pup suggestions

Ninja Monkey

Ninja Monkey

New member
What pickups do you suggest for a Yamaha Pacifica, It's a hss guitar(you can see it in my public profile)
Alder body, Maple neck, Rosewood Fingerboard, vintage type vibrato.

Looking for a good noiseless bluesy sound from the neck, a noiseless SC in the middle, and in the bridge a 'bucker that can get a good hard rock sound, output can be high low in the middle etc.

What is your take?
 
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Re: pup suggestions

I feel so, so, helpless without the suggestions of the wise, sage, middle-aged, members of the SDUGF.
 
Re: pup suggestions

If it were me I'd use a Duncan Custom Custom for the bridge and I'd use the Dimarzio Area noiseless single coils.
 
Re: pup suggestions

what don't you like about the current pickups in there? what kind of tone do you want specifically? what amp do you play through?
 
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Bluesy sound from the neck eh.
Well for the bridge I like the PATB3, it's only a little hotter than a standard PAF but it can rock pretty hard indeed. If you want something a bit more rocking you could check out a full sized JB, or even the Jazz Bridge pup. I like the JB in the bridge of a strat type guitar, I haven't used the Jazz Bridge yet.

As for the middle I would go with a Classic Stack Plus.

Now for that pesky neck issue, bluesy is a pretty vague description as far as tone is concerned. BB King, and SRV sound totally different yet totally bluesy. So.....

You could just go for another Classic Stack Plus up there, or if you want something more PAFish maybe the lil59, it doesn't sound the same as the full sized 59, but still a good pickup, one of the best lil buckers IMO.

I have Zero experience with other pickup brands and won't recommend any of those.

I don't know if you have any interest in going all out active, but you could go for the livewire classic set in there as well. Good luck...
 
Re: pup suggestions

super rad ska said:
what don't you like about the current pickups in there? what kind of tone do you want specifically? what amp do you play through?
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With the current pups it sounds lifeless, the SCs sound muddy and the bridge humbucker is awful, Muddy low end, screechy high end(Kinda like Rob Halford's singing :lmao:) Also the SCs don't have enough output. Although it may just be the amp. It's a behringer gm108 v-tone,(read "crappy") it has a decent clean channel with other guitars, and I get my effects from a Boss ds-1 and a ch-1. Everything sounds nice with other guitars, you know. It's just the Yammy.

BTW loudriver I talkin' 'bout SRV kinda tone, forgot to type that part. I didn't take my Ritalin today:)
 
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How dead set are you on the SC's being noiseless?
The SSL1's or APS1's are great single coils, and anything but muddy. If you wanted a little more output maybe the SSL5.
There are always the Ants which are simply top shelf. I have the surfers and I just love them.
If you want noiseless and still retain some kind of true single coil vibe, you can go with the DuckBuckers, Vintage rails, Classic stack plus's or the Live wire classics.
 
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noiseless singles aren't exactly the best out there, they just don't hum under a ton of gain. that said, i'd say ssl-1 for neck and middle(with rwrp in the middle) and a....:?: a hard rockin' pickup in any output range can mean anything...:confused: i'd say go lower output to match the singles though, maybe a '59 for a vintage vibe, or a c5 for a harder-hitting pickup with a touch more compression.
 
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I could probably do without noiseless singles, since I don't use 'em for distortion often anyway, and when I do I have the tone knob rolled down, so it's not much of an issue. As for more definition of hard rock sounds for the bridge 'bucker, something like a bust you in the mouth, thrashy, kinda like mettallica, but more mids kind of sound. Thanks, you guys are the best.
 
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I think a pair of SSL5 of 6 in the neck and mid with either a JB, or a Custom in the bridge would work nicely.
 
Re: pup suggestions

Ninja Monkey said:
What pickups do you suggest for a Yamaha Pacifica, It's a hss guitar(you can see it in my public profile)
Alder body, Maple neck, Rosewood Fingerboard, vintage type vibrato.

Looking for a good noiseless bluesy sound from the neck, a noiseless SC in the middle, and in the bridge a 'bucker that can get a good hard rock sound, output can be high low in the middle etc.

What is your take?
Click to expand...

I'd maybe suggest something other than the usual Custom. Maybe a Screamin Demon. Or, if you like leads, a JB.
 
Re: pup suggestions

Have not heard the new generation of Duncan stacks so take this FWIW but I did try a Kinman a while back and it was very convincing.
 
