New Pickup

  • Thread starter Thread starter skweeks
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skweeks

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My epiphone lp std has really bad pickups (surprised? you shouldn't be). Although a lot of people hate the guitar, aside from the tuners and the pickups... I like it. I've got some money to put into it, so I'm planning on upgrading the tuners and the bridge pickup (I rarely use the neck pickup, and it doesn't feedback as much). The problem with the neck pickup is that it assumedly has gone (or always was) microphonic. Even without much gain/distortion and on relatively low volumes (through a marshall jcm 800) it feeds back really easy. With distortion and volumes loud enough for playing small shows and band practices, the feedback almost makes the guitar unusable.

So... what should I get? I play mostly metal with pretty high gain/distortion.

Thanks in advance.
 
Investing in pickups needs intensive research. Unlike guitars you cannot test it in the shops so you have to rely on the experiences of others.

Get a recommendation from someone and go check it out in the harmony central reviews section.

http://www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/Data2/

Look not just for those with the pickups but also those with the same guitar as yourself.

I also find that some pickups are better than others in recording. So your decision also depends on whether you want it for recording or live work or both ...

Enjoy !
 
I hadn't thought about the live/recording thing. For reference, I plan to use this guitar setup for both. One interesting thing is... I'm really happy with the tone of my guitar, distorted and clean, when the amp's volume is really low. However, I can't even tell if I like the tone at louder volume's because I need to turn down the pickup volume and tone knob at a last ditch attempt to reduce feedback, giving me a vey muddy tone.
 
Hongteck is very correct! I've spent enough on PUs to buy another guitar. It can become an obsession. I have: Dimarzio super2 (hi output, treblely), super3 (higher output, tons of mid range, peels paint!), paf pro (can't tell what it does), tone zone (med output, nice harmonics), seymour duncan distortion (hi output, even sound), pearly gates, screamn' demon & some fender lace sensors. Advice: if you ever buy a guitar w/ good PUs, don't change them! Most manufactures know what their doing. The duncan designed set on my schecter is awsome. I could never make it sound that good nor do I have the money to waste. I suggest installing something similar. Perhaps Gibsons.
 
...

You should check out the DiMarzio Evolution pickups, I play heaviers stuff and I have em in my Yamaha and my Samick.... would never replace em, and they cost less than most.

Also, if you're good with a soldering iron you might wanna put in a phase switch or a series/parralell switch. The evolution comes with wiring diagrams!
 
steve, your the first to like the duncan designed humbuckers i heard of... i think they're crap for metal purposes anyway. her my two cents; look for a Seymour duncan JB-> balanced yet full distortion tone, nice on the cleaner stuff too. if you want outrageous gain think about the invader also by SD. of course an emg 81 or 85 wouldn't be bad either;). oh and if you wanna stay in the gibson domain, check out the 500t... good pick-up too!

greetz guhlenn
 
Guhleen...I suspect it depends upon the setup the Duncan Designs are running into. I play between guitars so the change is nice when switching from one to the other, everything sounds fresh & new again. And my main tone is metal/rock. The 500t is not to my taste. Had a LP Classic & sent is back because of the 496r & 500t pus (& the damn thing wouldn't stay in tune). Guess we have different taste. By the way, used PRS CE24 guitar, 7 or 8 yrs old, serial #377602, some dings & scratches, very worn but plays good---$1000.00. Is that a good deal?
 
that's a pretty good deal. prs are the cream in guitars as you might already know most people who like gibsons LOVE prs. And about the pu's. ican see you like a moderate otput pu. i need screaming and seeruing pu's, indeed different tastes. the dunca designed have a nice tone but i need the pu to rip so the gain on my amp has a normal setting and my tone doesn't get to compressed... to each his own hey? but BTW prs have that mellow yet crunchy tone, and secondhand a prs doesn't lose much quality nor price... just watch that the finish isn't abused... and you'll have a killer deal! (although this might be different in the usa as i'm speaking in european terms... i have seen some pretty large differences.... ALWAYS check with ebay and musiciansfriend or something to check that you're not being ripped off.

Guhlenn
 
Whoa!!!

Hold up, Hoss.

If you like the sound at low volume but get too much squeal at high volume, fix the squeal!!!

Go to your local repair guy and tell him (her?) that your pickups are microphonic and need to be dipped in wax.

It should cost about $10 bucks each and take a day or two.

If you don't have a local - take them out and send them to Lindy Fralin (in Richmond, Virginia, I think) and he will make all yer dreams come true (well, some of 'em, anyway)

foo
 
candle wax??

A little advice...

Don't dip it yourself! I ruined a Dimarzio Super 2 (as if sounded bad before) in my early days. There's a trick to it & should only be done by experienced hands.
 
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