Unforgiving Pickups

J

JoeHammersmith

New member
Hey everyone,

I was curious to know your thoughts on what pickups are the most unforgiving in the bridge position. I'm considering some pickup swaps and I would like a pickup that isn't going to hide my mistakes or sloppy playing. I want to hear my mistakes so I can correct them. Thanks!
 
Re: Unforgiving Pickups

I would recommend Q-tuner pickups. They are supposed to be pretty transparent. The other option is a piezo pickup system in the bridge itself.
 
Re: Unforgiving Pickups

Single coil pickups in general are fairly unforgiving but a lot of guys pile the distortion and can slop around with them...i'd say the pickup for me that is hardest to hide behind is a Joe Barden...those suckers are like putting a spotlight on the clams!
 
Re: Unforgiving Pickups

Out of what I've tried, the Demon, S Deco, Dime, and EMG's SA are pretty hard to hide behind.
 
Re: Unforgiving Pickups

The Full Shred is probably the most articulate and unforgiving in that way.

The JB is unforgiving in the sense that it's very sensitive to pick attack (not as noticeable under a lot of distortion).
 
Re: Unforgiving Pickups

Any lower output pup and turn your gain down. Try a 59 or Demon and lower the gain on your amp for all the naked truth you can handle.
 
Re: Unforgiving Pickups

Demon comes to mind right off the bat...........

Most important, what guitar are we talking about? I had a Demon in a Les Paul and it was horrid and unforgiving. It sang in a strat.......more info is needed!
 
Re: Unforgiving Pickups

SFW said:
Any lower output pup and turn your gain down. Try a 59 or Demon and lower the gain on your amp for all the naked truth you can handle.
Click to expand...

Disagree. The Full Shred is a lot more unforgiving than a '59.
 
Re: Unforgiving Pickups

SFW said:
Any lower output pup and turn your gain down. Try a 59 or Demon and lower the gain on your amp for all the naked truth you can handle.
Click to expand...

+1. Any good-quality low output PU. You don't need to buy a special one for this. Clean with no effects (not even reverb), and set your amp with a lot of treble & presence. You'll hear a lot more minor mistakes than you thought you made.

And after about a week or two of that torture, you'll probably be asking about fattening your tone and distortion pedals.
 
Re: Unforgiving Pickups

You mean like accidentally brushing extra strings with pick attack or other strings ringing out when you only intend to hit one and such?
 
Re: Unforgiving Pickups

Thanks for the great replies so far!

The guitar that I'm thinking of switching the pups out is an Ibanez RGT 42. 5p Maple/Walnut Neckthru, Basswood body wings, Edge2 bridge I believe with INF 1 and 2 pickups. I tend to play metal/rock with clean parts mixed in. I don't necessarily need a "metal" pickup, I just want one that sounds good going into a VHT and will show my sloppiness when I play poorly.
 
Re: Unforgiving Pickups

JoeHammersmith said:
Thanks for the great replies so far!

The guitar that I'm thinking of switching the pups out is an Ibanez RGT 42. 5p Maple/Walnut Neckthru, Basswood body wings, Edge2 bridge I believe with INF 1 and 2 pickups. I tend to play metal/rock with clean parts mixed in. I don't necessarily need a "metal" pickup, I just want one that sounds good going into a VHT and will show my sloppiness when I play poorly.
Click to expand...

Hmmm.. Ibby? Basswood? Metal/rock? Unforgiving bridge pup?

Evolution.
 
Re: Unforgiving Pickups

Seems like Dimizio's are getting the most recommendations. Any reason for that? Are Duncans just not up to the task in Ibby's with basswood? My guitar is a neckthrough and so a lot of the maple comes through as well, unless that's just wishful thinking. What about the new Blackouts? Or even a Lundgren?

Can an Evo or Steve's Special handle cleans and rhythem duty when tuned to D standard or Drop C? I don't play a ton of leads yet...
 
Re: Unforgiving Pickups

The evolution is a very unforgiving pickup. It forces you to be a better player.

On the other side of that, they are also really powerful and great for rhythm and lead work.
 
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