jackthehack said:
Hmmm, let's see... Most of the music you've heard from Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Rory Gallagher, Buddy Guy, John Mayer, David Gilmour, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Roy Buchanan, Mark Knopfler, Jeff Beck, etc, etc., etc., was recorded with those nasty old "noisy" pickups...
Kudos for mentioning Rory!
:rock-on:
But down to seriousness.....
You have two choices on this situation: it all depends on whether or not you care to dinker with either your computer equipment or your hardware. I work as a PC specialist for a major hospital in Green Bay, WI, and before that I was a computer technician for Northern Michigan University. In addition to that, I was a go-to guy for a lot of guitar players on campus due to the fact that I would take labor payments in a cold case of Miller High Life for little jobs, or whatever could be swung.
Now, if you want to dinker with your computer equipment, here are some things to know. I agree with an earlier poster when he stated that Steve Jobs is an arrogant ass! While yes, Apple does build slick stuff, its a bear to use if you're the rest of the world, and would honestly care to have a computer with just a shred of logic being used in the thought process of designing and building it. Ferrari tried it a few years ago, when it was found that compassion and enthusiasm got them to move fast, up to the point when the car would explode in a compassionate and enthusiastic fireball. When they decided to use a little logic in designing their cars, things got a ton better (anyone who ever watches Top Gear regularily on BBC America knows where I'm going).
With going with a PC, go to an acutal computer store - don't bellyache to us if you bought your computer at the same place you bought your socks and undies. The only computer-related thing I ever bought at Wal-Mart or Target was a stack of CD-Rs. And even at electronics stores, there are some things to avoid. I recommend going away from HP or Compaq's stuff. The main reason I say that is due to the corner-cutting that has been running rampant since they merged with Compaq eight years ago. They have gotten away with flooding the market with laptops built by the lowest-cost parts and selling them nearly anywhere that they can. In addition, they don't have a lot of knockout proprietary support sofware, at least in comparison to their competitors. Dell makes a great product as long as you don't skimp. With their direct-buy customization capabilities, you can get a computer that has all the bells and whistles you want with it. If you're ordering this for recording purposes, honestly spend up. With the way that Dell can build these computers, the components will last over a decade if you annually blow the dust out of them. The best deal that I have found has been Lenovo, or what used to be IBM's consumer division. The computers are built well, are reasonably priced, and, espcially on the ThinkPad (which I consider the Fender Stratocaster of the computer world), the proprietary sofware is outstanding. They have programs that help you update your drivers with ease, and even have a battery guage to let you know how much juice is left on your laptop when running off of batteries.
Now, if dinkering with your guitar is what you have in mind, you could go either way on the pickups. Noiseless or "stacked" pickups are a practical way to go, but you won't get that heavenly sound you're lusting over. It'll be a little brighter and colder tone than vintage pickups, but you can easily warm that sound up with leaning up the knobs on your amp a little and getting a pinch more distortion out of it. The other thing I would also think of trying in your situation is adding what's called a dummy coil. I think back to the Gibson Blueshawk, which incorporated this design. While they were homely in some people's mind and a little out-of-the-ordinary for a Gibson model (poplar body comes to mind), the dummy coil really did keep the buzz down, and still offered a little bit of a warmed growl to it. I tried one out up in college, when a friend of mine was trying to get rid of it to up the ante to an SG. His landlord had installed flourescent strip lights in his room, and those gave a lot of buzz on his MIM Strat. P-90s also fought the same problem in there too - he had a buddy who had an Eastwood Delta 6. The dummy coil concept impressed me to the point where we actually wired a Squire tele neck pickup in series with the P-90, and epoxied it to the bottom of the pickup. I also added an additional pot to pull back the connection between the two pickups-the concept worked out quite well, almost like haing a variable coil tap. The Tele pickup was strong enough to buck the hum and the noise, but was weak enough where it didn't impede the performance of the 90.
