Pickups. I've never felt 100% satisfied with any I've had in my guitars.

ICBM

rossi said:

There is so much more than just pickups .How you play the guitar is probably more important .This why ones mans tonal heaven is anothers  hell.back in the day we didnt know you could swap piockups .You certainly couldnt buy them .Most went with  the best guitar they  could afford with the amp they could afford  and A merican jobs were so thin on the ground as to be non existant to the average  wanna be .We survived playing everything thrown at us never moaning about the tone .It hadnt been invented ye along with overdrive or intonation . .So stop moaning and  get playing .

That’s why it was such a huge revelation when DiMarzio started selling pickups in the mid 70s. Finally, players could get the sounds they really wanted - or at least some of them could - from their guitars.

It was probably as important a development as Mesa/Boogie creating amps which could produce more distortion, and at a controllable volume, than simply from turning your amp up full.

WiresDreamDisasters

UnclePsychosis said:

I've swapped pickups on my guitars but only to achieve something fundamentally different - i put gold foils in instead of humbuckers for example.

Tis a dangerous hole to fall down! 

What does gold foils mean?? Is this another rabbit hole for me to throw money down??  

WiresDreamDisasters

I don't really get the "don't swap" attitude tbh. It's like mixing - get things right at the source. If the pickup is imparting a nasally bright character and you want dark and woody, then try a new pickup that is aimed at that. And vice versa.

I've changed pickups in all of my guitars numerous times. Pretty sure it hasn't held back my music creation

Teetonetal

octatonic said:

monquixote said:

octatonic said:

This is what I refer to as 'majoring in minor things'.
Ignore it and go and work on your playing.

That was what I was going to say.

My Tele and PRS are stock my strat has a Billy corgan set in it but that was just because I wanted something shreddy.

I've swapped pickups for other similar pickups and by the time you've done it you've forgotten what the old ones sounded like.

Yup- just play the damn thing.

I see this all the time, across different instruments and it seems to only really happen online.
Not a single musician that I know who isn't on the forums seems to be swapping pickups, or pedals or drum heads or clarinet reeds.
Most players seem to keep the same gear year in and year out and it seems to work.

I've gone through periods where I swapped out pickups but often you aren't making it better, you are just making it different.

I think this is easily explainable:

When I was earning a living full-time out of music, I had very minimal equipment, 2 guitars an amp, couple of pedals. They just did the things I needed them to do and I got on with it. honestly I was too busy to really care, so long as my guitars were setup well and as long as I could get the sounds I needed to work, not much really mattered. I worked on my playing all the time, because I had to. Then I got bored of struggling to make a living and stopped.

when I started again as a hobby, the gear took over - to be honest, I don't really have the drive to practice any more, I work the odd thing out from time to time, but I don't need to and there is no chance of me ever teaching or working as a musician again, so it's just for fun. Most of that fun comes from tinkering with new toys and gear. I don't believe that any of this stuff makes me sound better, but i like trying it out, it's exciting.

I think many people after a while just reach the point with music as a hobby where you are kind of as good as you will be, you don't have or want a creative outlet, so tinkering it what keeps it fresh. I just don't think that is a bad thing. As you say, it's not getting something better, just something different and that is fine.

ICBM

WiresDreamDisasters said:

What does gold foils mean?? Is this another rabbit hole for me to throw money down??  

I can probably save you the bother... the simplest description I can think of for them is Not Your Kind Of Sound At All.



Basically - bright, low-output, vintage-sounding pickups based on the ones used on a lot of cheap 50s and 60s guitars, both US-made (eg Kay and Harmony) and Japanese (eg various Tiesco brands).

HAL9000

In my experience sometimes a pickup swap improves things and sometimes it doesn't. I don't know that I'll bother in future.

WiresDreamDisasters

ICBM said:

WiresDreamDisasters said:

What does gold foils mean?? Is this another rabbit hole for me to throw money down??  

I can probably save you the bother... the simplest description I can think of for them is Not Your Kind Of Sound At All.



Basically - bright, low-output, vintage-sounding pickups based on the ones used on a lot of cheap 50s and 60s guitars, both US-made (eg Kay and Harmony) and Japanese (eg various Tiesco brands).

Ah yeah, sounds like wankery to me!

UnclePsychosis

WiresDreamDisasters said:

UnclePsychosis said:

I've swapped pickups on my guitars but only to achieve something fundamentally different - i put gold foils in instead of humbuckers for example.

Tis a dangerous hole to fall down! 

What does gold foils mean?? Is this another rabbit hole for me to throw money down??  

Let me second ICBM's statement that you'd hate them. 

