Worst pickups you have ever owned?

Re: Worst pickups you have ever owned?

Since I swap pups to Duncan the minute I get a new guitar, I've had a few lemons come my way. Stock LTD's, Dean DMT Design, Ibanez PowerSound, V7/V8, Infs, and the like.

But for me the worst pups have been the DiMarzio/Ibz that came stock in my Ibanez RG870RWZ. Being advertised as true DiMarzios (a brand I've never been a fan of), they are way too high in output, don't clean well, are too thin and have absolutely no dynamics.

If they were on a cheap guitar, they would still sound worse to me than PowerSounds...
 
Re: Worst pickups you have ever owned?

Synapsys said:
Since I swap pups to Duncan the minute I get a new guitar, I've had a few lemons come my way. Stock LTD's, Dean DMT Design, Ibanez PowerSound, V7/V8, Infs, and the like.

But for me the worst pups have been the DiMarzio/Ibz that came stock in my Ibanez RG870RWZ. Being advertised as true DiMarzios (a brand I've never been a fan of), they are way too high in output, don't clean well, are too thin and have absolutely no dynamics.

If they were on a cheap guitar, they would still sound worse to me than PowerSounds...
Click to expand...


Lol. I hated those, but they sounded clear enough for me.
 
Re: Worst pickups you have ever owned?

LOL, I'm a diehard Duncan guy but i freaking hate JB's!!! At least when they are in my guitar anyway? Oddly enough several of my favorite artist use them almost exclusively & I love them in that context...
 
Re: Worst pickups you have ever owned?

Funny the V7/V8 are so unpopular. I have two guitars that had them when they were stock, but by the time I got the guitars, they had already been swapped out, so I never got a chance to hear them. What are they like?
 
Re: Worst pickups you have ever owned?

A couple of pick ups come to mind. First off, it seems that 57's seem to remind me of Glenfiddich single malts - dependable, smooth, and boring. The other pickup, I bought many ages ago from Gibson and installed it in my boat anchor, a very heavy three pickup LP Custom. It was the Velvet Brick. When I try describe it, the nicest word that comes to mind is harsh.......
 
Re: Worst pickups you have ever owned?

Fender Texas Specials. Harsh midrangey with no warmth at all...yuck!
 
Re: Worst pickups you have ever owned?

Rex_Rocker said:
Funny the V7/V8 are so unpopular. I have two guitars that had them when they were stock, but by the time I got the guitars, they had already been swapped out, so I never got a chance to hear them. What are they like?
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V7/V8= Very bland7/Very bland 8
or Vanilla7/Vanilla8

I would guess they were designed for 80s full rack system guys that get ALL their tone from racks of effects, so the pickups were just neutral conductors..
 
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Re: Worst pickups you have ever owned?

Nostalgic Distortion said:
LOL, I'm a diehard Duncan guy but i freaking hate JB's!!! At least when they are in my guitar anyway? Oddly enough several of my favorite artist use them almost exclusively & I love them in that context...
Click to expand...

Never hated the JB but not my favorite. I prefer it with an A2 and I haven't found a desire to replace it since the mag swap. This is in one of my two Dean Hardtails. The other one has Dimarzio's and gets more playing time.
'
 
Re: Worst pickups you have ever owned?

New JBs dont sound like old JBs. Same with 59s.

Old JB from the early/mid 80s in a alder strat is a wonderful thing.
 
Re: Worst pickups you have ever owned?

KNUCKLHEAD said:
Squire , ALL + overseas warlock pups
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The alnico classic vibe 60s pups were actually impressive to me.

Fender blacktop humbuckers are the worst passives i ever tried.

MIM strat singles sound decent with A5 pole swaps if you're on a budget.




Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk
 
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Re: Worst pickups you have ever owned?

apart from the stock pickups in my old cheap yamaha guitars, fender-lace sensors-single coils from the 90s. i had the red, silver, blue and gold. all of them had super weak output and relatively low soul.
 
Re: Worst pickups you have ever owned?

esandes said:
apart from the stock pickups in my old cheap yamaha guitars, fender-lace sensors-single coils from the 90s. i had the red, silver, blue and gold. all of them had super weak output and relatively low soul.
Click to expand...

See I have played two strats with the golds and hot golds and I loved them. I thought they were some of the best single coils I've ever played. Everyone has a different playing styles and tastes.
 
Re: Worst pickups you have ever owned?

V7/V8 so bad they are not worthy of labels.

JB. For such a celebrated pickup it is really really bad.

Steve's Special. It will suck the soul out of your guitar.

Honorable mention: P-Rails. It was a good concept but the end result is underwhelming. Feels like it could be tuned better...
 
Re: Worst pickups you have ever owned?

Calsip said:
See I have played two strats with the golds and hot golds and I loved them. I thought they were some of the best single coils I've ever played. Everyone has a different playing styles and tastes.
Click to expand...

trust me, i thought they were great until i switched them up with true single coils. more punch, clarity, chime and....hum.
 
Re: Worst pickups you have ever owned?

esandes said:
trust me, i thought they were great until i switched them up with true single coils. more punch, clarity, chime and....hum.
Click to expand...

My main guitar is a strat with stock pickups and I like them a lot, I would even say love them. But I also like the lace too. I just think the lace sound good too.
 
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