Looking at pickups, I think my ears may be broken.

[Beckman]

I just listened to a bunch of pickups on SD's website. I assume the guitars aer all the same, and the amps settings are all the same. I could not tell the difference between any of them. Seth Lover, '59, Jazz, AP II, George Lynch. Honestly, if they were different, it was slight. Is it my PC?

 

I have an Epi classic, and I am toying with getting new pups, but if they won't make much differnce, then why bother. I know hot pups are louder and break up sooner (), but other than that, ???. I was not necessarily looking to get SD's, but they have a good way to compare.

 

Now, I could definitely hear the difference with my AM strat and MIM strat I sold. It was like night and day. MIM pups weren't too different when flipping the toggle. The AM, I actually 5 got different tones.

[surfcat]

I can't tell much difference on that site either. They say you have to have good speakers-mine are pretty good, but I find it pretty useless. I think a lot of the difference in pickups has to be felt by playing the guitar. I did notice a big difference when I switched my American Standard pickups for Texas Specials, but if that were on a website, would I be able to hear it? I doubt it.

[voneville]

I've noticed that about the Seymour Duncan site too. They're descriptions are pretty accurate though, for the most part they do what they say they will do.

[cratz2]

I haven't listened to the clips lately, but I can assure you that you'd be able to immediately hear the difference between the Jazz and the Alnico II in the neck position. Unless maybe you are playing through a cranked and boosted Dual Rec or something.

[SirJackdeFuzz]

I just listened to a bunch of pickups on SD's website. I assume the guitars aer all the same, and the amps settings are all the same. I could not tell the difference between any of them. Seth Lover, '59, Jazz, AP II, George Lynch. Honestly, if they were different, it was slight. Is it my PC? I have an Epi classic, and I am toying with getting new pups, but if they won't make much differnce, then why bother. I know hot pups are louder and break up sooner ( ), but other than that, ???. I was not necessarily looking to get SD's, but they have a good way to compare. Now, I could definitely hear the difference with my AM strat and MIM strat I sold. It was like night and day. MIM pups weren't too different when flipping the toggle. The AM, I actually 5 got different tones.

 

 

Go here, for a start :

 

http://www.seymourduncan.com/forum/

 

 

Become a member, and these good folk will also help you out !

I was kinda in the same boat as you, when i first tried to listen to the clips. But now i can DEFF hear the subltle little differances !

 

And yes, the amp settings are all the same for all the pick ups !

Only one strat was used, and the same Tele, Les Paul, for all the pick up's.

 

 

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Do a little test !

Listen to the clean bridge tote of the Pearly Gates, and then immediatley after that, the clean bridge tone of the Black Out.

You will deff hear a prominant tonal diff !

[SirJackdeFuzz]

I have an Epi classic, and I am toying with getting new pups, but if they won't make much differnce, then why bother . I know hot pups are louder and break up sooner ( ), but other than that, ???. I was not necessarily looking to get SD's, but they have a good way to compare. Now, I could definitely hear the difference with my AM strat and MIM strat I sold. It was like night and day. MIM pups weren't too different when flipping the toggle. The AM, I actually 5 got different tones.

 

Could very well be !

What speaker is connected to your comp ?

I have a sterao out from my lap yop to a very good Hi-Fi with grear amp and speaker. IF you have little $50.00 desk-top comp speakers, that might be a reason why you can not tell any diff's

 

My lap-top is connected to the BIG speakers n Hi-Fi, not the little silver ones.

 

 

 

 

Gettign back to your Epi LP . . . believ me there IS a big diff . . . other wise after market Co's like Lace, Duncan, *SD-Pick up's, DiMarzio and TV Jones would never made any money !!!!

 

 

Let's start at the beginning :

 

* What do you not like about your current Epi pick up s?

 

* What do you want from the new after market pick up's ?

 

* What amp do you use - more important question than you might think !!!

 

* What type of music genres do you play the most ?

 

 

 

 

* http://www.sdpickups.com/products.shtml - SD Pick Up's / Stephens Design pick Up's

 

http://www.tvjones.com/home/home.html - TV Jones

 

 

 

[SirJackdeFuzz]

I haven't listened to the clips lately, but I can assure you that you'd be able to immediately hear the difference between the Jazz and the Alnico II in the neck position. Unless maybe you are playing through a cranked and boosted Dual Rec or something .

 

 

 

Ooooo, such true words !

 

All 'our' guitars sound the exatly the same, trough my cousin's fully cranked 5150 combo

(i.e. gain max'ed)

 

Gibson SG w Duncan A2P's

ZW Epi LP with EMG HZ's - now waiting for TV Jones units

Ibanez GAX w stock pu's

Ibanez RG 121 Prestige

Ibanes MMM1 Baritone w DiMarzio Evo's

 

 

 

Soon it will have some classy TV Jones Power Tron's, alla Malcolm Young

 

 

 

Once you crank the gain past a certain point, the unique voicing of any pick up goes out the window ! And the amps own voicing complettely over powers the pick up.

[cratz2]

Don't get me wrong... there is nothing wrong with cranked and boosted Dual Recs, but the differences in relatively similar pickups are going to be minimized through a cranked gainy Mesa vs a clean Fender or a slightly crunchy Marshall.

[Doctor Morbius]

I can't tell much difference on that site either. They say you have to have good speakers-mine are pretty good, but I find it pretty useless. I think a lot of the difference in pickups has to be felt by playing the guitar. I did notice a big difference when I switched my American Standard pickups for Texas Specials, but if that were on a website, would I be able to hear it? I doubt it.

