Has anyone left stock import pick ups in because they sound great?

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: Has anyone left stock import pick ups in because they sound great?

I really like a lot of the Duncan Design pickups out there, you can get some really good sounds out of them. Not really worth replacing unless you are going for a specific sound.

I agree. I've played those in a good number of Schecters, and I thought that, between the pickups and the guitar, they sounded very good. Touch responsive, go from vintage blues to a metal scream with maybe a volume control tweak, that sort of thing. If more entry-level and mid-price guitars had pickups this nicely matched to them, it could potentially hurt the sales of aftermarket pickups.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Has anyone left stock import pick ups in because they sound great?

+1 for the Duncan Designed P90-style single coils in the Squier VM Telecaster Custom II. Something about the components in the model just seems to combine into a righteous rumble worthy of the Reverend Willy G.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Has anyone left stock import pick ups in because they sound great?

I kept the stock pickups in my Mexican Strat for 7 years. I only replaced them recently because I happened to have freed up a set of CS '54's, and I was going in to do some wiring anyhow. I do like the '54's better, but the stock ones really were just fine. It sounded like a Strat.

I have had several Epis over the years with the stock pickups. Early '90's to early '00's models (made by Samick).

The stock bridge pickup in my Aerodyne Tele is dynamite. The neck pickup is horrible, though.

My two MIJ Strats both have non-original pickups...though I am not the one who changed them.

My ML came with Super Distortions, and I don't think I will be changing them, though I will be upgrading the pots and adding trick wiring. I also put trim rings on them and changed the pole pieces to gold ones.

 

[elelpe]

Re: Has anyone left stock import pick ups in because they sound great?

I've said it before, but I love the stock pickups in the Ibanez ART-100. They are a really good match for that guitar...

I like those ACH pickups in Ibanez semihollow lines. In fact, I still keep the pickups. The guitar has long gone.

 

[Ashurbanipal]

Re: Has anyone left stock import pick ups in because they sound great?

Pups are not a deal breaker for me, unless they're really muddy or something. Usually I work with what I get: with a humbucker it's possible to experiment with air mods, mags, before buying a new pup. Sometimes, however, only a new pup will do...

I kept the stock bridge pu in this guitar because it's hot, fat and nasty (triple mag IBZ); split it's a single coil on some serious steroids. The neck model struggled with articulation and didn't have the same verve. Because these are epoxied into the cover, can't do mods without completely hacking them up, so it had to go.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Has anyone left stock import pick ups in because they sound great?

I think a lot of people try to impose their will on a guitar, as far as pickups go, and it doesn't always work. More people probably "get away" with it when they're less experienced, because they know they want Pickup A, or that their favorite artist uses Pickup B, so they buy based on that and drop it in.

After doing this many years with many guitars, I know that when I find a good deal on a used Epi (LP, 335, SG, etc) that I can safely pull out the stock PU's (unless it's a current production model, which have much better PU's) and put in a set of Duncan PAF's, like Seth's, and the thing will sound great. Yes, some of us do 'force our will on a guitar' because we buy it wanting it to get within a certain tonal range for the genres we play. If you know about set-ups, PU's, magnets, & pots you can 'have you way' with most guitars. If I buy a guitar that sounds great for jazz, or country, or metal, or whatever, as I have, that's not going to fly for me, because I don't play those genres. I will 'force myself' on the wench and turn her into a blues/classic rock player. I see nothing wrong with that, it's something we learn how to do here. It does me no good to have a mellow jazz guitar, twangy chicken picker, or a screaming shred stick. If I happen to buy one of those, it ain't going to stay that way for long. While some choices are better than others, I'm a firm believer that you can play any kind of music on any guitar. I think it's the opposite of what you said, the more experience you have, 'the more you can get away with it.'

 

[Artie]

Re: Has anyone left stock import pick ups in because they sound great?

Even though I bought my Ibby Jetking specifically to install a pair of zebra AII Pros in, I kept the original Super 58's in it for a long time. More than a year, because they sounded good. The AII Pros were a marginal improvement.

On a related note, I installed the Duncan-Designed JB/Jazz set into my Peavey Tele-Gib just so I could sell it. It became one of my favorite guitars. (Still have it.)

 

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: Has anyone left stock import pick ups in because they sound great?

After doing this many years with many guitars, I know that when I find a good deal on a used Epi (LP, 335, SG, etc) that I can safely pull out the stock PU's (unless it's a current production model, which have much better PU's) and put in a set of Duncan PAF's, like Seth's, and the thing will sound great. Yes, some of us do 'force our will on a guitar' because we buy it wanting it to get within a certain tonal range for the genres we play. If you know about set-ups, PU's, magnets, & pots you can 'have you way' with most guitars. If I buy a guitar that sounds great for jazz, or country, or metal, or whatever, as I have, that's not going to fly for me, because I don't play those genres. I will 'force myself' on the wench and turn her into a blues/classic rock player. I see nothing wrong with that, it's something we learn how to do here. It does me no good to have a mellow jazz guitar, twangy chicken picker, or a screaming shred stick. If I happen to buy one of those, it ain't going to stay that way for long. While some choices are better than others, I'm a firm believer that you can play any kind of music on any guitar. I think it's the opposite of what you said, the more experience you have, 'the more you can get away with it.'

