What non-Duncan and non-Dimarzio brands of pick ups have you tried and really...

[LLL]

Re: What non-Duncan and non-Dimarzio brands of pick ups have you tried and really...

Sounds killer! Your VHII and my EVH franky pickup should have a battle to the death, it would be brutal! :18:

Thx. I'd do a cage match, but I just swapped out the VHII for an old (pre-1983) Duncan SH-5 Custom because I'm revisiting my 80's hard rock roots.

I need another superstrat so I can keep both pickups in guitars...

 

[Jeffblue]

Re: What non-Duncan and non-Dimarzio brands of pick ups have you tried and really...

Another great pickup that is really clear sounding is a Bill Lawrence X500 or XL500 which is also a 4 conductor so it can be split. Ceramic magnets encapsulated and the notes are quite clear. The 2 single coils together, personally, doesn't seem like a good idea. More trouble than benefits.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Re: What non-Duncan and non-Dimarzio brands of pick ups have you tried and really...

Lace Alumitone Deathbuckers/Dirty Heshers
EMG's
Gibson Dirty Fingers
Sin Pickups (handwound alnico 4 "7th Sin" set)
DMT (Dean) MAB Hands without Shadows / Baker Act (b) set
Assorted Artec pups (Kent Armstrong/Entwistle/Giovanni)
Assorted Tesla pups (VR Nitro set/Plasma II)

Probably more that I forgot..

 

[formula73]

Re: What non-Duncan and non-Dimarzio brands of pick ups have you tried and really...

Question, are these the "Bill Lawrence" pickups you're referring to

http://www.wildepickups.com/Pickups_to_Ship_Now____.html

or these?

http://www.billlawrenceonlinestore.com/

I've had this conversation so many times it's maddening. People get so hung up on what's 'real' and what's 'fake' without even using their eyes, ears, and facts before they jump to one conclusion or another.

Let me ask you this: do you think you could take the Pepsi Challenge with a BLUSA L500XL and a Wilde? I might be able to...might...but I'll drop another bomb, here.

Which of those do you think sounds more like the originals from the late 70s and 80s (provided, of course, you redo the whole test with L500L as XL didn't exist back then)?

I love 2 models the most: L350s and L600s. L500s are good but a little harsh, at times.

In response to your question: you tell me.

 

[Gibson 1964]

Re: What non-Duncan and non-Dimarzio brands of pick ups have you tried and really...

I've had this conversation so many times it's maddening. People get so hung up on what's 'real' and what's 'fake' without even using their eyes, ears, and facts before they jump to one conclusion or another.

Let me ask you this: do you think you could take the Pepsi Challenge with a BLUSA L500XL and a Wilde? I might be able to...might...but I'll drop another bomb, here.

Which of those do you think sounds more like the originals from the late 70s and 80s (provided, of course, you redo the whole test with L500L as XL didn't exist back then)?

I love 2 models the most: L350s and L600s. L500s are good but a little harsh, at times.

In response to your question: you tell me.

To me the two do not sound very similar at all. I have tried them back to back in the same guitar and the difference was painfully obvious. One is much thinner and treblier than the other. I own both and have obviously tried both. I also examples from before the split. (which IMO are rather inconsistent)

So for me, it isn't a 6 one way, half dozen the other. I like a discontinued Wilde model best. It is essentially a model that was replaced by the 610, but it sounds like a pissed off p90 with no noise. No idea what it actually is, but I'd pay to get another.

 

[ErikH]

Re: What non-Duncan and non-Dimarzio brands of pick ups have you tried and really...

Fender
Gibson
Lollar
EMG

I really like the Lollar P-90 that he wound for me. My SG Jr is the only guitar I have that doesn't have Seymour Duncans in it.

 

[formula73]

Re: What non-Duncan and non-Dimarzio brands of pick ups have you tried and really...

And a lot of that mirrors my experience but I sincerely doubt Drex's firsthand knowledge of anything he posts.

At the end if the day, yes, they may sound different but it's not like a Super D vs a 59. They're (at least the L500s) all variations of the same design with slight differences from changes in materials (wife blades and A5 since about 04-05) in the case of Bill or corner-cutting in the case of EZ but they're ALL similar enough as to make next to no difference in the context of a band setting.

Hell, I even consider the Dimebucker a Lawrence because it was reverse-engineered. It has a ceramic mag like the originals even if it's got a hotter wind than even the XL.

To me the two do not sound very similar at all. I have tried them back to back in the same guitar and the difference was painfully obvious. One is much thinner and treblier than the other. I own both and have obviously tried both. I also examples from before the split. (which IMO are rather inconsistent)

So for me, it isn't a 6 one way, half dozen the other. I like a discontinued Wilde model best. It is essentially a model that was replaced by the 610, but it sounds like a pissed off p90 with no noise. No idea what it actually is, but I'd pay to get another.

 

[jmcorey]

Re: What non-Duncan and non-Dimarzio brands of pick ups have you tried and really...

Thanks, everyone, I really appreciate your input.

 

[idsnowdog]

Re: What non-Duncan and non-Dimarzio brands of pick ups have you tried and really...

