Cheaper pickups for cheaper guitars

G

guitarhero1983

New member
Hi All, I want to install pickups on my old Daion electric guitar. It was my first guitar and I want to bring it back to life. It's only a cheap guitar, so what's the deal with cheaper brands like Bill Lawrence? Are they comparable to SD's?. What else is worth a look at?

Due to availablity it's probably better I stick to "common" or "mass produced" brands.
 
Re: Cheaper pickups for cheaper guitars

They're pretty cheap, and most people seem to think they sound pretty good.
 
Re: Cheaper pickups for cheaper guitars

The Mighty Mite Motherbuckers are awesome for their price. Half Dimarzio Super Distortion and Half Duncan Distortion.
 
Re: Cheaper pickups for cheaper guitars

The Bill&Becky Lawrence pickups aren't any worse than SDs but they only have "weird" models with blades and whatnot.

You can find some common SD pickups cheap on ebay.
 
Re: Cheaper pickups for cheaper guitars

The best way to get cheaper PU's is to buy good ones used, like Duncans, DiMarzios, Gibsons, etc. They'll run close to what a new set of imports do, and you'll get a lot more PU for your money.
 
Re: Cheaper pickups for cheaper guitars

I had nothing but success with GFS. Also, the uncovered duncan designs can sound pretty good too if you stick with high output: distortion or detonator.
 
Re: Cheaper pickups for cheaper guitars

Hands down, fav cheapo import pup is the Detonator. That thing rips faces off.

Bill and Becky are crazy good, regardless of the money. They ALSO do more than blades...
 
Re: Cheaper pickups for cheaper guitars

Try Duncan Designed. You can get an Invader (Detonator) for about $30 on Amazon. I don't know what Duncan's charging for them.
 
Re: Cheaper pickups for cheaper guitars

I've been teaching guitar to high school students for years, and they often want to upgrade their pickups, but don't want to pay the 70+ dollars for top of the line brands.

I've found that Epiphone G-400 (SG) bridge and neck pickups sound great for rock and blues. The Epiphone Les Paul (Standard) Hot Bridge pickup is also good for someone wanting a scorching hot bridge. (the neck pickup from the same guitar is worthless) I always remove the cover if they have them, because they are loaded with tone deadening wax.

Best thing is, people ditch these so often you can get them for near nothing on ebay. I've bought SETS for 12 dollars before.
 
Re: Cheaper pickups for cheaper guitars

yep gfs. iv installed them in quite a few axes (different models) they are all pretty good.
 
Re: Cheaper pickups for cheaper guitars

blueman335 said:
The best way to get cheaper PU's is to buy good ones used, like Duncans, DiMarzios, Gibsons, etc. They'll run close to what a new set of imports do, and you'll get a lot more PU for your money.
Click to expand...

+1 - for $40-50 it's well worth it; some pups I bought were pretty much new. Gibson pups even used tend to be more pricey than a SD or DiM though.

The only problem is being in for a long vigil if you want something particular. I was buying some pups for over a period of a few months for a guitar I was doing up because of this.
 
Re: Cheaper pickups for cheaper guitars

What's interesting to note, is that GFS sells a lot of pickups every month and you rarely see many of their pickups used on Ebay. Not a lot of people getting rid of their GFS pickups.
 
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