Top 10 Favorite Pickups throughout the years.

[indy23]

I figured all of us seasoned players have liked different pickups at different times. I suggest we make a top 10 list of the most memorable with a little blurb about each pickup.

1. SD Pearly Gates: Wow! Tone, Clarity, and Attitude...my first pickup swap was a winner!
2. Lindy Fralin Vintage Hot Single Coils: Possibly the best overall set of single coils I've used in a strat.
3. Tom Anderson H2+: Such an interesting Hi-fi sound. Very even. tons of bass and treble with a strong mid..clear but strong.
4. WCR Darkburst: Possibly the best Les Paul neck pickup ever!! drips with tone.
5. SD Screamin' Demon: Big, Open and ready for a fight..or not..works well with tone/vol pots!!
6. PRS Artist HB: a slightly bigger sounding Custom Shop 78. Van Halen with a Mahogany body/set neck.
7. SD Antiquities: Like 50 year old scotch, just has mojo others doesn't. Articulate yet mature. Best new Pickup you can buy under 120$
8. Bare Knuckles Rebel Yell: What a JB should sound like! Ultra musical..yet not constricted.
9. SD Alnico Pro II: Both HB and SC. Very musical. Stays out of the way so you can focus on playing. Smooth not harsh.
10. WCR Godwood: 10K sounds like 14K though...big aggressive yet articulate enough not to muck up a LP.

Almost made it

PRS Dragon II: Hated the HFS in my 89 Custom 24...the Dragon II is so much better..a mix between vintage and modern & FAT and clear.

Looking forward to other Journeymen's lists!

[ItsaBass]

Top 10 Favorite Pickups throughout the years.

Cool.

1. Early ('84) AVRI Strat pickups: the only Strat pickups I've played that are as good as or better than the best '50's and '60's Strat pickups I've played. I am fortunate enough to own a set, which I have in my '59 Frankenstrat.

2. Gibson Alnico: Gibson's best-ever pickup IMO. The Pauls that have them have always been out of my price range, though.

3. Gibson P90: Second best to the Alnico. I've never played an aftermarket P90 that sounded better than a plain-old Gibson model. I have two of them in my '68 330, and four more modern ones, from the early–mid aughts, which sound equally as good as, if not better than, the old ones.

4. Fender vintage style Tele bridge pickup: whatever bridge pickups they have used over the years on their AVRI Teles all sound incredible. The best sounding Teles I've ever played have been AVRI '52's, not '50's or '60's vintage Teles.

5. DiMarzio Red Velvet: great tone in every position. Strat pickups with a delicious Tele flavor, and the best magnet stagger out there.

6. Seymour Duncan Broadcaster: the best aftermarket Tele bridge pickup made IMO. Second only to Fender's stock model that comes in the AVRIs or CS guitars.

7. G&L CLF Legacy single coils: the perfect "modern-vintage" Strat pickups. No magnet stagger, slightly beefy without losing the classic Strat flavor. More "character" than the SSL-2 (which is also a fine pickup).

8. '60's Gibson Firebird pickups: perfect humbucker sound to my ears.

9. Guild HB-1's (in Starfire III's): right behind Firebird pickups in terms of humbucker perfection.

10. Seymour Duncan Seth Lover neck model paired with a Pearly Gates neck model in the bridge position. When the PGn is moved to the bridge spot, it's a great bridge companion to the Seth neck (Seth bridge is too fat for me). The Seth neck is almost everything a classic full-sized humbucker should be...though not perfect; it needs more edge, while also having a bit more warmth.

[Snake Aces]

Re: Top 10 Favorite Pickups throughout the years.

