the issue. icon_lol.gif

I have parts for a couple guitars I want to put together this winter. A GFS Crunchy pat that's gonna go in a Strat with just a volume knob (most likely). A Duncan Phat Cat & GFS Mean 90 need homes. One is gonna go in the neck of a tele. The other, I dunno yet. idn_smilie.gif
icon_lol.gif
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Quote Originally Posted by Ovid9 View Post
I have humbucker sized pickups and single-coil spaces to put them. That's the issue. icon_lol.gif

I have parts for a couple guitars I want to put together this winter. A GFS Crunchy pat that's gonna go in a Strat with just a volume knob (most likely). A Duncan Phat Cat & GFS Mean 90 need homes. One is gonna go in the neck of a tele. The other, I dunno yet. idn_smilie.gif
Prepare to put the Crunchy PAT on your list of "best," as it's on mine.

I can't say that I've tried a whole lot of pickups, but the worst best pickup I've tried is by far the Painkiller. It had such glorious midrange and high-end, but the low end sounded so clunky and hollow that I couldn't take it.

Best: GFS Crunchy PAT, WCR Icebucker, SD Full Shred.
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I've yet to find my personal 'best' pickup (even after 30+ years on the instrument eek.gif ), but here are some of my picks.

'Good' pickups:
Duncan Distortion
DiMarzio SD
DiMarzio FRED
GFS Dream 180
GFS Mean 90
GuitarHeads Mega Metal
GFS VEH
Lace Drop N Gain
GFS Surf 90's
Gibson 490R
Gibson 500T (in anything but my LP)
GFS P90-sized humbucker


So-So:
GFS Crunchy PAT
GFS Lipstick humbuckers
Duncan P-Rails (Jack of all trades, master of none)
Dragonfire Screamers
GFS Retro-Trons
Rockfield SWC
Carvin C22
EMG HZ

Bad:
Kramer Quad Rail (The 'Sumo Wrestlers' of the pickup world tongue.gif )
EMG Select
Duncan-Designed
Most pickups found on cheap import guitars.


Worst:
GuitarHeads Actives. I tried 'em in 3 different guitars... they are utterly useless CR@P

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I just recently got a few new pickups that I'm digging, but I'll leave those out until I spend more time with em.


Favorite bridge pickups: BG Hellabucker, Duncan Distortion, EMG 85, Tone Zone S, Ibanez Super 58 Custom

Favorite neck pickups: '59, AlNiCo Pro II, BG Blade, Rio Grande Texas, Dimarzio Twang King, Ibanez Super 58 Custom

The "i'm not sure if I really like it or really dislike it" pickup: Duncan Blues Saraceno Parallel Axis


I won't name any WORST pickups because they could have been great in other guitars/with other amps, but I was disappointed by the JB and Pearly Gates.

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My favorites:
Dimarzio Custom humbucker - PAF Pro'ish [this came stock in my Yamaha Pacifica 912]
Rio Grande Crunchbox - bridge
Tonerider Generator - both bridge and neck
Wilde L90 - both bridge and neck
Wilde L290 - bridge
Wilde L280 - neck
Seymour Duncan Jazz - neck

My less than favorites:
Gibson 500T - probably good in the right application
Pretty much anything from GFS
Rio Grande Muy Grande
EMG 60A

Cole

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I've never really hated a pickup. I can get a sound I can use out of just about any humbucker, but a few do stand out as personal favorites:

Neck
Duncan Jazz
Duncan Distortion neck model
Gibson Burst Bucker Pro

Bridge
Duncan Custom
Gibson Dirty Fingers

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Best: BG Phatty neck, BG Strat P90 bridge, Rio Grande Muy Grande bridge.

OK: GFS Repro 60s strat pickups - but they sound pretty good with the in-between sounds wired in series.

Worst: Stock Squier Strat ceramic pickups.

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