Different Pickups and their tones

[JohnnyRoxx]

I totally disagree that wood does not affect the tone.. I believe the type of wood has everything to do with how long the strings sustain for, compression etc. etc. I've had a Seymour Duncan JB in many guitars and I can tell the difference in the sound. Had one in a cheap BC Rich years ago that was made of plywood and I didn't care for the sound at all.. The strings/tone didn't ring out at all.. Also, how on earth this guy thinks a vintage pickup is no better than a $5 peice of junk is beyond me. I suppose some people have a good ear for tone and some don't.

Originally Posted by Badams

Wood doesnt affect tone in a solidbody guitar. Theres not enough difference in tone to matter. Blindfold yourself and take a test. The only tonewood that has anything to do with a guitar is an acoustic guitars top.
Since guitar pickups are all built nearly exactly the same within each type I dont believe they sound differently from each other . Sensitivity varies and people classify that difference as sounding different. You can take a vintage PAF humbucker that measures 9K ohms resistance that some fool on ebay is trying to sell for $1000 and a no name $5 pickup that has the same resistance. Compare their sound and it will be so close that you cant tell them apart when blindfolded. Theres a limited amount of components in a magnetic pickup therefore there aint much that you can do to change the way they sound. Wire guage,magnet type,slugs and a bobbin. Wire guage is probably the most important factor but it seems to me like everybody is using the same size or damned close to it. I've read from various sources that the most any magnetic pickup ( besides a horseshoe) can cost in parts is around $3.50. The pickup buisness has got to be the biggest scam in history.
This isnt meant to cause an argument. Its just my own observations . You have your own. Post them if youre old enough to read and write and not bound to a silence clause in your life contract

[rdclmn7]

I already talked about pickups.
Tonewood,
I bought a 6ft piece of Philipine Mahogany while in Korea.
I divided it into 3 pieces.
I made one into a les paulish strat.
I bolted a strat neck to it, hot-wired a pickup to it and plugged in.
It sounded better.

At the moment I have 2 strats, one w/alder, the other w/swamp ash.
2 years ago I had a laminated Bullet.
I kept the bullet neck and had it on the swamp ash body, pretty good.
I placed a CBS style neck on the Alder body, not bad.
I got rid of the combinations that didn't sound good.

I finally got around to switching things around again.
This time I have 2 strats that sound at their best, those 2, and my 85 LP Studio.

Change the wood, the sound will change.
For better or worse it will change.
Swapping necks/bodies is a lot cheaper than buying the guitar it self.

[JohnnyRoxx]

Cool post rdclmn7! Another thing I've noticed over my years of tweaking with guitars is that the placement and how you mount the pickup makes a huge difference in tone. I have three OLP MM1 guitars that have hard mounted Duncan JB's (without any mounting rings) firmly secured straight into the wood. What this does is incredible. The entire guitar vibrates when playing and the pickup takes all that tone into it, thus giving it a huge amount of sustain, presence and balls. You don't need to have a huge amount of distortion going to get what ya need and by having the gain backed off the amps you get unbelievable presence.. Also, how close/far the pickups are to the strings makes a difference. I don't like them too close cause the tone gets fuzzy. I prefer about two nickels under the low E and the pickup and one nickel on the high E. More balls is achieved by doing this and a tighter crunch.

[diyguitarmods]

P-90's are awesome but it could be that they sound so good because they are always stocked on great guitars.


http://www.diyguitarmods.com

[tmacfan]

I will have to agree with Joe king.

If u wanna override the wood of ur guitar go for EMG 81/85 actives

[partsfever]

This is one of the most frequently asked questions i get and is a bit complicated because sound is relative to the person and is an individual taste What I like you ma hate so I will tackle the question in two stages from bother perspectives.

O first of all if you are a collector you need the correct pickup for your guitar no matter how it sounds. As crazy as it sounds a 100% original 1959 les paul that sounds like crap is better than the best sounding modified one in the collectors market. By the way never really hear a bad burst!!.

Wth that said here we go. I personally think that a PAF pickup has a bite and a sound the pick makes when hitting the sting that a normal pickup does not. Again we are in personal territory here but the attack of the pick of the string for me is more aggressive and yet clean. I like that and yes they are have a great tone but to me that is a trademark. PAF pickups range from 7.7 ohms to 9.0 ohms i have had factory unsoldered double whites that read as high as 10 ohms this is not the norm. around a mid 8.2-8.5 is normal for nice one.

Now this is real important I ave heard bad PAF pickups when i mean bad i mean run of the mill sound not horrible. To me the the lower the reading usually the more mid tones and a warmer pickup the higher the output the more treble . But again as pickups age the age differently and i have heard the opposite both scenarios. but the general rule is the lower the output the more tone.

So if you are a player the PAF range is great and again it is a matter of taste. Not all pickups are killers and the pickups will sound different in different guitars. the higher output ones should go in solid bodies or semi-hollow bodys that i do know. This again being said I feel most with like the PAF tone and sound in a solid body guitar and semi-hollow guitar.

Now a little secret that some know . The best pickups Gibson made with a consistent and with a tone were from 1962-1964 in my opinion and are pre-t top pickups. Everyone I have ever heard in an SG sounds like GOD. everyone is a es-335 sounds like GOD. these are monster pickups at 1/3 price.

The first versions of these are pafs with new stickers that have patent numbers on them.They have double black lead wires and all PAF markings on pickups. By 1963 they went to black and white lead wires. FOR ME WHO CARES THEY ALL SOUNDS GREAT . Now collectors will argue and of course you need the correct pickup for te correct guitar and year if you collect or buy and sell guitar but for a player good new they all sounds great. I never heard a bad 63-64 sg or es-335.

These have that classic sound you loved from Cream, the Beatles, Mc5 and more. I will go out on a limb and say that 99% of the people who buy these pickups will be satisfied. These are my favorite pickups.

So I hope this helps I do not know if you are a player, collector or both but i hope this give some insight into the pickup decision making. If you have any further question e mail us at www.thepartsdrawer.com

JIm Pasch

The Parts Drawer

[Megadeaf]

I use a Seymour Duncan Invader and a Jackson CVR2 on my Jackson Randy Rhodes and the SD is by far my favorite.

[ljsayat13]

Epiphone Custom LP. Dirty and Clean. Recorded with my VAmp2 B2 for distortion, B1 for clean.

[greybeardrocker]

Can I put a P-90 and a humbucker in the same guitar?

[slipkid1982]

I'll have to go with Seymour Duncans - JB in the bridge jazz in the neck; made my gibson sg sound perfect. I'm not a fan of active pickups like EMGs, because I feel that they sound processed and are really only good for metal. Never had the opportunity to try DiMarzio pickups, but I hear good things. The Duncans will sound good for any type of music - extremely versatile.