new guitar needs pickups!

fender101punk

New member
building a warmoth jazzmaster with hardtail bridge, mohogany body, maple neck with walnut skunk stripe and rosewood fingerboard. It will have a 2 humbucker config with 2 volume knobs and a 3 pup selector

I play punk/pop punk/rock/classic/alt and I play through a mesa dual rectifier. I want a heavy, crunchy, fat sound!

Was listening to humbucker clips on the SD site and none seemed to stand out to me. I just happened to click on the P-90 phat cat and it had the big ballsy, fat sound I was looking for. but I don't know if this would be a good choice? I hate the feedback that single coils have.....

could you guys give me some suggestions for bridge and neck pups?

*I have an invader in my current guitar but don't like the cleans so I would like something different

thanks!!
 
Last edited:
Re: new guitar needs pickups!

bump

sorry guys, just need some help from the pros :D or atleast someone who can give me some suggestions
 
Re: new guitar needs pickups!

building a warmoth jazzmaster with hardtail bridge, mohogany body, maple neck with walnut skunk stripe and rosewood fingerboard. It will have a 2 humbucker config with 2 volume knobs and a 3 pup selector

I play punk/pop punk/rock/classic/alt and I play through a mesa dual rectifier. I want a heavy, crunchy, fat sound!

Was listening to humbucker clips on the SD site and none seemed to stand out to me. I just happened to click on the P-90 phat cat and it had the big ballsy, fat sound I was looking for. but I don't know if this would be a good choice? I hate the feedback that single coils have.....

could you guys give me some suggestions for bridge and neck pups?

*I have an invader in my current guitar but don't like the cleans so I would like something different

thanks!!

P-90s would work good in a Jazzmaster. I'm surprised you didn't use stock / antiquity / alnico ii pickups for it, since (last time I checked) it came with pickups near the size of, if not the same size of, a P-90. Is this alder body / rosewood fretboard / maple neck? Or poplar body?
 
Re: new guitar needs pickups!

P-90s would work good in a Jazzmaster. I'm surprised you didn't use stock / antiquity / alnico ii pickups for it, since (last time I checked) it came with pickups near the size of, if not the same size of, a P-90. Is this alder body / rosewood fretboard / maple neck? Or poplar body?

Mohogany body, maple neck with walnut skunk stripe, and rosewood fingerboard. I'm only using the jazzmaster body because I like the shape. It's going to be a straight up rock guitar. hardtail bridge

I'm looking for a fat, crunchy, and just a ballsy tone. I play punk mostly. I just mentioned the P90 Phat Cat because it has a really fat tone and I liked it better then the humbuckers on the sound clips on the SD website.

I hate the single coil feedback so if they are noisy I don't want them.

hopefully this is enough info. just looking for some suggestions because all I need is to decide on pickups and I can order the parts.
 
Last edited:
Re: new guitar needs pickups!

I never knew you had a Mesa Dual recto!! Pics please!
And heres my suggestion;
369389.jpg
 
Last edited:
Re: new guitar needs pickups!

Mohogany body, maple neck with walnut skunk stripe, and rosewood fingerboard. I'm only using the jazzmaster body because I like the shape. It's going to be a straight up rock guitar. hardtail bridge

I'm looking for a fat, crunchy, and just a ballsy tone. I play punk mostly. I just mentioned the P90 Phat Cat because it has a really fat tone and I liked it better then the humbuckers on the sound clips on the SD website.

I hate the single coil feedback so if they are noisy I don't want them.

hopefully this is enough info. just looking for some suggestions because all I need is to decide on pickups and I can order the parts.

Depends on your needs. Usually when I think of this combination of woods, I think of the Hot Rodded Combo. But if you're wanting to go P90, you could put a low output, beautiful toned model in the neck and in the bridge, just enough thump for metal. It's totally up to you.

Me, if it were humbuckers, the Hot Rodded Combo for that combination of woods. Other random ideas that I thought of are a set of Filtertron replacements (bridge at like 10k or so), a vintage P90 in the neck and a Custom or even Quarter Pound model in the bridge; a set of mini humbuckers, etc.

But since I have the Hot Rodded Combo, I would've tried something different like, say, maple neck and fretboard, alder body :D
 
Re: new guitar needs pickups!

I just happened to click on the P-90 phat cat and it had the big ballsy, fat sound I was looking for. but I don't know if this would be a good choice? I hate the feedback that single coils have...../QUOTE]

I have the Phat Cats in a walnut build I did last year. Wenge neck with ebony board. I love these pups. Big, bold bass, mids galore and a scorching top end -- one of my favorite pups. I don't think you'd be disappointed.
 
Re: new guitar needs pickups!

