Which pickup/guitar combos are you 100% satisfied with?

[veryhungrycaterpilla]

Re: Which pickup/guitar combos are you 100% satisfied with?

Koa Tele and Alnico II Pro for Tele (lead & rhythm) APTL-1 and APTR-1:

http://www.fender.com/products//search.php?partno=0265107537

 

[Peter Antal]

Re: Which pickup/guitar combos are you 100% satisfied with?

Although I'm perfectly satisfied with my Artist with BK Mules, I can imagine trying other PAF winds with different magnets some day, out of curiosity.

 

[heymcz]

Re: Which pickup/guitar combos are you 100% satisfied with?

'59 neck in Ibanez SZ520.

I lied. :31:

Let me add "Full Shred Bridge in SZ520".

I'll post a full review, but I just got it back this morning, it matches up perfect with the '59 neck, and the in-between position is sweeter than either pickup alone! I recorded/mixed for about 2 hours with it, got some tones that sound like what I've always thought I wanted to hear (after rolling back the treble knob just a touch...wall of mids! And Alnico V clarity and roundness!) I feel very good about the whole thing right now.

Twice. :15:

Seriously, these were the best Duncans I had in there and I recorded an entire 10-song album with them. So at the time I was 100% satisfied. But I think Lew's right...it changes a lot of times....

 

[MetalMike_II]

Re: Which pickup/guitar combos are you 100% satisfied with?

I think anyone who answers with "100%" is either really, really lucky, like lottery-winning lucky, or has spent 20 years of trial and error getting there and has an amazing attention to detail. Or maybe focuses on only one sound.


Here's as close as I've gotten:

for most styles:
__________________________

93% - Wolfgang Custom Shop hardtails, one w/ rosewood, one w/ ebony.
STOCK PUPS. These are basswood and maple. Not 100% cuz of clean sounds, and the bridge pickup.

I've toyed with the idea of swapping the bridge pups on the rosewood, but I always end up not wanting to mess with what it does for me already. The more I play other guitars and amps, the more I come back to these. They are the best for me for what I do most. Just adjusted the bridge pole pieces a *little*.

My Wolfs are at *** 100% *** though for the neck pickup tone. It is perfect to me. Don't care what anybody says. I love the neck tone on these, wouldn't change anything.

For metal, these are the best ones I've found FOR ME. They just play so well, so crispy, good balance between attack-y rhythms and fluid leads. Because of the fretboard woods and the fact they don't have tremolo units, I believe there is a big difference between these and most other Wolfgangs, which I also love.



92% - Ernie Ball Music Man Van Halen.
STOCK PUPS. Mostly, same as what I wrote for the Wolfgangs. Basswood and maple, Floyd.



85% - Warmoth alder/maple Soloist w/ OFR. Air Zone, Air Norton. With the Breed pickups that were in there, my coil split clean sounds were 100%, now, 85%. Strat-astic!

The Air Norton isn't exciting to me, but I can see why people like it so much.

PATB-1s are going in there next thanks to Daemon BBQ. We'll see!



...and, for metal only, haven't checked out the split and parallel sounds too much yet:
_____________________________

85% - Ibanez RGT42DXFM-LTF-PDQYRx-ZZZuahahahaha-6173-Q.

woops! that's the Prestige model. Mine is the cheap knockoff version (as some forumite called it) it's actually the:

Ibanez RGT42DXFM-LTF-PDQYRx-ZZZuahahahaha-6173-CKOff

this is a maple/walnut neck-thru with mahogany wings. Super Distortion in the bridge, and a Mo Joe in the neck. Think I might try the Mo Joe in the bridge and a Jazz Bridge in the neck, or PATBs. Gonna live with it as is for a while first.

 

[eggman]

Re: Which pickup/guitar combos are you 100% satisfied with?

Howdy,

100% satisfied? Hmm..that's a tough one. OK, make it the set of SD Vintage P-90's in my Gibson Les Paul Special. I have tons of fun playing along with 'Stones CDs while this tone monster is plugged into my '68 Vibro Champ!
90% Satisfied: DiMarzio Twang King set in my Mahogany Tele. Bakersfield smooth.
80% Satisfied: SH-1 '59 set in my ES-335. Best when cranked up loud and pushing a pair of overworked 6L6 powertubes through at least one 12-inch speaker! That reminds me: I need to replace those Ceramic Eminance speakers.

Eggman

 

[80's_Metal]

Re: Which pickup/guitar combos are you 100% satisfied with?

LP + SH-6 = Metal Heaven

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Which pickup/guitar combos are you 100% satisfied with?

I guess we'll see who has the same pickups in their guitars in 5 years, then we'll know who was 100% satisfied. :laughing:

I'm always interested in seeing the most common and popular pickup combos, as well as the single pickup guitar choices.

There's really a limit to how good a guitar can sound, for your personal taste, so it's always fun what that pickup is.

 

[Toner]

Re: Which pickup/guitar combos are you 100% satisfied with?

Dialed in:

Fender Esquire custom GT: EMG 85 w/ 18v mod, I pulled it out to try out an invader again, but I definately liked the EMG setup better.

Dean Razorback: What can I say, the dimebucker/59 combo rocks in this guitar, probably because of the large body and headstock.

Dean MLF: Bill Lawrence L500XL smokes in this one too, again probably because of the large body/headstock since this pickup sounded like crap in any other guitar.

Not Dialed in:

Schecter XXX: Tried a Bill Lawrence USA L500XL, didn't sound good in this guitar, threw it in my dean ML. Will probably try the EMG 85 w/ 18v mod next in this one.

