Cheaper guitar + SD's = Good guitar?

T

Tol

New member
Hi

I posted earlier about switching out pickups, but I think I will just do it with a different guitar. How good would an guitar in the range of 200-400 sound with duncans? (jazz/jb/full shred/dd/dime/pg) Anyone have something like this? Any recommends on a cheaper guitar to mod /w good pickups?

Thanks

Tol
 
Re: Cheaper guitar + SD's = Good guitar?

Rite here!
well actually the body of my guitar is from a $500 deluxe series strat, but the neck is from a used MIM standard series that I picked up pretty cheap... got a couple duncan humbuckers in there and that baby sings!:)

Seymour Duncan's are just wonderful :burnout:
 
Re: Cheaper guitar + SD's = Good guitar?

I'll say this: The right pickups in the right guitar = "awesomeness."
Having said that, Duncans can sure make a POS guitar sound decent.
 
Re: Cheaper guitar + SD's = Good guitar?

i got anderson H3 and duncan 59 on a washburn wi64 idol series guitar and the sound is FANTASTIC coming form a pretty cheap guitar,250 bucks used.
better than epi les pauls and as good as my strat plus.
A VERY UNIQUE SOUND INDEED
 
Re: Cheaper guitar + SD's = Good guitar?

I have two cheapo guitars with good pickups on it (Duncans and DiMarzios) and the tone got a lot better when I installed them. It make them useable guitars. But when I compare them with my good quality guitars then I can perfectly state the difference in tone. The well constructed guitars have a more complex tone throught pickups. Also the feel of the neck it's smoother and the responsiviness it's greater.

My conclusion is that good pickups are allways worth intalling when you like the way a guitar plays. If the guitar rattles or buzzes then you better look for a replacement ;). But pickup swap won't make your guitar the same quality as a 1500$ one. And, as your skills develope, you'll notice the differences in construction between necks, body, parts assembly and not only pickups.
 
Re: Cheaper guitar + SD's = Good guitar?

All my guitars are inexpensive, and I like them all. (All Duncan-ized.)

The Johnson Strat is surprisingly nice for a little more than a bill. Used Peaveys are always a good bargain. Patriots rarely go for more than 2 bills, sometimes for as low as $60 to $75. Those are American made, solid workhorses.

The nice thing about cheap guitars is, they leave a lot of room in the budget for personalized upgrades and mods. You can turn them into fairly high-class axe's.
 
Re: Cheaper guitar + SD's = Good guitar?

ArtieToo said:
The nice thing about cheap guitars is, they leave a lot of room in the budget for personalized upgrades and mods. You can turn them into fairly high-class axe's.
Click to expand...

+1

My friend lives by that standard. He usually will use a Squier over a Fender because he like the cheap unfinished nexts better. He just drops in some duncans and it his guitars get a really decent sound.
 
Re: Cheaper guitar + SD's = Good guitar?

Whats the point of buying an expensive guitar you'll know you'll want to change the pickups in. Thats part of that hefty price tag remember.
 
Re: Cheaper guitar + SD's = Good guitar?

I don't really like the "cheap guitar" variable as the quality can be very very good at many price levels.
So.....

Bad guitar + bad pups=bad tone and no playability
Bad guitar + Good pups=ok tone.....but you still won't play it so what's the use!
Good guitar + bad pups=ok tone.....You are comfortable playing it but aren't satisfied with the tone.

Good guitar + Good pups=Great tone, love to play it....day dream at work or school about it........life is good!
 
Re: Cheaper guitar + SD's = Good guitar?

hey look, i have an Ibanez GRX40 (sells for $150 new today). I've been having it for about 7 years and it's still a decent guitar. I Dropped a JB in it about 5 years ago and it became a tone machine. I recorded 7 songs with it (between 2 bands), played many live shows, and got great complements for my tone. One guy even called it "Unbelievable." Yeah, you can get a cheap guitar and put some good pickups in it and have a good guitar!!
 
Re: Cheaper guitar + SD's = Good guitar?

JumpMarine said:
I don't really like the "cheap guitar" variable as the quality can be very very good at many price levels.
So.....

Bad guitar + bad pups=bad tone and no playability
Bad guitar + Good pups=ok tone.....but you still won't play it so what's the use!
Good guitar + bad pups=ok tone.....You are comfortable playing it but aren't satisfied with the tone.

Good guitar + Good pups=Great tone, love to play it....day dream at work or school about it........life is good!
Click to expand...

+1. that sums it up for me too.
 
