Popular Pickup That You Hate / Hated Pickup That You Love

[Mincer Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Mincer]

yea... my lady friend came to a guitar shop with me and was completely thrown off by a convo she witnessed between a tech and a picky customer trying to describe what he was going for

"I want a big bottom end that stays tight and aggressive, with muscular, fat mids that don't honk and that leave enough space for airy highs that aren't spiky or ice picky, but breathe enough to give it a truly open, crisp chime, something something mojo mojo"

Looks like a customer that spent too much time reading modern guitar magazines and on forums, and has no idea what he wants.

[zizyphus Tone Member Find all posts View Profile Close zizyphus]

Looks like a customer that spent too much time reading modern guitar magazines and on forums, and has no idea what he wants.

her response: "I know what all those words mean, but have no idea how they ended up in the same sentence"

[Mincer Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Mincer]

her response: "I know what all those words mean, but have no idea how they ended up in the same sentence"

Yeah, doesn't make sense. But I've seen articles come out with weird descriptive terms, and the next month hear them in the store I used to work in.

[gsammo79 Ultimate Tone Member Find all posts View Profile Close gsammo79]

SH14 Custom 5

thats the only one I cant gel with in any of guitars.

I've played the C5 once in an LTD. Lots of low end and the biggest mid scoop ive ever heard in a bridge pickup. The mids are pretty close to hollow

[weepingminotaur Ultimate Tone Member Find all posts View Profile Close weepingminotaur]

Looks like a customer that spent too much time reading modern guitar magazines and on forums, and has no idea what he wants.

Words will always fall short, but they're all we have. The above customer was obviously just stringing together a bunch of descriptive terms without, as you say, understanding what he wants. It's also impossible to get all of those things in one pickup (chime AND "muscular" mids AND beefy bass? lol).

[weepingminotaur Ultimate Tone Member Find all posts View Profile Close weepingminotaur]

Words work when they're evocative, narrowly focused on specific aspects of the pickup, and firmly anchored to good, clear examples. By contrast, the same descriptors, used over and over again out of context, lose meaning after a while.

If I come across an evocative description of a pickup, I appreciate it because it offers me a picture of how the pickup sounds to that particular person. Will it sound the same to me? Maybe, maybe not. But I'd much rather have that assessment as a baseline than "it's a great pickup, you should try it," which tells me nothing about the pickup's characteristics.

[pskorz Tone Member Find all posts View Profile Close pskorz]

It’s so true. A “sterile” pickup could be called “transparent.” Then in a vibrant guitar will pick up a lot of subtleties and nuances of that guitar and sound brilliant. That same pickup in a dull guitar will sound… dull and sterile.

[allbutromeo Super Toneologist Find all posts View Profile Close allbutromeo]

Hate - Dimebucker. Ive tried it in two different guitars, and its horrible in both. I'm truely sorry I bought that one. Thin, shrill, and icepicky like nothing else.

I was very disappointed with it when I bought one. It might be a great pickup... if it's the only one you use, and you tailor the rest of your rig around it.

[RB522 Member Find all posts View Profile Close RB522]

I was very disappointed with it when I bought one. It might be a great pickup... if it's the only one you use, and you tailor the rest of your rig around it.

I don't know what the right rig would be. I've tried it in two guitars, running through 4 different amps. Some tube, some SS, and I was never happy with the sound. I know a lot of people love it, but it really missed the mark for me.

[UnderTheFlame83 Toneologist Find all posts View Profile Close UnderTheFlame83]

I don't know what the right rig would be. I've tried it in two guitars, running through 4 different amps. Some tube, some SS, and I was never happy with the sound. I know a lot of people love it, but it really missed the mark for me.

I tried the Dimebucker in different guitars and amps too, and was really disappointed with the results. I do like the look of it, though. I would take any stock humbucker over it.

[beaubrummels Mojo's Minions Find all posts View Profile Close beaubrummels]

Just for the sake of discussion, what's a popular pickup that you just can't stand?

I haven't found a guitar I could really use a stock JB in, though I did have better success with a JB that Seymour wound. Just not versatile enough overall. Kind of generic sounding to me in my guitars. Someday, I want to make an ash TeleGib, since that's what it was designed for originally. Maybe it would work better there?

Also, what's a pickup with a bad rep that you actually really enjoy?

I have the stock 498T/490R in my Les Paul Standard since 1994 and I haven't had enough reason to ever take them out. I've found if I put them the stock Gibson distance from the strings and put the adjustable screws level with or below the pickup covers, it's a scooped heavy metal guitar. If I leave the screws at or above the covers, I can use the full range of the volume and get a vintage clean sound around 3-4. If I lower the pickups significantly and raise the adjustable screws so the heads sit just above the covers, I can get more bell-like mid-heavy sound that is somewhere in between a Brobucker/Seth set up in my LP Studio and the A3 Custombuckers in my R0. I think that's how these were designed - they aren't the perfect pickups to match specific recordings, but with adjustment, you can get satisfactorily in the territory of different kinds of music. The key I've found is you have to use good gear with them - e.g. they sound great through a great sounding Marshall with a Celestion 4x12 cab, but don't work quite as well with cheap multi-effects and low-end cheesy modelers. (Though there are budget modelers these days that do a really good job of replicating the sound and sensitivity of the real equipment.)

I don't really hate any pickups. Just discovered some I am not able to use for now. Might discover a guitar they shine in and they become my go-to in the future. Never know.

[soulforger Tone Member Find all posts View Profile Close soulforger]

Everybody seems to love the Dimarzio Air Norton in the neck, I have tried to like it more than once and just don't.

I don't know that Burstbuckers are quite hated, but some seem not to like them, if I am going for a PAF type pickup in a guitar I do like them better than just about anything else.

[BluesMan335 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close BluesMan335]

Not hate, but there are some Gibson pickups that are underwhelming, like their '57 Classics; it's been disappointing for me. Their 490's are so-so, I expect more character from a pickup. Paired with a 498T, it's polar opposites in EQ between bridge & neck, which can be frustrating.

[MGREY Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close MGREY]

This one is pretty easy for me...one that everyone loves but I can't stand? the JB...all day long. Every time I hear them, they sound so "sloppy" in the mids! I bought a '59 this summer (without having much knowledge of magnet types) and it's a great pickup, but came to realize polished A5s are too stiff on lead tones. That lead me to the Pearly Gates--I dropped it in my bridge the other night and it was THE pickup my guitar needed. It's actually crunchier than the '59 at the same 1/16" height I set my bridge pups at, while still exuding that A2 gushy quality. Very Van Halen/Thin Lizzy and--obviously--BFG. It's a 70s time machine! Now my ESP sounds absolutely FAT.

One that everyone hates but I love? Dimarzio Super Distortion! Very underrated pup that is actually seeing a bit of a renaissance lately. It's perfect for amps like Plexis that run a bit dark. People forget how many people were using them in the 70s. It was THE pickup to have. I might pull an EVH and stick an A8 in it, maybe an A4, to see how it responds.

[STLMTLHD79 Ultimate Tone Member Find all posts View Profile Close STLMTLHD79]

I can never get into the Custom or Custom 5 for some reason. Just pretty plain sounding to my ears with no real character

A pickup I LOVE in the right guitar is the Screamin' Demon, a very "controversial" pickup it seems.