Fralin - Blues 90
Mighty Mite - Motherbucker
BL USA - XL500
Entwhistle - HDN
Kent Armstrong - M215
GFS - Bigmouth
Rio Grande - BBQ

 

[MacBradley]

Re: What non-Duncan and non-Dimarzio brands of pick ups have you tried and really...

Other than guitars companies pickups (ie: Fender, Gibson, Reverend, ect) I have also tried a few Dimarzio humbuckers and, more recently, Zhangbucker.

Zhangbucker makes pickups that he'll customize to for you if need be, and for an incredibly low price. He also does imbalanced coils on humbuckers, and while I haven't tried one of his humbuckers, all of my favorite humuckers I've tried have slightly unbalanced coils. I'm curious to hear his. The single coil he built for me is exactly what I wanted, and only cost me $66 dollars after everything.

 

[80's_Metal]

Re: What non-Duncan and non-Dimarzio brands of pick ups have you tried and really...

I've used Lots of stock Epiphone, Jackson, Dean pups... pretty much all suck by Duncan standards.
My Gibson Has 496R and 500 pups that do a lot of things very well. Probably wont be changing them out.
Only stock pups I really liked were in a BC Rich bronze series... mid 90's Bich... those guys wailed..



Other upgraded stock pups I really liked were the Baker Act from Dean, Sizzled and snarled with power. Nice full sound.
EMG 81-89-85 all pretty decent stuff for metal.
I've wired in a few GFS pickups, "crunchy something".... hated them!

All my guitars (except one BC Rich with EMG's and my new Jackson has a Dimarzio X2N I am really Really Digging.) ....Are fitted with Duncans. No need to change the sound I really love.




So a whole lot of typing and reading to really answer your question... GFS sucked, Dean Baker Act wailed, EMG's wail....

 

[TimmyPage]

Re: What non-Duncan and non-Dimarzio brands of pick ups have you tried and really...

I played a few guitars with the new EMG 57/66 set. My next double hum guitar will definitely have a set of these, they sound really cool, really natural. They've finally cracked the code on actives, I believe. I'm excited for the future of active pickups, theres so much potential there.

Toneriders have come stock on two of my guitar, pretty sounding tele pickups. They're sort of marketed as a budget brand, but they sound amazing.

I've tried a couple of 'jazz' pickups from various high end brands, Bartolini, Armstrong and so on. Not a fan, they are super high-fi, and come off sounding more like a bad piezo than a beautiful representation of the hollowbody's natural sound. Maybe it's because I really enjoy the sound of electric guitar, all of the tones I love about the instrument are specific to the interaction between the pickup and the amp being pushed, hi fi doesn't do it for me.

 

[Oinkus]

Re: What non-Duncan and non-Dimarzio brands of pick ups have you tried and really...

Lindy Fralin makes great pickups and I have never heard a Tom Anderson pickup I didn't like .

 

[uOpt]

Re: What non-Duncan and non-Dimarzio brands of pick ups have you tried and really...

WCRs are killer. Really good.

I like Lollars for some uses. Imperial humbucker, Precision bass. The Strat pickups are lame.

Fender CS I have good ones and ones I don't like. I have a set of Abigail signed CS69s that I don't like and can't sell

 

[lordraptor1]

Re: What non-Duncan and non-Dimarzio brands of pick ups have you tried and really...

basically everything I own uses humbuckers with that said I tend to use stock epiphone covered pups and Gibson '57 classics in everything and have for a few years but back in the day I I ran bc rich stock pups and PJ Marx. sadly bc rich pups suck these days and PJ marx stilettos are EXTREMELY hard to come by (I absolutely hate the jeff Watson and brad gillis pups). I have my last stiletto listed on fleabay ( had it here but people on the forum started commenting basically because I didn't change the listing here when I lowered the price on fleabay so i opted to delete the post) and i am just going to run with the chrome and gold covered epi and Gibson pups although if i find a set cheap enough i may try out some of the slash signature pups.

 

[austin]

Re: What non-Duncan and non-Dimarzio brands of pick ups have you tried and really...

I love Suhr pickups. His SSV is my favorite neck humbucker and I have his SSV and SSV+ in the bridge of a few guitars. I also have a set of ML Standards in my "strat". Those are fine, but not as awesome as his humbuckers (but then, I'm not as into singlecoil sounds, so I'm not really a good judge).
-
Austin

 

[Spudman]

Re: What non-Duncan and non-Dimarzio brands of pick ups have you tried and really...

Here's one that will throw you for a loop: Ibanez AH-1 and AH-2. I really like them in mahogany body guitars...and they are cheap.

 

[Chazzy]

Re: What non-Duncan and non-Dimarzio brands of pick ups have you tried and really...

i currently have bareknuckle nailbomb alnico 5 set in my mockingbird, im a metal guy and these pickups are really good... ultra clarity, however i will be trading in the bridge nailbomb for an aftermath or putting a ceramic mag in them for a modern sound, these pickups play megadeth and slayer stuff well but dont really play modern (which i do) the best

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: What non-Duncan and non-Dimarzio brands of pick ups have you tried and really...

I like Fender Fat 50's and CS 69's.

I absolutely love Fender Fat 50's! Awesome pickups!

 

[JOLLY]

Re: What non-Duncan and non-Dimarzio brands of pick ups have you tried and really...

I like Gibson p90's