Are premium pickups better for low tunings?

[Willyjacksonjs22-7]

Do they handle everything below Eb standard better than a stock unknown brand name pickup?

 

[tedtan]

This is really personal preference, but it also depends on the particular stock pickup and brand name pickup. Basically, you have to play a bunch and find what you like.

 

[The Mirror]

This being the forum that it is I was fully expecting you were talking about tuning low means you want to put your regular 6 string down to E1.

But if your PUs sound good on standard tuning they'll surely sound absolutely fine all the way to B-C tuning. If you go into low 7 to 8 string territory they will probably lose some clarity (but nothing what a good post-recording-EQ couldn't handle).

 

[KnightBrolaire]

it's less to do with the price point of the pickup and more to do with the output and eq/voicing of the pickup. There are 30$ pickups that are as clear as any BKP ime (entwistle hdn).

 

[CanserDYI]

I found a stock Jackson import pickup that has like a 17k output that sounds awesome. I've also found some that sound like absolute dogshit mud city. You just gotta play em. If you like the sound=they good.

 

[Thesius]

I'd skip premium pickups and just get the used prestige pickups

 

[zjb7777]

No. In some cases, premium pickups can sound better, especially when it comes to Duncan Designed vs Seymour Duncan, but I'd still wager even that's highly subjective.

You won't get a better sounding pickup just because it's more expensive. And even if 2 pickup makers gave the exact same description for a pickup, they could still sound wildly different. In my opinion, the best way to navigate pickups is to find a set that generally sounds good, maybe not perfect, but EQ from there to really nail down your tone.

As for lower tunings, I've had stock house brand pickups sound great down to drop A like in an old Jackson JS series, and I've also had premium pickups sound like dogshit down to C like the DiMarzio Tone Zone even with an aggressive high pass filter.

 

[slavboi_delight]

i had great experience with Esp's LH-150 pickups in a variety of tunings. Same goes for EMG. I would not consider those premium, just for the fact of them costing about 50 bucks on ebay.

 

[SubsonicDoom99]

Yeah as already stated, "premium" pickups aren't necessarily going to be the answer for what works better or worse for lower tunings.
Can it help to get certain pickups that are designed and voiced specifically for low tunings? Sure, plenty of times it has.
Other times people have used plenty of other kinds of pickups, vintage, stock or otherwise, and it's worked just fine.
The best way to figure out what pickups you need (or if you need new ones at all) is to tune down your guitar and listen to it and ask:
- Do I like the sound of this as it is? And if not, what is missing to your ears?
- What other things in your signal chain (pedals, amp, gain settings, cabinet, etc.) can be contributing, for better or worse, to what you're hearing?
- How do you set your settings in relation to your pickup types (such as, if you use a lot of gain and volume already, do you really need a higher output pickup, or depending on how you set your EQ, do you need more midrange from the pickups, or beefier low end, etc.?)

Even with so-called stock no-name pickups, they're not all made exactly the same so you can't say for sure that they will or won't work for your needs.

As much as a simple solution is desired, really the best way to know is just to try out the pickups you have, think about the things above that I mentioned, and then go from there and do the research, try out some different ones, and so on.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

I've also had premium pickups sound like dogshit down to C like the DiMarzio Tone Zone even with an aggressive high pass filter.

Which is exactly what is to be expected from a pickup that is voiced for a bright guitar (basswood body, bolt-on maple neck & double-locking floating bridge) in E standard tuning. Plenty of DiMarzio models costing the same as a Tone Zone (i.e. not more or less "premium") sound great in tunings even lower than C. D Activator, Titan, Evolution, X2N etc.

This is more directed to the OP than you @zjb7777

 

[zjb7777]

Which is exactly what is to be expected from a pickup that is voiced for a bright guitar (basswood body, bolt-on maple neck & double-locking floating bridge) in E standard tuning. Plenty of DiMarzio models costing the same as a Tone Zone (i.e. not more or less "premium") sound great in tunings even lower than C. D Activator, Titan, Evolution, X2N etc.

This is more directed to the OP than you @zjb7777

Absolutely. It definitely goes more so on a model to model basis, what each specific model is designed for, rather than a brand to brand basis to determine quality for low tunings.

DiMarzio, while not my favorite brand, makes killer pickups, some especially for drop tunings. Mojotone makes great pickups, some better for higher tunings, some that work well for lower tunings. BKP is in the same boat, the same goes for pretty much every brand. Pickups, IMO are an area of diminishing returns as you go up in price for me. Are Lungren M6s amazing for low tunings? Yes. Is a Duncan Custom also great for low tunings? In my experience, yes, but it's a whole lot better value proposition at $100 USD brand new compared to almost $170 for a Lundgren M6.