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Thanks guys, this is the only forum I've ever been on where members actually ANSWER your questions, ya know. I think I'll go CC in the bridge, since I'm a rythym guitar player.( God forbid I try lead, all listeners will throw tomatoes at me.) Undecided on Neck/Mid. I was wondering, does anybody have experience swapping pickguards on Yammy pacificas?
 
Re: pup suggestions

Ninja Monkey said:
Thanks guys, this is the only forum I've ever been on where members actually ANSWER your questions, ya know. I think I'll go CC in the bridge, since I'm a rythym guitar player.( God forbid I try lead, all listeners will throw tomatoes at me.) Undecided on Neck/Mid. I was wondering, does anybody have experience swapping pickguards on Yammy pacificas?
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You mentioned the current HB is screetchy highs. You may be hearing the trem bridge there. So some suggestions for the CC...has a nice 'super-paf' tone with some oldschool, very harmonious OD sounds, can howl (not scream) with heavy distortion, decent harmonics and honey sweet cleans. The CC will certainly give you smoother highs, but it is a pretty flabby pickup on the lows - may not work for a rhythm guy...bugged me. I like that nice woody strat low E string & the CC muddied it up. I had a CC in my superstrat for a couple years (mahogany BUT - pretty dang bright with the pao ferro baord...) as more PAFish buckers (Fred, breed neck) were too edgy. High 'E' around the 12th fret was painful...but the CC low end always disappointed me. My POS Epi SG with a Paf pro had better lows...tried a LOT of pickups - Tone zone, CC, C5 (too bleh for me), Fred, PATB3. The lower output buckers did the screetch thing - PATB3 best of that lot but it had some wierd overtones. Lovely pickup - if it werent for those wierd tones....anyway, finally settled on a JB. Got smooth highs, solid enough low end, screaming harmonics, still can get those oldchool rythm paf-y tones with OD as its harmonics are pretty sweet..but with heavy overdrive it does scream nicely. I like the cleans - more mids than the PATB3 of course.

short answer: PATB3 but if the highs are nasty try the JB next.
 
Re: pup suggestions

assuming that your gui is routed for a humbucker at the bridge (i can't see the photo on your page ; ]), i'd have to suggest that the list of options for your bridge slot will be much longer than for the 2 SCs; i'd look quite seriously into what your options are for your single-coil slots and pick a bridge HB to best complement them.

there have likely been great advancements in terms of quiet singles that i have no idea about...
the pacificas i've checked out have been resonant and playable - chances are, if you pick the right p/ups you'll spend a lot of time in the notch positions where hum vs noiseless won't matter and the tones you could get from the neck and mid spots could be worth it; don't rule out traditional single-coils, particularly for what it sounds like you're going for in this gui.

i've always thought pacificas were underrated, probably because they're yamahas and aren't that pretty, i seriously considered getting a bit frankenstein on one a while ago...
 
Re: pup suggestions

Dave Z said:
You mentioned the current HB is screetchy highs. You may be hearing the trem bridge there. So some suggestions for the CC...has a nice 'super-paf' tone with some oldschool, very harmonious OD sounds, can howl (not scream) with heavy distortion, decent harmonics and honey sweet cleans. The CC will certainly give you smoother highs, but it is a pretty flabby pickup on the lows - may not work for a rhythm guy...bugged me. I like that nice woody strat low E string & the CC muddied it up. I had a CC in my superstrat for a couple years (mahogany BUT - pretty dang bright with the pao ferro baord...) as more PAFish buckers (Fred, breed neck) were too edgy. High 'E' around the 12th fret was painful...but the CC low end always disappointed me. My POS Epi SG with a Paf pro had better lows...tried a LOT of pickups - Tone zone, CC, C5 (too bleh for me), Fred, PATB3. The lower output buckers did the screetch thing - PATB3 best of that lot but it had some wierd overtones. Lovely pickup - if it werent for those wierd tones....anyway, finally settled on a JB. Got smooth highs, solid enough low end, screaming harmonics, still can get those oldchool rythm paf-y tones with OD as its harmonics are pretty sweet..but with heavy overdrive it does scream nicely. I like the cleans - more mids than the PATB3 of course.

short answer: PATB3 but if the highs are nasty try the JB next.
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well see that was your problem right there! mahogany + CC = MUD!

the CC is for bright wood like maple or poplar, not for dark(er), warmer wood like mahogany. I have a CC in my kramer (maple body) and they go great with eachother.
 
Re: pup suggestions

i'm not sold on that, i was loving the CC in my LP and it's a warm beast, just didn't have quite enough low and high peak to leave it in...

that was directly after a JB that had been in for a looong time, mind

in alder the list of options is long, in theory.
 
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