Amp or pickups more important?

[cool09]

I'm not downplaying the importance of pickups but the amplifier is more important (or crucial) than pickups, right? The dynamics of an amp largely determines what sounds/tones you can get. Agree, disagree? (ie. A low/medium output single coil pickup can be driven to great sustain and edgy overtones with the proper amp and power.) In the 70's there were not many pickups to choose from outside of stock pickups yet guitarists could achieve all sorts of sounds/tones depending on the amp. That's what I observed in the late 70's. Then Dimarzio came into the market with pickups and started a new market and options for electric guitarists.

 

[ginormous]

Re: Amp or pickups more important?

Welcome, cool09!

This is rather subjective. In the interest of avoiding a flame war, I'll remind everyone to express their opinions in a polite way.

Also, Seymour's pickup mods (as well as those of Bill Lawrence, Harry DeArmond, Red Rhodes and others) were known to pro guitar insiders, before Larry DiMarzio started his company and sold to the general market. Google and wiki...

 

[Snake Aces]

Re: Amp or pickups more important?

I would say the combination of the right amp with the right guitar sporting the right pickups is where the magic is at. All 3 parts make the whole. That being said, I would definitely say more often than not the amp holds more tone shaping possibilities than the pickups. However to discount the importance of the guitar in the combo would be a mistake as well.

I know Dimarzio became a company in 1972 and Seymour Duncan was established in 1976, however, Seymour was working on and experimenting with pickups as early as the late 60's. So, I would argue both Duncan and Dimarzio should share equal recognition for the pickup options that we now enjoy.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Amp or pickups more important?

Amp is the biggest factor in overall tone. Then I'd say pedals, then pickups and speakers.

However, from a guitar standpoint, I think changing pickups is the biggest factor.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Amp or pickups more important?

Amp, by a mile. IME, pickup fiddling is really only fine tuning that other small percentage of your tone that the amp doesn't make up. The way I look at it, your amp and its settings choose your basic tone – the real meat of it. Pickup selection is more about choosing how your guitar is going to interact with your amp, mainly whether your guitar is gonna hit the amp heavily or lightly, or in between. If the amp is the meat, the pickups are the spices.

 

[LLL]

Re: Amp or pickups more important?

Both are equally important, but an amp has much more of an effect on your overall tone compared to a pickup.

 

[kramersteen]

Re: Amp or pickups more important?

Yes a good amp will tear down the walls with any pickup. A **** amp is always a **** amp no matter what pickups are going through it.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: Amp or pickups more important?

yes.

 

[El Supremo]

Re: Amp or pickups more important?

Amp is more important by a mile. Don't discount quality speakers neither.

 

[Ascension]

Re: Amp or pickups more important?

I would say the combination of the right amp with the right guitar sporting the right pickups is where the magic is at. All 3 parts make the whole. That being said, I would definitely say more often than not the amp holds more tone shaping possibilities than the pickups. However to discount the importance of the guitar in the combo would be a mistake as well.

Could not agree more with you here!
Most important of the 3 is the amp but all 3 have to work together and if you change any one of the 3 you have to tweak the other 2.

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: Amp or pickups more important?

I'm not downplaying the importance of pickups but the amplifier is more important (or crucial) than pickups, right? The dynamics of an amp largely determines what sounds/tones you can get. Agree, disagree? (ie. A low/medium output single coil pickup can be driven to great sustain and edgy overtones with the proper amp and power.) In the 70's there were not many pickups to choose from outside of stock pickups yet guitarists could achieve all sorts of sounds/tones depending on the amp. That's what I observed in the late 70's. Then Dimarzio came into the market with pickups and started a new market and options for electric guitarists.

Talent. Then skill. Then we can talk about amps and pickups after that.

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Amp or pickups more important?

I can make a less than optimal pickup work by adjusting the right amp.... i cant make a less than optimal amp work by adjusting or even changing pickups. So for me the amp is by far the most important...

 

[MrTondo]

Re: Amp or pickups more important?

For me it is first the amp, especially since that is where the overdrive and distortion lives. If it were just purely a clean thing, no hair, OD, distortion whatever (you know the way these amp were thought up to function way back in the day ), I would think the the amp and speaker would be way closer together in comparison. For me it is amp, cab&speaker, pickups (I won't take into account pedals, because otherwise a EHX b9, or something else crazy would win over everything).

For me, one cannot stress the importance of speakers enough. There is huge differences between them, yet they are hugely underappreciated. I think that is because it is way easier to swith pickups and guitars than it is to change speakers and cabs. Especially when comparing 8 inch speakers to 4x12's or whatever, the differences are huge. This is not taking into account crazy stuff like using a PA 12 inch speaker. It would be tons and tons of difference, comparable to switching amps I would say. That being said most guitar speakers are designed to sound pretty much the same. They are designed with fine-tuning in mind, becasure no one would buy them when they stand out too much. That is not the same with pickups, they can afford to make crazy pickups, it is cheaper, they can be sold easier, scrapped easier from the lineup etc. But even in the current 12 inch speaker options there is to me the same amount of difference to be had as in all the different humbucker options.

 

[Johtosotku]

Re: Amp or pickups more important?

Amp>speaker>pickup for me. Within a range of proper guitars I'd range pickups more important than the guitar, but some guitars are so dead that no pickup can make them good.

 

[AlexR]

Re: Amp or pickups more important?

Talent. Then skill. Then we can talk about amps and pickups after that.

You are the same regardless, whatever skill level you have.......if you play through a good amp/poor guitar you will better than with a crap amp/good guitar

 

[Grenade]

Re: Amp or pickups more important?

A crap pickup won't sound good through any amp, a crap amp won't sound good no matter what is plugged into it. What one thinks sound great and another thinks sounds great is subjective at best. Tone is from fingers to eardrums with the help of everything in between.

 

[Snake Aces]

Re: Amp or pickups more important?

A crap pickup won't sound good through any amp, a crap amp won't sound good no matter what is plugged into it. What one thinks sound great and another thinks sounds great is subjective at best. Tone is from fingers to eardrums with the help of everything in between.

+1 to this. I've always felt a great amp can definitely amplify a bad pickup's weaknesses while maybe masking some as well. Sure, when gain or overdrive is added you might get a nice crunch, but a bad pickup is a bad deal to me. Granted, we all know the guys who say they can dial in their sound on any amp using any guitar; since tone is subjective, who am I to say they can't? However, I have definitely formed my own opinions over the years when it comes to what sounds good and what doesn't. I think we all do and I'm glad for it otherwise we all would sound the same (besides our style and skill).

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Amp or pickups more important?

Both...

Also, the best amp and pickups will still sound like crap in the hands of someone who doesn't know what they are doing. I've heard some great tone coming out of super cheap gear while junk tone coming out of super expensive gear.

Personally, I would place the amp as equal with the pickups because I have specific preferences on both...but I think a great amp could do more to make up for a bad pickup than a great pickup can to a bad amp.

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: Amp or pickups more important?

In my experience, the combination of the amp/speaker makes the biggest difference to the sound that the audience hears. Far more than guitar, or pickup type.

 

[JOLLY]

Re: Amp or pickups more important?

for me personally, an amplifier will help me to achieve the sound that I'm looking for more than a pick up.