stratguy23
New member
I'm curious why companies don't update pickups with new versions the way other products are often updated.
For example, common complaints about SD production pickups are:
1. 59 neck can be boomy
2. Phat Cat bridge sounds thin in comparison to PC neck
3. I'd imagine that many folks want the Pearly Gates bridge pickup to have more beef. This is a Custom Shop offering ("BFG" wind), but I bet it would be popular as a production model.
These pickups seem to be set in stone. They generally work pretty well, but it wouldn't be hard to tweak them to improve them.
Same thing with Dimarzio. Super Distortion is a great pickup, and, of course, don't fix it if it ain't broke. But it's a fairly blunt instrument. Given the advances in pickup winding knowledge since the 70s, maybe something like a slightly lower output but similarly voiced Super Distortion with alnico magnet for more organic feel might be popular.
With this paradigm, it seems like new pickup releases are pretty risky. You put out a product, and that's it, you can never improve it.
Guitars are sort of like this. All the major electric shapes (Strat, Tele, LP, SG) have design flaws that haven't been corrected since the forms "crystallized" in the late 50s/early 60s.
Contrast with, say, pedals. It's pretty common for pedal manufacturers to make V2s of pedals to address user complaints/requests. Maybe a quieter footswitch gets introduced, or more tone shaping controls added. It's also not unheard of for amps to get new versions - Peavey ValveKing II, Mesa's Mark series, 5150 series, etc.
Then, out in the world at large, cars are *expected* to be updated each year. Browsers get updated seemingly every week, though I realize software lends itself to updates.
I'm wondering why we don't see this desire/need for improvement in pickups. Arguably the Whole Lotta Humbucker set could be viewed as the improved 59 set, but it got a whole new product name instead of being called the 59 II.
For example, common complaints about SD production pickups are:
1. 59 neck can be boomy
2. Phat Cat bridge sounds thin in comparison to PC neck
3. I'd imagine that many folks want the Pearly Gates bridge pickup to have more beef. This is a Custom Shop offering ("BFG" wind), but I bet it would be popular as a production model.
These pickups seem to be set in stone. They generally work pretty well, but it wouldn't be hard to tweak them to improve them.
Same thing with Dimarzio. Super Distortion is a great pickup, and, of course, don't fix it if it ain't broke. But it's a fairly blunt instrument. Given the advances in pickup winding knowledge since the 70s, maybe something like a slightly lower output but similarly voiced Super Distortion with alnico magnet for more organic feel might be popular.
With this paradigm, it seems like new pickup releases are pretty risky. You put out a product, and that's it, you can never improve it.
Guitars are sort of like this. All the major electric shapes (Strat, Tele, LP, SG) have design flaws that haven't been corrected since the forms "crystallized" in the late 50s/early 60s.
Contrast with, say, pedals. It's pretty common for pedal manufacturers to make V2s of pedals to address user complaints/requests. Maybe a quieter footswitch gets introduced, or more tone shaping controls added. It's also not unheard of for amps to get new versions - Peavey ValveKing II, Mesa's Mark series, 5150 series, etc.
Then, out in the world at large, cars are *expected* to be updated each year. Browsers get updated seemingly every week, though I realize software lends itself to updates.
I'm wondering why we don't see this desire/need for improvement in pickups. Arguably the Whole Lotta Humbucker set could be viewed as the improved 59 set, but it got a whole new product name instead of being called the 59 II.
