The LEAST Versatile Pickup
- Thread starter Wayne27
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Rex_Rocker
Well-known member
Filtertrons, IMO. Or something REALLY bright and REALLY low output.
Or to the opposite side of the spectrum, something REALLY dark and REALLY high output like the Slug, maybe.
Or to the opposite side of the spectrum, something REALLY dark and REALLY high output like the Slug, maybe.
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This was my answer. Not only are they not versatile, they sound like ass.
Spaghetti Bolo
New member
Blackouts Metal. High gain honk and nothing else.
trevorus
Modsterbator
I feel about the same about that pickup. I've got a 57/66 set in a Kramer, and it has much more character and versatility.
Lucius Paisley
Well-known member
JB.
:lmao:
:lmao:
weepingminotaur
Well-known member
Of the stuff I've got in guitars, I'd say the Nazgul. What it does, it does very well (metal/hard rock), but it's definitely the least versatile bridge pickup in my arsenal (JB, Pearly Gates, Full Shred, Black Winter).
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Well, thinking about this, there are lots of pickups that are good at just 1 thing. Something like the Invader, SLUG and Hot Rails are designed for essentially one kind of sound (at least in series). When you start splitting them, or putting them in parallel they get more useful.
freefrog
Well-known member
IME, the least versatile is any high output humbucker with dual conductor cable or wired without split/ parallel options... My first aftermarket bridge HB was a DiMarzio X2N and it had one single sound (based on its ability to overdrive anything). I hadn't yet learned to work with pots but I remember my volume control as being practically an on/off switch : it didn't clean up the sound like with a good classic humbucker.
I don't see at all low output pickups as being not versatile.
To expand the versatility of lipsticks, just put two of them side by side in a HB slot, with a series / split switch. Wire them to 500k pots and a no-load tone control.
Filter'Tron's are actually quite versatile IME... They just need to be really close to the strings. That's where their double thick magnets make a difference (Larry DiMarzio was fond of these double thick Gretsch A5 bars, for the record, and by design, a Super Distortion is not unlike a Filter'Tron with four times more muscle. Try one wired in parallel to see what I mean). If the voicing of Filter'Tron's is still too bright, add a switchable 3.3nF capacitor in parallel with the pickups from hot to ground. It will make them sound just like P.A.F. clones.
I don't see at all low output pickups as being not versatile.
To expand the versatility of lipsticks, just put two of them side by side in a HB slot, with a series / split switch. Wire them to 500k pots and a no-load tone control.
Filter'Tron's are actually quite versatile IME... They just need to be really close to the strings. That's where their double thick magnets make a difference (Larry DiMarzio was fond of these double thick Gretsch A5 bars, for the record, and by design, a Super Distortion is not unlike a Filter'Tron with four times more muscle. Try one wired in parallel to see what I mean). If the voicing of Filter'Tron's is still too bright, add a switchable 3.3nF capacitor in parallel with the pickups from hot to ground. It will make them sound just like P.A.F. clones.
beaubrummels
Well-known member
Of what I own and have experience with...
Least versatile humbucker: JB
Least versatile single coil: Jaquar pickups
Least versatile humbucker: JB
Least versatile single coil: Jaquar pickups
playas
Well-known member
Possibly controversial, but in my experience, the Custom custom / custom set that were stock in my Hamer Monaco Elite were fantastic at one sound, but not in the slightest bit versatile.
By that I mean that I could set them up one way to get them sounding good, and they were great for that...but I couldn´t get them to sound good with any other settings.
I replaced them with a set of Seth Lovers and there´s no comparison. Never wanted to put anything else in there.
By that I mean that I could set them up one way to get them sounding good, and they were great for that...but I couldn´t get them to sound good with any other settings.
I replaced them with a set of Seth Lovers and there´s no comparison. Never wanted to put anything else in there.
Rex_Rocker
Well-known member
I don't think the JB is not versatile at all. It goes from Jeff Beck to Ratt to Green Day to Alice in Chains to Megadeth all the way to Arch Enemy. I don't see how playing Pop Punk and then Death Metal on the same pickup counts as a single trick.
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beaubrummels
Well-known member
Except most all those acts used the same sound recipe: Fender+JB >> Marshall dimed. Only the players and their songs were different.
