Agile pickups...oddly, not bad!?!?

[DankStar]

So I've been goofing with my Agile 2000 guitar. It's got two covered ceramic humbuckers in it. I want to hate them. I want to say they squeal and sound bad....but I'm finding I don't mind them. Compared to my Bill/Becky Lawrence L500L on my strat, the bridge p/up actually sounds thicker and fuller (however, not as loud). Do you think the fullness is coming from the different woods of the guitars (mahogany on the Agile LP vs. the ash on the strat) or the pickups themselves?

The neck Agile pickup does tend to get a little muddy, but some mud ain't such a bad thing for some guitar lines. I may switch that one out with a Dimarzio H4 I found on ebay (a pickup I know nothing about, but bought anyway). Any advice on this bad boy would be great: http://cgi.ebay.com/Dimarzio-Black-...399089014QQcategoryZ41428QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Am I going crazy? Maybe I just need to really hear the Agile p/ups in a band situation or something. Should I take them out simply because my conscious tells me to, or leave them in and face the ridicule of every guitarist on the planet? Those of you that switched yours out...what exactly was your reasoning?

Somebody call a shrink, or tell me your experience with any of the above...

 

[Surgeon]

Re: Agile pickups...oddly, not bad!?!?

Hi Dank,

I had a Lp goldtop clone from Agile for a while, it had P90s in it... I too was surprised with the pick-ups. They sounded very very good for stock pick-ups...

Waiting to hear them in a band situation is a good idea... we, on this forum, tend to think that stock pick-ups automatically stink and that they need to be replaced right-away... I don't think this is always the case... If you are happy with the way your guitar sounds, what brand or item makes it sound good should be the lesser of your concerns.... unless it's baby blood or dodo eggs

 

[Sly_D]

Re: Agile pickups...oddly, not bad!?!?

Go with your ears. I have 2 Agile LP-2000, and honestly, I'm facing the same situation. I will change the pickup in one of them because I want a smoother guitar. But for rock purposes, I'm seriously wondering why I would change them. They are very good sounding ceramic pikcups, and I think that changing them for a Custom, a 500T or a Super Distortion would only improve the sound marginally.

I can tell you (at the risk of being killed on this forum) that I like the bridge better than the CC (way too mushy bass) and slighlty better than the Custom because it has a tad more low mids and less treble. The neck pickup needs improvement and I may replace it with a DD neck.

 

[cheezemaster]

Re: Agile pickups...oddly, not bad!?!?

brand or item makes it sound good should be the lesser of your concerns.... unless it's baby blood or dodo eggs

But have you tried baby blood and dodo eggs? Man oh man, talk about TONE! I make sure pour 1 dodo egg and 1 tbsp of baby blood in the control cavity before every show! :banana:

 

[Kane17]

Re: Agile pickups...oddly, not bad!?!?

My friend got an agile LP. In my opinion the stock pickups were pretty good.

He did put in a JB eventually (stock stuff had good tone but wasn't hot enough) but we had a little difficulty putting it in...I cannot exactly remember but I think it had something with the pickup and the pickup slot being different sizes and that caused the screws not to fit...we got it figured out but what I pain...and how many people in the audience would notice...





Anyways, I'm dealing with the same issue on my new DEAN ML XM.

I guess they figure that since Dimebag played this body-style of guitar that all their guitars need to have metal pickups...My stock pickups shred and chug great but have zero versatility outside of metal.

I'm going to try changing string guages and string brand before getting back into swapping pickups but with the way things are going, I think I'll probably change mine out anyways, I doubt changing strings alone will fix my issues.

 

[RW James]

Re: Agile pickups...oddly, not bad!?!?

I had a similar issue with a Washburn... I played it for a while with the stock pickups and I was pretty happy with it. Then I began to notice some odd sounds which our soundman had been trying to EQ for. When I went onto the Washburn forum and asked about it, I was immediately told to change out the pickups - which I did (JB and Jazz)

Anyway, I would recommend playing it until you don't like it. Don't automatically assume you need to change them.

 

[Surgeon]

Re: Agile pickups...oddly, not bad!?!?

But have you tried baby blood and dodo eggs? Man oh man, talk about TONE! I make sure pour 1 dodo egg and 1 tbsp of baby blood in the control cavity before every show! :banana:

:laugh2:

 

[rockman23]

Re: Agile pickups...oddly, not bad!?!?

I have an AGILE lespaul CHAMBERED--I really like the pickups--BUT., I puit a JB in bridge position(you have to use the pickup rings that come w/Agile cause the mounting screw holes are like no other, you'd have to drill 4 new holes in body if you use other pickuprings)-

--the JB sounds really good, BUT the NECK pickup I'm gonna keep(I like it).

--the Bridge sounded good But I wanted hotter & I had JB layin around...

 

[sufferinrewind]

Re: Agile pickups...oddly, not bad!?!?

Anyways, I'm dealing with the same issue on my new DEAN ML XM.

I guess they figure that since Dimebag played this body-style of guitar that all their guitars need to have metal pickups...My stock pickups shred and chug great but have zero versatility outside of metal.

I bought a Vendetta XM, which is pretty much the same thing, only shaped more like a Strat. I find the bridge pup to be good, but I hardly use the neck pickup except for neck solos. It's pretty useless otherwise, clean or distorted. The bridge pickup is okay for cleans. I'm thinking about changing the neck pup to a DMZ Humbucker from Hell to use for cleans and neck solos. I've heard a few clips of the HFH. I find that it sounds a bit like Yngwie's Strat but a little fuller.

 

[CurtO]

Re: Agile pickups...oddly, not bad!?!?

I have an AL 2800 it came with Alnico II magnets. The pickups put out somewhere in the neighborhood of 14 k. They were very hot, and great for getting lotso gain straight out of my Blues Jr. I played them for about 18 months before I swapped them for a set of SD 59's neck and bridge. I do love the Seymour Duncans they provide a bit more clarity when playing distorted chords and the bass is a bit less boomy than the Agile stock pups. I was very impressed with the Agile pups considering they retail at $20 a piece. The difference between the stock pups and the 59s is faily subtle, but I certainly don't regrat the upgrade. I really gravitate toward my Agile more now than I had in the passed, the 59's are GREAT pickups.

 

[DankStar]

Re: Agile pickups...oddly, not bad!?!?

'59s would be ideal. I have been toying with the idea of one of those or a Dimarzio Super Distortion in the bridge.

Thanks for the input y'all!