They're hard to describe though, probably worth a quick google. 

axisus

WiresDreamDisasters said:

I don't really get the "don't swap" attitude tbh. It's like mixing - get things right at the source. If the pickup is imparting a nasally bright character and you want dark and woody, then try a new pickup that is aimed at that. And vice versa.

I've changed pickups in all of my guitars numerous times. Pretty sure it hasn't held back my music creation

Exactly! Some people think that you can be a better player by not swapping things around!?! My discerning nature when it comes to the nuance of sound has nothing to do with my ability to play! I don't spend 2 hours a day swapping pickups around instead of playing! 

Philly_Q

ICBM said:

WiresDreamDisasters said:

What does gold foils mean?? Is this another rabbit hole for me to throw money down??  

I can probably save you the bother... the simplest description I can think of for them is Not Your Kind Of Sound At All.



Basically - bright, low-output, vintage-sounding pickups based on the ones used on a lot of cheap 50s and 60s guitars, both US-made (eg Kay and Harmony) and Japanese (eg various Tiesco brands).

I know they've become very fashionable recently but I don't see the appeal of anything which makes guitars sound bright, thin, lo-fi and weedy.

ICBM

Philly_Q said:

I know they've become very fashionable recently but I don't see the appeal of anything which makes guitars sound bright, thin, lo-fi and weedy.

They’re better than ‘weedy’, but most of the rest is true. There is a reason why, when amps were underpowered and under-gained, powerful and midrangy pickups became popular and these lower-output and quite trebly-sounding pickups were mostly thought of as just ‘crap’... on the other hand, they can be more interesting than typical modern full-sounding but sometimes too even and smooth pickups.

On the other hand I’m notorious for quite liking the guitars they were fitted to as well - I would never claim they’re really “good”, but they can often be more interesting-sounding than perfect modern high-quality guitars.

Onpar

Pickups make a difference BUT the guitar will have it's own sound too. The pickups will provide a different flavour of that guitar tone.

Example....i had a thicker neck maple fb tele with pickup type A in them and loved the sound. I then purchased a thinner necked rosewood fb tele with different pickups in it but preferred the sound of the maple fb tele more so purchased another set a type A pickups for the rosewood tele - but it made hardly any difference to the tone when swapped out. I then just swapped the necks around and I got the sound I wanted. It was the neck that gave it the tone I wanted and not the pickups! Both pickup sets were from boutique UK winders so of a similar quality but the neck made the difference. I'm no expert but a pickup is a microphone (I'm sure I will be corrected) that picks up the sound of the guitar (massively simplified), so if you don't like the sound of that guitar then you can put the best pickups in the world in it but you probably still won't like the tone. 

p90fool

Philly_Q said:

ICBM said:

WiresDreamDisasters said:

What does gold foils mean?? Is this another rabbit hole for me to throw money down??  

I can probably save you the bother... the simplest description I can think of for them is Not Your Kind Of Sound At All.



Basically - bright, low-output, vintage-sounding pickups based on the ones used on a lot of cheap 50s and 60s guitars, both US-made (eg Kay and Harmony) and Japanese (eg various Tiesco brands).

I know they've become very fashionable recently but I don't see the appeal of anything which makes guitars sound bright, thin, lo-fi and weedy.

They're not dissimilar to Rickenbacker pickups so they definitely have a niche, even if it's not one you like. 

ICBM

Onpar said:

Pickups make a difference BUT the guitar will have it's own sound too. The pickups will provide a different flavour of that guitar tone.

Example....i had a thicker neck maple fb tele with pickup type A in them and loved the sound. I then purchased a thinner necked rosewood fb tele with different pickups in it but preferred the sound of the maple fb tele more so purchased another set a type A pickups for the rosewood tele - but it made hardly any difference to the tone when swapped out. I then just swapped the necks around and I got the sound I wanted. It was the neck that gave it the tone I wanted and not the pickups! Both pickup sets were from boutique UK winders so of a similar quality but the neck made the difference. I'm no expert but a pickup is a microphone (I'm sure I will be corrected) that picks up the sound of the guitar (massively simplified), so if you don't like the sound of that guitar then you can put the best pickups in the world in it but you probably still won't like the tone. 

That’s true, but only when you’re comparing quite similar pickups. The neck is certainly the most important part of the tone of the guitar itself, but the pickups can still make a bigger difference overall.

For example if you put humbuckers in a Strat it won’t sound the same as it does with single coils, even though you can hear a difference between two Strats with the same pickups, which is largely down to the necks.

p90fool said:

[Gold foils]

They're not dissimilar to Rickenbacker pickups so they definitely have a niche, even if it's not one you like. 