Re: Cheaper guitar + SD's = Good guitar?

matt_transition said:
Whats the point of buying an expensive guitar you'll know you'll want to change the pickups in. Thats part of that hefty price tag remember.
Click to expand...

Because you know the pups in it aren't for you, or you are looking for something different than the pups are willing to offer.

<----right here case in point! :laugh2:

The PRS pups were good, but not what I wanted. So I played the guitar for an hour my buddy played it for 15 minutes, and then the massacre began! :)

Luke
 
Re: Cheaper guitar + SD's = Good guitar?

The wrong pickups can make a $3000 axe sound like a turd.

The right pickups can make a $200 axe sound great.

It's all about being able to put a pickup in a guitar that will best compliment the axe. For me, comfort is #1 in any guitar. I've got an 8 year old Ibanez RG170 (retailed 8 years ago for ~$250 if memory serves, maybe less) that has always been comfortable. The body wood is a mess to look at, but after a new top, all new hardware and electronics, the thing screams. Body wood/construction, while it does matter, is such a small piece of the tone equation that it's pretty easy to see how buying a cheaper guitar and hot-rodding it can produce a guitar that plays and sounds every bit as good as its more expensive counter-parts. It may not look as pretty on the wall, but how many of us use our guitars for decoration?
 
Re: Cheaper guitar + SD's = Good guitar?

Cool I was thinking the RG series too. I'm looking for something like a project guitar. Something that I can rip out the guts and mod, and still have my other guitar just in case!

Thanks guys

Tol
 
Re: Cheaper guitar + SD's = Good guitar?

matt_transition said:
Whats the point of buying an expensive guitar you'll know you'll want to change the pickups in. Thats part of that hefty price tag remember.
Click to expand...

But then you have the other side of the story, why bother buying a cheapo guitar that plays like crap, doesn't stay in tune and is gonna fall to bits in a year or two anyway?

I have a couple of expensive guitars and a few old beaters, but I still like my LP best, you can feel the construction difference.
 
Re: Cheaper guitar + SD's = Good guitar?

It all depends on the guitar. some cheep guitar or great some aren't. I would say on average a $200 guitar with good pickups is better then a $600 guitar with crappy stock pups. on the other side a $600 guitar with good pickups installed will sound better then a $200 guitar with good pickups installed.
 
Re: Cheaper guitar + SD's = Good guitar?

If you take a cheapie guitar and put Good Duncans in it there's a good chance it'll sound like a totally professional guitar. That doesn't mean it'll play like one if the frets are poorly finished, etc. Most of my Strats are inexpensive made in Japan Fenders that I paid less than $200 each for used. They sound (and play!) killer...TOTALLY PROFESSIONAL tone and playability. So it kind of depends on the guitar. If you have a nice, resonant, great playing guitar that came with lousy pickups, the odds are you'll also have a great sounding guitar too, if you switch to some nice Duncans.

Lew
 
Re: Cheaper guitar + SD's = Good guitar?

JumpMarine said:
I don't really like the "cheap guitar" variable as the quality can be very very good at many price levels.
So.....

Bad guitar + bad pups=bad tone and no playability
Bad guitar + Good pups=ok tone.....but you still won't play it so what's the use!
Good guitar + bad pups=ok tone.....You are comfortable playing it but aren't satisfied with the tone.

Good guitar + Good pups=Great tone, love to play it....day dream at work or school about it........life is good!
Click to expand...


I wonder how many younger guys remember the day when you bought a
*cheap* guitar and had strings that were an inch off of the fretboard. I hardly ever see junk like that anymore. I don't know that there really are guitars made that poorly anymore. If there are I haven't seen them. That having been said, there are some guitars I wouldn't touch.

But I own a standard Strat, a 1980's Squier strat, a Samick tele, and Epiphone V and an Epiphone Les Paul standard. There are some really nice workingman's guitars out there today. But many of those guitars with the right pickups are very nice guitars. There is some really high priced junk out there too. Don't let the high price snobs convince you any differently. In those cases its a status symbols instead of a instrument.
 
Re: Cheaper guitar + SD's = Good guitar?

matt_transition said:
Whats the point of buying an expensive guitar you'll know you'll want to change the pickups in. Thats part of that hefty price tag remember.
Click to expand...
Not really. A good pup will make a cheap guitar sound much better but not play better.
Harmonics, shreddin, sustain etc. depend greatly on the guitars construction quality. You don't pay just for the sound, you pay for playability
 
Re: Cheaper guitar + SD's = Good guitar?

I just bought a Peavey Predator Plus EXP 6 days ago. I'm loving it and i almost have enough saved up for pickups.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top