Aceman
I am your doctor of love!
Here at the Seymour Duncan User Group, the members generally strive to provide you with the best and most exacting advice the internet can provide regarding pickup selection and tone. However, because we are trying to "talk" about a "sound," it can sometimes be challenging. Just asking for a a "better" pickup really doesn't help get you what you really need. So, when asking for pickup advice, please be sure to address the following in your initial post. It will really help us get you the tone you seek! The more you give us up front, the more you'll get back, and avoid useless suggestions playing 20 questions.
#1 Be sure to let us know what guitar you have! And, if the wood might be different, let us know that too. A Strat is a very different creature tonally than a Les Paul. And Alder/Maple Strat is very different creature than a Poplar/Rosewood Strat.
#2 Let us know what Amp and effects you are using. MAny times the issue isn't really the pickup, but the amp. Or sometimes a simple pedal is a better solution than a pickup swap. Or the output/gain of the amp might suggest the need for a high or low output pickup.
#3 Try and give us an idea of what style of music you like to play. If you are going for an edgy jazz sound, you'll likely get different recommendations than for a Pantera tone.
Bonus points: If you can tell us anything about the tone of the guitar. For example, some Les Paul's are muddy/boomy in the neck in general and very dark. Other can be pretty bright.
Those are the basics. Now - the real deep tone helpful stuff. Try and tell us what it is you need more/less of in the current pickup you are using. (And let us know what that pickup is, if you know!)
A) Treble: Do you want more/less treble? And what quality of treble? Would you like fat round highs, or sharp cutting highs?
B) Bass: Do you want more/Less bass? And do you want it super tight, or would you prefer a after bass, or do you like sloppy loose?
C) Mid - the most difficult of all: Do you want a boost, a cut or a flat mid response? Would you like that cut/boost in the lower miss, the middle miss, or the upper mids?
D) Output: DO you think you need more output or less out put? And why?
Bonus Points: If you have any playing technique notes that may be helpful such as "I play leads only on the neck pickup" or "I like to vary the output with the volume" or "I switch between the bridge and neck fairly often when playing" And if you know the vol/tone pot values that can be nice too, especially if too much/too little treble is an issue.
Giving us a few notes about those things can be the difference between these:
Original Post: I need some new pickups, I want this guitar to really rock!
Responses: Custom, Custom 8, Pearly Gates, Dimebucker, JB, Seth, SuperDistortion (yes, you read that right), EMG, A2P, Swap the mag to an A8, Distortion, JB with an A2 magnet, Blackout, replace the nut and bridge with a Tone Pros, and so on forever….With 20 additional posts asking for the stuff above.
vs
Original Post: I have a Les Paul Standard, and am playing through an older Marshall Amp. I don't use any gain effects, but like some delay. I play rock/hard rock (Zepplin, Maiden/Priest). I am currently using the stock pickups. The guitar is a bit muddy in the neck.
I'd really like more highs out of the guitar, and maybe a bit of scoop to the mids. Tight bass is important when I play harder things. I really need a little more output to really push the amp though. I'd like to replace both pickups. What do you recommend for the neck/bridge?
Responses: PG/Custom, PG/Custom, 59/Custom, 490 neck/Custom and 500k pots, PG/Custom, 59/Distortion, PG/Custom and 500k pots, PG/59 and 500k pots, PG/Custom.
Tone is a tough thing to tackle without being able to hear it, and we all have different preferences, ears, tastes, and gear. But a lot of guys here have used a lot of gear over the years and most are pretty good dudes that will try to help YOU get the sound you want/need. And while this is the Seymour Duncan forum, at the end of the day, we are all about tone. You'll get recommendations for Dimarzio, EMG, Fralin, Bareknuckles, GFX, etc. if that's what it takes to get you the sound. That said, expect a lot of Duncan responses, and to be fair, they have a very wide range of pickups, and as I said, it is the Duncan forum.
Help US help YOU!!!!!
#1 Be sure to let us know what guitar you have! And, if the wood might be different, let us know that too. A Strat is a very different creature tonally than a Les Paul. And Alder/Maple Strat is very different creature than a Poplar/Rosewood Strat.
#2 Let us know what Amp and effects you are using. MAny times the issue isn't really the pickup, but the amp. Or sometimes a simple pedal is a better solution than a pickup swap. Or the output/gain of the amp might suggest the need for a high or low output pickup.
#3 Try and give us an idea of what style of music you like to play. If you are going for an edgy jazz sound, you'll likely get different recommendations than for a Pantera tone.
Bonus points: If you can tell us anything about the tone of the guitar. For example, some Les Paul's are muddy/boomy in the neck in general and very dark. Other can be pretty bright.
Those are the basics. Now - the real deep tone helpful stuff. Try and tell us what it is you need more/less of in the current pickup you are using. (And let us know what that pickup is, if you know!)
A) Treble: Do you want more/less treble? And what quality of treble? Would you like fat round highs, or sharp cutting highs?
B) Bass: Do you want more/Less bass? And do you want it super tight, or would you prefer a after bass, or do you like sloppy loose?
C) Mid - the most difficult of all: Do you want a boost, a cut or a flat mid response? Would you like that cut/boost in the lower miss, the middle miss, or the upper mids?
D) Output: DO you think you need more output or less out put? And why?
Bonus Points: If you have any playing technique notes that may be helpful such as "I play leads only on the neck pickup" or "I like to vary the output with the volume" or "I switch between the bridge and neck fairly often when playing" And if you know the vol/tone pot values that can be nice too, especially if too much/too little treble is an issue.
Giving us a few notes about those things can be the difference between these:
Original Post: I need some new pickups, I want this guitar to really rock!
Responses: Custom, Custom 8, Pearly Gates, Dimebucker, JB, Seth, SuperDistortion (yes, you read that right), EMG, A2P, Swap the mag to an A8, Distortion, JB with an A2 magnet, Blackout, replace the nut and bridge with a Tone Pros, and so on forever….With 20 additional posts asking for the stuff above.
vs
Original Post: I have a Les Paul Standard, and am playing through an older Marshall Amp. I don't use any gain effects, but like some delay. I play rock/hard rock (Zepplin, Maiden/Priest). I am currently using the stock pickups. The guitar is a bit muddy in the neck.
I'd really like more highs out of the guitar, and maybe a bit of scoop to the mids. Tight bass is important when I play harder things. I really need a little more output to really push the amp though. I'd like to replace both pickups. What do you recommend for the neck/bridge?
Responses: PG/Custom, PG/Custom, 59/Custom, 490 neck/Custom and 500k pots, PG/Custom, 59/Distortion, PG/Custom and 500k pots, PG/59 and 500k pots, PG/Custom.
Tone is a tough thing to tackle without being able to hear it, and we all have different preferences, ears, tastes, and gear. But a lot of guys here have used a lot of gear over the years and most are pretty good dudes that will try to help YOU get the sound you want/need. And while this is the Seymour Duncan forum, at the end of the day, we are all about tone. You'll get recommendations for Dimarzio, EMG, Fralin, Bareknuckles, GFX, etc. if that's what it takes to get you the sound. That said, expect a lot of Duncan responses, and to be fair, they have a very wide range of pickups, and as I said, it is the Duncan forum.
Help US help YOU!!!!!
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