Original Pickups?

webrthomson

So I've been trying to sell some guitars that I dont really use or ones that I now have a better version of etc. and the number of people that have told me they wont buy a guitar without the original pickups has been eye opening to me.

Now generally I like actives and tend to replace the pickups in most things, sometime I keep them, sometimes I dont! I dont feel thats a crime as I'm taking about ~£500 guitars here, not 1959 Les Pauls

I had one guy tell me he didnt want a guitar becuase I didnt have the original Chapman pickups, really they are pretty generic and I replaced them with EMG's

Anyway - I remain bemused by most buyers

grungebob

I wouldn’t want emg’s either to be fair. Sometimes the pickups the guitar ships with are what most people want, it’s only an upgrade to you. 

guitars4you

I don't think it is just a case of p/ups as other hardware can also be an issue to some - I don't have an issue with  upgrades regarding performance - Yet such changes are a matter of opinion and taste  However on say a £500 guitar then most major brands of p/ups are n upgrade on off the shelf far eastern models so don't really see the negative vibe - yet each to their own

also depends on the price you are asking - a set of EMG's might cost over £200 to buy new - but they won't add £200 to the existing guitar  maybe £100/120 increase tops

Maynehead

Imagine if he wanted to buy that guitar to play some Beatles songs... the request will suddenly seem a lot less unreasonable.

UnclePsychosis

Personally speaking I'm not bothered if the pickups aren't original - that said I also won't necessarily consider "upgraded" pickups as worth paying any extra for.

WezV

EMG’s are divisive.  They are apickup many chose to have, and many chose to avoid.  50% of your market will see them as something they will need to replace ASAP.

its more to do with reputation and expectations of EMG’s, rather than the actual sound they make

guitarfishbay

grungebob said:

I wouldn’t want emg’s either to be fair. Sometimes the pickups the guitar ships with are what most people want, it’s only an upgrade to you. 

I'd take them if the guitar was priced as per the same as a used stock one.  The EMGs are worth more to sell on, and I think the whole ethos of these guitars is around the replaceable parts being cheap to keep the costs down

FelineGuitars

WezV said:

EMG’s are divisive.  They are apickup many chose to have, and many chose to avoid.  50% of your market will see them as something they will need to replace ASAP.

its more to do with reputation and expectations of EMG’s, rather than the actual sound they make

I wonder if it was a "word of mouth whisper" started by a passive pickup winder that has gone on to become internet lore, a bit like everybody hating Nickelback. Or is it because Nickelback use EMGs?

ICBM

FelineGuitars said:

I wonder if it was a "word of mouth whisper" started by a passive pickup winder that has gone on to become internet lore, a bit like everybody hating Nickelback. Or is it because Nickelback use EMGs?

Do Nickelback use EMGs? If so that's put me right off them.


EMGs, that is… I hated Nickelback anyway.

mbe

Interesting comments from Chappers himself on Seymour Duncan site in the light of this thread.

An interesting idea in the early days of Chapman was to accept the fact that the pickups in lower-priced guitars often end up as trash within a few hours of the guitar being bought. The pickups in these earlier guitars cost “literally pennies.” However, this is no longer the strategy. Rob likens the Chapman-branded pickups in many of the newer guitars to the kit lens supplied with a digital SLR: “The kit lens isn’t a bad lens. It’s a good lens for a lot of different things, but it doesn’t really specialize in any type of photography. The pickups we use now give you a good sound right out of the box, but they’re still not super-expensive and we know that a lot of guys will replace them with something that’s more specialized to the stuff they play.”

Philly_Q

When I sell guitars nowadays - although it's been a while - I always put the original parts and pickups back. 

My idea of an "upgrade" doesn't necessarily add value for anyone else, and I can always sell the spares separately if I don't want to use them in another guitar.

Bridgehouse

ICBM said:

FelineGuitars said:

I wonder if it was a "word of mouth whisper" started by a passive pickup winder that has gone on to become internet lore, a bit like everybody hating Nickelback. Or is it because Nickelback use EMGs?

Do Nickelback use EMGs? If so that's put me right off them.


