Any pickups better for you than Seymour Duncans, if any

[bryan the rocker]

Guys I love Seymour duncan pickups,

but do any of you guys tried another Brand/Model of pickups much better

sounding than the Seymours Duncans you have tried,


Any pickups (Brand/Model) other than Seymour Duncan you have Tried or

Owned in your own Setup and Guitar that you find expectional, and worth

mentioning,


Thanks for the replies,

[Benjy_26]

Re: Any pickups better for you than Seymour Duncans, if any

I know Seymour's a Tele guy, but the alnico V Paul Bunyan for Tele set that Zhang wound for me stands head and shoulders above all the tele pickups I've tried (including the JD, STL-2T, and Tele Vintage Stack).

[xxxplorer]

Re: Any pickups better for you than Seymour Duncans, if any

I really like the Wilde USA L500XL. Very clear pickup... a bit bright for some but great in the right axe.

I also dig the Gibson 500T and the Gibson 498T as well as the matching neck buckers for both...

Lastly I am in a conundrum with my Suhr Aldrich bridge bucker... really like it... but it is a little focused compared to what I am used to, however after listening back to our gig it really cuts and is smooth!

[bryan the rocker]

Re: Any pickups better for you than Seymour Duncans, if any

Nice info guys,

[veryhungrycaterpilla]

Re: Any pickups better for you than Seymour Duncans, if any

EMG SA set
Dimarzio Area Ts

and I am fond of the DMZ Air Zone and EJ Customs

I gots me lots of SD pups!

[Luke Duke]

Re: Any pickups better for you than Seymour Duncans, if any

I've got an 84 335 with Shaws that I really dig.

Like Benjy I had the Paul Bunyan bridge and it was a GREAT pup more vintage than a Duncan QP but still pretty heavy duty wind. However David wound me up a vintage style Tele pup that just REALLY smokes!

I have a 79 Dmz X2N that I preferred to an Invader or Custom.

Luke

[idsnowdog]

Re: Any pickups better for you than Seymour Duncans, if any

Squire OEM pickups.

[The Usual]

Re: Any pickups better for you than Seymour Duncans, if any

I think the 498T does the C5 thing better than the C5.

[bryan the rocker]

Re: Any pickups better for you than Seymour Duncans, if any

I like the c5 .....

but

I think I will try a used 498T,

thanks

[alex1fly]

Re: Any pickups better for you than Seymour Duncans, if any

dimarzio virtual paf. bridge model took some modifications to get a great sound, but the neck model is hands down the best pickup i've used.

[super rad stuff]

Re: Any pickups better for you than Seymour Duncans, if any

the gibson 490 set. kinda awful with just the stock a2 set, but a5/a8 is way badass in there

[Thermionik]

Re: Any pickups better for you than Seymour Duncans, if any

I played an Aria semi-acoustic a while back that someone had fitted Harmonic Design Z-90's to. I had played a similar Aria previously with Seymour Duncan P-90 soap-bar style pups. Same amp/speaker/room.

Now - we are not comparing like-for-like, and the guitars, though similar models, may have had different strings, pots or whatever..... but the Harmonic Design pups did seem to be very much bigger sounding, big wide, open and singing individual strings. I was impressed with the sound, where the SD fitted one had just been "a nice guitar" the HD fitted one made me want to take it home with me badly.

So I have been sounding out the Epi forum regarding the Z-90's in my Sheraton - prices are similar (SD $75, HD $100) and the HD can have a tortie cover which could look cool with the tortie pick-guard. But was my memory playing tricks, are they a lot better sounding. Do we obsess too much with the sound. I don't know. I replaced the stocks with SD 59's and thought the difference was wonderful - should I just stop there.....

Better than - probably not; different to - quite probably yes.

[GaryCancer]

Re: Any pickups better for you than Seymour Duncans, if any

For humbuckers I love PRS. They sound raw, and angry, without having loads of output.

[Mark Cearlock]

Re: Any pickups better for you than Seymour Duncans, if any

Squire OEM pickups.

[jjimi1647]

Re: Any pickups better for you than Seymour Duncans, if any

For me it would have to be the EBS-2 from Smits Handwound Guitar Pickups. It actually sounds even better that the EVH 78 in my Northern Ash Strat!