Worst pickups you have ever owned?

[LtKojak]

Re: Worst pickups you have ever owned?

Robben Ford used a 59n and JB for some of his best known recordings

Well, if we trust the word of Daved (correct spelling), his tech those days, the Fender Esprit, later called the "Robben Ford" model, hosted a stock '59 set.

HTH,

 

[LtKojak]

Re: Worst pickups you have ever owned?

Also, addressing the "worst" p'ups concept... I've said it before, and I'll say it again:

The same p'up(s) that worked wonderfully in one instrument, may as well work poorly in another.

That's the nature of the beast, and not amount of money can make up for this simple fact of life.

HTH,

 

[FuseG4]

Re: Worst pickups you have ever owned?

fender mim ceramic pickups
those old epiphone wax-brick humbuckers
ibanez powersounds

 

[KNUCKLHEAD]

Re: Worst pickups you have ever owned?

A Carpload of Fender Strat Middles ~ Too many to break-down

Some paul Middles as well (when 3) <-- I think Not Diverse enough in Tone

 

[rgand]

Re: Worst pickups you have ever owned?

I see I'm the third one to mention the stock Squier Strat pickups. Mine were so lifeless that I thought the tone control was out. Actually, the pickups just didn't have any range.

 

[pinto79]

Re: Worst pickups you have ever owned?

The DiMarzio Tone Zone. Every time I've tried it, it's lifeless, boring and weak.

 

[htwheelz67]

Re: Worst pickups you have ever owned?

Also, addressing the "worst" p'ups concept... I've said it before, and I'll say it again:

The same p'up(s) that worked wonderfully in one instrument, may as well work poorly in another.

That's the nature of the beast, and not amount of money can make up for this simple fact of life.

HTH,

You are so right, but some are just crappy, I have a set of dimarzio transitions, they sounded crappy in my les paul(not that crappy but just not great) I put them in an HH ash strat and I still dont like them, I put WLH's in the Les paul and amazing, gonna sell the strat and sell the transitions. I don't like EMG's had an 81 and 85 in a PRS torero, replaced them with p-rails and triple shots just as much balls but way more versatile. Had early EMG.s in a strat.......one trick pony's. Epiphone Hotch......pretty bad BUT removing the covers and wax made them sound much better. Gibson 57+ was total mud for me but it could have been pots,caps and guitar, I have a super 57 that is great. Ibanez super 70's I have never liked, I still have one set but sold all the rest for rediculous prices, I never could get the hype on them as a duncan 59 just blows them away. You never know, I just got a set of cheap chinese A2 humbuckers which are made by Donlis in cream for 30 bucks for the set and they sound great. I have a real old duncan custom from the 80's in my old kramer it was killer but a couple other guitars......MEH.

 

[BruceBruce]

Re: Worst pickups you have ever owned?

fender mim ceramic pickups
those old epiphone wax-brick humbuckers
ibanez powersounds

I looooooooooooove Fender MIM ceramics

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Worst pickups you have ever owned?

Gibson P100

 

[KNUCKLHEAD]

Re: Worst pickups you have ever owned?

The DiMarzio Tone Zone. Every time I've tried it, it's lifeless, boring and weak.

Tone Zone isnt too Hot on most standard tune guitars ~ conversely , works killer on the Right Body/ Neck combo, Head + speakers for drop C on a few Styles of music ( and We used ALOT of different pickups ~ My main Rig on Drop C likes it the best . It's just the way things are sometimes , if I uploaded some clips of it - U'd probably Never have guessed .

 

[Archer250]

Re: Worst pickups you have ever owned?

weak.

What kind of music do you play? Every time I try one, it's always too hot.

 

[KNUCKLHEAD]

Re: Worst pickups you have ever owned?

I know U were addressing pinto on that part ( Weak ) but " Tone Zone isnt too Hot on most standard tune guitars " <-- what I meant there for standard tuning is - it's not one of my main choices , on Drop C it is with my gear~ F Y I

 

[baritone]

Re: Worst pickups you have ever owned?

The stock pickups in my Epiphone - there was no treble, which I found to be so dissatisfying. After I switched to Seymour Duncans, the guitar was brought to life.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Worst pickups you have ever owned?

Also, addressing the "worst" p'ups concept... I've said it before, and I'll say it again:

The same p'up(s) that worked wonderfully in one instrument, may as well work poorly in another.

That's the nature of the beast, and not amount of money can make up for this simple fact of life.

HTH,

i agree with this. and also stand by my statement of ibanez powersound pups being the worst ive ever tried. ive tried them stock in lots of guitars and replaced many sets of them for customers over the years. this isnt a case of a jb doesnt suit this guitar, they are just cheaply made cheap sounding pups. if you play with lots of gain through a ss amp at home in your bedroom they sound fine. other than that, they suck.

 

[FuseG4]

Re: Worst pickups you have ever owned?

I looooooooooooove Fender MIM ceramics

They work for some folks but not me. Too harsh in the high end for me. I mean the low output alnico pickups I tend to like are rather bright but not in a way that hurts my ears. They have enough chime and definition to still sound stratty with the tone or volume down.
The neck position fender ceramic job sounds pretty modern and seems to like edge of breakup and light overdrive stuff but to me all the other positions on a MIM strat sound way off to me and the more gain/louder you play the worse it grates on me. Same with the MIM tele... I can deal with the neck pickup though it doesn't sound as sweet as I'd like, whereas the bridge pickup sounds like broken glass. Hot, broken glass... if that makes any sense?

FWIW I like the squier ceramic strat pickups better. They're not as clear but not as harsh as the MIMs... to my ears.

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: Worst pickups you have ever owned?

The thing about Fender Mexican Ceramic Standard Strat pickups; they're just not what anyone expects to hear when they pick up a Strat (unless they're all they've ever experienced.) They're very non-traditional Strat pickups, so why would they put them in an instrument they call "Standard?"

 

[FuseG4]

Re: Worst pickups you have ever owned?

why would they put them in an instrument they call "Standard?"

So that in case players not familiar with pickup swapping A/B the MIM std against the more expensive alnico pickup strats, they feel i's worth it to lay out more $$$.

 

[Diego]

Re: Worst pickups you have ever owned?

Ibanez V8 bridge pickup. Like a JB running low on battery. Very, very bad.
The only pickup I owned I got nothing good from.

I also had a Jazz neck and didn't like it much. But it was in a 24 fret Jackson and I don't like neck pickups in 24 fret guitars so...

 

[thebingopete]

Re: Worst pickups you have ever owned?

I've either been very lucky or have a special talent for getting good tone out of any guitar. Closest to a bad pup was a vintage Danelectro with the Lipstick . It had it's own unique character and tone. However due to such a drastic low output compared to all my other guitars that it was really a one trick pony guitar. I really loved the guitar though. Played awesome. I'd like to try a set of the newer ones I've seen. A few brands are making ones with higher output than the original ones.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[Mincer]

Re: Worst pickups you have ever owned?

Ibanez V8 bridge pickup. Like a JB running low on battery. Very, very bad.
The only pickup I owned I got nothing good from.

I also had a Jazz neck and didn't like it much. But it was in a 24 fret Jackson and I don't like neck pickups in 24 fret guitars so...

Me neither! Blech!