EMGs, that is… I hated Nickelback anyway.

You know what they say tho... it's not what you've got, it's what you do with it...

guitarfishbay

ICBM said:

FelineGuitars said:

I wonder if it was a "word of mouth whisper" started by a passive pickup winder that has gone on to become internet lore, a bit like everybody hating Nickelback. Or is it because Nickelback use EMGs?

Do Nickelback use EMGs? If so that's put me right off them.


EMGs, that is… I hated Nickelback anyway.

Yeah one of the guys has done.

They do a good Metallica.

https://youtu.be/qqYiMFQPbWc

guitarfishbay

FelineGuitars said:

WezV said:

EMG’s are divisive.  They are apickup many chose to have, and many chose to avoid.  50% of your market will see them as something they will need to replace ASAP.

its more to do with reputation and expectations of EMG’s, rather than the actual sound they make

I wonder if it was a "word of mouth whisper" started by a passive pickup winder that has gone on to become internet lore, a bit like everybody hating Nickelback. Or is it because Nickelback use EMGs?

So many people who hate them haven’t used them, or didn’t understand what they’re for or how to get the best from them.

They’re a different sound and response to passives. Some styles work better with them - generally metal for the humbuckers but some notable players have got great sounds from the Strat and Telecaster sets. They get used a lot in basses too for a specific sound. I wouldn’t generally recommend the humbuckers for mid gain bluesy stuff myself, they’re not one size fits all

Philly_Q

Contradicting my previous post, I once sold a guitar because it had EMGs in it and they were pissing me off.  In retrospect I should've restored the original DiMarzios, sold the EMGs... and kept the guitar.

That said, I wouldn't mind having one guitar with EMG humbuckers now, just for fun.  They have their own thing.

webrthomson

Maynehead said:

Imagine if he wanted to buy that guitar to play some Beatles songs... the request will suddenly seem a lot less unreasonable.

Its an explorer so I think the Beatles are probably out

I just found it odd someone would be interested in the guitar but not having two £10 generic shit pickups was a deal breaker - if it was one person I'd chalk it up to the oddness that is man, but its happened a few times now.

It's not just with actives either, I've had it on guitars where I've put in BKP's instead of the generics too.

guitars4you said:

I don't think it is just a case of p/ups as other hardware can also be an issue to some - I don't have an issue with  upgrades regarding performance - Yet such changes are a matter of opinion and taste  However on say a £500 guitar then most major brands of p/ups are n upgrade on off the shelf far eastern models so don't really see the negative vibe - yet each to their own

also depends on the price you are asking - a set of EMG's might cost over £200 to buy new - but they won't add £200 to the existing guitar  maybe £100/120 increase tops

Yeah I don't really bump the price that much for a pickup change

People are weird though!!!

Maynehead

They might have wanted to put their own choice of passive pickups in it, but having EMGs meant that they’ll need to completely replace the electronics too, which might have been more trouble than they were prepared to put up with.

grungebob

guitarfishbay said:

grungebob said:

I wouldn’t want emg’s either to be fair. Sometimes the pickups the guitar ships with are what most people want, it’s only an upgrade to you. 

I'd take them if the guitar was priced as per the same as a used stock one.  The EMGs are worth more to sell on, and I think the whole ethos of these guitars is around the replaceable parts being cheap to keep the costs down

I agree if we’re talking specifically as chapman guitars but I was thinking more generally. 
There are some cheap guitars that come with decent sounding stock pickups and I know what those pickups should sound like, living with those pickups for a few months on first purchase allows me to understand what that guitar needs to make it sound like I’d want it to, often your default pickup of choice doesn’t work and I often think if someone’s taken the time to install let’s says more expensive/subjectively better pickups and is still selling the guitar then what’s wrong with it?

BigLicks67

Thing is everybody is looking for different things, say if you had a MIM standard Tele and stuck a set of Bare Knuckles in then that guitar would be more appealing to me and I'd see that as an improvement, however if you put a set of Seymour Duncan Hot Rails in then I'd say it was less appealing and I'd be factoring in the cost of new pickups.