Worst pups you ever used

Zacker

New member
List the worst pups you used and explain why.
I'll start: Epiphone Alnico Classic pickups, they are very bad. Honky mids, muddy bass and very little treble.
 
Re: Worst pups you ever used

Epi pickups are ok, just not great. Worst pickups I've used were on a chinese strat copy. Screechy single coils. Yuck.
 
Re: Worst pups you ever used

A tie for me.
Between the Schecter Diamond Plus and BC Rich BDSM humbuckers. Just uninspired place holders cheaply slapped together for the lower budget models.
They can do fine under gain I guess but the cleans on the BDSM had this awkward grain to them that was unpleasant, and the Diamond Pluses just felt congested. Hard to explain, just really didn't like them.
 
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The stock Powersound pickups that come with low-tier Ibanez. Now what the **** was good about that pickup? Nothing. It's 'high output', but the neck is full of mud and the bridge is brittler than cracked glass.
 
Re: Worst pups you ever used

Tie between Gibson P-100 and SD STK-P1.

The noise-cancelling element of the stacked designs manages to cancel out some of the magic of that makes a true single coil P90 so appealing.

I am convinced that, with complete or partial tapping of the lower coil, either of these designs would sound perfectly alright.
 
Re: Worst pups you ever used

Or maybe he has never used pickups that he liked less?

Nope, I clearly said I generally don't care for Duckbuckers.

Not worse or better, just don't like.

It about the same as people who make stupid comments about "Chibson fakes" when they don't actually know what they are talking about....

Gibsun hahah What a tool!
 
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Re: Worst pups you ever used

Tie between Gibson P-100 and SD STK-P1.

The noise-cancelling element of the stacked designs manages to cancel out some of the magic of that makes a true single coil P90 so appealing.

I am convinced that, with complete or partial tapping of the lower coil, either of these designs would sound perfectly alright.

Similar case with Gibson P-94's...
 
Re: Worst pups you ever used

Gibson P-94 pickups are single coil but the metal casing seems to do something to the sound. (Same goes for metal- versus plastic-covered P90s on Epiphone Casino models.)
 
Re: Worst pups you ever used

For me they were a set of Epiphone and a Lindy Fralin P90's in an Epiphone Wildkat...but those just didn't fit my style so I don't want to knock them for not fitting me personally. I couldn't dial either in through my processors and they were both better at a single note than playing a chord...but that could be slew of issues besides the actual pickups. My other guitars are all dialed in so I kkow the problem wasn't with the processors...could be user error ;)
 
Re: Worst pups you ever used

MIM standard ceramic strat pups.
A whole lot of low end Ibanez pickups.
Custom 5
Fender a3 HWY1 pickups from several years ago
Epiphone P90s
PRS 250/Tremonti
 
Re: Worst pups you ever used

Another one. Gibson P-94. I just used them at a guitar store where the previous owner installed it in the neck of a Epi LP standard with a Dirty Finger bridge. Love the Dirty Fingers but not the P-94. Just doesn't sound like an actual P-90. Belive me, I used actual P-90s before.
 
Re: Worst pups you ever used

None of these could be as bad as the pups on 60's japanese guitars, with the exceptions being of a few European 60's ones too.
 
Re: Worst pups you ever used

Dimarzio Area Strat Set - the classic "shattered glass sound" of cheep Squier pickups but without the cheep Squier price point. Couldn't send them back fast enough!
 
Re: Worst pups you ever used

The stock Powersound pickups that come with low-tier Ibanez. Now what the **** was good about that pickup? Nothing. It's 'high output', but the neck is full of mud and the bridge is brittler than cracked glass.

Ditto for me. Lifeless, thin and uninspiring.
 
Re: Worst pups you ever used

the stock epi pickups in my 90's SG 400 custom, super muddy, way over potted. the gold covers on them made them even worse. just all around terrible.
 
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