Schecter Blackjack: Came with the JB/59 combo, which IMO sucks for hard rock/metal but is good for alt rock and stuff like foo fighters etc. I put in a crunchy rails bridge and vintage 59 combo from GFS, it sounds pretty good but seems like something is missing. Since the XXX and Blackjack are essentially the same guitar, if the EMG 85 w/ 18v mod sounds good, I'm gonna do it in both of these guitars since they are my main 2 for the band!


My other guitars are an Ibanez RG320 with a pair of dragonfire actives (81 copies) which sound pretty good but I haven't really tested them on my KRANK rig, Ibanez RG350DX with the stock pickups, again haven't really evaluated this one, same with an RG470.


Honestly so far the best sounding guitar I have played with my KRANK rig was the fender esquire custom GT with the EMG 85 w/18v mod, every single note was clear as day playing solos or chords. I'd like to try a blackout bridge and a blackout neck in the bridge position on some guitars to compare with the emg to see if the blackouts at 9v are as articulate as the 85 at 18v but if the blackout bridge pups are as harsh as the emg 81 I won't like them. I'd also like to try out one of the active preamp boards from GFS with my invader and crunchy rails so see how those clear up the passive pickups. All comes down to $$$ to experiment though.

 

[alashredder]

Re: Which pickup/guitar combos are you 100% satisfied with?

JB in alder or maple bodies
Screamin' Demon in alder or maple bodies
Dimarzio Evolution in alder body
Bill Lawrence 500XL in any mahogany body..same with the Dimebucker. (was way too ice picky in a maple)

 

[Rowan]

Re: Which pickup/guitar combos are you 100% satisfied with?

The guitar and pickup combo I have been most satisfied with is my ESP EC400AT with a covered 59 at the neck and an open coil custom at the bridge. The neck pickup is syrupy and thick for solos, and the custom works perfectly with this guitar. However, I haven't yet tried a custom 8.....

 

[JamesPaul]

Re: Which pickup/guitar combos are you 100% satisfied with?

I've had a Custom/Jazz in my Epi Classic for 10 years. It's still my favorite all around set. Lots of tonal variety if one acutally adjusts the switch and knobs.

Now true, I did swap them earlier in the year but that was only a bobbin color change 'cause I really wanted the Ace Frehley look!

 

[scottish]

Re: Which pickup/guitar combos are you 100% satisfied with?

right now i only have duncans in my bucker guitars...

1. APH2n and 59b in lorelle
2. ant buckers in jaye
3. aph2s in grace

in that order. the 1st combo particularly, you couldnt pay me to change it. it is def giving me "my sound". see my sig for the guitars

 

[digitaljockey]

Re: Which pickup/guitar combos are you 100% satisfied with?

Yamaha SG2100 (like the Santana SG2000 neck thru, but the better playable little smaller/thinner neck from the SG1000) + Duncan 59NL & DDJ pups is perfect for me!
Play everything from shoegazer to blues tone. I use a straight + in my opinion very neutral Yamaha G50-112II Amp + pedals with tubes & others to 'paint' the tone like i want to paint it ;o)

 

[Lazarus1140]

Re: Which pickup/guitar combos are you 100% satisfied with?

The great thing about getting settled with a guitar....when you know it is 'right'....is that you can finally look at the amplifiers and get to know exactly what they're doing for your sound, and even better.....you can spend more time working at being a better player.....i have no excuses now....if i don't sound good.....it's simply that i need to work harder, not buy more pickups ...

Yeah, really .... that's me. I concentrate so much effort on the pursuit of perfect tone while my playing remains woefully sloppy. When I was younger and played tennis I bought rackets instead of developing solid ground strokes.

 

[Lazarus1140]

Re: Which pickup/guitar combos are you 100% satisfied with?

The jazz set in my schecter has been the only thing I've tried so far that's been versatile enough to completely satisfy me. Most other stuff has sounded good but it's over the top in a way that makes it not useable for certain sounds and makes me want more guitars. The jazz set does pretty much everything well enough to satisfy me.



I left the JB in the neck of my Schecter 006 Blackjack and replaced the 59 in the neck with a SH-2N Jazz (special ordered red). This is a 100% improvement over stock. Now the neck rocks and the split combination positions 2, 3, and 4 all sound sweeter.

The Blackjack stares in unbelief while I play my pawnshop stock MiM Strat.

 

[Dave]

Re: Which pickup/guitar combos are you 100% satisfied with?

My tele w/Blues spec neck, ssl1 m, and JD-b. Great for everything. It just feels good no matter what.

I have tex hots in a strat and like them a lot-still waiting to Love them...

 

[dani]

Re: Which pickup/guitar combos are you 100% satisfied with?

custom/jazz is my de facto for any form of metal. on par but a different flavor will be bill and becky lawrence's l-500xl/r.

i am still waiting for the blackout 7s to see how they will compare to the above combos on my sevens.

 

[Push to Shuv]

Re: Which pickup/guitar combos are you 100% satisfied with?

Custom bridge and PG neck in Les Pauls.

 

[fenderiarhs]

Re: Which pickup/guitar combos are you 100% satisfied with?

I always have a guitar with the emg85/sa/sa combo which i keep using for more than 10 years now.....A strat with CS69 pickups is also the essential strat for me.
As for duncan pickups i found heaven in the Custom and the JB (and sometimes the CC)

 

[Diocletian]

Re: Which pickup/guitar combos are you 100% satisfied with?

I'm almost starting to think I'm in the wrong place. Does NO ONE love Jacksons in here?!

It's all strats and Les Pauls.