1. Seymour Duncan SH-2 Jazz Neck humbucker - wow, a neck humbucker with this much articulation has opened my eyes and ears to new songwriting and playing possibilities! Sounds great split.
2. Seymour Duncan STK-S4 Classic Stack - My longest running pickup of any kind. Ol' reliable has been with me through a few guitars. Great hum-free vintage single coil tone, cool when split.
3. Seymour Duncan APH-1 Alnico II Pro bridge humbucker - My second longest tenured pickup. I love the smooth tone of this bridge humbucker and have used it in 3 different guitars. Versatile.
4. Seymour Duncan SH-2 Jazz bridge humbucker - This humbucker will one day move up to #3 on my list but currently it rests behind the APH-1 only because I have had the APH-1 longer. Recently I have grown very fond of the Jazz bridge.
5. Seymour Duncan APH-1 Alnico II neck - my second favorite neck humbucker on the market behind the Jazz. Plenty of articulation, great lows and sounds great in split coil mode too. The Jazz's cousin is a winner.
6. Seymour Duncan SSL-1 Vintage Staggered single coil neck - I'm not a huge Strat guy, but when I do play my Strat I like vintage tone. I always loved the SSL-1 neck position for a nice chime.
7. Seymour Duncan Basslines STK-J2 Hot Stack neck position - Love the tone out of this Jazz bass pickup. Similar to a P-bass pickup output with better tone IMO.
8. Seymour Duncan Basslines STK-J1 Classic stack bridge position - I always use the classic stack in my basses for that vintage but noiseless Jazz tone. Nice honk when used correctly. Can coax natural, subtle chorus from it as well.
9. Seymour Duncan SH-1 59 neck position - To this day I have not found a neck humbucker I like better for a 25.5" scale bright guitar. I do not like this pup much for 24.75" scale guitars.
10. The stock humbuckers that were in my limited edition 2004 Gibson Les Paul studio - these were great pickups for that specific guitar. They were the 490R and the 498T. It was one of 250 guitars built and I sold the guitar about 7 years ago now. Great Zeppelin tone from this specific humbucker set in this specific guitar.

[jake_xms3_punk]

Re: Top 10 Favorite Pickups throughout the years.

1. Seymour Duncan custom 5. Great modern/vintage Crossover pickup with attitude and sustains for days!

2. Tv Jones classic plus. this pickup has the growl of a p90, the fatness of a humbucker and the clarity of a single coil, great, great pickup!

3. Dimarzio twang king (neck) my favourite tele neck pickup, nowhere near as bland or meh sounding as most tele neck pickups I've used.

4. Duncan 59 (neck and bridge) great classic rock tones but also handles modern tones well with higher gain, sweet blues tones when backing off the gain a bit, these pickups can do it all and I love them.


5. Custom/59 hybrid. I'm bound to like this seeing as I love the 59 and custom 5 pickups.

6. Jazz/59 hybrid (neck) perfect match to the custom/59 hybrid. Best elements of the 2 pickups.

7. Gibson p90s. never felt the need to experiment & swap out these pickups for different p90's as they sound great in the gibsons that come with them.

8. Zhangbucker Paul Bunyan (bridge) easily one of the best tele bridge pickups I've heard.

9. Duncan ssl1 (neck) awesome vintage strat neck tones and a nice lead tone with gain.

10. Duncan phat cat. They don't sound 100% like p90s I'd say they've got a tiny bit of humbucker colour, which is what makes them different from other "real" p90's

Bonus pickup(s) the graphtech ghost piezo system! I HATE piezo pickups normally, but I have this setup on a tele, it has some of the best and most realistic acoustic tones I've heard! Also sounds good with gain and the magnetic pickups blended in.

[Kac]

Re: Top 10 Favorite Pickups throughout the years.

1. Seymour Duncan SSL-5 - nice and hot in the bridge position, works well with neck and middle pickups in combination. Current favorite.

2. JB Jr. - I've done a lot with this pickup in the bridge position of a strat, very rockin'

3. JB - tried and true, used it in multiple guitars and never disappointed

4. Hot Rails - similar enough to JB Jr. Works well for my Rock & Roll tastes

5. Phat Cat - Haven't used it for a while, I remember liking it. Definitely want to get another one

6. Invader - works great when I want heavy stuff, used in a variety of guitars, never disappointed

7. EVH '78 - I loved what I was able to do with this pickup, would love to get another

8. Twang Banger - another pickup I enjoyed in the bridge position of a strat

9. Mick Thompson EMTY - sometimes I love actives and this one worked great for me

10. Custom Custom - super strat, rock

I've played and enjoyed pickups other than Seymour Duncan, and if the list went to 11 and 12 and so on it would include Gibson and Dimarzio pickups, but my top 10 all go to SD. And this makes me want to get more strat pickguards and do more swapping.

[Demanic]

Re: Top 10 Favorite Pickups throughout the years.

