What's the thing with "vintage" pickups?

[crusty philtrum]

Re: What's the thing with "vintage" pickups?

My point exactly: sounds old-fashioned and outdated

Ummm, okay, so we should all follow your path and abandon anything and everything that has gone before.

In reality, we should celebrate the widening of scope available to us. Not everybody wants to have massively overdriven guitar sounds all the time. The old low-output winds allow the clean tones of a guitar to shine through with great articulation, qualities that would be lost if all we could get now were high output pickups.

The internal combustion engine is still with us, still working on the same basic principles as when it was invented. The wheel is still round. Almost all amp modelling devices and software feature models that are based on old amps from the 50's, 60s and 70s (Fender, Marshall, Vox etc).

Your question may be a genuine inquiry, albeit posed with a certain naivety. Or it may be trolling for the sake of trolling.

It's not an issue. Music, guitar playing and sound has got wider ... still embracing it's (very relevant and useful) roots, while the modern end explores new territory. There is scope for everyone to do their thing and do it well. I grew up using old gear because it was what we had back then. To be honest, I've never encountered anything newer that does those things any better. Plus it's easier to get a vintage style pickup to rawk than it is to clean up a contemporary hot pickup to get a warm, organic clean tone.

Just because we have new technological advances available doesn't automatically mean we should all jump on that bandwagon and abandon older methods or technologies. Ever had to use a pen and paper ? A wristwatch ? Toilet paper ? You wear trousers, right ? Why do you bother with that old stuff ?

 

[Hyperborea]

Re: What's the thing with "vintage" pickups?

All those million dollar Stradivarius violins...so dated and overpriced. The modern plastic ones sound just as good. Yeah....sure they do.

Actually, the modern ones seem to be just as good as a Stradivarius.

In a double-blind test by professional violinists, most couldn't determine — by sound alone — which violin was an original Stradivarius and which was a modern instrument.

Above all, these instruments are famous for the quality of sound they produce. However, the many blind tests from 1817 to the present (as of 2012) have never found any difference in sound between Stradivari's violins and high-quality violins in comparable style of other makers and periods, nor has acoustic analysis. In a particularly famous test on a BBC Radio 3 program in 1977, the violinists Isaac Stern and Pinchas Zukerman and the violin expert and dealer Charles Beare tried to distinguish between the "Chaconne" Stradivarius, a 1739 Guarneri del Gesú, an 1846 Vuillaume, and a 1976 British violin played behind a screen by a professional soloist. The two violinists were allowed to play all the instruments first. None of the listeners identified more than two of the four instruments. Two of the listeners identified the 20th-century violin as the Stradivarius.

 

[javimm]

Re: What's the thing with "vintage" pickups?

Very interesting discussion!!
I enjoy vintage tones, but I enjoy modern tones as much. I mean, I love SRV sound that is (at least for me) even if it was played in the 80s, the best of the "vintage" "strat+fender amp" sound ever. Same goes for Hendrix. And the sound of Jimmy Page Les Paul in those Madison Square Garden 1973 shows is my favourite PAF sound (listen to The Ocean!!. WOW). But I too think James Hetfield's rhythm sound of the late 80s one of the best guitar sounds ever. He used EMGs and Mesa IIC+ amps then and those are "modern" designs. I love Steve Vai's sound, and I think it's not vintage at all.

For myself I prefer modern sounding pickups. The closer I've been to a "vintage" style pickup was a Gibson 57 Classic/Classic + set and I really disliked it. The sound and feel was a big no for me, muffled, no balls.

About instruments though, there's something about vintage guitars that's hard to explain. I once tried a 60 something strat, unplugged, but it felt AWESOME, really. I own a Jimmy Vaughan strat that feels great, but that 60s strat was in another league. I couldn't plug it, though, but it felt just right.

My beloved Gibson Les Paul Classic from 97 feels better to me every day, better than when I bought it and better than the Les Pauls I try at a store.
My theory is that good instruments get better as time goes by and as they are played. I'm sure a great guitar made today (ie, a Suhr) will be beyond awesome in 50 years.

But vintage per se is not good enough for me.

 

[XPAULPITT]

Re: What's the thing with "vintage" pickups?

Tone is subjective. I used to see some guy post that on every forum that he was on and thats all he would say. It made me laugh, but how right is he? So from now on I use his line whenever people wanna argue about what sounds better.