Buying Pickups for the name...?

[rockanomicon]

I am getting around to replacing the pickups in my Epi Les Paul Silverburst. Rather than a high gain wall of toneless white noise, I prefer start out with a warm tone and add the molten lava somewhere down the line. In choosing pickups should one assume Gibsons or Duncans are going to be better than Rockfields? Given the current climate in regard to Gibsons products, should I think their pickups are going to be any different? Really I dont know where to start, however I am leaning toward the Rockfield SWV. Does anyone have any advice for treading into the netherworld of pickup selection??

[ugameus]

I use a Lollar Imperial Humbucker. It is excellent, but it is quite spendy at $165. I would suggest contacting Bryan from BG Pups. You can get a custom wound set of humbuckers from him for about the same price as one Lollar, probably less. He offers discounts to forum members. If you do a search you will find that he has a great reputation for not only his product, but his service as well. I myself am waiting on a custom wind from him and I can't wait to get it. His username is Norcal_GIT_r.

[Angry Tele]

I wouldn't not buy a pickup because it didn't have a certain name but that doesn't mean Gibson and Fender and SD don't make good pickups either. (If that makes sense with all the double and triple negatives)

 

People like BG, Fralin, Mare, Lollar, Novak all used to not have a name either at some point.

[rockanomicon]

In the case of the Lollar Imperial, the description states it has "tight bass response". Does that translate to less bass response??

[rockanomicon]

It looks like Lollar might be local, might be worth checking out!

[EADGBE]

I'm real particular about pickups. If I had your guitar I'd only consider DiMarzio and Duncan. I think they're the best pickups made. A lot of pros seem to think so too.

[Darkstorm]

No. Each maker has several pups. My faves are Rockfield, EMG's newest generation of HZ (they have several diff models), and BC Rich BDSM. My least liked are Gibson, and the stock housebrand Ibanez guitar humbuckers and PJ bass pups. My fave bass pups are Rockfield humbucker and Jazz along with the Ibanez EFX humbuckers. Fave guitar ones are BC Rich BDSM along with EMG H-1 neck paired with BC Rich BDSM bridge pup. I havent tried the rockfield guitar humbuckers, but if their bass pups are indicative, I'll rather like them. The rockfields being used in BC Richs midline and up imports are getting very good reviews in guitar magazines. If you get a chance try one of them out to see how their sound suits you. Keeping in mind that pups pole peice adjustments can often remove any perceived muddyness. Seymour Duncans are nice too but tend to be a bit overly bright to me. Hence with them I more tend to lower the pole peices to tame the treble top a bit. Dimarzio makes very good pups too but I havent found any by them either that equal the BDSM and EMG HZ (H-1 and H-4) for loved crunch factor.

 

For smoother pro tone the Dimarzios and Seymours are really hard to beat.

[germs]

i've NEVER purchased pup's without at least name recognition.

 

never been let down. but then again, i'm not an expert in the field like some guys here who swap pup's like socks and underwear...

 

personally experienced good things about SD, decent experiences with WB's, personally not a big fan of DiMarzio, and heard decent things in general about Rockfield, GuitarFetish, etc.

 

but if you want a guaran-damn-teed out and out rock n' roll guitar pickup, it's REALLY hard to go wrong with the Duncan JB/Jazz set.

[etawful]

 

I'm real particular about pickups. If I had your guitar I'd only consider DiMarzio and Duncan. I think they're the best pickups made. A lot of pros seem to think so too.

 

 

If you'd only consider DiMarzio and Duncan for an Epiphone, you're either not as particular as you think, or you need to broaden your horizons.

 

There are many handwound options out there that will give better performance (and at better prices) than many of the top dollar items from those two.

 

BG will handwind pickups to your specs for around the same price you'd pay for the most common Duncan sets.

[twotimingpete]

to be honest I think some differences perceived between pickups/brands are imagined or over-emphasized by the tone queen inside us all.

[ugameus]

 

In the case of the Lollar Imperial, the description states it has "tight bass response". Does that translate to less bass response??

 

 

Not at all. There is no lack of bass. The pickup really is fantastic. If you are willing to pay for it, then I say go for it. I also have a Firebird pickup from Lollar that I use in the neck position. I can't say enough about the pickups. They are great. Jason (Lollar) and Greg (Timmons) have been a pleasure to deal with, both before and after I made my purchase.

[stormin1155]

 

to be honest I think some differences perceived between pickups/brands are imagined or over-emphasized by the tone queen inside us all.

 

 

I agree. Of course there are differences, and some pickups sound better than others, but a lot of the differences can/will be compensated for or overshadowed by other components in your signal chain, such as your amp, pedals, etc.

[Deadbeat Son]

A friend of mine used to have an old Hondo LP copy. It was made from plywood. He replaced the stock PUs with a set of Rio Grandes (BBq and Original TX Hum) and it sounded AMAZING! I bought a set immediately after hearing his guitar for an old Epi LP I had. They made it over to my current Gibson SG. I'm sure there are a lot of other great humbuckers out there, but these just do it for me.

[vintage clubber]

I can think of maybe five pickup makers that were around when I first started playing back in the 70's:

 

Gibson

Fender

Dimarzio

Mighty Mite

Schector Guitar Research

 

I didn't hear anything about Duncan until sometime in the 80's but maybe I was behind the curve at that point.

 

Now there are more pickup makers than I can shake a stick at and in all price ranges.

