anyone else like the look of well worn humbuckers?

[appar111]

I'm noticing that I really dig the look of well worn humbuckers. The Duncan Antiquity stuff is just awesome looking, but my personal preference is the open coil black humbucker.

I've installed a few into my guitars and friend's guitars that were pulled out of older guitars (humbuckers from 80's strats and Les Pauls) and they just look so badass. That bit of front edge wear near the bottom strings from having it set up close to the strings, the pickup tape looking all brown and faded, the rust on the polepieces... I love it all. You know, this sort of look (but without the $400 pricetag, of course!):

I had a glorious looking naturally worn/rusted JB pickup that I got here and sold only because I couldn't get on with the JB sound after a while. Otherwise, I would have kept it just to stare at it. This one:

I even went so far as to relic a Gibson humbucker that I got here on SDUGF. It was already worn, so I thought I'd take it to the next level. Looks great too. Hey, if Duncan and others charge extra to relic their pickups, why shouldn't I take a crack at it? I'm fighting the strong urge to relic the 500T that's on it's way to me. I want to try a little degaussing too, but I need to get a neodymium magnet. I'm a little concerned as to a safe place to keep it so it doesn't do it's thing to surrounding objects.

Given that all my guitars are well worn and look it, I suppose it's natural to like worn in looking pickups too...

Odd thing to post, I know, but there you have it.

 

[BloodRose]

Re: anyone else like the look of well worn humbuckers?

Thats pretty cool.. I normally prefer everything to look shiny and new, but I never looked at the wear like that. (espec the wear marks on the end from the strings) I usually just see it as neglected, but now I see it as well loved..

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: anyone else like the look of well worn humbuckers?

But to me its looks "relic'd" not worn. The hard part seems to be making something look like it was actually played for 30 years rather than neglected

 

[Boppy]

Re: anyone else like the look of well worn humbuckers?

Usually I don't care what a pickup looks like so long as the tone is there...but that one looks like it was dug out of the ground. Not a good thing to me.

 

[appar111]

Re: anyone else like the look of well worn humbuckers?

Edge & Boppy- were you talking about the pic of the JB, or the first pic of the EVH humbucker?

The wear on the JB was from actual use-- a guy had it in his guitar that he used for shows since 97-98. He must've sweat alot as all the polepieces were really rusty.

The EVH relic humbucker was copied from actual wear that Ed put on the humbucker that was in his Frankie.

But I get what you're saying, Edgecrusher, in that something that looks beat up/scratched up is different from something that looks worn. Anybody can scuff up a pickup, but making it actually look old takes more skill.

So far, I like the ones that have real wear on them-- all those stock gibson pickups (stuff like the 490's, 498's and Classic '57's of the world and their ilk) that people had for a long time before they upgraded to a Duncan or Dimarzio. Nice and broken in already...

 

[appar111]

Re: anyone else like the look of well worn humbuckers?

Thats pretty cool.. I normally prefer everything to look shiny and new, but I never looked at the wear like that. (espec the wear marks on the end from the strings) I usually just see it as neglected, but now I see it as well loved..

And it'll make you alot less apprehensive about getting a used pickup from Ebay!

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: anyone else like the look of well worn humbuckers?

really? to me the JB doesnt look play worn looks more like deliberate abuse than wear. Kinda funny it fooled me I thought both pickups were relics.

 

[formula73]

Re: anyone else like the look of well worn humbuckers?

Hell's yes, I love that look. The stocker Super D out of my 80 Dean's bridge was gnarled and worn and grooved from the strings, a bit rusty on the poles, but had a dead coil. I didn't hesitate to have Bryan Gunsher fix it up, good as new, just to keep that look.

 

[LtKojak]

Re: anyone else like the look of well worn humbuckers?

I HATE relic'ing with a passion.

I wouldn't even touch with a thirty-foot pole a p'up like the one pictured, let alone INSTALL it in one of my guitars.

'nuff said.