1.) UOA5JB bridge.
2.) DD HB-7 neck wired in parallel.
3.) Lace Deathbucker Bridge.
4.) Lace Deathbucker Neck.
5.) Dimarzio Fast 2 bridge.
6.) SH-6 bridge.
7.) TB-15 bridge.
8.) Ibanez Powersound Bridge.
9.) DD HB-7 bridge with single thickness ceramic magnet.
10.) RCA4SH-6n neck.

[Zhaggy]

Re: Top 10 Favorite Pickups throughout the years.

In no particular order

Gibson BurstBucker 3. I bought a BFG Les Paul. I had a particular pickup set in mind that I wanted to try out in it but the stock pickups, Burstbucker 3 especially, were so awesome that I just left them in and BB3 is now my favourite pickup.
EMG81. It may not be for everyone and everything but damn it's great for what it's designed for. Power, clarity and balls. Love it.
Lace Deathbucker. It's not very loud pickup but still sounds very powerfull. Very clear and even sounding.
Dimarzio Steve's Special. Very unusual sounding but it stands out in a good way. Clear distortion sounds.
Dimarzio Air Zone. For me it's the best hot paf sound. Very warm but still has some spark because of the medium output.
Dimarzio Air Norton. Best sounding neck pickup I've played. Very fluid and creamy.
Seymour Duncan Screamin' Demon. Good crunchy sound. It sort of makes you work for the sound but in a good way.

These next ones I've never owned but I have played guitars that had them in'em.

Dimarzio Evolution. Both neck and bridge are pretty awesome. You can solo on them like no other.
Caparison BH-IIR. The original bridge pickup that was in their Horus models. Unique sounding.

[Falloffthebonetone]

Re: Top 10 Favorite Pickups throughout the years.

Ooo wow. Good one. For Guitar:
1. D. Allen Voodoo 69 strat set
2. 59/Custom Hybrid
3. Jazz neck
4. Full Shred bridge
5. JB jr.
6. JB
7. Dimarzio Tone Zone
8. Lace Sensor Hot Gold strat set
9. Texas Special strat set
10. Alnico 2 pro neck

[Laughing Kookaburra]

Re: Top 10 Favorite Pickups throughout the years.

In no particular order. Also, while I prefer lower output pups these days, but I'm including my favorite high output pups that served me well in the past.

1. Zhangbucker Bell Tones, single coil Tele pup set
2. SD 59/Jazz neck hybrid
3. Bare Knuckle Blue Note 90, a low output A2 P90
4. SD Jazz Neck
5. Dimarzio Virtual Vintage T Neck
6. SD Quarter Pound
7. Old Gibson Mini Buckers
8. Gibson P90s, at least 2007 and back. Haven't played any past 2007
9. Dimarzio Super Distortion
10. SD Invader

A wiring harness to be used for some Zhangbucker Super Hardcores (very low output A3 Strat singles) going in my Strat just arrived from Stew Mac this morning. It will be at least a few weeks before any chance of gigging with them occurs, but if the Bell Tones are any indication, they'll push something off the top ten list.

[King IzzO)))]

Re: Top 10 Favorite Pickups throughout the years.

1963 Gibson P90
Dirty Fingers
Ceramic Nailbomb
Aftermath
Painkiller
Cold Sweat
Ceramic Warpig
Brobucker
Duncan Distortion
Chopper

[treyhaislip]

Re: Top 10 Favorite Pickups throughout the years.

1. SD Screamin Demon - Favorite bridge pickup, handles the best at any volume IMO, currently paired with a Liquifire
2. SD JB - Awesome lead pickup and a very close second to the SH-12
3. DiMarzio Liquifire - Favorite neck pickup, favorite pickup on a clean channel, originally paired with a DiMarzio Crunchlab...IMO pairs better with a SH-12
4. SD Hotrails - Love these pickups in combination with the JB
5. Fender Fat 50's - My favorite single coil sets, strat sound but warmer with awesome bell like tone
6. Gibson 496R & 500T - In my second Gibson Les Paul, awesome for crunch/gain
7. Gibson Burstbuckers - In my first Gibson Les Paul and my first set of nice pickups (even the drummer said the tone was an upgrade)
8. Fender Highway 1 Strat Set - Nice hot set of pickups in my first Fender Strat and in my first Strat without a Floyd
9. Fender American Standard Strat Set - First set of pickups that I ever upgraded to (from an old MIM original set)
10. Charvel Jackson J80C - One of my favorite recordings by my dad was with the Charvel he gave me with these pickups, sounds awesome with light gain/cleans