 

As for my current collection, my guitars are equipped with these brands:

 

Fender

PRS

Duncan

Dimarzio

Kent Armstrong

GFS

Danelectro

Tone Rider

BG

[sc4589]

Pickups are the best upgrade for immediate tonal change in your guitar...

 

While I like DiMarzios, I think there's a lot more to choose from. However, you can't go wrong with an Air Norton at the neck, and a D-Sonic at the bridge if you want true face-melting sounds.

 

Bare Knuckle Pickups are very highly rated... deservedly so... used to have a Mississippi Queen in my old Am. Dlx Tele, it was a beautiful pickup. The Nailbombs cover the 'lava' sound you may be looking for, while the Stormy Mondays have a beautiful warm sound.

 

GFS are pretty good, especially considering the price they are.

 

Your best bet is just to try something. I just used to buy loads of cheap named pickups off eBay, AB them against each other and sell what I didn't jam in a scratchplate/guitar. The only guitar I've ever been truly happy with, without feeling a need to change the pickups, is my PRS. Look out for a set of RPs from the Modern Eagle. Amazing sounds.

[Belva]

Tell Jay @ GFS what sound you're looking for. He'll set you up and save you enough $$ to get a good steak and a cheap hooker. But not a cheap steak and a good hooker.

[Steadfastly]

There are lots of sound clips available on YouTube, etc. If you want a certain sound, you should check them out until you find what you are looking for. Remember, though, most of your sound will be from your amp and/or pedals.

[thecornman]

I am one of those guys who used to change pickups like my socks and underwear. After much try and error I have got to the point where I have settled on what I like. At the moment I have four guitars with 12 pickups all together. Eleven of the twelve are Dimarzios so I guess I have settled on one company for now. Really there is no way to know what you want untill you try it. I have never tried the Rockfield pickups myself, but have heard great things about them. I tried to get them through a local store,but didn't have any luck. Good luck to you whatever you try.

[treedroppings]

try some www.Tomshortshandmadepickups.com for 125. Or www.voodoopickups.com their 57 humbucker worked wonders for my ash strat. Still bright with definition! Blow away that generic emg/sd conformity!

[adastra87]

What's in a name? .

 

That said, Bareknuckle is the best I have ever used. I've tried most of the other boutique brands out there, and none of 'em come close to Bareknuckle for the huge variety of tone that I like.

[notjonahbutnoah]

I love having new pickups, but deciding which one is always a bitch.

 

There are just so damn many to choose from, its really quite daunting. I mean knowing what kind of tone you like and amount of money you're willing to spend both help the situation, but even then, that may only narrow it down to 70 to 100 viable options.

And you can only read "sounds fantastic" in its verious permutations so many times before it loses all meaning. Then. You're sifting thruough 50 pickups which are all seemingly fitted exactly to your unique needs.

 

Maybe you're friend has one you like, but unless you hear it in your guitar you won't know exactly how its gonna sound. I love having options, but pickups are tricky, so hard to try out in a way that'll really let you know what its gonna be like when you get em wired up into your axe. Odds are, whatever you choose, there is something out there you will like better.

I guess there are worse problems to have than too much to choose from.

[BG76]

I hardly ever change pickups. The only time I buy them is when I buy something without pickups or if I build something.

 

I have found the Duncan Antiquity and Jason Lollar pickups to be the best value. They're more money, but I have bought a set of Imperials used ($150 - pair) and a set of Blondes (100 - all three) and I have also bought their P-90 pickups new.

 

On the Lollarguitars.com site you can actually hear detailed samples of each position type. The samples are well recorded, well played and very good quality.

 

Most low budget pickup makers give crappy samples or none at all. Some just will tell you how they're "better" then the Lollars, etc....

 

It's so easy to record at home (or to book a few hours in a studio) to put samples up I figure the companies that don't are either not keen on details or don't want me to have an acurate representation of their product.

[Quarter]

 

I use a Lollar Imperial Humbucker. It is excellent, but it is quite spendy at $165. I would suggest contacting Bryan from BG Pups. You can get a custom wound set of humbuckers from him for about the same price as one Lollar, probably less. He offers discounts to forum members. If you do a search you will find that he has a great reputation for not only his product, but his service as well. I myself am waiting on a custom wind from him and I can't wait to get it. His username is Norcal_GIT_r.

 

Lollar builds some great gear. I've not used his entire line, but have been very satisfied with the models I have used and Jasons customer service is great.

I've also used a bunch of pups from BG and they are as good if not better than anything out there by the top winders. Bryans pickups deliver the goods and he is absolutely great to work with.

[ashasha]

The Rockfields really are a good pickup for the price and are good compared to more expensive pickups out there.

 

I'd look to BG first and then possibly tonerider as alternatives that seem to have a great reputation.

 

If it was me though I'd go with some Gibson 57 classics or BB Pros. Those are my two favorite pickup sets and I know that no matter what I am going to get what I like. For you I can't say what's going to be best.

[59humbucker]

Don't listen to the internet noise about Gibson's perceived quality issues, the posts are generally made by people who don't own gibsons. People who do have found they were able to shop around for the right one for them without encountering any dogs (check out mossiques HNGD thread in GJ for a strat man who just bought a paul for conformation)

 

hat being said, I think even the haters tend not to mention the p'ups. For me, without going really boutique susch as sheptomes, wolftones, throback etc, Gibson make the best p'ups for LP's. I put some 490's in my epi and they transformed it.

 

My recommendation would be for a set of gibson 57 classics