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Worst pups you ever used

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  • #31
    Re: Worst pups you ever used

    The one pickup that made me mad was the Dimarzio Bluesbucker. I read the description, I checked out the stats, I read reviews, and everything it was supposed to be, it was not. I like a bright pickup, but this went way beyond the most ceramic Squier single coil strat by a long, long way. I am really beginning to wonder if I got a bad one. I ended up pulling the split ceramic, and put a roughcast Alnico 2 magnet in it. It is still bright, but vintage sounding. And at least it's usable that way. I really wonder why they didn't use an Alnico 2 magnet to begin with?

    The worst pickup I've ever encountered was the Entwistle Nemesis. The bridge was okay as a distortion pickup, but the neck..... I've never had a pickup be both shrill and muddy at the same time. Usually they are one or the other. This was both. I mean, it takes a special kind of stupid to make that happen. What really irritated me, of all the stupid things, they didn't even send the right screws for it. I ended up trading that set.
    1998 Dean Select ML, Dean Bubinga ML, Dean Icon, Dean Custom 450, Luna Andromeda, DBZ Bolero, Guild Bluesbird, Gretsch G5420TG, 4 Strats, BC Rich Mockingbird Special, PMC/ Cort Archtop, Agile 7 string, 2 Custom Made, Walden D710, Dean Juggernaut Bass, Squier Classic 60's Jazz Bass, Sunn Alpha 212R, Genz-Benz El Diablo, Laney GH-100L, Crate Blue Voodoo, Univox 1051, 1987 Erich Phretchner Cello, Custom Built Electric Cello

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    • #32
      Re: Worst pups you ever used

      I think the worst pickups I ever heard are the Mexican Fender Ceramic Single Coils. Just horrible sounding. The stock humbuckers in LTDs I work on sucked pretty bad too.

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      • #33
        Re: Worst pups you ever used

        Originally posted by synzzzer View Post
        The one pickup that made me mad was the Dimarzio Bluesbucker. I read the description, I checked out the stats, I read reviews, and everything it was supposed to be, it was not. I like a bright pickup, but this went way beyond the most ceramic Squier single coil strat by a long, long way. I am really beginning to wonder if I got a bad one. I ended up pulling the split ceramic, and put a roughcast Alnico 2 magnet in it. It is still bright, but vintage sounding. And at least it's usable that way. I really wonder why they didn't use an Alnico 2 magnet to begin with?

        The worst pickup I've ever encountered was the Entwistle Nemesis. The bridge was okay as a distortion pickup, but the neck..... I've never had a pickup be both shrill and muddy at the same time. Usually they are one or the other. This was both. I mean, it takes a special kind of stupid to make that happen. What really irritated me, of all the stupid things, they didn't even send the right screws for it. I ended up trading that set.

        Because DiMarzio only believe(d) in A5 and Ceramics.
        Originally posted by Myaccount876
        Attenuators are for pussies. Neighbors calling the cops isn't a problem - if the cops can actually still decipher the neighbor's complaint on the phone with the Marshall in the background, you're doing it wrong and it needs to be louder.

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        • #34
          Re: Worst pups you ever used

          I really can't think of a worst pickup. Depending on the guitar anything could work well.

          A while back I would have offered up Burstbucker Pros but then I dropped a set into an Explorer and they are awesome.
          Gravity...its just a theory

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          • #35
            Re: Worst pups you ever used

            Ibanez Powersound. I tried them in a store and they were horrible and muddy.

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            • #36
              Re: Worst pups you ever used

              Originally posted by jorge5150 View Post
              Ibanez Powersound. I tried them in a store and they were horrible and muddy.
              I nominate Powersound for worst pickup based on the number of entries it has right now.
              Originally posted by Myaccount876
              Attenuators are for pussies. Neighbors calling the cops isn't a problem - if the cops can actually still decipher the neighbor's complaint on the phone with the Marshall in the background, you're doing it wrong and it needs to be louder.

              Comment


              • #37
                Re: Worst pups you ever used

                Are the Ibanez Powersounds the same as the Cort Powersounds made in the Cort factory? Because I have those HB's in my X-1 and they're not bad....
                There's nothing less metal than trying to act metal.

