whats with people hating bright p'ups?

Re: whats with people hating bright p'ups?

I agree that balance is important. Brightness really cuts through the mix and traditional singles and humbuckers are bright by design. If you want to sound like Dimbag, then don't use vintage pickups. I like to play different genres, so I have both bright and balanced pickups. My preference is not toward super compressed pickups at Pantera sound levels. However, I like a good shred like the next guy and an drooling over a used Kramer Pro Axe with 2 hot rails at my local GC.
 
Re: whats with people hating bright p'ups?

Well, I love the Jazz, C5, DD, FS, Custom; so if any of those are considered bright than count me in. The only pickup I have that is a little too bright is the Dimarzio blaze bridge in my ibanez 7 string, but a little turn of the tone knob takes care of that. The JB wasn't really my cup of tea, because I found the low end to be too loose especially if downtuned. The solo tone was beautiful however.
 
Re: whats with people hating bright p'ups?

I played an ash-bodied Fender Lead I with a single JB, 500K volume pot and no tone control through a Mesa Mark III for quite a long time. I kinda miss it now--that thing had some teeth! At the time I didn't know any different and I didn't own any other guitars to compare it to. And, believe it or not, I got quite a few compliments on the way it sounded. I guess it's a good thing my amp had an EQ to round the jagged edges off a little...
 
Re: whats with people hating bright p'ups?

fullfistrock21 said:
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!
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I love treble, and I love bright guitar sounds. But, I can't stand the "icepick" effect (In my guitar, w 500k pots, JB, EVH, Demon). Yeah, I play an Ibanez maple capped superstrat and it's already brighter than heck.

Yet the custom sounds awesome in it. So does the '59! (I'm still waiting to get it back w./ Full Shred installed in the bridge.) I play at moderate levels to get a good sound for recording. IIRC, it's the frequencies in the upper-mid presence' band (2-4 KHz) that cause pain, not actual treble (5-6 KHz+). Am I picky? Heck yes. I've owned more pickups--most of them Duncans--than my wife is willing to forgive. But if I didn't like bright pickups, I'd probably have resigned myself to another manufacturer besides Duncan. There was a thread I remember a while back called something like, "Does Seymour just really like treble?".

Anyways, it is, to paraphrase both Zhang and N. Tufnel, a fine line between cutting and painful...
 
Re: whats with people hating bright p'ups?

Bright is alright with me. It's why I prefer A5 pickups. I tried to like the PGn/CC combo but they never made me smile like my C5/Jazz/59's do.
 
Re: whats with people hating bright p'ups?

Maybe also because they put them in bright guitars.

"My JB/Dimebucker is too icepicky... waaaah!"
 
Re: whats with people hating bright p'ups?

Hahaha. Most people here are naming off buckers. Sure buckers can get quite bright, but a bright single coil is just something else completely. And typically, buckers are warmer and darker.

Where's the single coil supporters?
 
Re: whats with people hating bright p'ups?

i really dont think i like ibanez's they seem to against the rule...they are too bright but i dont think the pickups are, they are just too bright to incorparate humbuckers period, unless they are dimarzios which i think are more suited to ibanez's than seymour duncan. This is why a tone zone sounds so flabby in gibson type guitars and numerous duncans sound harsh in ibanez type guitars, the pickups are just going in the wrong guitars
 
Re: whats with people hating bright p'ups?

Speaking on the Custom, it's bright and I have it in an Alder body with a (rock) maple neck and whammy deal, and I must say the Custom brand of brightness works well against a 24 fret snappy maple bolt-on neck, with a rosewood fretboard. Good for funky spank, buuut... I don't use the Custom for funky spank, I use it for detuned, scooped out, max-gain Metal. There is some serious cut goin' on with the Custom.

Balance your guitar out and tweak those amps people.

- Rokk out :headbang:
 
Re: whats with people hating bright p'ups?

Mephis said:
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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Plus +2. I would have never realized the true potential of my AP2 and JB if I didn't **** around with the tone knob as much as I do.
 
