Which pickup pairs have you never swapped out?

[Securb]

I am wondering what pickups you have put in a guitar or came with a guitar that were never replaced. Or pickups that came with a guitar you kept for a long time. My black Strat is a revolving door of pickups depending on the project. My green Tele can change often. Other guitars never get touched.

• '80 Iceman has had the same Dimebucker/Jazz set for over 20 years. I have no desire to swap them out.
• B.C. Rich with the custom Super High Output pickups from Lindey Fralin
• MIM Strat with Fralin Highoutput/Pure PAF set
• MIM parts Telecaster has a SD Hotrails with a TV Jones Classic Plus bridge in the neck
• My Les Paul Memphis has the original MHS pickups still (keeping it stock vintage)
• Parker Fly has the original DiMarzio PHWB1 based on a ToneZone (keeping it stock vintage)
• Ovation Deacon 12 still has the original active pickups (keeping it stock vintage)
• LP Traditional burst has a WLH set that will never be removed

Seeing I have over 20 instruments, that is not a lot that are not modified or constantly changing.

 

[jeremy]

my homemade hardtail strat that has had an antiquity ii jag neck, antiquity ii jag bridge in the middle, and an antiquity ii jag bridge with a baseplate for a long time and it wont change. great early 60s fender tone

my black tele has an antiquity ii firebird pup in the neck and an a5 tele bridge pup i wound, it wont change

my homemade esquire has my ugd tapped esquire pup, it wont change

my homemade chambered tele thing has an a2 double screw brobucker in the bridge, that wont change. i go back and forth between a seth neck and wlh neck, both are great but different.

'59 guild ce100 with the stock pup, wont change

epiphone rumblekat bass with stock pup, probably wont change

there might be others but thats all i can come up with off the top of my head. theres around 25 electrics in the arsenal, i think.

 

[beaubrummels]

Les Paul Studio with Bare Knuckle Black Dog bridge and 59/A4 neck
Hwy 1 Telecaster with Duncan Broadcaster bridge and Antiquity '54 neck
MIM Stratocaster with Duncan Antiquity Texas Hot set
Gibson Firebird with Duncan Antiquities II Firebird set

Others that stayed in for along time:
Jazz set in my SG (more than 2 years)
Whole Lotta Humbucker set in my SG (more than one year)

 

[Mincer]

My 1982 'The Strat' still has stock pickups, including the rare hotter X1 in the bridge. I have a Dean Zone with stock pickups, but that's because I haven't gotten to it yet. Everything else has at least 1 swap.

 

[Seashore]

Longest runs have been in my Explorer. I kept the stock 498T/490R for 8 or 9 years, then had a BKP Cold Sweat in the bridge for about 13 years. That's probably going back in soon.

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[xxxplorer]

My classic Ironman/Darkburst setup. Once in... stays. New guitar comes stock witht them.

Twin Motor City Black belts in an es-235. Even though the neck pickup is trem spaced lol. But it sounds REALLY GOOD.

Peavey Wolfgang pickups were dope. Didn't change those.

 

[weepingminotaur]

Longest put in and never taken out: Nazgul-Sentient in my Schecter Omen Extreme. Those went in about 6-7 years ago and will likely never come out. They work beautifully for the guitar, the tuning, and the metal I play on it.

Longest stock pickups: none, unless you count the Full Shred and Alnico II Pro in my new Charvel. Happy with both, no plans to change.

 

[Chistopher]

My bar for how could a stock pickup needs to be to not get swapped out is extremely low.

 

[ehdwuld]

The Probuckers in my Epiphone Florentine sound just fine

Some of my Ehdwuld branded guitars got new pickups before they got strings

so they all have JB/JAZZ sets

 

[Juanhanglo]

My first warmoth got a set of harmonic design vintage plus tele pickups. Believe it or not, they're the only tele pickups ive ever used. After 25 years, they still sound amazing.

Revstar p90s. I don't hate them, but I don't love them either. I know a set of HDs will eventually make their way into it. My revstar is bone stock with no mods.

Dimarzio paf joe/mo'joe in my rg520qs. perfection to me. Not going anywhere, anytime soon.

Dimarzio transitions. I put these in my ec401v to replace the 36ths, which sounded great on their own, I had no need to change them, but bought a few sets of dimarzios on black Friday and wanted to try them out. I LOVE these puppies. Call this guitar complete.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

None. I don't think I ever will. Even if I love the pickups on a guitar, there's always somethin new to try.

That being said, I do keep coming back to a couple of sets. Mainly Fishman Fluence Moderns, Classics, and Gibson 500T. It used to be EMG 81's, but nowadays, the new ones kinda sound like shit, LOL.