Honorable mentions/not enough experience to rate yet: SD Lil '59, SD Lil Screamin Demon, SD Dimebucker, Fender Woodstock Strat Set, Stock Ibanez pickups in a SA series HSS

Pickups I didn't care for:

1. DiMarzio Crunchlab - One dimensional pickup IMO, I could only dial in a good tone with high gain (positive was great harmonics)
2. SD/IBZ '59 - In an Ibanez Prestige and sounded dead
3. Sustainiac - In a Jackson Dinky, not a very good sound and the
4. EMGs - Love them in bass guitars but have never been able to dial in on a 6 string guitar
5. Dragonfire Screamers - Granted cheap pickups, but sounded very country/twangy compared to the high output description

[LLL]

Re: Top 10 Favorite Pickups throughout the years.

Faves (in order)
====

1. SD Seth Lover set
2. High Order "Lizardbucker" set
3. Callaham H/SRV single coils set
4. Gibson '57 Classic set (w/ regular '57 Classic bridge, not the Classic Plus)
5. Bare Knuckle VHII bridge
6. SD SH-5 Custom bridge (vintage)
7. SD SH-11 Custom Custom

obviously I fancy those PAF-styles...


Not-so-faves (in no particular order)
==========

1. SD SJBJ-1 JB Jr.
2. SD SH-10 Full Shred
3. Gibson '57 Classic Plus Bridge
4. stock Fender MIM strat single coils
5. majority of DiMarzios
6. any super hot pickup

[elelpe]

Re: Top 10 Favorite Pickups throughout the years.

1. Giovanni GVT-1: my broadcaster flavor pickup in my #1 tele. Thick with a bit of twang. I love it when he's angry.
2. Unknown P-94: a neck pickup advertised as a Wilkinson when I bought it. Woody, round, fat, yet retains single coil clarity. I don't know what magnet is inside it. Sounds like A2 to me. I pair it with GVT-1.
3. Keystones tele: the neck pickup just sounds beautiful. Lack of grit, excels for clean playing. Not a fan of the bridge. Polite.
4. PATB-3: great dynamics, great rock and blues pickup. Thick and gritty.
5. Screamin' Demon: my favorite HB in the neck. Pristine clean, smoothly driven, articulate.
6. Custom: my to go metal pickup. Not too gainy, but definitely not whimpy. I love the tight thumpy low end. The high doesn't bother me.
7. SM-1n: what more can I say? That lovely vintage Firebird sound
8. SP90-2: neck version in the bridge. I pair it with SM-1. I was also considering SP90-3n, but I guess this model pairs better with the mini since it shares more similar high frequency. It cuts more. Sounds great in a slab of mahogany guitar.
9. STK-S4: considering putting it in H-S guitar with PATB-3, PAF sound from the bridge and classic strat sound in the neck without hum. Nice, eh?
10. Tesla Opus 2 set: HB-sized P-90 that look like Phat Cat. Medium output pickup equipped with A5 magnet. Versatile.

[indy23]

Re: Top 10 Favorite Pickups throughout the years.

Interesting so far...Finding new things out all the time. Thinking about doing a top 5 worst sounding pickups!!! or Shortest time in a guitar pickup..lol

[Aceman]

Re: Top 10 Favorite Pickups throughout the years.

#1 Distortion - #1 pup in my #1 Paul. Rock - the way it should sound, feel, and be!

#2 Pearly Gates - Neck or Bridge. Just a fantastic all around pickup IMO. And the ultimate LP neck pup.

#3 DiMarzio SuperDistortion. It is THAT sound!

#4 P-90's; Anyone. Gibson Duncan tie here… Gib P-90 vs Duncan vintage

#5 Duncan Custom. PAF on Steroids (and PCP). Awesome and flexible.

#6 DiMarzio PAF. right behind the PG for my tastes in PAF-ness.

#7 Gibson T-Top neck. Never gonna let you go, gonna hold you in my arms forever….

#8 Burstbucker 1/2's. If I can't have PG's, give me these!

#9 DiMarzio X2N - STOOPID HAWT! Gethcha some!

#10 Duncan Blackout. The Active I can't be love I love. Great for everything except Albert Collins. I can live with that.