I could use some new pickups

  • Thread starter Thread starter thebigcheese
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Roguetitan said:
have you considered using Guitar Fetish Pickups?
they are really good pickups and have just about any style you may be looking for. I know you are like me, tight on money and looking for the biggest bang for the buck and these do without a doubt fit the bill.
just a thought you mihght want to concider.:)
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Aw man, more choices? Just when I was about set... Although I imagine there's a good reason the others are more expensive, and if that's the case, I'd rather foot the bill now and not have to worry about it.
 
thebigcheese said:
Aw man, more choices? Just when I was about set... Although I imagine there's a good reason the others are more expensive, and if that's the case, I'd rather foot the bill now and not have to worry about it.
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Sorry man:o
 
Light's advice is, of course, excellent. I'm a Seymour fan myself but haven't had a proper play with any of the lower output buckers.
 
noisedude said:
Light's advice is, of course, excellent. I'm a Seymour fan myself but haven't had a proper play with any of the lower output buckers.
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Have you tried the Lindy Fralin pups? I'm curious to know what different people think of those vs. SDs.
 
So, you feel the need for new pickups, eh?

Wasamatter, "Hey, baby, what's your sign?" not doing it for you anymore?
 
Hmmm... I was just listening to the Seymour Duncan samples and I think if I went with those, I would reverse your suggestions, Light. The Alnico seems a little twangier, which I like for the bridge pickup, and the pearly gates seems brighter and clearer, which I think is nicer for the neck.
 
thebigcheese said:
Hmmm... I was just listening to the Seymour Duncan samples and I think if I went with those, I would reverse your suggestions, Light. The Alnico seems a little twangier, which I like for the bridge pickup, and the pearly gates seems brighter and clearer, which I think is nicer for the neck.
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I once had a Pearly in the bridge of a Strat and it was all twang. The Alnico II Pro, remember, are Slash's pickups. Dunno if that makes any difference!

And no, I haven't heard the Lindy Fralins, but everybody I've come across who's had a pickup from them has been very happy. :)
 
From personal experience, I am VERY happy with the Gibson Alenco 5 Burstbucker Pro's (couldn't Gibson think up a shorter name?) I put in my Epi Les Paul. They probably made my Paul the sweetest-sounding electric guitar I own- I get complements on the tone I am getting from it, so I am thinking it is not just me.
 
Hmmm... Well, I can say about mine that I'm not necessarily unhappy with the sound they produce, it is just simply too loud. As long as whatever I replace them with is lower output and slightly brighter, I think I will be happy. And a little less muddy on the low end. That seems to be a problem with the stock pups.
 
Hey anfontan, did you ever have trouble with your Paul clipping with some of your pedals? Or did you notice that the stock pickups were super loud? I just want to make sure that I'm not the only one, because even people who say they have "loud" pickups seem to not have trouble with the same pedals I have trouble with.
 
thebigcheese said:
Hey anfontan, did you ever have trouble with your Paul clipping with some of your pedals? Or did you notice that the stock pickups were super loud? I just want to make sure that I'm not the only one, because even people who say they have "loud" pickups seem to not have trouble with the same pedals I have trouble with.
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No, I've never really had any clipping problems with the Paul, it just had a snarl to the sound that just didn't sound like a classic Les Paul Sound. I recently bought an Epiphone Les Paul Standard with the Mahogney body with Maple cap and even with the stock pickups I get the sound I always wanted in the 'Paul'.
I always mix the 2 pickups using the middle position on a Gibson/Les Paul style guitar with 2 volumes and 2 tones though-about 1/4 to 1/3 volume on the neck and usually full volume on the bridge. It rounds the tone really well.
Oh yeah, I did add chrome covers to the original exposed coil pickups on 'The Paul' too.
 
Hmm... I'm thinking whenever I decide to actually spend the money, I will probably go with the Fralins, but I'm still confused about the capacitor thing. I looked in my guitar and it looks like there are some caps between the volume and tone knobs, but I can't tell what value they are. Will the pickups usually come with some sort of diagram that will tell me how to hook things up and what value the caps should be?

Edit: Also, there isn't a way to save money by just making the pickups I have less high output, is there? Cuz really, I'd be plenty happy with pickups like mine, but just quieter. So if I could get the SDs and save money that way, that might be preferable, as long as they would give me kind of the sound that I've already got.
 
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thebigcheese said:
Sorry, I had a late edit. What's the advantage of the unbuckers over the regular humbuckers? The local stores seem to only keep regulars in stock.
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They give you a little more brightness and attack. I like his regular humbuckers too, but I like the attack of the Unbuckers. Frankly, his regular humbuckers would be an improvement too, so it's up to you. From what you described in your original post, it's my belief that you would be happier with the Unbuckers, but that doesn't mean you wouldn't be happy with the regular humubuckers - or the Seymour's, for that matter. They are all very fine pickups.

