Overthinking Guitar Pickups

[BabUShka]

I love overthinking and experimenting with pickups. It really helps lovering my GAS.

Ive even hated some pickups in some guitars, but love them in others. In example - i bought a BKP Black Dog for mye Les Paul Classic. Hated it. Installed in i a SG 61RI, loved it.

Its so much fun.

 

[MASS DEFECT]

I just spent 3 hours A/B'ing between two pickups that sound a bit similar to each other. So, yes...I overthink guitar pickups.

 

[SubsonicDoom99]

What is your source? Seriously, I'd like to know more how and why.
Then I might as well try to find a used Duncan distortion since BW's aren't that cheap.

I've been using the Black Winter pickups for a while now, love 'em. While they definitely are close to the Distortion in many ways, I think the Distortion has a bit more of a higher end bite that I don't care for as much compared to the BW. The BW's have more focus on the mids that makes fast picked, downtuned chords sound heavy but articulate, which definitely works well in the context of black metal and prog-death and so on. I tune pretty low and they work really well for me.

 

[Aura Fragment]

As many said, I also love listening to different PUs and searching their differences, in search of a "tone" I like. Also, for me is fun to switch a "stock pu" and see what happens. Doing that when you have more than 1 guitar dives you into having a collection of different tones you like and you can use for different purposes.

I think, at the end, if it is a good PU and you have clear if you prefer actives/passives, you will like the final tones and use them for different songs, which for me is the main goal, feel some inspiration to write.

 

[Emperoff]

As many said, I also love listening to different PUs and searching their differences, in search of a "tone" I like. Also, for me is fun to switch a "stock pu" and see what happens. Doing that when you have more than 1 guitar dives you into having a collection of different tones you like and you can use for different purposes.

Funny. I find it just the opposite: The more guitars I have, the less time I want to fiddle with pickups. Getting the "perfect pickup" makes more sense when you have only one guitar.

 

[LeviathanKiller]

Funny. I find it just the opposite: The more guitars I have, the less time I want to fiddle with pickups. Getting the "perfect pickup" makes more sense when you have only one guitar.

I've come to this conclusion as well. Now I pretty much want the same pickup in all of my guitars just for simplicity. lol

 

[Iron1]

Funny. I find it just the opposite: The more guitars I have, the less time I want to fiddle with pickups. Getting the "perfect pickup" makes more sense when you have only one guitar.

For me, it's more finding the perfect suite of pups for multiple guitars - as in, they all need to compliment one another and sit together well in a mix. That's why I ditched my Invader and haven't found a solid replacement yet for my 91 540SLTD, the original IBZUSA F2 (Tone Zone clone), Invader, Dimarzio Super Distortion, and Black Winter just haven't mixed well with my Custom and Imperiums. But, the Apocalypse does. Hoping the Elysian I have coming next week finally puts that tone chasing to rest.

 

[USMarine75]

Strangely, I think it prob matters the more distortion you add, and more specifically they type of distortion and what rig, and whether the pickups are hot.

With clean to breakup, I can tweak much more easily with pedals and amp tone stack. Especially if the pickups are lower output and not slamming the preamp (e.g. PAF vs X2N).

At moderate rock distortion, I could tweak what I considered to be a sonically limited amp in the Fireball 100 to sound like EVH or even John Mayer.

Once you start overdriving/clipping the input with hot pickups or pickups that have EQ peaks where you don't want them, you're probably going to have noticeably garbage sounding pickups, unless you really know how to tweak settings. Also, if you have pickups that are inherently bass heavy in a body with lots of lower overtones, then it's going to sound really muddy when low-tuned through many amps. Or pickups (and electronics, like the wrong pots) with enhanced highs through a rig with what you think should be the correct settings but sounds shrill.

It seems like hot PAF pickups seem to always play well. Wolfgang, Gibson 496/500, BKP VHII, etc.

Anyways just my way of explaining why I think just about any properly set up rig sounds good even with cheap pickups when low to medium gain, yet it seems like a lot of modern high gain rigs are far more picky with what pickups/electronics play well. Because then you saturate the distortion and add post production and they all sound exactly the same lol.