Need Advice

[250Keith]

Hi all, I have a SG clone with Humbuckers low end Ibanez, want to change the pickups, I have tryed to lower them and raise them still muddy on the neck and to brite on the bridge, I need some advice on a good set of pickups to get? P90s? I was looking at DiMarzios BluesBuckers, I just dont know enough about pickups to choose!
Thanks Keith.

 

[Tim]

Welcome Keith. I changed the pots and caps in my low end Squire. The mod helped a lot. But I will let some of the more experienced Fretter's answer your question. Believe me ... you will get answers.

 

[duhvoodooman]

P90's are generally pretty bright & jangly sounding, so I'm not sure you'll like the DiMarzio Bluesbucker at the bridge position, if it's supposed to emulate a P90 sound. You'd probably be better off buying separate bridge and neck pickups, based on what you've described, because it sounds like you want to move the two in tonally different directions. If you go to the DiMarzio site and use their "Pickup Picker" feature, you can just select the applicable characteristics of your guitar and the tone you're looking for, and it will give you three options that match up most closely with your answers. The Seymour Duncan site has a similar feature.

While I'm not personally familiar with the DiMarzio humbuckers, I've had good luck with Duncan pickups. I have the combination of a '59 (n) and a Pearly Gates (b) in my Epi LP, which is an excellent pairing for vintage PAF tones with some added bite at the bridge position. In my Epi Dot, I have the very popular combination of a Duncan Jazz at the neck and a JB at the bridge. The JB is definitely a hotter pickup with a more aggressive tone than the Pearly Gates--great for hard rock, where the PG is terrific for classic rock and blues. I've also read excellent things about the Duncan Custom 5, which is a pickup I want to try for myself at some point. Sounds like it's a very versatile p'up that does a lot of things well.

Hope that helps some....

 

[250Keith]

Thanks for the replys, thats where I was having a hard time looking at the pickup sites didint now what I was looking at, I needed somebody that has these pickups and knows what thay sound like, I like to play blues, Classic rock, jazz funk, the 59' and PG sound like a good combo, what is a JB?
Thanks Keith

 

[duhvoodooman]

....what is a JB?

The JB is the original Seymour Duncan humbucker model, originally developed for Jeff Beck, hence the name. It's a fairly high output (or "hot") pickup made with alnico 5 magnets, which falls between the vintage alnico 2 sound and the high distortion ceramic types. It is by far the most popular Duncan humbucker model and has been around now for 30 years! You can read some of the history HERE.

 

[250Keith]

Thanks for the info, I tryed the duncan site and found the guide you referred me to its a good place to start, I can see this can be spendy chasing tone with all the different pickups out there :D
Keith

 

[duhvoodooman]

....I can see this can be spendy chasing tone with all the different pickups out there.

Spendy tone-chasing is one of our specialties around here! ;) :D

 

[250Keith]

I have a music store four blocks down the road from me Im going to bring my guitar down there with a small philips screw driver and plug into the amp im going to bye(Cube 60) and mess with my pickups (raise and lowwer) and see how that sounds, my little Randall rx15 just dont sound that good, mabe I dont have to change the pups to make this guitar sound good for now.

 

[Tim]

Hmmm! Do I smell GAS? Chasing the perfect tone? Dejavu ... haven't we been here before? I got to leave the Fret Net. I feel an illness coming over me.

 

[250Keith]

Just a update I think I can live with the pickups that I have, my amp just sucks, the guitar sounded just fine through the amps I pluged into today.
I did buy a set of headphones the best 12.00 bucks I spent, there Yamahas and sound great. I will save the money from the pickups to put into a Amp.
Thanks Keith.

PS I hate to ask this but here it go's
What is GAS.

 

[Spudman]

PS I hate to ask this but here it go's
What is GAS.

Oh no! Who's gonna handle this one?:D

 

[250Keith]

I NEW IT! I hate you guys:D

 

[duhvoodooman]

G.A.S. = gear acquisition syndrome, a serious condition common to guitar players the world over. You'll be fine, but your wallet will likely never recover....

 

[Tim]

Looks like another Fretter has succumbed to the addiction of GAS. Welcome the syndrome and hope you can overcome the temptation of buying everything you see.

 

[250Keith]

Thanks for the info, I had no clue! and ya I got GAS.;)

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Looks like another Fretter has succumbed to the addiction of GAS. Welcome the syndrome and hope you can overcome the temptation of buying everything you see.

Saints preserve us!

 

[Tone2TheBone]

G.A.S. is fun. :)

 

[Tim]

I don’t know about that statement Tone. You must look at all the pain staking decisions one must make in order to satisfy the syndrome.
First comes that erg. The discomfort that lies deep in the pit of the stomach. Then comes the flipping through the different guitar magazines that are delivered to the house. Next is the decision on what one shall buy. What do I really need to add to my tone searching, solo improvement, or rhythm playing skills?

Now if you are lucky enough to have a guitar store within 200 miles of your home you must compile the rational to justify the trip. Once inside the store all hell breaks loose because of all the neat STUFF to play with. Next comes the most difficult decision yet. What shall I buy? Then BAM! The act has been committed and you are now the proud owner of a new GAS guitar related item.

As the climax heightens, the distance between the store and the home seems to be endless. The miles don not pass quick enough as you drive home, perhaps a little over the speed limit. As you approach the home to your waiting guitars and amps it dawns on us married men, how do I explain this new item to the wife? Maybe she will not be home and I can get it into the house with out her knowing it? Then when she finds it I can say that I bought it some time ago. Dear, don’t you remember me showing it to you a few months back?

Oh yea, GAS is fun. I can feel the adrenalin pumping through my veins right know. Good luck to you new GAS members.

 

[SuperSwede]

As you approach the home to your waiting guitars and amps it dawns on us married men, how do I explain this new item to the wife?

Amen brother Tim. That´s the hardest part, and it requires much skill. Somehow it helps to listen to "Facing the Wif...ehrmm Animal!" with Yngwie J Malmsteen.

 

[Tone2TheBone]

Tim and Super - I believe in honesty being the best policy in these cases. I simply say I "invested" in a really good such and such with money I already had from a previous investment that I recently sold. Works like a charm. Doesn't hurt to buy your G.A.S. things around Mother's Day either when you've already hinted to the wife at the extremely nice present she's going to get. ;)

Sorry for going off topic but I wanted to comment. :)

 

[Tim]

Tone - Thanks for the excellent advise on "terminology". A certain birthday is coming soon. I must try out your system of acquiring future investments.

Not worry my friend ... you will not be held accountable if this system does not work on my wife as it does yours. Each human female is not the same and reacts differently to situations. I believe we touched on this earlier.