 

[Butch Snyder]

In 2022, I found a 2020 Fender 70th Anniversary Broadcaster. Fender made them to commemorate the 70 anniversary of the actual Broadcaster guitar. They made 250 of them. The Fender Custom Shop made them too (maybe 250 also?). Mine is the regular production model. I found it locally on Facebook Marketplace. Snatched it up for $1500. Always wanted a Broadcaster. Pickups are stock and are great. They're not the hand-wound by Josefina Campos. She does the Custom Shop pickups. Mine are the Custom Shop-Designed 50/51 Blackguard pickups and I wouldn't have anything else in that guitar.

 

[MikeS]

I don't do a lot of pickup swapping these days. I swapped a lot of pickups back in the 2000s, for the most part discovered what I like and what I don't, and haven't looked back with most of my guitars. While I'm happy with most of the pickup combinations in my guitars and not in a hurry to do any experimentation on any guitars, there are 4 from the collection that I don't see myself ever changing even when the pickup bug hits:

• LP Studio - SD 59n & SD Custom Shop bridge (it's a PATB-3 wind on regular trembucker bobbins) - this guitar had many pickups in its early days, but this set has been in there for 15+ years. No plans to ever remove.
• Dean Soltero - DMZ 36th PAF & Super Distortion - this combination is only a couple years old, but it transformed a guitar from one I was about to sell to one that competes for #1.
• Fender HWY1 - Fender CS Texas Specials - never say never, but I've been more than happy with this set for 15+ years.
• ESP LTD Serpent 600 - Screamin' Demon and ESP-branded rails in the neck - stock pickup set, and not one I have any interest in changing.

 

[Mincer]

I did swap out a JB that came stock in my Brian Moore for a Custom Custom. I tried a bunch of magnets in the JB before I swapped it, but none got rid of that 'JB-ness' that I don't like.

 

[Ascension]

My 95 Washburn USA MG 102 still has the factory JB/59 set.

 

[orpheo]

JB/Jazz set. standard, nothing custom or special. This guitar is played to death and I'm loving it.

Custom pickups by AxesRus. I never changed them. I don't play this guitar anymore but it's good. Very good.

Full maple b!ch. JB/Fullshred in bridge, 59/Jazz in neck. Perfection.

Miracle man/Cold Sweat set in one, RiffRaff/Mule in the other. Custom etch to match the inlay theme.


Joe Bonamassa 2012 set, with a customized phat cat in the middle. This guitar is mine. Exactly what I want and need. The burst has faded by now, the finish has checked and chipped (dropped the guitar once by accident). It's a mishmash of specs and features, but it's mine and I'll never, ever, get rid of it.



Dimarzio EVO set in the left. That guitar will stay like this until the guitar is no more. Sjeesj that guitar is good. The left guitar is lackluster. Way too hot, too fat. I MIGHT swap the magnets for alnicoV's instead of the ceramics, to get a lower output. It's just too hot. I love the tone, and feel, but it's too fat, too hot. So that guitar can't count.


A guitar I regret selling. It's got a pearly/59 hybrid in the bridge and a seth/jazz hybrid in the neck. clear, open, and slightly 'sweet' PAF tones. Gosh this was a good guitar.

 

[Securb]

I was wondering if we would see any trends and so far the pickup that pops up the most seems to be the Jazz in many configurations.

 

[Aceman]

I'm playing based on "official" OEM stuff. Not "I got a guitar and someone had swapped a JB into it"

LP#1 - The T-Top Neck
My Jackson JS32 Dinky, King V, and SL1X. Jackson and Duncan designed pups staying
Epiphone ES339 with Probuckers. Love them for that.

Iceman with 59/C5
Lonestar with PG and Texas Specials
- But those are all great pickups to begin, aren't they?

I have one Caddy that has a Dean pup of no significance in the neck. Never play neck on that anyway. It will likely stay.

I could have left the 57/57+ in Irish...

I wouldn't swap a 500T, but I love Distortions

Everything else pretty much Duncan or DiMarzio.

 

[beaubrummels]

If we're taking Ace's definition, then
the 498/490 set in my '94 LP Standard,
the 57/62 set in my '62RI Strat,
all the factory singles in my Rickenbackers (except the set that corroded/failed in the 12-string),
all the Tri-Sonic sets in my Brian May guitars
any FilterTrons in Gretsch
the P90 set in my Casino

 

[ErikH]

Both of my Junior builds have the same P90 I installed in them.
My Trad Pro Les Paul has the stock pickups. I swapped the bridge pickup a couple times but it’s been back to stock for several years now. It’s been stock longer than not.
The Jazz bass has the stock pickups.