I think I dont like high output pickups anymore!

J

J.LaGrassa

New member
Man I tell you I tried and tried to go back to hotter pickups but I feel the Pearly Gates neck & bridge got the best of me and my Les Paul they rock, they have soul, they can be sweet or get nasty. I have been going back and forth with the Custom 5 or a Bill Lawrence L500XL thinking I need that power only to realize I dont care for them anymore it seems I have less control over my tone.

The music I play these days is a lot less agressive sounding but I still like to tear it up with the band when i can and the Pearly Gates will let me do that no problem!

Have any of you gone from hot pickups and switched to lower output and stuck with them, maybe it's an age thing I'm 48 now and have been playing for 33 years:smack:
 
Re: I think I dont like high output pickups anymore!

I had played super D's and JB's for about 3-4 years now. I put in an Air Zone a few months back and enjoy medium output pickups more now.
 
Re: I think I dont like high output pickups anymore!

..and I thought I was the only one feeling that way. I still have affection for the PATB-2 - because it stays pretty expressive for being such a HO pup (it doesn't act much like many HO pups do). I think I have come to the conclusion that a PG guitar and a PATB-2 guitar keep me pretty content.
 
Re: I think I dont like high output pickups anymore!

...I don't get high output pickups.

...low output. :bigthumb:

Just turn up the gain :laugh2: and they don't sound so mushy and undefined either... and you don't have to keep your amp on one to get cleans...
 
Re: I think I dont like high output pickups anymore!

I just got my first PAF-style set (from Manlius, review to come) and they do metal just as well, arguably better, than my EMG's. I used to be all about ceramic mags and double digit ouput ratings... now I may have been converted to the "Let the amp provide the gain" camp.
 
Re: I think I dont like high output pickups anymore!

Well then, if one were to shy away from the JB, what would be the closest medium output pup for the bridge?

Noth
 
Re: I think I dont like high output pickups anymore!

I'm weird because I like fairly stout single coils in the bridge slot...but I don't really like high output buckers. Both my R8 and my CU24 both have the 78 in the bridge, and I can't see changing that out for anything resembling long term.

noth said:
Well then, if one were to shy away from the JB, what would be the closest medium output pup for the bridge?

Noth
Click to expand...

Unfortunately nothing I've encountered in the SD line seems anything like the JB.

I think the Brobucker is cool because I think it sounds like the love child of a JB and a C5

Luke
 
Re: I think I dont like high output pickups anymore!

I still prefer High output pups. I don't care for the looseness of lower output pickups for the most part, I prefer the solid punch of a nice hot pup. I use a Line 6 amp so I don't have to try to drive the amp to get distortion, but I find that the amp likes a hotter signal.
 
Re: I think I dont like high output pickups anymore!

In the past, I sort of went through phases. Now, I've got a decent number of guitars, so I've listened to a lot of pickups in all of them, so I designate a certain vibe to each guitar. I don't go through a lot of guitars....I have a stable of guitars I've bonded with, so I use both low output and high output.

Amps is where my real passion is, so having guitars that cover all bases makes it more fun. Some amps really thrive on medium/high output pickups, and some sound far more toneful with vintage output pickups.

My favorite strat pickups are Chubtone 69's and 63's. My favorite humbuckers are Brobucker/Jazz, Seths, and C-5/59. Lately, I've been digging the Custom again, but it's not the most versatile....it just plain rocks. The Custom is the hottest pickup I'd ever use.
 
Re: I think I dont like high output pickups anymore!

Well, the exact opposite happened to me recently. I used Pearly Gates bridge
in my Strat and though it sounded good, but still wanted something more.
You know the feeling, it's good but you want to see if it could get any better.
So I bought a Custom Custom and found peace, at least for a while. I realized
that to get a really smokin' hard rock sound out of my Marshall I need to push
the preamp a little harder, because the Marshall is just not so high gain in
modern standards. Now I think the CC is the best pickup for my Strat. It
reminds me of EVH's sound on the 1984 album, which is great.

Maybe all this will change in the next fifteen years, but at the moment this
is the case.
 
