What pickup to use for the ultimate allround guitar?

[Chistopher]

Re: What pickup to use for the ultimate allround guitar?

I'd say put a P-Rails neck in the bridge and then a Sentient in the neck. If you are fine with mag swapping I could also give you a few tips about what mags work best in the P-Rails.

For the middle position, a single coil or P90 might serve you better, but over the top coil selection options and 3 pickup guitars don't pair too well unless you are in the studio and have a good enough rig that the nuances in the sound are all you have left to improve and you're sound engineer can't be assed to help you through recording techniques.

 

[ImNewToThis]

Re: What pickup to use for the ultimate allround guitar?

Could you help me out? i dont get why the last setting is parallel.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: What pickup to use for the ultimate allround guitar?

There is no ultimate do-it-all guitar. Perfection is unobtainable, especially when seeking to excel in different situations.

Well, nobody is looking for "perfection", just ultra versatile. And THAT is very obtainable.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: What pickup to use for the ultimate allround guitar?

I think there are several really great options for what you want. In any of them, I would definitely recommend the Triple Shot mounting rings. A little expensive? Yes, but how much is it worth to get the tones and combinations you want as simply and completely as possible? If you're willing to spend several hundred dollars on pups, then why not a little bit more to get the best out of those pups?

That being said...

Neck: Jazz, Screamin Demon, P-Rails
Middle: StagMag, Demon, P-Rails
Bridge: C/59, C5, P-Rails, StagMag

Just a word about the StagMag. Some people have said some negative things about this pup, but keep in mind that is their opinion based upon the tone they are used to and desire and not necessarily an objective description of the pup itself. In series mode, the StagMag has a full bucker tone but it is bright, raw, and crunchy. In split mode it is very Stratty sounding. In parallel it has that Strat sound going but a touch of brighter bucker tone added in with less output (not a bad thing at all). It is a very versatile pup.

The P-Rails is a fantastic pup for versatility. The P-90 coil is excellent and works well in any position (neck, middle, or bridge). The Rail coil has its good things going for it but admittedly is not for everyone. In series, the P-Rails can be a bit too middy and muddy but in parallel it is Heaven. In any case the neck model is the way to go. The higher output bridge model only emphasizes the negative aspects of the pup.

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: What pickup to use for the ultimate allround guitar?

Could you help me out? i dont get why the last setting is parallel.

The black and white wires are the start and finish of one coil. The red and green are the start and finish of the other coil. When both start wires run to hot and both finish wire run to ground, the coils are running in parallel. If they were in series, the finish of one coil would be connected to the start of the next coil.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: What pickup to use for the ultimate allround guitar?

Could you help me out? i dont get why the last setting is parallel.

That last setting puts the white from one coil together with the green from the other coil and goes to ground. The black and red wires are connected together and are the lead. Thus both coils are grounded and both coils go to lead and are thus in parallel.

edit: I just saw beaubrummels' post. He said it more elegantly than I did.

 

[ImNewToThis]

Re: What pickup to use for the ultimate allround guitar?

So i think i narrowed my choice down to:

Neck:
Anderson H1-/H1, P-Rails

Middle:
Anderson H1+/H2, StagMag, P-Rails <-tho only if im not using them in the neck

Bridge
Anderson H2+/H3, Barden Two-Tone, Stagmag <-tho only if im not using them in the middle

Anything to add? Im only hearing positive things about Anderson and their splitting ability.

 

[ImNewToThis]

Re: What pickup to use for the ultimate allround guitar?

Guys i finaly got this drawn out. Would it work? it got all combinations except all in series.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: What pickup to use for the ultimate allround guitar?

Agreed, the S-H-H pickup layout on those is pretty friggin' awesome.

H-H-S?

 

[Gstring]

Re: What pickup to use for the ultimate allround guitar?

You actually only need a DP4T switch to get all four modes:

View attachment 99371

That's series, stud, screw, parallel.

Excellent idea .Happens to be just what I am looking for for a Tele with a HB in the neck . Hopefully the switch will fit between the pots.

 

[blueman335]

Re: What pickup to use for the ultimate allround guitar?

There's very few guitar manufacturers that offer HHH guitars, and many players with them don't use the middle PU. If they truly offered more versatility, they'd be a lot more popular, as many players want more versatility

There's the issue of a middle HB not sounding like it would if it was in the bridge or neck slot, often failing to live up to expectations. They lose the bite of the bridge slot, and the fullness of the neck slot.

You can get a lot of usable tones with an HH guitar and a little rewiring. You get many more tone options by blending pots than you do by using switches. I wire for independent volume controls, and for spin-a-split on neck HB's, allowing me to blend both PU's EQ's in any increment, and the coils of the neck in any increment (individually and in combination with the bridge PU, in the middle position). These are simple mods that cost nothing, you're just switching wires on lugs. Add to that coil split on the bridge PU, and you get more many combinations in the middle position, being able to blend it with the neck PU, which can be in either full HB or spin-a-split. These easy mods will give more usable tones to a HH guitar, than putting switches on a HHH one.

I've tried the HHH versatility thing on a few guitars, and always ended up being disappointed. Didn't live up to expectations. You end up putting in time & money, and come to the realization that you'd have been off with HH for versatility and good tones. As has been pointed out, you have lots of switches for one or two dozen sounds, but you'll only find you only use a few of them as many aren't different much each other and most aren't that good (as with the Jimmy Page 21 sound wiring).