Re: whats with people hating bright p'ups?

i think most people forget about the tone knob, and for the most part people dont adjust their own guitars at least people that post on harmony central and similar web sites. I think takin the time to tweak yur amp, pickup height, tone knob you'll find that bright pickups can actually sound good. I know for a fact that there are like 300 guitar players where i live and only like 3 bands, so bedroom rockin is pretty common, hopefully it wont lead to bedroom pickups that sound good at low volume then when you get on stage its all mush
 
Re: whats with people hating bright p'ups?

I use A5 vintage wound Strat singles. I like clarity....I don't like my guitar to sound like there is a wet towel covering my amp.
 
Re: whats with people hating bright p'ups?

Fender_Punk said:
Hahaha. Most people here are naming off buckers. Sure buckers can get quite bright, but a bright single coil is just something else completely. And typically, buckers are warmer and darker.

Where's the single coil supporters?
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I think you'll find the vast majority of SDUG forumites play metal and use humbuckers. I don't mean this as a slam to anyone, its just MHO.

I do think there is a huge difference between a humbucker and a single coil. Strat single coils in the bridge tend to be complete icepick IMHO, at least the ones I've had experience with. I haven't found a humbucker in recent years that have been too bright, certainly not any Duncans. Some of my favorites are the Pearly Gates the '59 and the Jazz.
 
Re: whats with people hating bright p'ups?

gripweed said:
I think you'll find the vast majority of SDUG forumites play metal and use humbuckers. I don't mean this as a slam to anyone, its just MHO.
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Overall customers, yes. Forumites, I think it might be a majority but not by much.

gripweed said:
I do think there is a huge difference between a humbucker and a single coil. Strat single coils in the bridge tend to be complete icepick IMHO, at least the ones I've had experience with.
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They do need to be wound a little hotter and sweeter than typical. I'm a fan of Alnico 2 in the bridge for that reason.

gripweed said:
I haven't found a humbucker in recent years that have been too bright, certainly not any Duncans. Some of my favorites are the Pearly Gates the '59 and the Jazz.
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I like the PG because it has that 3D-ish sweet top I mentioned earlier. The 59 is a classic example of that 2D harshness to me. The Jazz is just razor thin, at least the neck version I tried was.
 
Re: whats with people hating bright p'ups?

I slap a JB in the bridge on every guitar I own that will take a humbucker. I LOVE the bright tone. I use the tone controls on the AMP get get my sound. Darker and "growly" for dirt, and clean and glassy for cleans.
 
Re: whats with people hating bright p'ups?

I LOVE bright pickups! I am a mud hater, and just want clean distortion, if that makes any sense.

I think a lot of the kids are just slapping pickups in, they probably aren't adjusting the pickup height, never mind the pole heights. I play with my pickups adjustments a lot, and am amazed how much just the little tweaks can change and improve the tone of a pickup.

P.S. I'm a JB man, myself. Fan of the man AND the pickup!
 
Re: whats with people hating bright p'ups?

I'm going to go against the grain a bit here and say that I prefer articulate pickups, but not necessarily bright ones. The 59/Custom in my les paul isn't very bright, but it's incredibly articulate. And the PGn in the neck of my les paul is actually darker (which might have something to do with the cover I put on it). I also prefered a darker tone when I was playing with my band, but we were a three piece band, and I find that a darker tone is better in those situations. However, I can't stand muddy. I prefer a darker, articulate tone (if that makes sense)
 
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. The other big one is people don't like to re-eq amps.
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Bingo. Correct answer.

I don't understand the guitarist mentality that a pickup has to sound PERFECT with the tone control dimed. I like a nice bright pickup that I can tame by rolling back the treble if I want to. It allows for a lot more versatility and gives me the ability to dial in the exact tone I want. $15 for a CTS pot and an Orange Drop cap costs a lot less than a new pickup, that's for sure.

I'll wager a week's pay that half the people who think their pickups are too bright have never touched their tone control.
 
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