Do you feel Boutique pickups are overrated?

[mjarema414]

Just thought I'd throw his out there. I've tried some different pups within the last six months and am finding SD's are just as solid. A lot of solid guitar players use SD's including Haynes, Trucks, and Betts. I just love the tone from these types of players. Granted there is an extremley huge amount of talent, but the way I feel is that more pro players trust SD pups than any other pup. After visiting many forums, it seems like a lot of players keep swapping and spend endless amounts of cash for really expensive boutique pups. Is it really worth it? I guess it is if they find what they're looking for.

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Do you feel Boutique pickups are overrated?

It depends on a lot of factors. Some guys are perfectly happy with off the shelf pickups. those pickups fit their guitars and their ears.

Then there's other guys who really can't tell the difference. YMMV.

 

[uOpt]

Re: Do you feel Boutique pickups are overrated?

The only boutique pickups I have so far are my Antiquities.

The Ants are much more sensitive to not fitting the particular guitar and even to pot/cap mismatches.

I certainly can't live without stock pickups, but the boutique pickups I have do have something special about them. The sound is just different. I also have a covered APH-1 neck and a Jazz with A2, one of which should be very close to the Ant, right? They aren't.

 

[hanumanlangur]

Re: Do you feel Boutique pickups are overrated?

The only boutique pickups I have so far are my Antiquities.

The Ants are much more sensitive to not fitting the particular guitar and even to pot/cap mismatches.

I certainly can't live without stock pickups, but the boutique pickups I have do have something special about them. The sound is just different. I also have a covered APB1 neck and a Jazz with A2, one of which should be very close to the Ant, right? They aren't.

I'm assuming you mean APH-1 neck? Is the A2 Jazz similar to this?

FWIW, the Antiquities have degaussed A2 magnets, and pickups with degaussed A2 can sound quite woody and sensitive.

 

[Yngwiestein]

Re: Do you feel Boutique pickups are overrated?

Is Lindy Frailin and Bill Lawrence considered boutique?

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Do you feel Boutique pickups are overrated?

Fralin, yes. Lawrence, not sure.

 

[Yngwiestein]

Re: Do you feel Boutique pickups are overrated?

Fralin, yes. Lawrence, not sure.

Not overrated for sure then. I like LF pickups quite a lot.

 

[uOpt]

Re: Do you feel Boutique pickups are overrated?

I'm assuming you mean APH-1 neck? Is the A2 Jazz similar to this?

FWIW, the Antiquities have degaussed A2 magnets, and pickups with degaussed A2 can sound quite woody and sensitive.

Yes, I meant APH.

I have tried different strengths A2s that I have here. They don't cause the kind of sound difference that tells the APH or Jazz from the Ant.

 

[DazH]

Re: Do you feel Boutique pickups are overrated?

I've tried two different companies for hand wound pickups, I stopped buying manufactured pickups ever since. I think it's more likely that i'm just getting exactly what I want. Rather than what might be roughly what I want.

 

[kevinT]

Re: Do you feel Boutique pickups are overrated?

I think the key benefit that folks value most from boutique makers is that one on one personal attention that a big company can't provide. A person can contact a boutique maker/owner and speak to him directly to discuss their tonal needs. Of course the maker must have a decent product to begin with.

 

[BloodRose]

Re: Do you feel Boutique pickups are overrated?

It seems to me like this.... Haynes, allman and many others use/used Duncans or even stock pickups. Duncan makes many pups to modify your sound..
Many boutique makers, make pickups aimed at copping the famous sounds of others.
I mean a Custom is a Custom. A set Rebel yell set or miracle man or Stormy Monday pickup has a specific goal..

 

[Johtosotku]

Re: Do you feel Boutique pickups are overrated?

I haven't really tried any true boutique pickups thoroughly. I find myself liking many stock pickups on guitars, even some cheapo japanese ones. So I'm quite skeptical over the idea of huge differences between boutique and regular manufacturing. But I'd have to try a legion of them to be able to truthfully compare. And many respectable musicians seem to find a difference, so maybe I should give them a try. But I'm in no hurry.