I just happened to click on the P-90 phat cat and it had the big ballsy, fat sound I was looking for. but I don't know if this would be a good choice? I hate the feedback that single coils have...../QUOTE]

I have the Phat Cats in a walnut build I did last year. Wenge neck with ebony board. I love these pups. Big, bold bass, mids galore and a scorching top end -- one of my favorite pups. I don't think you'd be disappointed.

this is what I wanted to hear :D I'm looking for 'my sound' so not interested in having a standard tone.

but how much noise do they make? I will be using the bridge pickup most of the time. I have a strat style guitar and the noise is really annoying.

clockpic.jpg
 
Re: new guitar needs pickups!

this is what I wanted to hear :D I'm looking for 'my sound' so not interested in having a standard tone.

but how much noise do they make? I will be using the bridge pickup most of the time. I have a strat style guitar and the noise is really annoying.

Do you have a noise suppressor / noise gate?

I dunno man. I have a stock Strat and I love it. I don't get much hum, and my ME-50's noise suppressor helps a bit (but I don't put it up high because it tends to kill sustain as well)

The stack thing, though, is a good idea, if you really need it. I had some classic stacks once and, despite a krappy guitar, they do what they advertise. They sound a little less like a single coil, just like split humbuckers sound less like a single coil, but close enough to make it worthwhile.
 
Re: new guitar needs pickups!

I actually don't have any pedals. I'm plugged straight into my amp. Want a wah and maybe a tubescreamer though.

If these pickups will give me that fat, crunchy, and ballsy tone im looking for, I'll just buy a noise suppressor if the pickups are noisy.

I'm so pumped for this guitar
 
Re: new guitar needs pickups!

I've been reading reviews and keep hearing they sound thinner then P-90's and only a little bit fatter then single coils.

Maybe I should look more into the dimarzio super distortion, SD cutom 5, alternative 8 SH-15?

Some of you might of been mislead that I want a strat/normal jazzmaster sound? Looking for a crunchy, fat pickup with better cleans then the invader. The output of the invader is fine, just I don't like the cleans and im looking for a different sound since Tom Delonge used the invader when he was in Blink-182//..

any opinions on either of these?
 
Re: new guitar needs pickups!

I don't play that style of music, so take this for what it's worth. If I read your original post correctly, the body is routed for full-size humbuckers, so the Phat Cat would work. They are very nice pickups. I have 2 neck and 1 bridge Phat Cat in 2 guitars. The Phat Cat set in my PRS McCarty standard is really nice. The are true single coils, so there is some hum, but they are noise-canceling when combined and the covers help reduce the noise some -- they are less noisy than normal P90s or Strat pickups. I don't have any trouble with feedback, but I don't use a lot of gain. I suppose the covers might cause some squeal if not properly potted (I had an SM-3n like that once, which SD fixed under warranty). The Phat Cats are big and open sounding and respond well to changes in the volume and tone controls of the guitar. They have some of the fat, raw P90 tone, but not quite as much mid-range as a Gibson P90.

There are lots of other options in humbuckers, and I've liked the SD PAF models I've tried, including the Seth Lover (not the best for high gain I guess), the 59, and the Pearly Gates bridge. All of those can sound fat, maybe fatter than a Phat Cat, but they are not quite as big and open sounding as the Phat Cat.
 
Last edited:
Re: new guitar needs pickups!

I just bought a Phat Cat today to put in the Bridge of my Tele once the bucker-routed bridge arrives. Phat Cats are sick, they sound huge, good crunch and jangly highs matched with the fat bottom. I dig it.

Man, for a second I thought "Fender_Punk" had created a new account.

Nah, if I were too I'd probably be a little more original than that. But it's good to see I'm now the only Fender punk!:D Welcome bro! :beerchug:
 
Last edited:
Re: new guitar needs pickups!

I have a strat style guitar, and when playing with a good amount of distortion, I can hear the twangy sound compared to my fender strat with a SD invader. Don't really want that twangy sound. I'm more for distorted tones then clean tones, but the cleans have to be better then the invader.

I like bands such as blink-182, new found glory, green day, NOFX, mxpx, rise against, and sum 41.

I just found out by watching new found glory's new music video that the one guitarist uses a jazzmaster style guitar (like I want to build) but he has 1 EMG and 1 volume knob. and on the new record, the guitars sound really crunchy and awesome. everyone has EMGs though.. I'm looking for my sound

I like the sound of Gibson LP's. I would consider buying one, but I really don't like the body/bridge.

SH-14 custom 5 sounds like it has a bigger sound then the other humbuckers and the cleans are nice.

I like the big, crunchy, fat, openess of the phat cat, just worried that it's going to sound weak and too trebly.

I wish I could experience them myself before choosing... but can't.

I love the tone from the guys in NFG though
 
Back
Top