Re: I think I dont like high output pickups anymore!

I'm the opposite of Luke Duke, or something.

I can't stand a hot single coil. But that's cause I'm picky about single coils :laugh2:
 
Re: I think I dont like high output pickups anymore!

i just replaced my JB with pearly gates last week and really enjoy PG's medium output..it just sound right for me...
 
Re: I think I dont like high output pickups anymore!

Super D's bridge and PAF's neck. Thats the sound of 70's rawk!
 
Re: I think I dont like high output pickups anymore!

In the beginning I was going only for hi-output. Then I changed my mind and started using low-output. I liked the tone very much but something was missing.:eek13: As far as gain goes it was ok, no problem but, I wanted more punch and tightness and you know that very rapid hard snarl. When I put a hi-output pup again I liked the feel but wanted a better tone.:smack:
Now I'm willing to use any of them (hi or low) but for the right situation, I don't push the low-output pups to play metal or the hi-output ones to play blues or similar (always talking about bridge pups - in the neck I always use low-output pups now).
After a quite amount of swaps, testing and search and because I'm more on the heavy side of music I found a pup that overshadows all my rest. The BL L-500XL (both in tone and feel).
 
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Re: I think I dont like high output pickups anymore!

noth said:
Well then, if one were to shy away from the JB, what would be the closest medium output pup for the bridge?

Noth
Click to expand...

I like the air zone as that alternative. I have been a JB guy for a while. This is the only other pup that has made me happy enough to rarely play my JB guitar.
 
Re: I think I dont like high output pickups anymore!

danglybanger said:
I'm the opposite of Luke Duke, or something.

I can't stand a hot single coil. But that's cause I'm picky about single coils :laugh2:
Click to expand...

I say that, but my strat has A2Ps in the neck and middle, my bridge pup is like an un-aged Texas Hot Ant. So it's hotter than the A2P, but it isn't double digit. I feel like my favorite tones live in a range that is a bit below 10k DC resistance. I haven't got my Tele there it's still got the Floor Shop Custom Broadcaster, and I'd like something a bit hotter, but not much.

I liked the QPs in my Tele, and I think my P90 Customs in my Godin sound nice....as far as real high output pups go.

Luke
 
Re: I think I dont like high output pickups anymore!

Whenever I've tried high output humbuckers, I became very unsatisfied with them. I've not tried any of the Duncans, but I really should. Too many high output pickups don't get a good clean sound for my ears. I've been wanting to try an a5 custom/'59 hybrid. Sounds like it might work for me.
 
Re: I think I dont like high output pickups anymore!

Many years ago I had a couple of guitars with Super Distortions and PRS HFS's in them. But in the early 90's I tried a Custom Custom, and then a Full Shred in another guitar, and decided I liked the tone of those.

I've got guitars now with all kinds of pickups, but they're all either medium (Custom Custom, Full Shred, Custom 5, PAF Pro, PATB-1, and one with a Custom) or vintage output ('59, Pearly Gates, and one neck Alnico 2 Pro).

For singles, it's mostly vintage to medium output too. I have one guitar, used mostly at gigs, with a Tone Zone S at the bridge, which I guess is considered high output. It sounds great with the Li'l 59's at the middle and neck.
 
Re: I think I dont like high output pickups anymore!

It's like cars and girls, you need a couple of each kind.
 
Re: I think I dont like high output pickups anymore!

Used a JB(b)/59(n) combo in my '84 Les Paul for the last 15 years.

I'm really tired of the JB especially - lately to my ears it doesn't mix well with the 59 neck - too much mids, not enough bass, just too modern sounding.

I've got a '70s Gibson T-Top being shipped to me. At 8.5 ohms this particular T-Top reads a bit hotter than most - so I'm going to put it in the bridge.

I may put the original Gibson pup back in the neck or leave the '59 not sure. The 59 can be a bit bassy but it's also bright at the same time. I really can't remember how the original Gibson neck pup sounds - I think it had a tad less bass and was a bit more mellow in the highs.
 
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