whats with people hating bright p'ups?

fullfistrock21

fullfistrock21

New member
it seems like everyone today hates any pickup that has any cut. Is this due to the fact that now a days there is more bedroom rockers than band members? or is it because people play more with bright guitars like an ibanez or strat type guitars? most humbuckers seemed to have been designed with dark wood from les pauls in mind. all anybody wants anymore is bass and mids, ive even read reveiws where people say the custom is way bright and too thin, ! have the remedy stop buying guitars that use so much maple, alder, and ebony!
 
Re: whats with people hating bright p'ups?

I dunno. My favorite pups are the brightest ones, like the Jazz/59, or Tele pups, or Filtertron/TV Jones style pups.
 
Re: whats with people hating bright p'ups?

I think it's because many people simply REFUSE to use their tone knobs. The other big one is people don't like to re-eq amps. I specifically don't like A5 based pups because they DO seem too bright/spikey to me. So I use A2 mag pups and my problem is gone. To me higher output buckers seem to compress to the point that they start to lose aggression. That's why I love my 78s a bit extra juice but lots of aggression and chewiness.

If the custom is thin.....well I don't know what to say.

Luke
 
Re: whats with people hating bright p'ups?

i think in most guitars a decently bright pup is actually needed in the neck...otherwise most guitars muddy up imo
 
Re: whats with people hating bright p'ups?

I don't think I fall into this catagory. My favorite guitar is a 2 inch thick slab of rock maple w/ an all maple neck, floating floyd w/ a JB in the bridge and Demon in the neck. I might switch over to dual demons in the near future though.

If I had to make a list of favorite pickups it would go like this.

Bill Lawrence L500XL
Duncan Scream'n Demon
Dimarzio Evolution
Duncan Full Shred.

All what most would consider really bright pickups.
 
Re: whats with people hating bright p'ups?

I love bright pickups, so you can count me out of the hating crowd. :)

Just picked up a set of Don Mare 2324s.

- Keith
 
Re: whats with people hating bright p'ups?

I like bright pups, P-90s and Strat single coils have amazing cleans, and the p-90s especially have an awesome distorted sound. If it doesn't have enough brightness to it, it seems muddy to me, and I like a lot of clarity out of my guitars.
 
Re: whats with people hating bright p'ups?

Alder Tele with a Poly finish, thats one bright guitar, My strat is alder as well, i like to use my amp with the treble up just a little, give a great 70's rock tone.
 
Re: whats with people hating bright p'ups?

Never noticed it. Too bright is a problem just like too much mids or too much of everything.
 
Re: whats with people hating bright p'ups?

it seems like so many bedroom rockers are downing every pickup they unless it has massive bass response then they give bad reveiws for pickups that actually sound good which makes everyone think otherwise about getting the pickups. Ive heard people say the evolution is too brittle, scremon demon is total trash, the JB is unbeaable and dont go near a duncan distortion unless you use 250k pots. some haters even think the dimarzio super distortion is too thin and trebely. I think some people do a bad wiring job and then give bad reveiw or their guitar woods are made out of plywood and pencil shavings. I mean saying the custom sounds horrible or unbearable and too trebley is dumb it has one of the tightest rudest sounds i heard.
 
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Re: whats with people hating bright p'ups?

I know. I LOVE bright pups in bright guitars!! They're the best!! I pretty much starve for them. If there isn't a way I can get a bright sound in a guitar, I wont buy/play it.

I have plans to do a swamp ash guitar w/ maple top, maple neck and either maple or ebony fretboard!! It'll be bright and I'll love it!!
 
Re: whats with people hating bright p'ups?

Give me bright pups, a bright super strat and plug it into a Mesa....now that is heaven for me.
 
Re: whats with people hating bright p'ups?

Jazz bridge is KILLER!!!

I have been known to like the C5 and the Full Shred also.
 
Re: whats with people hating bright p'ups?

Bright is fine -- TOO bright is a problem, though usually that's a function of a relative lack of midrange in the pickup.

Another thing that makes a pu sound "too bright" is lack of clarity, detail, 3-D-ness. There's bad bright and good bright, and good bright makes a chord sound likes it's made of stained glass -- all the colors are there and many more you never saw (heard) before. Or it sounds so much like crystal clear water, you want to just dive into the strings and swim in and drink the tone, never mind just listen.

Bad bright is 2-dimensional and opaque, sounds harsh, even if it's actually a little darker than the good bright it's being compared too. Sounds like the proverbial icepick while the upper mids sound like darts hitting a piece of cardboard.
 
Re: whats with people hating bright p'ups?

Zhangliqun said:
Bright is fine -- TOO bright is a problem, though usually that's a function of a relative lack of midrange in the pickup.

Another thing that makes a pu sound "too bright" is lack of clarity, detail, 3-D-ness. There's bad bright and good bright, and good bright makes a chord sound likes it's made of stained glass -- all the colors are there and many more you never saw (heard) before. Or it sounds so much like crystal clear water, you want to just dive into the strings and swim in and drink the tone, never mind just listen.

Bad bright is 2-dimensional and opaque, sounds harsh, even if it's actually a little darker than the good bright it's being compared too. Sounds like the proverbial icepick while the upper mids sound like darts hitting a piece of cardboard.
Click to expand...

+1. I've found you can't go too bright as long as it's a good bright. Like my Alder Tele, stock pups and TBX tone, it's getting a Vintage '54 when I can find a job, it'll be BRIGHT, but NOT an icepick, I'll be sure of that!

Bad bright makes me want to punch a baby!
 
Re: whats with people hating bright p'ups?

The people in their bedrooms are definately going to like different things from those who play live/gig or in a band setting. Cut and brightness is good, but you don't want to over indulge in any frequency. Balance is the key. If you have a super bright guitar than a dark pickup will give you balance, just as a bright pickup will bring balance to a dark guitar.

My new guitar is still bright, even with a tone zone in it. The JB that was in it just was too much, although I have a pair of JBs in another guitar that I love. Each guitar has its own tonal characteristics. But one must take other factors into consideration, such as amp, distortion etc.
 
Re: whats with people hating bright p'ups?

popped a jb into my epi les paul junior this afternoon and after any concerns i'd had previosly i was blown away, i havent been able to put it down, I love it! so u could say i like bright pickups :D
 
Re: whats with people hating bright p'ups?

Luke Duke said:
I think it's because many people simply REFUSE to use their tone knobs.
Click to expand...

Ding ding ding!

This annoys me a lot. Everyone is like "My pickup is too harsh and is lacking lowend!" well just roll the tone down 2-3 notchs and problem solved!

I'm using a double whammy, screamin demon, and a rick mini-bucker. So I guess you could say I'm into very bright pickups.
 
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