Sound clips for pickups...don't...just don't

Re: Sound clips for pickups...don't...just don't

A pickup is literally a filter. It does not originate information, it modifies it. The only proper way to evaluate a filter with by feeding an input that is a known quantity. Of course, a YouTube video doesn't give us that, there are numerous unknown variables before and after the pickup in the signal chain. As with so many things in marketing, there real value is in giving you a sense of confidence. You don't really know what you want, you just want to feel good about what you end up with.
 
Re: Sound clips for pickups...don't...just don't

Mincer said:
Well, sound clips are just another way for someone to make a decision. I would assume no one plays like me, through my rig using my guitars. So I think clips are about as good as pictures, descriptions, charts, graphs, and personal recommendations. In any case, none of it matters until I hear what it sounds like in my rig. I gotta take a chance (or use the exchange or return policy).
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Exactly. It's just like in anything else that requires estimates to understand. you have to collect information for every possible source to form an abstraction, the accuracy purely depends on amount and quality of sources + your own biased opinion.

Even when you try the pickup yourself, you're limited knowledge what it sounds like in that current situation.
 
Re: Sound clips for pickups...don't...just don't

Heck, I've had a Jazz bridge in a hollowbody for about a mkonth now and I still
 
Re: Sound clips for pickups...don't...just don't

Nothing that someone else can play can make me like or dislike a pickup. It has to be my hands throught my guitar through the rest of my rig. Heck, I've had a Jazz bridge in an Epi 175 for about a month now and I still don't know if I like it.
 
Re: Sound clips for pickups...don't...just don't

Clips in isolation are useless, IMO.

However, comparison clips like Keith's pickup shootout I find super useful.
 
Re: Sound clips for pickups...don't...just don't

Not using Keith's guitar and amp?

Then that video is of limited use; but still better than the nonsensical fanboy fluff and zealotry, though.
 
Re: Sound clips for pickups...don't...just don't

You're missing so many points here. They are all just indicators. They're frames of reference for people familiar with different gear or whatever. No one ever said they're definitive. Besides, if the manufacturer did a good enough job educating people about their products, no one would feel the need to do that job.
 
Re: Sound clips for pickups...don't...just don't

The old adage, "Don't knock it 'til you try it" applies here.

Because honestly, every new item (hasn't been bought before) purchase a person makes is, at best, an educated guess.
 
Re: Sound clips for pickups...don't...just don't

LLL said:
The old adage, "Don't knock it 'til you try it" applies here.

Because honestly, every new item (hasn't been bought before) purchase a person makes is, at best, an educated guess.
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Pretty much. I was more getting at people basing stuff on dcr, minuscule differences in eq charts, output rainbows, magnet type, etc and then forming opinions with that. Like for example the pegasus vs the custom.
 
Re: Sound clips for pickups...don't...just don't

Well, I base all my pup (& a lot of my gear) purchases on educated guesses. I find that a simple youtube video or clip CAN give me a pretty good idea of what something will sound like & whether or not I'll like that sound..provided it's (demo) not a multi-tracked, effects-laden extravaganza. A room mic or single close mic'd raw demo with a minimum of effects is what I look for. I then COMPARE it to other similar (no fuss/dude jamming on his couch-type) vids & boom..I have a pretty damn good idea of what it will sound like when I'm playing it. Can't say I've ever made a mistake heheh :bigthumb:
 
Re: Sound clips for pickups...don't...just don't

PicoRiveraTele said:
A pickup is literally a filter. It does not originate information, it modifies it. The only proper way to evaluate a filter with by feeding an input that is a known quantity.
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dxlxntxxlxr said:
minuscule differences in eq charts
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I'd still like to know how the response of a symmetrically wound Seymour Duncan pickup somehow becomes scooped, especially so radically as is reported about the 59 or Custom 5.
 
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Re: Sound clips for pickups...don't...just don't

Phantasmagoria said:
Well, I base all my pup (& a lot of my gear) purchases on educated guesses. I find that a simple youtube video or clip CAN give me a pretty good idea of what something will sound like & whether or not I'll like that sound..provided it's (demo) not a multi-tracked, effects-laden extravaganza. A room mic or single close mic'd raw demo with a minimum of effects is what I look for. I then COMPARE it to other similar (no fuss/dude jamming on his couch-type) vids & boom..I have a pretty damn good idea of what it will sound like when I'm playing it. Can't say I've ever made a mistake heheh :bigthumb:
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Dude what is ur profile pic?! Looks so dope
 
Re: Sound clips for pickups...don't...just don't

gregory said:
I'd still like to know how the response of a symmetrically wound Seymour Duncan pickup somehow becomes scooped, especially so radically as is reported about the 59 or Custom 5.
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never understood that either, but then again i dont wind pickups
 
Re: Sound clips for pickups...don't...just don't

dxlxntxxlxr said:
Dude what is ur profile pic?! Looks so dope
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Ha, thanks.. some pup covers I made for a set of invaders a few years ago...

The "warbucker":

Khaki_bucker.jpg


..& the "Bloodbucker"

Bloodbucker.jpg


..used a toothbrush paint & some acid... :D
 
Re: Sound clips for pickups...don't...just don't

I generally agree with the rant. But video reviews give me at least a hint, especially when many pickups are reviewed with the same gear. I ain't good in soldering so I'm kinda averse to the method of trial - buy-install-return-repeat - until I find the right one. I want to buy one, to go to the luthier and to like it. Without the SD forum, the choice would be much harder, though.
 
Re: Sound clips for pickups...don't...just don't

gregory said:
I'd still like to know how the response of a symmetrically wound Seymour Duncan pickup somehow becomes scooped, especially so radically as is reported about the 59 or Custom 5.
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A generally balanced wind with an A5 tends to do it.
 
Re: Sound clips for pickups...don't...just don't

Chistopher said:
A generally balanced wind with an A5 tends to do it.
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More so if the magnet is polished.

Less so if it’s Roughcast and/or Unoriented.

I like my Custom Shop Pearly Gates set best with a Polished A2 neck and a Roughcast A2 bridge.

The Custom Shop PG set came with Roughcast A2 in both pickups but I wanted more clarity from the neck pickup, like my stock regular PGn has.

Switching to a Polished A2, like the regular PGn has, helped.
 
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Re: Sound clips for pickups...don't...just don't

What is the mechanism by which an A5 imparts a dip in the midrange?
 
Re: Sound clips for pickups...don't...just don't

I don't think that it's so much a dip in the mid-range as a boost in the highs and lows.

Sent from my Alcatel_5044C using Tapatalk
 
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