The Rick 7K Toaster pickups, yes - the High-Gains are very different. Even the 90s 12K Toasters are a lot more middy.

Jez6345789

Having been down a few rabbit holes over the years.
My take away these days is we listen too much in isolation. (how do they sound in a band or a mix)
In the modern world, we obsess too much.   (quieten your mind and focus on your playing)
Money wont buy you happiness    (A lot of boutique pickups are the result of the modern world and pander to that)

After years of not buying them, I just stuck the EMG DG20 set into a Strat thanks to @tomb11112 ;

My gut feeling as I got them set and the first few strums  was YUK EMG but then you stick them in a mix with everything else going on and they sound epic.  Everything has its context. 

I wish you the best of luck in the search but if you want the quick fix get a good graphic equaliser pedal LOL. 

TheBigDipper

I've changed pickups twice in 40 years. 

I bought my MIM Tele FSR (a take on the '70s Tele Deluxe with a Tele headstock) new in 2015 knowing that the WRHB pickups were actually just generic HBs and wouldn't sound like the '70s originals. I replaced them with a pair of WRHB-voiced pups from The Creamery and I like them a lot. I replaced the wiring loom for one from Mofotone, too. 

My 1989 MM Silhouette came with (I think) unbadged DiMarzios or Seymour Duncan single coil pups. I always liked their sound but (unlike my Strat) they were very keen to pick up any noise in the airwaves that could be found and it was my main gigging guitar. So, I replaced them with a set of Kinman Noiseless that are not quite the same, fixed the noise and are perfectly usable. They're still there. 

ThePrettyDamned

WiresDreamDisasters said:

I don't really get the "don't swap" attitude tbh. It's like mixing - get things right at the source. If the pickup is imparting a nasally bright character and you want dark and woody, then try a new pickup that is aimed at that. And vice versa.

I've changed pickups in all of my guitars numerous times. Pretty sure it hasn't held back my music creation

I think those comments are aimed more at those who try variations of the same theme - expecting the next PAF-alike to have that magical sound that your guitar needs.

Rather than going to a different voicing altogether, which is I think what you mean...? 

Philly_Q

p90fool said:

Philly_Q said:

ICBM said:

WiresDreamDisasters said:

What does gold foils mean?? Is this another rabbit hole for me to throw money down??  

I can probably save you the bother... the simplest description I can think of for them is Not Your Kind Of Sound At All.



Basically - bright, low-output, vintage-sounding pickups based on the ones used on a lot of cheap 50s and 60s guitars, both US-made (eg Kay and Harmony) and Japanese (eg various Tiesco brands).

I know they've become very fashionable recently but I don't see the appeal of anything which makes guitars sound bright, thin, lo-fi and weedy.

They're not dissimilar to Rickenbacker pickups so they definitely have a niche, even if it's not one you like. 

Oh yes, I'm sure they have their niche, I'm not disputing that or trying to discourage anyone from buying them.  Just saying they don't appeal to me (neither do Rickenbacker guitars or, for that matter, Gretsches).

PhilKing

I have a couple of original Silvertone guitars with Gold Foils.  They are great if you want a 50's rockabilly sound and they can do some great clean tones, however they are not a pickup that you'll want to use with a lot of drive.

That said, I'm a great believer in changing pickups if you have a guitar where you like the basic acoustic tone and ring, but not the amplified sound.  I have BK's in about 30 guitars, including some custom pickups, but I do use pickups from other manufacturers too.  In the past, I have had Fralin and Seymour Duncan pickups (including a a custom antiquity that Seymour made for my 1960 strat which sounds great and matches the other pickups really well).

Historically guitarists have swapped pickups for years, Jimmy Page's LP has T-Tops in it (according to some articles I've read).   Eddie Van Halen's was a 335 humbucker that he liked.  You can also see by the number of guitars missing original pickups that this happened a lot.  Once after market pickups became available (Mighty Mite, DiMarzio and Schecter were some of the first I remember), many original pickups got taken out and in some cases just binned.  No one thought that they would ever get to the crazy prices that a set of PAF's bring now.  

WiresDreamDisasters

ThePrettyDamned said:

WiresDreamDisasters said:

I don't really get the "don't swap" attitude tbh. It's like mixing - get things right at the source. If the pickup is imparting a nasally bright character and you want dark and woody, then try a new pickup that is aimed at that. And vice versa.

I've changed pickups in all of my guitars numerous times. Pretty sure it hasn't held back my music creation

I think those comments are aimed more at those who try variations of the same theme - expecting the next PAF-alike to have that magical sound that your guitar needs.

Rather than going to a different voicing altogether, which is I think what you mean...? 

Could be, could be.