Pickups don't make a difference

Re: Pickups don't make a difference

Funkfingers said:
Wax is important. :fingersx:
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Certainly...most of the worlds iconic pickups never had any:-)

Lack thereof makes a noticeable diff. And, strangely, no, I'm not screwin around either, Im quite serious. I like unpotted pafs and epoxied actives better than standard wax potted stuff
 
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Re: Pickups don't make a difference

Gplayerzzz said:
So what exactly is the question? Even in this vid, you can hear a difference between the models.
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Semi-unrelated question: I do NOT actually like it, but I've been curious about one typical sound so many modern metal pickup demos pull off - that "crunchy highs/CLANGY cleanish lows" thing... Silly djent it might be (ymmv), but HOW? My gear, even with the same guitars and amps and tunings, just sounds different?

Is it string type/gauge? I use 54's for DropD/Estd on 24.75" and 50's on 25.5", usually nickel DR strings... No clang there, bottom end crunches up and distorts evenly with the highs
 
Re: Pickups don't make a difference

Adieu said:
Semi-unrelated question: I do NOT actually like it, but I've been curious about one typical sound so many modern metal pickup demos pull off - that "crunchy highs/CLANGY cleanish lows" thing... Silly djent it might be (ymmv), but HOW? My gear, even with the same guitars and amps and tunings, just sounds different?

Is it string type/gauge? I use 54's for DropD/Estd on 24.75" and 50's on 25.5", usually nickel DR strings... No clang there, bottom end crunches up and distorts evenly with the highs
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Part of that is studio post EQ and how the guitar was mixed. You have to take out the bottom end from either the amp or in the mix but too much bass gives you a CHUG rather then a CRUNCH. Also pup height plays a part as well.
 
Re: Pickups don't make a difference

Adieu said:
usually nickel DR strings...
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Nickel strings? Or Nickel-plated steel strings? Nickel strings like DR "Pure Blues" are very warm sounding and most often used for blues, jazz, and warmer classic rock tones. That may be part of your problem, but somehow I suspect you really meant Nickel-plated steel?
 
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Re: Pickups don't make a difference

thunderkyss said:
I appreciate everyone's help, especially those of you who understood the question.

I found this video (at the bottom of the page) that pretty much answers my question.

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That sums it all. Pretty drastic differences if you ask me. Maybe if you ask players who never thought about a pickup change - only the Dimebucker is different a little. If you ask listeners - same guitar playing metal riffs for 13 minutes, so what?

The main difference is feel and it's personal and different for everyone. It is about fine tuning your axe to the feel and response in your head. Sometimes it is instant sometimes it i so sublte that you need some time to get it but it's always there. Before I settled with the pickups I use I tried everything from everyone and never felt that I'm there. I kept swapping them and whenever I missed something I changed the pickup. Then I just arrived to the point where I felt okay and did not want to change anymore.
 
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Re: Pickups don't make a difference

Steve R. said:
Nickel strings? Or Nickel-plated steel strings? Nickel strings like DR "Pure Blues" are very warm sounding and most often used for blues, jazz, and warmer classic rock tones. That may be part of your problem, but somehow I suspect you really meant Nickel-plated steel?
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Nope, DR pure blues for 25.5" (def pure nickel)/ DR DDTs for 24.75 (not sure, but the feel is very similar to Pure Blues and totally unlike the part-nickel Titefits which i detest)

Its no problem, I dont miss that clangy bottom other guys seem to get, I'm just wondering why they do and I dont... Especially when plugging the same guitars (esp eclipse emgs, before it was a schecter hellraiser - just something i got thrown into a trade, not a keeper and def NOT my baby, but i see soooo many vids with that one, and mine sounded different) into the same 5150-family amps, sometimes even into the same speakers
 
Re: Pickups don't make a difference

thunderkyss said:
I guess I'm alone on this. Especially considering the board I'm on.

But it's been my experience, that pick-up choice really doesn't make a difference if you're going from one kind to a "comparable" type.

Say a PAF to another PAF design.

The only time I heard a difference was when I replaced my SH-1/59 with Seth Lovers & the only "real" difference was that the SLs were more microphonic. Over several years, I've tried several PAF type pickups in two different Les Pauls (a '98 Standard & '10 Classic) & I've yet to find one that truly stands out. Either they're all really good at mimic'ing a true PAF (I've never played the real thing) or.... They're all consistently off.

Now... there's a difference with modified PAFs, or going to something drastically different like Custom Custom... but just from my experience with PAF clones I'm thinking the difference between two "like kind" High output pickups is probably pretty subtle. Like going from a Custom to a JB.

What do you think?
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Btw, is this different guitars? If not, maybe you got a tonally dead dud of a guitar that refuses to resonate or sustain, and thus just isnt letting the pickups do their thing? Or are you soldering them all onto the same old pots/switch/jack, which could theoretically be messed up somehow? I've seen "tonedead" guitar cables that do deliver signal, but just colour it horribly, so wiring or cable can definitely somehow make everything sound wrong, if youre using the same ones, try switching internal wiring and cables. And, of course, try stuff without pedals, some WILL make your choice of pickups rather irrelevant

No offense is meant, just suggesting one possible reason why stuff aint sounding right.
 
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Re: Pickups don't make a difference

astrozombie said:
Like all the **** musicians I know locally talk about how Fenders with Wide Range reissues are **** because the pickups don't compare. What? You've heard them or owned a 70s telecaster deluxe? a starcaster? They just go along with the most popular opinion on the web.
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Glenn. This time, your local gobsh!tes are correct. The re-issue Fender WHR humbuckers are not a patch on the original items. Yes, there are some clever people who can get close by modifying the re-issue pickups with A2 magnets. This process fails to reproduce the physical dimensions of the innards.

I, for one, have never owned a guitar with original Fender WHR humbuckers but one of my school contemporaries did - a black Deluxe. Almost as heavy as another friend's "pancake" body, maple neck, Les Paul Custom and, arguably, sweeter sounding. The neck of the Tele was, essentially, a Stratocaster neck but the frets seemed bigger than normal. (Probably all of that poly varnish!)

In similar vein, no other pickup sounds quite like the double coil monster on a Fender Lead I and III or the fugly offerings on the Gibson Marauder. As yet, there has been no mad rush to replicate those designs.
 
Re: Pickups don't make a difference

It makes a difference to most people, but there are those who don't hear it for one reason or another. No biggie. One of the most obvious ways is to check the difference in how they sound clean and distorted. Almost anyone can realize, hey, this pickup sounds great distorted, but bad clean, or vice versa. That's one big reason i like duncans, jb sh4 and jb sh6 sound good both clean and dirty. Try checking that out. But people playing mostly one style often are looking for narrow dimensions in preferred sound, so they naturally consider aspects that don't impact what's important to them as inconsequential subtleties and tune them out, just as they won't read through this response.
 
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