 

[formula73]

Re: anyone else like the look of well worn humbuckers?

I HATE relic'ing with a passion.

I wouldn't even touch with a thirty-foot pole a p'up like the one pictured, let alone INSTALL it in one of my guitars.

'nuff said.

Goodness.:rocket:

 

[appar111]

Re: anyone else like the look of well worn humbuckers?

really? to me the JB doesnt look play worn looks more like deliberate abuse than wear. Kinda funny it fooled me I thought both pickups were relics.

Yep, real wear. Except the wear in this case must've mostly just been sweating on it It does sorta look like somebody left it in the ol' relicing tank a little too long though, don't it?

 

[appar111]

Re: anyone else like the look of well worn humbuckers?

I HATE relic'ing with a passion.

I wouldn't even touch with a thirty-foot pole a p'up like the one pictured, let alone INSTALL it in one of my guitars.

'nuff said.

Good for you, nothing wrong with shiny new stuff either! A little curious as to why you chimed in just to say that, but hey, we're all different. I also dig the look of a shiny new black or goldtop Les Paul with shiny new bobbin humbuckers too. Or a Les Paul with double cream pickups, or one zebra, one cream pickup--that's just a viciously cool look.

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: anyone else like the look of well worn humbuckers?

Meh . . . I hate it when my pickups start to get rusty like that. I have a Seth Lover in my Epi dot that's getting all the gold worn off of it and the screws are turning rusty . . . I was thinking of trying to find a newer, less worn looking replacement.

 

[appar111]

Re: anyone else like the look of well worn humbuckers?

Goodness.:rocket:

Ehhh, no biggie, he's entitled to hate this stuff as much as I like it... at least I know if he hops a plane from Italy to the states, he won't be stealing any of my guitars! :bigok:

 

[appar111]

Re: anyone else like the look of well worn humbuckers?

Meh . . . I hate it when my pickups start to get rusty like that. I have a Seth Lover in my Epi dot that's getting all the gold worn off of it and the screws are turning rusty . . . I was thinking of trying to find a newer, less worn looking replacement.

Let me know if you find a replacement and I can take that Seth off your hands neck or bridge?

 

[75lespaul]

Re: anyone else like the look of well worn humbuckers?

I love both looks. It depends on the guitar. I've got a shiny new purple sunburst guitar with gold hardware and a big ol' serpent inlay on the neck. Wouldn't want to put cruddy looking pickups in that. I ALSO have a black Les Paul custom (my namesake) that has the same cream ring, black pickup color scheme as the one in the photo above except mine has gold hardware. It's worn looking and I would definitely put some worn looking pickups in that to keep the look consistent.

 

[appar111]

Re: anyone else like the look of well worn humbuckers?

Yeah, it all depends on the look of the guitar--- I can totally see how a worn looking pickup would look out of place on a new shiny guitar, but would be right at home on something w/ some existing wear and "stank" on it.

 

[Boppy]

Re: anyone else like the look of well worn humbuckers?

The EVH looks fine--it looks similar to the wear and tear on my '76 zebra t-top, but the JB with the rusted screws and pole pieces? I wouldn't have that in my guitar. It looks like garbage and more the case of neglect and abuse rather than normal wear and tear. I don't mind relicing if done in moderation to mimic normal wear, but most of the examples I see make me wonder what on earth happened to make an instrument look so beat to ****e.

 

[King IzzO)))]

Re: anyone else like the look of well worn humbuckers?

Ha, that 490 I sent you looked almost that bad before I cleaned it up and replaced the screws, several tours with a dude who sweats acid will do that. I was impressed with how well it cleaned up, but I guess I shoulda left it like it was.

 

[Kam]

Re: anyone else like the look of well worn humbuckers?

Yeah, I love old cruddy looking pickups. The stock set that I took out of my Westone looked a bit like that, though not quite as bad. They sounded pretty good, too. If I had've got along with the sound just a little better and the polepieces weren't so rusted that you couldn't adjust them I would've happily kept them in there.