Guitar Pick-ups

[alfugazi]

I was looking to upgrade my current pick-ups on this Electric guitar I have. It's a Peavy(strat-look alike)Predator with 3 single-coils. I've had the damn thing for 10+ years now and I really dig playing it. I am able to get a decent sound out of it. Anyways, I want to get some new pick-ups for this guitar but don't know what is good. I know that EMG and Dimarzio makes a decent pickup.

A little background:
I play alot of clean through a Tech 21 amp (awesome, by the way). Occasionally I find the need to rip out a killer lead using the dirty channel.

Any comments or suggestions would be great.


Thanks.

[Daddy-O]

Try Fender's Custom Shop Vintage 50's reissues. I usally only dig the real thing but these pickups are pretty close. There is also a company called Antiquity that makes "vintage" strat pickups. They make them to the exact specs as the origanal Fender pickups from '54 and chemicaly "age"
the coil windings. They are great pickups but they are on the pricey side. Both choices will give a very clean stat sound (Buddy Holly) and should get dirty enough for you when the time comes......

[alfugazi]

Thanks Daddy-o.....I have been doing some research on the EMG Pro the (David Gilmour p/u) and was wondering if you know anything about them? I love the tone that he gets. They tend to be pricey. I've found them for about $275 and that includes a new pick guard. I'm contemplating this one. I just dont know what to get quite yet.

[DaveO]

I got a slightly modified David Gilmour set last fall - same equipment but all black on a black pearl pickguard. I love the tone he gets, too, but I didn't buy it to try sounding like him. For one thing, he's got a lot of other gear I'll never have. More importantly, I don't have his hands.

My humble opinions:

1) I like the sound of the EMG SAs, but I've seen other people criticize them for sounding "sterile". I wasn't necessarily looking for perfect vintage Strat tone so this didn't bother me. The stores I tried sold a lot of Hot Rails, Texas Specials, Virtual Blues, etc. I liked all those pickups, but didn't find a lot of EMG SAs so I thought this set would be a little bit different.

2) I needed to replace the pickup switch and volume pot anyway, which I got by buying the complete DG-20 set. Plus I got the EGX and SPC preamps to replace the tone controls.

3) I wanted to get pickups that would help make my guitar a little more versatile so I didn't have to buy a 2nd guitar. At first I was thinking of using two, or even three different pickups, but the preamps give me that versatility. Plus I can always turn them down and get the sound of the SAs by themselves.

4) They are quieter than standard Strat pickups and have a higher output.

5) I really like how it looks on my guitar (black body and maple neck).

If you go with this set, first contact EMG and see what the back order is like now. I ordered my set at the end of April last year and didn't get them until the last week in November. If I knew that up front I probably would have bought something else. However, I'm very happy with this set.

Happy shopping.

[Roybot]

I have used EMG 89's and SA's on two of my guitars and they work great live in clubs in terms of being quiet and that was my justification for buying them. I have two 89's in a PRS which is a sin but the neon lights don't drive me crazy. Above all I prefer pickups with alnico magnets because they sound fullbodied and natural with plenty of bite. If you put active single coils on a strat style guitar you might loose a little bit of that open and/or spanky sound.

[dabluesman]

I play clean through a Tech-21 sansamp too. Look up some info on stacked single-coil humbuckers. They are humbuckers but they dont sit side-by-side, they sit on top of eachother. They work great and you dont have alter the body any to fit a side-by-side humbucker in it. I think Seymore Duncan might make them.

[Jack Hobson-Dupont]

I, too, have a Tech 21 ...what a killer amp!

Anyway, I use DiMarzio Virtual Vintage pickups exclusively. They scream, they moan, they sound like Strats --which other "stacked" humbuckers don't do. I'm such a freak for 'em, I made a website about them. Check it out at:
http://www.energy-1.com/virtualvintage.html

--Jack (a visitor from the VS-Planet)

[Baldy]

The Fenders really have a warm sound and a great bite. They're cheapies but they're pretty cool.
B

I mean in a good way.

[robnoxious]

If you decide to go EMG expect to wait a while to get them. I was told by my dealer it would take a couple of months to get them and I thought he was joking. Its been two months now and Im still waiting. I just hope they accomplish what I think they will.