What I meant was more along the lines of, "getting away with it because they don't know any better". Buying pickups and putting them in a guitar because they think it'll automatically give them a certain sound; then, if they don't get what they wanted, not knowing if the pickups were even the issue. On the other hand, when someone has the kind of experience you guys have, there's nothing to "get away with", because you're doing it for real -- choosing pickups, magnets, setup parameters, etc. to get something specific in a given guitar.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: Has anyone left stock import pick ups in because they sound great?

Ibanez Super 58. Fantastic stock pickups on my 83 Artist.

yes those things rock

 

[Bludave]

Re: Has anyone left stock import pick ups in because they sound great?

That's basically what I was saying. Someone buys a guitar, usually online,then while they are waiting for the guitar to arrive they order new pickups without knowing what the guitar is going to sound like! That's what I don't get. After a while you know what you want but not all guitars react to pickup changes the same way. No question that a pickup swap can save a Guitar but in many cases what you think is going to happen....... Doesn't.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Has anyone left stock import pick ups in because they sound great?

That's basically what I was saying. Someone buys a guitar, usually online,then while they are waiting for the guitar to arrive they order new pickups without knowing what the guitar is going to sound like! That's what I don't get. After a while you know what you want but not all guitars react to pickup changes the same way. No question that a pickup swap can save a Guitar but in many cases what you think is going to happen....... Doesn't.

As someone who has bought many guitars online, I can say without fear of contradiction that just about any good aftermarket PU will sound noticeably better than the bulk of stock Asian PU's. They just don't have the definition and clarity, or tone quality. So yes, it's perfectly logical to buy PU's for a guitar you haven't played yet. Or for example, if a new guitar has American-made PU's with ceramic magnets, I know that either the PU's or the magnets are getting changed out. This doesn't take pyschic abilities.

In my case, I keep a stash of spare PU's that I got for a good price, and will buy guitars to put them in. I don't see that it's a problem.

 

[Left_Hand_Strat]

Re: Has anyone left stock import pick ups in because they sound great?

the ones in My Vintage Metal Axxe that I bought a few month back are kick ass.... they remind me of a friend's guitar at college a few years back that was fitted with invaders. I won't change the pups in that.

 

[symptom]

Re: Has anyone left stock import pick ups in because they sound great?

I have a Squier Vintage Modified SH tele that came with Duncan Designed PU's. I've put a Jerry Donahue bridge and a Mean 90 neck, but honestly I never get the tones I wanted from it. I don't play this guitar as much as I play my SG, which have all the tones that I want. So, since I don't play this guitar very much, I keep getting myself thinking about leaving the guitar stock and make money with the pickups I've bought.

 

[Dr.J4ckal]

Re: Has anyone left stock import pick ups in because they sound great?

The stock bridge pickup on my J&D les paul deluxe is crazy good. It is made in taiwan. I tried the SH6 but I actually like the stock pickup more. It has this chewy midrange texture, and also crunchy aggresive top end similar to SH6 but more complex harmonics. The neck pickup sucks so I put sh2 jazz in.

 

[chadd]

Re: Has anyone left stock import pick ups in because they sound great?

I want to put something noiseless into my 85 MIJ thinline tele but the bridge pickup sounds too good to swap out.

 

[Jeremiah]

Re: Has anyone left stock import pick ups in because they sound great?

Yamaha Pacifica 604 I've had since 1998. The bridge pickup is a dual single-coil, something like a Stag Mag but with less output, a bit more clarity and a bit less warmth.

 

[FrankyBoy]

Re: Has anyone left stock import pick ups in because they sound great?

I just installed a Dimarzio D-Activator in the bridge of my Indonesian seven string Ibanez RGD7421. The stock one couldn't handle the low B at all, but the D-Activator makes my guitar sound like a chainsaw, which is not exactly what I was looking for.

 

[Grenade]

Re: Has anyone left stock import pick ups in because they sound great?

I have the Duncan Designed HB-102's in my Schecters and I like them, But I am wondering about a mag swap. I put a Seth Lover bridge in the neck position of my lap steel and left the 250k pot because this instrument was way too bright. I love it now, and thats what has me thinking about the mag swap.

 

[loversmoon]

Re: Has anyone left stock import pick ups in because they sound great?

I left the stock pickups in my PRs 245 se so far. Ive toyed with the idea of droppin a 59/custom in the bridge. But I havent decided fully yet. THe pups in there dont sound half bad in all honestly.

 

[AniML]

Re: Has anyone left stock import pick ups in because they sound great?

2+ days and no one has mentioned Danelectro lipsticks??