I have used the Alnico II/Pearly Gates combo more often than I can recall, and I don't every recall a customer being unhappy with them. As for the Pearly Gates in the bridge - it's a bit hotter than the Alnico II, which is good for a couple of reasons. First, the string moves in a much smaller pattern that close to the bridge, so there is less energy to pickup; and second, most people use the bridge pickup for solos and the like - for that reason, it makes sense to have the bridge pickup a bit louder.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
stevieb said:
From personal experience, I am VERY happy with the Gibson Alenco 5 Burstbucker Pro's (couldn't Gibson think up a shorter name?) I put in my Epi Les Paul. They probably made my Paul the sweetest-sounding electric guitar I own- I get complements on the tone I am getting from it, so I am thinking it is not just me.
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The Burstbuckers are similar in concept to the Unbuckers - i.e., they use slightly mis-matched coils. While this makes them slightly less than perfectly hum canceling, it gives you back some of the upper end harmonics that you loose through phase cancellations. The Unbuckers are better made, though, and I think Lindy's pickups sound better.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Light said:
They give you a little more brightness and attack. I like his regular humbuckers too, but I like the attack of the Unbuckers. Frankly, his regular humbuckers would be an improvement too, so it's up to you. From what you described in your original post, it's my belief that you would be happier with the Unbuckers, but that doesn't mean you wouldn't be happy with the regular humubuckers - or the Seymour's, for that matter. They are all very fine pickups.

I have used the Alnico II/Pearly Gates combo more often than I can recall, and I don't every recall a customer being unhappy with them. As for the Pearly Gates in the bridge - it's a bit hotter than the Alnico II, which is good for a couple of reasons. First, the string moves in a much smaller pattern that close to the bridge, so there is less energy to pickup; and second, most people use the bridge pickup for solos and the like - for that reason, it makes sense to have the bridge pickup a bit louder.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
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Oh, that makes sense. Ok, so if I go with the Unbuckers (or any of the other options, for that matter), will they come with whatever capacitors I will need?
 
thebigcheese said:
Oh, that makes sense. Ok, so if I go with the Unbuckers (or any of the other options, for that matter), will they come with whatever capacitors I will need?
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Probably not, but the caps in your guitar will be fine.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
thebigcheese said:
Ok, I found some local dealers for the unbuckers, so that should be okay. Actually, I suppose I could drive down to Richmond if they sell them there, but that's a little farther than some other dealers. I'm asking them exactly which pickups these are, but they come with some caps, though they say those are for the tone knobs:
http://angela.com/lindyfralin85k75kpafstylehumbuckingpickupswithnickelcovers.aspx
So, 500k for the volume knobs... are you saying I should also do 500k audio for the tone knobs? I would think I'd want linear for that, though I have no idea what resistance I would want them to be. Is there any advantage or disadvantage to having those covers on the pickups?

Thanks for the help so far :) I'm pretty clueless...

Edit: The ones they have in stock are the regular humbuckers, so I'd have to special order Unbuckers either way. How do they compare to the standard humbuckers? The web site says the primary advantage of the unbuckers is for coil tapping, which I would not be doing, but I imagine there has to be another benefit.
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Look on Fralin's website and call them. They are very friendly and helpful. Explain your situation and let them help you select a pickup that suits your needs. They have an excellent return policy. I have personal experience with these guys and give them two thumbs up.

All the major players in the replacement pickup market make good products. This includes Gibson. Considering the expense of a pickup upgrade you should take your time with this decision. There's lots of info out there. You can go ahead with the pot replacement while you mull things over.

Light's recommendation about replacing the electronics is a very good one. Cheap or worn out electronics can be real tone suckers. Get CTS 500K audio taper pots. Go ahead and replace the capacitors while you're at it. Don't waste your money on boutique caps. I prefer not to use ceramic disk caps but other than that it doesn't matter which ones you use.
 
Milnoque said:
Get CTS 500K audio taper pots. Go ahead and replace the capacitors while you're at it. Don't waste your money on boutique caps. I prefer not to use ceramic disk caps but other than that it doesn't matter which ones you use.
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I think that's the pots that I got (I just got the ones Guitar Center had). I definitely didn't buy special boutique ones. My guitar already has ceramic caps in it, though. I'd prefer to replace them with something new, but I'm not sure what size to get (is there a way to tell what value the ones in there are?).
 
.022 mf is standard. Some folks like to go a little lower on the neck pickup. The truth is that a ceramic cap is probably just as good as any other. I had an issue with the tone I got with some ceramics years ago and I've avoided them ever since. It was probably just the individual cheap caps I bought.
 
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