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                • #38
                  Re: Worst pups you ever used

                  As far as stock powerounds were bad, but can't compare to the awfulness of the pickups in a mid 60's Teisco Delray I had. Aftermarket, I'd have to go with the Dimebucker. The main issue was that unless you build and setup your rig for that pickup, and put it in every guitar, it's pretty useless. I didn't like have in to completely change the settings on my rig when switching to that guitar.
                  sigpic
                  Gibson LP Trad Pro II->Various pedals->MEsa Boogie MkV->Owensby/219 Guitar Works Vertical Slant 2x12 w/WGS ET-65 and Veteran 30.

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                  • #39
                    Re: Worst pups you ever used

                    Ibanez true duo buckers that came stock in my old ibanez sas32ex.

                    Holy hell they were terrible. Thin, weak, no growl, no balls, no punch, poor definition and totally sterile.

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                    • #40
                      Re: Worst pups you ever used
                      • MIM strat pickups
                      • 'Some kind of DiMarzio' in the bridge position of a Strat I bought once (never identified the pickup, just gave it away)
                      • The pickups in a Sears strat I bought with paper route money when I was 14.
                      • BurstbuckerPros in an LP Studio 'satin'

                      So in essence, the worst pickups go just about hand in hand with the worst guitars I've ever owned.

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                      • #41
                        Re: Worst pups you ever used

                        The factory Epiphone 57CH pickups in my dot were terrible. The guitar had the same pickup in neck and bridge position (label on the back said "Les Paul Neck/Dot neck & bridge"). I replaced them with JB/Jazz combo which were great but were later donated to another guitar.

                        When I ripped off the nickel covers to make them a splittable pickup I damaged the windings on a coil of one of them, so I turned it into a single coil with another dead coil beside it. Hooked that up in the neck of the dot and it is honestly one of the sweetest sounding pickups I have ever played.

                        The good thing about terrible pups is you can experiment with them and not care if you destroy them.

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                        • #42
                          Re: Worst pups you ever used

                          Originally posted by Zacker View Post
                          List the worst pups you used and explain why.
                          I'll start: Epiphone Alnico Classic pickups, they are very bad. Honky mids, muddy bass and very little treble.
                          Gibson's P-94.

                          Looks good but sounds the most clunky of any pickup I tried.

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                          • #43
                            Re: Worst pups you ever used

                            I don't think there are genuinely a lot of bad pickups out there, even though many, or most, are cheaply made. Coca Cola is cheap but it still tastes amazing. The main problem, IMO, is when you get a cheap pickup that happened to be made badly. When you buy a premium pickup like SD, a major part of the appeal is an assurance of consistency you won't get from low cost pickup suppliers. Therefore, some of my favorites have been cheap, and some of the worst were the most expensive. My favorite pickups are the stock AlNiCo's that cam with my MIJ '69 Tele reissue, while my least favorite are definitely the Little Pearly Gates. I took them out and gave them away.

                            Stock AlNiCo's tend to be good when they're made properly. A fully charged A5 with a medium wound coil seems to be the most popular recipe, for cheap and expensive pickup models alike. As long as the manufacture doesn't screw things up somehow, the pickups should sound decent enough.
                            Last edited by DreX; 11-24-2014, 02:41 AM.

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                            • #44
                              Re: Worst pups you ever used

                              EMG 81. I had it in a BC Rich Warlock (of course) when I was a teen. My gear was crap but the EMG still sounded like a synthesizer set to a 'Distorted guitar' patch.

                              Actually, I can't think of a single musician/band whose tone got better when they went from passives to EMG 81's.

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                              • #45
                                Re: Worst pups you ever used

                                Originally posted by Stratman View Post
                                Nope, I clearly said I generally don't care for Duckbuckers.

                                Not worse or better, just don't like.

                                It about the same as people who make stupid comments about "Chibson fakes" when they don't actually know what they are talking about....

                                Gibsun hahah What a tool!
                                Did you actually think that would cause ANYBODY problems to read? Ijit...

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