Do we put too much stock in pu's alone?

Do we put too much stock in pu's alone?

  • yes ! i can get a great tone from ANY pickup.

    Votes: 10 20.0%

  • NO!,it takes a certain pickup(s) to help achieve the tone i want.

    Votes: 40 80.0%
  • Total voters
    50
S

shreddin_ED

New member
I was thinking it over and it seems me and many others care more about this part of the guitar than other parts of the guitar:D
the pickup seems to be a central point of tone chasing, the I want EVH's tone guys, the i want whoever elses tone guys?
many overlook the guitar itself,the AMP:eek: ,effects,string gauge/brand, playing style and so forth.
now i realize this is a pickup forum and am not saying the pickup is not crucial but clould it be it has become too crucial to some?
 
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A good pickup will turn a rubbish sounding guitar into an absolute gem, and more often than not make an ok-ish amp totally come to life heh - its one of the most cost effective upgrades IMO...

a nice pickup will bring any guitar to life, but it won't work the other way round ;)
 
Maybe the wrong place to ask this question ;) :D. I think i care about the amp the most. But IMO a good PU can make a (good) amp much better...

*edit*
I was a NO too because i know how crap stocks can be... With a decent humbucker i can get the tone i want i think ...
 
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Marcel said:
Maybe the wrong place to ask this question ;) :D. I think i care about the amp the most. But IMO a good PU can make a (good) amp much better...
Click to expand...

yes i often focus too much on the pickup, and when you think about it a line 6 spyder amp with a great VH type of pickup will not get you a good VH tone whereas a marshall slp with a not so great overwound PAF will? :D
 
i voted yes cause you can make anythign work, but if you have a pup that works well for you it makes it much easier to play. the way i look at it, the closer you get to the sound in your head the easier it is to express your ideas where if the tone isnt what you want it distracts you from playing your best even though it may sound fine
 
I'm torn and haven't voted yet. I want to say yes, on the one hand, because the wood, construction and bridge are the most important things, IMHO. I use the pickups for tuning. I have one guitar, in particular, that I don't think you can make sound bad, short of taking hunks of wood off it.

I want to say no, on the other hand, because I look at pickups as a very valuable tool for fine-tuning a guitar. If you have a guitar that is 90% there, certain pickups will get you the rest of the way, short of a proper setup.

I guess ya... I don't know... :)

Nick
 
ntotoro said:
I'm torn and haven't voted yet. I want to say yes, on the one hand, because the wood, construction and bridge are the most important things, IMHO. I use the pickups for tuning. I have one guitar, in particular, that I don't think you can make sound bad, short of taking hunks of wood off it.

I want to say no, on the other hand, because I look at pickups as a very valuable tool for fine-tuning a guitar. If you have a guitar that is 90% there, certain pickups will get you the rest of the way, short of a proper setup.

I guess ya... I don't know... :)

Nick
Click to expand...
this is why i posted this question,it is kind of a hard thing to decide. i voted NO because i had a specific tone i was shooting for(try ang guess?LOL!) and that tone was attained easier by means of a certain pu:cool:
 
I think the most important ingredient is talent and lots of practice...obviously!

But also, I think the amp is more important than the pickups...assuming you have at least decent pickups.

For example: a guy looking to get EVH tone is going to get alot closer with a nice tube Marshall amp & Celestions and ANY good humbucker then he is with a great humbucker and a little solid state practice amp.

If a guy is looking to sound like his hero and his hero uses a vintage style Marshall amp, I personally think the Marshall amp is crucial to getting that tone and even more important than using the exact same pickup or guitar as his hero.

Marshalls just have such a strong tonal personality...nothing else sounds quite like one, except maybe a nice '59 5F6-A Fender tweed Bassman.

Lew
 
Everything plays a part in your tone, ultimately, but I don't think you CAN over-stress the importance of the pickups. The pickups ultimately allow or limit what you can do.

For example: you can add a ton of gain to a single coil to give it more sustain, but that won't make it sound like a humbucker, period. And the opposite is true, as well. That's why we buy guitars with different woods, pickup config.s, etc.
 
With my amp and surrounding gear I can make anything sound good, but it takes the right pickup to nail down a definitive tone.

I was a NO.
 
The pick-up is like the lens of a telescope.

You can see through a cheap lens, you can live with a cheap telescope housing, but only a good quality lens (pup) will give you clarity and accuracy.

There is no better way to improve your tone than getting hold of some good SDs.

Exactly what SD does to his bobbin of wire is a complete mystery.

I think it's voodoo.


Lee
 
Well.. the answers you provided aren't related...

YES I can get a great tone out of any pickups... (I think :D)

BUT I need a certain pickup to achieve THE tone I WANT.


It should be, IMO :

- Yes, you can get the tone you want from any pickup
OR
- No, I need a specific pickup to achieve the tone I want.
 
I believe I first heard this from Robert "Polishing a turd"

I think you can get carried away with aftermarket pickups. A cheap amp will still sound like a cheap amp even if you are using aftermarket pickups. It may sound a little better ... but not much more.

I feel they have more of an impact on guitars.

Now the question is, do you want to polish a turd? Or do you want to improve an already good guitar? Your choice.

My experience is that I still sound like myself regardless of what type of pickups are in my guitars. I have my preferences to which I will stick with or play around with as I choose, but I think they make up a really small part of your tone and an even smaller part of the overall sound.

In a band situation, I doubt the crowd would notice the difference between a Custom and an Invader.
 
I say "yes" to the original question, but "no" on the 2 choices.

So, "yes" I think we put too much emphasis (and blame) on pickups, but "no" to the poll, because I am now a tone snob and I want certain pickups to get my sounds :D

I have used lots of pickups in the same guitars with my Marshall. The Marshall's tone is definitely the biggest influence on the sound, and some pickups sound real similar when the amp distorts the signal.

When playing clean I think pickup differences are more significant.
 
Steve_R said:
I say "yes" to the original question, but "no" on the 2 choices.

So, "yes" I think we put too much emphasis (and blame) on pickups, but "no" to the poll, because I am now a tone snob and I want certain pickups to get my sounds :D

I have used lots of pickups in the same guitars with my Marshall. The Marshall's tone is definitely the biggest influence on the sound, and some pickups sound real similar when the amp distorts the signal.

When playing clean I think pickup differences are more significant.
Click to expand...

I agree. Lew
 
i have to say i voted no only because there were only two choices. I think some people put too much stock in the pickup that tey install and though it is very important i think the most important part of the guitar is the wood and the quality of that wood. i think that is overlooked sometimes.
 
Robert S. said:
I know nothing about polishing poop.
Click to expand...

D@mn ... must have been somebody else talking about hotrodding entry level guitars and saying stuff about can't polish a turd.

My bad
 
Do you know there's a guy over here in Blighty that goes by the name of Hank Marvin, and a lot of us( Sarga Louts) were inspired to pick up guitars and try to play like him. I've seen more than one guy with all the same gear (including the glasses!) and somehow they never get near his sound. Yet I saw Young lad aged about 9 or 10 playing with a stock Squire strat copy and a little practice amp ( and a zoom 505) nail it. So why do we put so much in store in p/up's etc. Before you ask I'm no better than any one else I've got 4 SD's and go all daft about stuff in music shops. :cool: :confused: :7: :argh: So :- Yes we put too much store in P/ups :- No you can't always get a good sound out of any P/up
 
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