What’s your single favorite pickup?

[hamerfan]

I really like the judgement free form. It really inspires me.
I own a Les Paul clone with an easy to flip pickups system.
Some months ago i decided to reduce my stash of pickups from some higher gain SD pickup. The contenders were a JBJ, Screaming Demon, a pre 1980 Custom, a CC, a Full Shred, a Seymourizer aka SH6-N and Full Shred/JB Hybrid from Orpheo.
Flipping back and forth I found the JB the best allaround. You can every kind of music with it. The Seymourizer was the big surprise: it has enough grit to do every harder style but it stays round and versatile. In my alder super strat i still prefer the Distortion. That strat needs more spank.
The Full Shred was kinda thin and needed much support from pedal like a TS or from an amp to sound full. The CC was just bland, no bass, no cutting highs, did not work in this Les Paul. The Custom was nice but nothing to report home, i always flipped back to the Seymourizer. The Screaming Demon is really nice platform, which reminds me of Full Shred but a lot more vintage sounding. Last was the Hybrid: I think Orpheo did a good job. Its more transparent than the JB and has more character the FS. Allaround and transparent, great to work with.
So the Custom, the CC and the FS were sold. Since i still have an Alt8 and some vintage sounding pickups in the drawer, i will do a next round.

 

[jeremy]

i have a set of hyper vintage rail hammers, and they are nice. really good sounding pups!

 

[Anficht]

Super 2 in neck is my new favorite. I had a dull sounding 80s-inspired Super Strat that I would never touch because of its dullness. It made it come alive and now I cannot put it down.

 

[gsammo79]

The bare knuckle trilogy suite bridge for a single coil

A2 Pro Slash if we're talking humbuckers

 

[NotDemanic]

Just like a favorite color, I don't have one. I am partial to the JB and DD. But I also like the Crunchlab and the Epi Probucker. And the Alternative 8 certainly has it's own unique character.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

JB. If I'm being picky, my favorite was the non-aged-looking Antiquity JB that Long and McQuade sell.

That being said, I have Suhr SSH+'s on my Les Pauls right now, and I don't miss having a JB with the SSH+'s.

 

[Laughing Kookaburra]

All right, I hate to post this on SDF, but my favorite pup for quite some time has been the rail hammer hyper vintage.. there's just nothing else like it out there.

It's rather traditional humbucker whined which explains the vintage side however, it has humongous slug pole pieces under the trouble strings and rails under the base strings.

Hyper Vintage Bridge – Railhammer https://share.google/M3NFoANPIm77hD9oO

As a result, it sounds like a PAF with tighter bass and warmer highs. Again there's nothing out there that I know of that really fits this bill. Would love to know if anybody else has found alternatives to this formula.

Of course it's pretty ugly half rail and half poles but I'm a form follows function kind of guy. But a lot of my customers aren't, so I only managed to refer a few of these a year as opposed to many many SDs.

I've always said that they could corner the market if they put a cover on the thing

Interesting! I get what you’re saying re visuals, but I’m generally prioritize function over form myself.

 

[Laughing Kookaburra]

I’d like to have two categories: Now, and Then.

Then (80s - early 2000s): The Invader. Switchable between parallel, series, and single. Usually on series. I was gigging a lot in hard rock and punk bands, and it always delivered! I had it in the bridge of a Strat.

Now: BKP Supermassive P90. A medium output P90, it does the blues, hard blues, and crunchy rock that I enjoy playing now at occasional gigs. It’s in a 93 Hamer Special’s bridge position.

 

[Artie]

It's a different day, a different week.

Now I'm saying the Perpetual Burn. Spanky clean when you want. Then you can dial it up to serious. Volume on the guitar or amp. Both work.

 

[nienturi]

I really can't reduce it to "one" because for each guitar has another "favourite". For example, i have a guitar that's tone is thick already. Pickups like Tone Zone or JB literally sucks while brighter humbuckers sounds so good in the bridge. For one of my other guitar Tone Zone rocks btw.

 

[baritone]

I have so many, but I may go with Duncan Distortion.

 

[MikeS]

If I'm only picking one, I've always been a big fan of the Screamin' Demon. It hasn't been right in every guitar I've had it in, but when it's right, it's just right. I've had several over the years and currently have 2 guitars with the pickup.

 

[misterwhizzy]

If I'm only picking one, I've always been a big fan of the Screamin' Demon. It hasn't been right in every guitar I've had it in, but when it's right, it's just right. I've had several over the years and currently have 2 guitars with the pickup.

I have yet to try the Demon in a guitar where it’s “wrong.” Not always perfect, but never bad.

 

[MikeS]

I have yet to try the Demon in a guitar where it’s “wrong.” Not always perfect, but never bad.

I tried it in both positions of a Mockingbird. It was the brightest guitar I've ever owned, and it definitely wasn't right for that guitar. One also had a brief stint in my LP Studio, and that wasn't quite right, either. It has shined in all my strat-style guitars, though.

 

[Juanhanglo]

Harmonic design vintage plus tele neck pickup.

This was difficult.

 

[esandes]

brobucker bridge

 

[jeremy]

brobucker bridge

one of my favorites too

 

[Aceman]

OK - Official just one answer, followed by the drama....


Duncan Distortion; Can and have played everything with one for a long time. But the raw power and aggression just do it for me. At the end of the day I'm a hard rock guy and it is metal AF.


Now...the conundrum is what am I doing? Because for hard rock, I'm all about the Distortion. But for most everything else, I prefer the Pearly Gates. Which I have also rocked hard with...
And my neck of choice in an LP style is absolutely the PG.

Of course, when it comes to hard rock, I do really like the Custom as well. Definitely more versatile than the Distortion overall. And then there is the DiMarzio Super Distortion, such a fantastic pickup for all sorts of things.

But man, I love most pickups for some reason. Currently gig guitars have in Bridge: JB, PG, A2P, Custom, Distortion, Baker Act. In the necks, Stock, PG, A2P, PG, Distortion, Nostalgia

In my Les Paul bridges: Distortion, SuperD, SuperD, PG, T-top, Custom P90

 

[SFW]

MCP Awfayu

From the Duncan line... Custom Custom.

 

[Cynical]

If I *had* to pick just one, it would be the Bare Knuckle Ceramic Warpig. But for me at least, pickup choice is really dependent on the guitar and my plans for it.