 

[formula73]

Re: Do you feel Boutique pickups are overrated?

With all the ridiculous stuff contained within Duncan's and Dimarzio's lines, I don't see why anybody would need something more. I have a set of Manlius Wurstkotzenbuckers and while they're nice pickups, they're not much more special to me than a Custom Custom/59.

I'm not the greatest player in the world by any means, but I think a whole lot of people hide their inability to play behind expensive, boutique-y 'tone'. It's sad, IMHO.

 

[mjarema414]

Re: Do you feel Boutique pickups are overrated?

I think the key benefit that folks value most from boutique makers is that one on one personal attention that a big company can't provide. A person can contact a boutique maker/owner and speak to him directly to discuss their tonal needs. Of course the maker must have a decent product to begin with.

Very true. I can say that my experiences have been positive as well and they pretty much answer any question.

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Do you feel Boutique pickups are overrated?

I'm not the greatest player in the world by any means, but I think a whole lot of people hide their inability to play behind expensive, boutique-y 'tone'. It's sad, IMHO.

No amount of gear in the world will hide anyone's inability to play.

The closest anyone gets to hiding it is with super-saturated beehive gain that makes all pickups sound alike.

 

[formula73]

Re: Do you feel Boutique pickups are overrated?

No amount of gear in the world will hide anyone's inability to play.

The closest anyone gets to hiding it is with super-saturated beehive gain that makes all pickups sound alike.

I'll agree with that to a point, but running high gain also means you have to work very hard on string muting to play cleanly, and that's good for your technique. The point I meant to make is that a lot of guys will spend all their time searching for that particular sound (which isn't that different from a lot of other tones) instead of focusing on the actual PLAYING part. In the grand scheme of things, that's not much different than guys like me who have strayed from practice to waste time on guitar forums. :doh:

I've heard great unknown local blues guys backing up a singer tearing the hell out of a stock bolt-on plywood Epi LP special through some nameless archaic ss amp. To me, these guys don't need boutique anything.

 

[Artie]

Re: Do you feel Boutique pickups are overrated?

My take on this is that the entire line of Duncans are "boutique". It wasn't that long ago that Seymour was hand-winding a few pickups for a few people. They were so good that the company grew. And grew. They're still the same pups, built, more or less, by the same folks. Just now they sell so many we forget that they're still boutique.

So, no, I don't feel that boutique pickups are overrated.

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Do you feel Boutique pickups are overrated?

I'll agree with that to a point, but running high gain also means you have to work very hard on string muting to play cleanly, and that's good for your technique.

It's good for high gain muting technique, but if you're not REALLY careful, the highly compressed nature of the sound will waste away your picking technique with dynamics or to keep an even volume from picking, hammer-ons and pull-offs.

The point I meant to make is that a lot of guys will spend all their time searching for that particular sound (which isn't that different from a lot of other tones) instead of focusing on the actual PLAYING part. In the grand scheme of things, that's not much different than guys like me who have strayed from practice to waste time on guitar forums. :doh:

I disagree. It takes very little time to swap a pickup or a cap or pot, so any time wasted is on video games or something else unproductive. A lot of us spend time on the forums on downtime at work when we can't practice anyway.

I've heard great unknown local blues guys backing up a singer tearing the hell out of a stock bolt-on plywood Epi LP special through some nameless archaic ss amp. To me, these guys don't need boutique anything.

A good player can make almost anything sound good, but better gear means he won't have to work quite as hard at it.

 

[OlinMusic]

Re: Do you feel Boutique pickups are overrated?

PER PRICE - YES!

Unless you talk about guys like ZHANG who are well priced.
$300 - $500 etc for pups? Suuuuuuuuuuuuuure, once I have 2 world tours and go platinum.

 

[Yngwiestein]

Re: Do you feel Boutique pickups are overrated?

Would Antiquities be considered boutique pickups?