Lust for Tone Pickups

[thanaton]

Re: Lust for Tone Pickups

Until you actually try them, this is merely an uneducated guess.
I have had some extraordinary pickups that were very expensive. But then I have also had some that were cheap too.

Low Q cables do add clarity, so such a claim can actually be backed up......as your existing knowledge already tells you.
Those who scorn I find are usually bitter that they cannot afford the more expensive stuff, so need to feel better about it

Even after you try them, it's still just an educated guess. Did you perform a double blind test on yourself? Obviously not. Are you hearing good tone, or are you really just hearing -$450.00 trying to justify itself? You can't really know.

That gets to the heart of the matter. In science, the necessity of a double blind test is understood and even required. In the world of pro-audio, be it guitars, amps, you name it, the necessity is not at all appreciated, and never required.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Re: Lust for Tone Pickups

eh, if you think $450 pup's will give you that extra something to make your tone shine..why not? It's your money not mine :lmao:

A word of caution ...$450 tone may not be as good as $1000 tone though..& yup, that's alway's gonna be a problem. What if someone comes up with $1000 pickup's? ..$2000? ..are you really willing to miss out? Stuff to ponder right there..

 

[SJ318]

Re: Lust for Tone Pickups

Yeah,
I don't scorn it as much as I do like feeling better about something I can't afford.
It's a paraphrase from the Greek: "Misery loves company."
Steve B.
Poorer now thanks to 20 years on the road and bad dental hygiene catching up to me at 63 years of age.

 

[AlexR]

Re: Lust for Tone Pickups

Even after you try them, it's still just an educated guess. Did you perform a double blind test on yourself? Obviously not. Are you hearing good tone, or are you really just hearing -$450.00 trying to justify itself? You can't really know.

That gets to the heart of the matter. In science, the necessity of a double blind test is understood and even required. In the world of pro-audio, be it guitars, amps, you name it, the necessity is not at all appreciated, and never required.

For those who existence is preconception, I agree you would never know whether the $$ is the key. Its easy to spot those with obvious preconceptions.....they're often the ones that say 'there's no way that spending x amount on pickups will make you sound a certain amount better', just as much as those who do the opposite.

I am above preconception, hence I evaluate based on what I like to hear. If it sounds good, it is good.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Re: Lust for Tone Pickups

For those who existence is preconception, I agree you would never know whether the $$ is the key. Its easy to spot those with obvious preconceptions.....they're often the ones that say 'there's no way that spending x amount on pickups will make you sound a certain amount better', just as much as those who do the opposite.

I am above preconception, hence I evaluate based on what I like to hear. If it sounds good, it is good.

I'm from the school of thought that say's developing your skills, your ear & your knowledge regarding proper instrument & gear set-ups/dialing good tones in will get you way further down the road to sounding good than $450+ pickups.

Like I said..they're not for me. I'll stick to my SD's/DMZ/Lace's & the odd cool stock or hand-wound pup from which I'll strive to coax some decent tone haha. But if they're for you...sweet ..it's your money

 

[Southbound Suarez]

Re: Lust for Tone Pickups

ha..you just need quicker ears ..not too shabby $20-a-set pickup tone right here...and it even starts out slow enough to tell :laugh2:

What's that you say? I can't hear you for all of the noise. :laugh2:

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Re: Lust for Tone Pickups

:bigthumb:

 

[Southbound Suarez]

Re: Lust for Tone Pickups

You're just, "Hell on Wheels". lol

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Re: Lust for Tone Pickups

...just a dude who won't fork out $450 for pickups...that's all

 

[AlexR]

Re: Lust for Tone Pickups

Your talent will allow you to eek out the best from a set of pickups, or an amp. But they won't turn a Marshall into a Blackface Fender, nor an Epi waxbucker into a PAF clone. Nor a deluxe minihumbucker into a Firebird pickup.

With your set of fingers at any stage of the talent spectrum, there is still the rest of the chain involved.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Re: Lust for Tone Pickups

I agree. Nothing against Lust for tone (except that I don't lust for 'em), but their pup's certainly don't sound as distinctive/different as the difference between those amps/pup's you mentioned. I'm sure there are comparable/identical sounding/better paf clones (which to my ears is what they are) out there for a fraction of the price. Now if you love them anyway..buy them..lust for them.. w/e lol ...but as I said before, they just are'nt for me and not because I'm butthurt I can't afford them

 

[AlexR]

Re: Lust for Tone Pickups

Well, the more extreme examples get used to illustrate the point of course.

But as you start to hone in on the precise details of your ideal sound, then the smaller things become the big things (left to go).

And there's nothing like intimate knowledge of your own rig to make obvious tiny elements that others would be hard pressed to notice.