Expensive pickups in cheap guitars?

[KeeperOS]

Re: Expensive pickups in cheap guitars?

What he said. If the guitar feels/plays good and sounds good unplugged then it can DEFINITELY benefit from good pus.
What makes the difference is whether the old crappy pus mask the good tone of the guitar or will the new good pus mask its' dead tone...

A BIG +1 on hardware; (especially) a bad nut, tuners and/or bridge can really kill the tone/sustain of a good guitar. However it's more of a gamble swapping those out, unless of course you already have the spare parts lying around (or if you're willing to buy them for the test and if it fails swap them back and then have them lying around for the next time)...

Also, right now instruments made in South Korea are THE absolute best bang for buck (Japan being a semi-distant 2nd).
They are relatively inexpensive and depending on the company and/or model they can potentially (after a pu swap) be pitted against even the better liked MiAs...

 

[Diocletian]

Re: Expensive pickups in cheap guitars?

If you have a guitar that you really love playing, but hate the amplified sound from it, I'd think putting in Duncan pickups will really make it a guitar you'll keep for life. Duncans aren't all that expensive, especially for people in the USA with your free shipping offers and all that, so I'd say you should certainly try it.
And Invaders will be a good choice if you want to use it for predominantly very heavy riffage - my Invaders grow on me every time I play them. If you still don't like it, I'd say then you sell the Invaders on eBay, try one more pickup change - a JB or something - and if that STILL doesn't work, you get rid of it.

A guitar that PLAYS so well that you really, really enjoy playing it, deserves a shot at some Seymour Duncans before you give up hope.

 

[PLVTONIVS FILIVS]

Re: Expensive pickups in cheap guitars?

So no negative votes.

It deserves a chance:

 

[Sludgenutz]

Re: Expensive pickups in cheap guitars?

I was one of the fellas that got in on CGord's tip for the $99 blowout 7-string Washburn from music123 early last year. I put in a discounted $60 (and discontinued?) Warmoth bridge pickup, built by Anderson Guitarworks...and it punched up the guitar from dull and ho-hum, to entirely useable. This pickup revealed the absolutely STUNNING sustain and good tone of the guitar that was hidden by the original pickup.

It is up to the player to decide whether a guitar is worth the expense of a new pickup (I only did the bridge for the guitar above). The good news is, the crowd here at SDUFG is far more likely to know the difference between a turd and a viable upgrade.:arms:

 

[blueman335]

Re: Expensive pickups in cheap guitars?

So no negative votes. It deserves a chance:

Absolutely. Look at a few manufacturer's PU charts & think of what direction you want to go for tone, EQ, and output. Narrow it down & look for good deals. You can keep the cost low by getting used PU's on eBay, and doing the soldering yourself. PU's are the heart of a guitar. Upgrading them will always improve your sound.

 

[Mephis]

Re: Expensive pickups in cheap guitars?

Get GFS pickups if it's a cheapie beat around guitar.

If it's going to be your main or your second, invest in expensive pickups.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Expensive pickups in cheap guitars?

Get GFS pickups if it's a cheapie beat around guitar.

If it's going to be your main or your second, invest in expensive pickups.

The consensus on GFS' on this forum is that they are as muddy sounding as any other Asian-made PU, and are not an upgrade. Don't waste your money on them.

You want tone, get American-made. We understand the nuances of what electric guitar tone is all about. You get what you pay for.

 

[Mephis]

Re: Expensive pickups in cheap guitars?

The consensus on GFS' on this forum is that they are as muddy sounding as any other Asian-made PU, and are not an upgrade. Don't waste your money on them.

You want tone, get American-made. We understand the nuances of what electric guitar tone is all about. You get what you pay for.

When and where was this consensus made?

I think it's silly to put $140 in pickups into a $200 guitar. (Or even worse, put a full set in a squier strat) Because you could just buy a $400 guitar and be way better off.

 

[hanumanlangur]

Re: Expensive pickups in cheap guitars?

When and where was this consensus made?

I think it's silly to put $140 in pickups into a $200 guitar. (Or even worse, put a full set in a squier strat) Because you could just buy a $400 guitar and be way better off.

Whoa, whoa. This math doesn't work out. Even with the $200 guitar and $140 pickups, the total cost is only $340. And if you were to get the $400 guitar and be "way better off", it's still not going to sound as good as a guitar with Duncans in it. So you would also need $140 in pickups on top of that to make it sound better than the $200 guitar with $140 in pickups.

