Could you hear what pickup has been used on an album recording?

[Cederick]

Some people say they can actually hear what kind of pickup has been used

like "all EMG sound the same"

or "you can always tell if its a Super Distortion"

Do you have this ability?

Meaning mostly rock tones with gain distortion

 

[stratamania]

Sounds more like fanciful thinking other than an ability to be able to pick out a pick up in a sound recording with everything else that has contributed or detracted from the tone.

There are even examples of people assuming something was recorded with a Les Paul, when in fact it was a Tele. So pickups highly doubtful.

 

[Cagey]

If somebody tells me what something is, I might be inclined say "yeah, I could imagine that being true", but that's as far as I'm willing to go. There are just too many surprisingly effective ways to modify sound. Most successful sfx, complex filters and modeling gear owe their existence to an uncanny ability to produce sounds that belie their origin.

 

[musicispeace]

Pretty much all recorded guitar sound is modified, compressed, EQ'd in something like Pro Tools ect and although I have no argument with anyone sitting down and working to match a sound from a recording I am of the personal opinion at this point that recorded and live guitars are almost two different animals. It would be great to be able to discern pickups from a recording but I have a hard time envisioning it. An engineer could say they want an EMG like final guitar sound but may not have started with someone having laid down a track using EMGs.

 

[swarfrat]

Actually most of the stuff guitar players are still talking about was recorded before protools was around. Just sayin.
For all the cool stuff we have now to record with, I don't hear much to show for it.

 

[mayfly]

Just sayin.  For all the cool stuff we have now to record with, I don't hear much to show for it.

Now that's an excellent post!  I think we should all take a pledge that whenever we have the urge to buy a piece of gear we instead learn that impossible solo from that killer song.

 

[bagman67]

Just sayin.  For all the cool stuff we have now to record with, I don't hear much to show for it.

Now that's an excellent post!  I think we should all take a pledge that whenever we have the urge to buy a piece of gear we instead learn that impossible solo from that killer song.

[Cues up "Cinnamon Girl"]

 

[Cagey]

Cinnamon Girl!!?! Are you nuts? That's in a whole 'nother tuning! You'll never learn to play that solo! It doesn't make any sense, so it's impossible to remember!

 

[Sovereign_13]

I think we should all take a pledge that whenever we have the urge to buy a piece of gear we instead learn that impossible solo from that killer song.

But how will we ever nail that solo without the right gear!?

 

[amigarobbo]

And we need to find out the exact gauge of strings.  :icon_tongue:

 

[Kostas]

Ι can't hear models, I can guess (a lot of times correctly) the type of pickups. For example, the bridge pickup of a telecaster is well known for it's tone. Same for the neck pickup of a strat. On the other hand a good guitarist can make his/her guitar to sound as he/she wants. Gilmour fooled a lot of people believing the clean solo on "Another Brick in the Wall" is a strat even though it's a Les Paul with P90's.

 

[swarfrat]

You mention the bridge pickup of a Tele... I was kinda shocked once when my nephew was playing his Highway 101 Tele through the same amp I was playing my Strat once... the strat bridge pickup (hardtail strat) was FAR brighter and thinner than the Tele. I was shocked. I want one now. I'm not really sitting around scheming about missing guitars in the stable, but I do want a Tele. (And a 335 and a LP and a ....)

 

[Cagey]

Careful. Teles are addictive  :icon_biggrin:

 

[TBurst Std]

Tele bridge pup has most always bettered a Strat bridge pup.  You can get a bit of the way there with a steel baseplate on the bottom of a Strat pup.

 

[Kostas]

You mention the bridge pickup of a Tele... I was kinda shocked once when my nephew was playing his Highway 101 Tele through the same amp I was playing my Strat once... the strat bridge pickup (hardtail strat) was FAR brighter and thinner than the Tele. I was shocked. I want one now. I'm not really sitting around scheming about missing guitars in the stable, but I do want a Tele. (And a 335 and a LP and a ....)

Fender has made many different strat & tele pickups. Exceptions exist, rule is that the tele pickup will be thicker & punchier than the strat pickup even if it's brighter. You can find any pickup you want these days, there are many good pickup makers for every budget.

 

[DustyCat]

Uh, yeah Hi, can I get a humbucker that sounds like a single coil, but with the dog ears of a P90 so it fits?
I'm gonna use the fat boost on my guitar into my amp but I'm also gonna scoop the mids, and then trim the bass and taper the treble with the 31 band eq in the mastering phase.

And and one last thing, I'm going adjust the contrast knob to set my pedal to compensate for single coil pickups so it sounds like a humbucker.  :laughing7:

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

I think most of us can discern the characteristics enough to tell the difference between the neck pickup and the bridge pickup in most situations, but that's about it.  Some tunes you can't even tell that difference due to excessive distortion use.

 

[arealken]

Usually you can tell from experience the Tele bridge, and the Strat middel neck, as has been mentioned. Obviously a P-90 is a single coil and can sound a lot similar to a Strat neck a la Gilmour, again, as has been mentioned. A Humbucker neck has a distinctive sound, particualrly in he neck( It's fat/creamy /thick) as does the bridge , so that could be a fairly accurate estimation.

If you are given a clue, then yeah, you can say  with accuracy which pickup sometimes- at least old skool-,like Kiss Ace Frehely and the Super Distortion. Many many rock Metal late 70's /early 80's guys were using the SuperD. It does have a distinctive sound through the ubiquitous Marshall jcm 800 and master Mk. lads being played at that time.

 

[Strat Avenger]

In a blind test, I couuld not tell you what pickup is being used other than single coil/Humbucker, and bridge position/neck position. However I can hear the difference between the Duncan Distortion on early Dokken records versus the Duncan Screamin' Demon that George Lynch used on Lynch Mob and later Dokken albums. Mainly the amount of midrange and compression.

 

[TBurst Std]

I think we are all being a little sensitive. Comparing recordings from the artist over years and noting pup differences is a little extreme.  How about changes in amps, pedals, recording techniques, board controllers. 

I would suggest that it would be difficult for someone to call out a Strat bridge pup through a tweed vs a P90 bridge through a BF