Good pup upgrade for an Epi SG?

Samgb

Nunogilberto;252586" said:

@Samgb - Strange, that - I wouldn't have had the SG down as such a middy guitar, but like you say - only one way to find out with pickups, I guess...

Mine is middy especially at the bridge. I gave it a blast earlier on and I have to admit that in the middle position it sounds pretty good. It has that classic both hbs sound. But either put on their own and it doesn't sound great. I think I'll bang a set of irongear or Tonerider in there and spruce things up. My other thought was just get one high quality pup and a new scratchpad to cover the hole and go down the Junior route. Hmm...

impmann

I have Classic 57s in my SG Special (replaced the piss poor ceramic jobs that it was factory fitted with) and it now handles *everything* with gusto - from clean country (yes, really - its like a supercharged Tele clean) right through to Heavy Rock, with a bit of Punk and some Britpop-ish indie stuff in there too. 

If you have ceramic pickups in an SG they get very middle-focused (think Chewbacca with a headcold) - a decent set of Alnico IIs sort that. I'd imagine that Ash's Oil City Pickups would be just as lush in an SG.

drwiddly

ICBM;252351" said:

drwiddly said:

I don't really like SD's but I've been impressed by all the Irongear p/u's I've tried and even more impressed by Oil City's offerings.





That's interesting… I've always liked almost every Duncan I've ever tried (with some exceptions, eg the Li'l '59) but hated every Irongear I've heard - they always sound harsh and unsubtle to me. I've never understood why they're so rated, even for the money… the stock pickups in a lot of guitars are better.

Each to their own, obviously!

Yup, horses for courses I suppose.

It's not as if I haven't tried because I've had about 10 guitars with SD's over the years but they're really not my favourites although I get that other folks really like them. To me there's something in the upper mids of most SD's that just grates and I don't find the Irongears I've tried harsh at all.

Mark_R

Ive got a Black Gibson 2010 SG Standard but would love to take the pick ups from my Epiphone Slash Appetite Les Paul as those babies are awesome.  Perhaps I should just buy a pair, they would look great in the guitar.   The specs are:

Bridge Pickup Seymour Duncan Slash Alnico II Pro Humbucker, Zebra, No Logo

Neck Pickup

Seymour Duncan Slash Alnico II Pro Humbucker, Reverse Zebra, No Logo

Dave_Mc

ICBM said:

drwiddly said:

I don't really like SD's but I've been impressed by all the Irongear p/u's I've tried and even more impressed by Oil City's offerings.

That's interesting… I've always liked almost every Duncan I've ever tried

I don't like to make sweeping generalisations (because I haven't tried all their pickups, apart from anything else ) ), but I seem to find the more vintage-voiced Duncans to be really good, but I'm not so fond of their higher output pickups.

drwiddly

I'm in agreement with you there Dave in that the Antiquities are the best (to my ears) SD's that I've tried. So far as I'm aware, I've tried (owned and gigged) guitars with JB, Jazz, Custom Custom, 59, JB Junior, SL1 and Antiquities.

Dave_Mc

Haven't tried the antiquities... when I got my Edwards I really should've got the one which was £100 more but which came stock with them, but I couldn't get past the fact it was a relic... )

But yeah things like the 59, Jazz, SSL1s etc. are very nice. The mid-output ones are reasonably decent (customs, JB etc.) and then the higher output ones, not so much (dimebucker, invader etc. ). Out of the ones I've tried. )

drwiddly

Not really a fan of very high output p/u's tbh - probably the ceramic magnets?

I know @ ICBM will strongly disagree with me but I think the Oil City Nightfighter and Scrapyard Dogs and the Irongear Hot Slag are far better sounding than any of the mid output SD's.

ICBM

I'm not a fan of ceramic magnets either usually.

I'm not sure of the model names of the Irongears I've heard - none of them were in guitars I fitted them to - but every one has sounded oddly harsh and yet slightly muddy at the same time - too shouty and midrangy, not subtle or open-sounding. The mid-output Duncans are my favourites, from the '59 up to about the Custom Custom.

I haven't tried any Oil City pickups yet either.

Dave_Mc

drwiddly said:

Not really a fan of very high output p/u's tbh - probably the ceramic magnets?

I don't think so. I mean... I'd only want ceramic magnets for very specific things, and for most things I prefer alnico. But for that specific thing, I've tried ceramic magnet pickups which I've liked far better than the Duncan ones. For example, the BKP Miracle Man or the Dimarzio Super Distortion. Or even the Duncan Distortion (though I don't like it as much as those other two, it's getting on for "a bit harsh").

fretfinder

I bought a used set of Burstbuckers and put them in my son's Epi SG. It sounds a million times better, quite literally and no exaggeration...

drwiddly

fretfinder;253508" said:

I bought a used set of Burstbuckers and put them in my son's Epi SG. It sounds a million times better, quite literally and no exaggeration...

Just don't crank 'em through a loud amp with high gain. The squealing will shake your teeth loose!