I agree about having decent audio gear. Makes a big difference.

 

I also agree about the limitations of low quality recorded MP3s for comparing tone. For example, on the SD site I can't tell any difference between the SSL-1 and APS-1 Strat sets. I can tell a difference between the SJAG-1 and SJAG-2 Jaguar sets though. The latter sound noticeably more muddy to my ear.

[Doctor Morbius]

Don't get me wrong... there is nothing wrong with cranked and boosted Dual Recs, but the differences in relatively similar pickups are going to be minimized through a cranked gainy Mesa vs a clean Fender or a slightly crunchy Marshall.

The highest MP3s I will use to distinguish differences are OD/Ovedrive and that's only when I can't tell any or much difference on the Cleans.

[twotimingpete]

pickups in the same tonal ballpark can be hard to tell apart... that's why I think it's silly to be super anal about your pickup choices. and I noticed that about the SD website too -- all the sound clips sound the same. I seriously could not tell a difference.

[blingdogg]

Same with me. I can barely tell much of a difference between the SD pickups on that site unless they have drastically different specs.

[BydoEmpire]

Definitely use the EQ chart on the comparison page before making a selection.

[ArKay]

 

I can hear subtle differences through my $30 headphones. Simply download those mp3s and play them one after another.

[nuke_diver]

I've had similar problems listening to clips of the Eminence site for speakers. As well as the clips I did before and after I swapped out the SD on my tele for P90s. The P90 I like a lot better but recorded there isn't quite as much difference as I heard live. I think speaker/recording quality can play more tricks than your ears can

[SirJackdeFuzz]

pickups in the same tonal ballpark can be hard to tell apart... that's why I think it's silly to be super anal about your pickup choices. and I noticed that about the SD website too -- all the sound clips sound the same. I seriously could not tell a difference.

 

Man, you must go and read over at the Duncan site how those tone-obsessed guys can go "into" their tone !

OK, granted, alot of them play clean, or very slightly OD tones.

They do regulat pick up magnet swap's too - and i have to admit, a Duncan JB w A2 magnets is a thing of beuty !!!

And i HATE the stock JB tone for my music !

 

http://www.seymourduncan.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=3

 

http://www.seymourduncan.com/forum/showthread.php?t=163413&highlight=JB+a2+magnet - JB w A2 magnet

 

http://www.seymourduncan.com/forum/showthread.php?t=165766&highlight=JB+a2+magnet - JB w A8 magnet

 

There is a wealth of wisdom in there !!!

 

 

Sometimes it is the "smaller" things that gives us, our unique tone

[stormin1155]

Perhaps the site is intended to simulate what an average audiance will hear as a differance between different pickups. ....pretty much none. Well, that's probably not entirely true. I'm sure a lot of ordinary (non guitar players) people could tell the difference between the tone of a $99 "Gibson" Maestro and a real Gibson in an A/B test, but most people that go to listen to live music really don't care. They just want to hear good music.

[HELSTRUME]

I have really nice full range comp speakers, and can tell the diff. But not a huge diff. Its probably the way they are recorded.

[aliensporebomb]

It took me 30 years of playing to discover the MAGIC in pickup tones is

coming from LOW gain pickups, not high gain pickups.

[WBigsby]

It took me 30 years of playing to discover the MAGIC in pickup tones is coming from LOW gain pickups, not high gain pickups.

 

 

hear hear! I agree - APB, what have you had the best luck with out of the lower gain range?

[MightyThor]

It's not you. I have a few of the more famous SD humbucker pickups and some GFS pickups. I did a recording of all my guitars and it is very hard for me to tell the difference. The casual listener doesn't have a clue. My clips were fairly high gain so I know subtleties go out the window.

 

I think the manufacturers are brilliant marketeers. IMHO there are maybe 3-4 different types of humbuckers.

[dimmypage]

It's not you. I have a few of the more famous SD humbucker pickups and some GFS pickups. I did a recording of all my guitars and it is very hard for me to tell the difference. The casual listener doesn't have a clue. My clips were fairly high gain so I know subtleties go out the window. I think the manufacturers are brilliant marketeers. IMHO there are maybe 3-4 different types of humbuckers.

 

 

 

Theres not much difference between ths GFS crunchy PATs and my Duncan 59s

 

Same with my DiMarzzio SDs and X2ns:eek:

[cratz2]

Theres not much difference between ths GFS crunchy PATs and my Duncan 59s

Wow... I put a Crunchy PAF (when they were called Crunchy PAFs) in the bridge position of a Jackson Dinky Professional and I've had two Duncan 59s, both in neck position... Never compared them directly, but my general impression was that they were pretty different. I would have thought that the Fat PAF (which I have in both positions of an EPI LP) would be more similar to the 59 than the Crunchy PAF.

[dimmypage]

Wow... I put a Crunchy PAF (when they were called Crunchy PAFs) in the bridge position of a Jackson Dinky Professional and I've had two Duncan 59s, both in neck position... Never compared them directly, but my general impression was that they were pretty different. I would have thought that the Fat PAF (which I have in both positions of an EPI LP) would be more similar to the 59 than the Crunchy PAF.

Mine are in Hamer SATFs. The GFS seem to be a tad higher output but not tonaly much different. Both are in bridge positions:confused: