Everybody wants to change pickups.

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64Firebird

64Firebird

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Anytime someone's not happy with their tone the first thing they want to do is change the pups. I think you'd get a lot more mileage out of throwing about $100.00 at an EQ stomp box. I like to put one at the very end of the chain (last thing before the amp or last in the FX loop). This is the ticket to a great tone and you can change it anytime you want.
 
what about running a rack eq through an effects loop?
if you have a two channel amp you then have a four channel amp, 2 clean, and 2 of the other.

i haven't tried it yet, but i plan to later today.
 
Sounds like a good idea. But my point is that changing pups may be unnecessary. With an EQ (rack or pedal) you can have it all.
 
I disagree about the EQ. The EQ only changes the tone - the pups effect attact, overdrive/underdrive(?), compression, sustain, etc. Compare a humbucker against a single coil. Compare a parellel humbucker agains a series humbucker, etc.

But an EQ is not a bad investment either!
 
64Firebird said:
Anytime someone's not happy with their tone the first thing they want to do is change the pups. I think you'd get a lot more mileage out of throwing about $100.00 at an EQ stomp box.
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He may have been more satisfied by spending the additional money on a better guitar to begin with.

I don't knowingly buy unsatisfactory guitars in the first place.

I have never changed pickups in any guitar I've ever owned. It's simply bad money after good you'll probably never see again.
 
A lot of good points I guess, I have also found that a $40.00 7-band EQ pedal can remove mud, add mids, etc. and judicious use of the level control can have a huge effect on the "feel", overdrive, compression, etc. by matching the signal level to the first stage of the preamp. It's a swiss army knife. I have one humbucker guitar, with medium output pu's that will make any amp I have too saturated/compressed and distorted. I bring the level down on the EQ, it cleans right up and becomes more dynamic. If I use the volume on the guitar to do this, I lose some high end. Also for this guitar, I pull the 200 hz slider down a little to tighten the bass up. My Dano U2 has very low output pickups, so when I use that I bring the level slider up just slightly into the boost zone to achieve that tone I'm looking for.
I'm sure different pickups can alter a guitar's tone/feel/frequency response considerably, but I think a lot of that is simply how the relative output level of a different pickup drives the first gain stage in an amp. I played a friend's cheapo import SSX Stinger that I had just fixed and restrung a couple of weeks ago at a little gig after breaking a string on my strat. That thing sounded awesome!! The pickups were a little higher output and were at a perfect level for my Hot Rod Deville's preamp, making it sing, but I gotta believe that it was just at a magic level for that amp, in that room. When I had played that guitar at home thru a different amp, it sounded ok but nothing special.
Anyway, how the hell do you sift thru the manufacturer's marketing department's lingo and know which model pu would be right for you??? Terms like "smooth buttery mids", "warm highs", you know the crap I 'm talking about. I still can't decide if I need the Buttery Mids, Low-end grind, or sweet top end...so I guess I'll keep my money instead of experimenting with $60-$100 coils of wire. (what the hell do buttery mids sound like, exactly??)
 
I have factory Ibanez pickups in my guitar. I'm going to change them to Seymour Duncans, JB and Custom. I will probably use an EQ at the end of my effects chain, but I think the replacement pickups are actually necessary.
 
Sometimes changing the pups is exactly what's needed. But, how many of you tried an EQ pedal before you you spent money on new pups?

It's amazing how much mileage you can get out of an EQ stomp box.
 
64Firebird said:
Sometimes changing the pups is exactly what's needed. But, how many of you tried an EQ pedal before you you spent money on new pups?

It's amazing how much mileage you can get out of an EQ stomp box.
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I've had many of them and tried those :) Indeed it's not a bad idea. But sometimes add an EQ somehow add "extra noises" here and there (...not to mention if you use an adaptor for power supply :p ). I think if you have many guitars to pick, play around with pickup replacement is okay. Sometime "singer" needs another "microphone" to sing better... ;)

;)
Jaymz
 
James Argo said:
I've had many of them and tried those :) Indeed it's not a bad idea. But sometimes add an EQ somehow add "extra noises" here and there (...not to mention if you use an adaptor for power supply :p ). I think if you have many guitars to pick, play around with pickup replacement is okay. Sometime "singer" needs another "microphone" to sing better... ;)

;)
Jaymz
Click to expand...

But, if you use an EQ you can make a more informed decision about what pups to buy. You can look at you EQ settings and look at what Seymour Duncan says about his pups and compare. Besides, with an EQ if you change rooms you can change settings. With pups you'd just have to buy another one.

When recording you can EQ the signal after you track it, but live I think your much better off with an inline EQ.
 
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