What's the WORST pickup you've ever tried?

TheBozz

TheBozz

New member
:reporter: Checking out, I realized that everybody talks about their favourite pickups, the best combos and all that stuff... but how about your WORST pickup? The one that converted your sacred shredding machine into a goddam broom? :gurmpy: The one that you thought sounded cool and you wanted to show your bandmates, and they all laughed at you? :angryfire The one that just SCREWED UP your giutar? :damnit: Come on, don't be shy...

I would help myself... but I ain't got much experience...
 
Re: What's the WORST pickup you've ever tried?

I really can't think of any pickups off hand that are "bad" necessarily. Almost every pickup I've tried had redeeming qualities that while didn't fit my guitar or my setup, could be viewed as a great pickup in someone elses.

In some of my guitars the JB sounded like a tinny icepick.....however in others it simply screams. In some guitars, I found the Super Distortion to be undefined and muddy, in others....it was perfectly chunky.

The only pickups I guess I could say that were not really that good at all are the Duncan Designs and some of the older stock pickups on Ibanez guitars....all were mud city regardless of the guitar/setup.
 
Re: What's the WORST pickup you've ever tried?

STRATDELUXER97 said:
Fender CS Texas Specials...Yucky..
Click to expand...

I second this motion, and also the Carvin single coils. Infact, nearly all single coils that wernt Duncans.
 
Re: What's the WORST pickup you've ever tried?

Ibanez stock pups and crappy Parker stock pups. Oh yeah, those Agile stock pups are pretty terrible too, but I don't think anybody plans on leaving those in anyways :)
 
Re: What's the WORST pickup you've ever tried?

Well, the "worst" Aftermarket pickups I´ve tried so far were interestingly enough my first. A set of Carvin M22 (the SD at the bridge, V at the neck). Well put together mind you, with some cool ideas like the 22 adjustable pole pieces and dual mounting screws on the hummies. But they seemed to lack clarity and definition .

BUT: That Impression is more a hindsight, I liked the tone until I got my first EMGs. SO I wouldn´t say they were bad, I just happened to find out at a later point that they weren´t what I was looking for ;)
 
Re: What's the WORST pickup you've ever tried?

I think the Ibanez Powersounds are thee worst! Bar none.
 
Re: What's the WORST pickup you've ever tried?

The worst Strat pickups I ever had, that should have been good, were some Dimarzios that came in my MIJ Mary Kaye 57 RI. Don't know the model number but they were stock USA catalog Dimarzios wound to vintage specs...around 6K or a little hotter. Dull, flat, dead tone. Just didn't make it at all. I've played cheezy ceramic magnet Squire pickups that sounded better. I like some Dimarzios but these were bad. Lew
 
Re: What's the WORST pickup you've ever tried?

I'm not saying the worst but rather not at all what I expected was the Custom Custom in the bridge position of my Strat. I heard many clips on the forum from people who installed one in their Strats with great results but all I got was barking mids. So strong that it completely broke up the cleans in my amp. At first I thought I had the pickup to close to the strings but there was no improvement even when the pickup was lowered considerabley. I even double checked the schematic's page to be sure I wired it right, which it was.
 
Re: What's the WORST pickup you've ever tried?

Mike M. said:
I'm not saying the worst but rather not at all what I expected was the Custom Custom in the bridge position of my Strat. I heard many clips on the forum from people who installed one in their Strats with great results but all I got was barking mids. So strong that it completely broke up the cleans in my amp. At first I thought I had the pickup to close to the strings but there was no improvement even when the pickup was lowered considerabley. I even double checked the schematic's page to be sure I wired it right, which it was.
Click to expand...
Do you still have the CC? If you do, do you want to unload it?
 
Re: What's the WORST pickup you've ever tried?

Different strokes for different folks is the deal with this thread. I would vote the ibanez powersounds, so +3 on that. As far as aftermarket pickups go, I would have to say its a toss up between the Dimarzio tone zone and the JB. They just do not jive with me at all!!! Hey but other folks absolutly love them. More power to them
 
Re: What's the WORST pickup you've ever tried?

Dimarzio Megadrive. It lacked personality and was basically bland.
 
Re: What's the WORST pickup you've ever tried?

Then, let's change the question...

What's the pickup that has worked worst for you?
 
Re: What's the WORST pickup you've ever tried?

The worst "good" pickup I've ever tried has been the '59, just hated the lack of mids, the overly prominant and crisp highs and the super-powerful/obnoxious bass. The worst pickup in general was the stock neck pickup in my Samick sg, just muddy muddy crap.
 
Re: What's the WORST pickup you've ever tried?

I just tried and tried to find something I liked about the Dimarzio Super 3... I got nothin'
 
Re: What's the WORST pickup you've ever tried?

i guess for me it'd probably be an invader

i installed it ona friends ibanez explorer thing and it was just really muddy. at kleast through my set up

other than that, i can find good tone in pretty much everything.
 
Re: What's the WORST pickup you've ever tried?

Carvin, Gibson 500T's, Duncan Invaders, Dimarzio Super Dist., most blade pickups that aren't Duncan or Barden.
 
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