I've put $150 in pickups into a $280 guitar, and then swapped the bridge pickup out twice after that, selling the old ones on ebay at a loss. And I replaced the electronics along the way with good quality parts. And when I plug it in and play on it, the only thing I regret is that I didn't get the pickups right the first time. :beerchug:

 

[Rand-O-Monium]

Re: Expensive pickups in cheap guitars?

I've had really good results.
Wait,what's "cheap"?

 

[donahue]

Re: Expensive pickups in cheap guitars?

Whoa, whoa. This math doesn't work out. Even with the $200 guitar and $140 pickups, the total cost is only $340. And if you were to get the $400 guitar and be "way better off", it's still not going to sound as good as a guitar with Duncans in it. So you would also need $140 in pickups on top of that to make it sound better than the $200 guitar with $140 in pickups.

I've put $150 in pickups into a $280 guitar, and then swapped the bridge pickup out twice after that, selling the old ones on ebay at a loss. And I replaced the electronics along the way with good quality parts. And when I plug it in and play on it, the only thing I regret is that I didn't get the pickups right the first time. :beerchug:

Yep, I have $100 worth of pickups in a $40 dollar guitar. And tonewise, I'll put it up against any guitar that has the same PU's as me.

 

[hanumanlangur]

Re: Expensive pickups in cheap guitars?

By putting Duncans in a free guitar, I spent infinity times what I paid for it. *universe implodes*

Just to give you an idea how big that is, it's bigger than a zillion.

 

[KeeperOS]

Re: Expensive pickups in cheap guitars?

As for me, I've paid in techs and parts a little over the amount I first paid to buy my MiM Strat in the first place (but that was for a big part many of our techs being sleazy stealing maggots...).
Like hanumanlangur said, my only regret is not getting it right the first time...

 

[TimmyPage]

Re: Expensive pickups in cheap guitars?

Generally I am partial to Duncans because they tend to have a neutral quality to them that lets the general sound of the guitar ring out alot better. Dimarzios have a quality that take over the tonality of the guitar for the most part, which makes the sound uniquely Dimarzio. (This does not apply to all pickups by both brands, there are certainly exceptions)

To that end, in a cheap guitar Dimarzios are my first choice in a cheaper guitar with meh wood. It completely brings it to life whereas a Duncan would sound 'meh' at best with it.

 

[Robert Delahunt]

Re: Expensive pickups in cheap guitars?

Generally I am partial to Duncans because they tend to have a neutral quality to them that lets the general sound of the guitar ring out alot better. Dimarzios have a quality that take over the tonality of the guitar for the most part, which makes the sound uniquely Dimarzio. (This does not apply to all pickups by both brands, there are certainly exceptions)

To that end, in a cheap guitar Dimarzios are my first choice in a cheaper guitar with meh wood. It completely brings it to life whereas a Duncan would sound 'meh' at best with it.

Well my agathis body LTD guitar sounded loads better, so I don't know if that's totally accurate of a statement, but the jury's still out. And knowing my jury, they're on a permanent vacation in another dimension.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Expensive pickups in cheap guitars?

I think it is far sillier to put expensive pickups in an expensive guitar, really. If you pay that much, you had better get what you are looking for to begin with.

 

[PLVTONIVS FILIVS]

Re: Expensive pickups in cheap guitars?

TwinReverb, did you notice your LTD had balls on the bass side but was absolutely awful on treble? It is as I find the mine. I also read that you put a Hot Rodded combo in. I have been thinking of mounting Invaders to maximize the chunky thing, as my other guitar does everything well but it is not dark if I need.

 

[baritone]

Re: Expensive pickups in cheap guitars?

It depends because, even with expensive guitars, the pickups should match the instrument.

 

[KeeperOS]

Re: Expensive pickups in cheap guitars?

Also, try adjusting pickup and if available, screw coils' height...

 

[Skarekrough]

Re: Expensive pickups in cheap guitars?

I put a set of hand-wound $150 humbuckers and another $40 worth of pots and caps into an Epiphone hollowbody that was purchased new for less than $300.

Of course, I've spent the better part of ten years playing just about every hollowbody I could get my hands on no matter what name was on the headstock, what color it was, etc.

By all accounts the Dot Studio is supposed to be "cheap." For some reason this one just sings and sounds amazing. I could tell when I picked it up the first time.