Worst pups you ever used

Re: Worst pups you ever used

I ordered a chinese tele knockoff once because the finish looked nice in the photo. It arrived and the finish did look halfway decent but the guitar was a complete POS. The pickups were a joke and definitely, by far, the worst pickups I have ever tried!
 
Re: Worst pups you ever used

Oh yea, SD Staples

those are not bad pups at all. you might not like em but they sure dont qualify as the worst youve ever used. lots of people like the neck, i actually thought the bridge was awesome too. like a fat vintage strat bridge pup. beautiful clean tones all around from this set

I might be the only person who likes the powersounds! Lmao

ive said for years that the powersound pups are the worst ive ever tried. the neck was a woolly mushy mess of bass and the bridge was a thin high output shrill torture device.
 
Re: Worst pups you ever used

"Worst" is subjective, but I finally am getting around to swapping out my 490R/498T set in a '94 Les Paul with a 59/Custom Hybrid and a Jazz in the neck. I am swapping the whole wiring for 50s wiring with splits on both tone knobs and a phase switch on the bridge volume. It'll be like new guitar day without the new guitar price. :)

I didn't hate the 490/498, but they were too bright I reckon is the word. (I'm a hack player and not a pro at this at all.)
 
Re: Worst pups you ever used

There is no way to suggest that someone might be tone-deaf without insulting him/her, is there?

Probably not, although I do have somewhat poor hearing. But I should refine my post, I just about only like the distorted tones of the powersound neck for soloing in poplar RGs but I only like the powersound bridge on occasion, depending on amp settings and effects gain or not. There are far better pickups, but I wouldn't call them THE absolute worst. I think the worst are probably the SGR pickups made by Belcat and put in the Chinese Schecters. Those Chinese Schecters aren't bad though once they get new pups.
 
Re: Worst pups you ever used

B. C. Rich BDSM

I played a BC Rich KKV with them stock live for years. They sounded massive and awesome through a marshall dsl2000 cranked through a pa. :)

Someone uploaded a clip from one of our shows once. Probably can't hear them well...:


 
Re: Worst pups you ever used

They sounded massive and awesome through a marshall dsl2000 cranked through a pa. :)

My Warlock NJ Neck-Thru series only came alive after I installed some Parallel Axis on it.

Anyway, this is one tough post to comment. After all, we all have different ears, different tastes and different ideas of tone on our minds, so no answers will ever be the same ;)
 
Worst pups you ever used

My Warlock NJ Neck-Thru series only came alive after I installed some Parallel Axis on it.

Anyway, this is one tough post to comment. After all, we all have different ears, different tastes and different ideas of tone on our minds, so no answers will ever be the same ;)

No worries. I changed them out too eventually. But they did sound good with massive volume. At least for me and those needs I had at the time. ;)
 
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Re: Worst pups you ever used

There are so many; how do you pick just one? Most low-end guitars have horrendous sounding pickups IME.
 
Re: Worst pups you ever used

this is an old thread but i think it fits.
My bandmade and Girlfriend don't care, but for years i wasted my time playing a Gibson AY (Angus Young Signature) pickup.
I sold it a half year ago when i compared it to a SD pearly Gates.
First off i tend to like a scooped sound. my ears are very sensitive to mids (or unsensitive to bass and treble?) and it starts to sound honky/nasal/congested/narrowbanded very quickly if there are to much mids/too lil bass and treble in the signal.
The SD SH-12 Screamin demon, SH-1 59 are marketed as scooped and i like them. I was able to tame the boomy bass of the 59 in some occasions.
So there is mid scooped Pickups and there is no ****ing mids at all!:
Welcome to the Gibson Angus Young Signature Pickup. This thing is too bright and muddy at the same time. It's a paradox and drove me crazy.
I always blamed the amp, which didn't help too much either, but now i know the Pickup is definitely to blame the most.
This thing is just ear piercing highs and boomy bass and almost nothing in between.
Way too boomy to get an accurate AC/DC like crunch.
To a degree i like that characteristic but too much is too much.
I think i never played with it (had it in 2 different guitars) without fiddling with the amp controls the whole time.
It was about 9.4 k DCR and had a short A5 Magnet if someone is interested.
The pricetag was ridiculous and i am the idiot who fell for it. Back than i was young and stupid. BUt this thing was an aftermarket pickup so you suppose it should improve something execept for the lighter wallet.

The SD Pearly gates does a better job in every way (It's bright with not too much bass so it can crunch and enough mids to make it full and not ear piercing).
In the mean time i stumbled over a used custom shop high voltage set.
Oops i did it again!!!
NO, i am kidding this thing does an even better job at it (well it supposed to, but so was the AY bucker), and in this case it's not just another marketing gimmick.
I was afraid to fall in the same trap again, but those things actually deliver the sound you expect:)
plus the feel of this set might be the best i have ever experienced. never felt that connected with a guitar.
Never knew this was even possible to that degree!

so it's off my chest!
I feel better now!
 
Re: Worst pups you ever used

I would assume the AY pickup is designed to be in an SG, which is pretty mid-heavy on it's own. So if you drop that into a Les Paul then the EQ would be nowhere near an AC/DC tone.
 
Re: Worst pups you ever used

I had it in a very honky Les Paul classic with not a lot of low end for years.
Then in a SG, also (of course) very mid heavy.
The woofy bass got a little better in the SG but the ice pick highs and no body to the note still remained.
I was better with more gain, as that added mids/compression. with more gain i could fatten it up and make it sound descent and maybe that's why i put up with it so long. But that's not what i bought this pickup for or what it is designed for!
So in the end i had less problems with it in the Les Paul, as i tought that the woofyness is kind of the LP fault and i didn't use it strictly for crunch.

Maybe this pickup is good to flatten out a banjo EQ wise:D
 
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Re: Worst pups you ever used

For me the Dimarzio Super 2. To hot undefined and shrill for the neck, painfully shrill harsh abrasive and nasty sounding in the bridge in everything I have tried it in. It's like a Humbucker from hell stuffed with a ceramic mag harshness on steroids. HATE those pickups just absolutely NASTY sounding things!! I like the Dimarzio Super 3 and SD but the Super 2 is useless!!
 
Re: Worst pups you ever used

The 490t is the only one that comes to mind, atleast that I can identify. Thin and lifeless
 
Re: Worst pups you ever used

i never liked that gibson angus pup either, the first time i heard it i thought it was broken it was so bright and shrill in the sig sg. it sounded okish through a cranked 2204 but still not what i would call good
 
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