hello again warmoth/help me with my esp-ltd eclipse

[slowist]

It's been a year since I last messed with the electronics in my guitars (or even did anything with a soldering iron) and I'm looking to improve my eclipse over the summer. From what I remember I'm working with a pair of LH-150 pickups (cheapo pickups right out of the box) and a coil tapping system. I stopped playing this thing for a while, people were saying my strat copy had a better sound, clear crisp and with more variety, after picking the eclipse back up I kinda agreed. Doesn't make any sense to me, it's not a real strat and I put a set of cheap kmise pickups from amazon in it but they seem to sound better than the lh-150s. I'd like to get better pickups for the eclipse over the summer, and I'm looking for a suggestion, Can anyone suggest a good neck pickup with that nice bold, beautiful and clear sound I'm looking for? I've always preferred the neck pickup but I'd also like a recommendation for a bridge pickup with a good volume and sound that'd make me learn to love the bridge position.

 

[slowist]

P.S. the neck humbucker doesn't sound too bad honestly, but I'd still like to get a better set.

 

[dmraco]

Really depend on what your playing....music. 

I always liked the Kent Armstrong and Lollars.

 

[musicispeace]

If you don't mind sharing what is the range of what your budget for this project and what type of music are you playing? Thanks.

 

[slowist]

I'm trying to get into jazz and blues, and then branch my way out into more heavy rock and distortion based riffing, so I figure I need a set with a bouncy acoustic tone, than transitions well into distortion, for the bridge pickup I'm not really sure what I'm looking for to be honest, I just need something with a more appealing sound quality and volume.

 

[slowist]

I'm also into psychedelic rock if that helps, and the indie beach rock sort of tone, like mac demarco for instance

 

[slowist]

As far as budget I was thinking in the range of around $100 per pickup

 

[musicispeace]

Cool. I know many members of this forum are big on Seymour Duncan pickups. For the money and the number of options available they may be a good place to start. I am less familiar with them as I have strats with single coil pickups but have liked HSS strats as well with a full size humbucker in the bridge. For the neck it appears you would benefit from something with good clarity that would provide good note definition and for your jazz and blues then something that would scream for the bridge since that would give you your hard rock/metal. You don't necessarily need high output pickups to get the versatility you are seeking. Some of those sound sterile when played clean. Hopefully some other members will chime in here.

When I was grinding through pickups ideas I did a lot of youtube research and I know Seymour Duncan has lots of sound samples on their site. I have been told not to worry too much about the "output" of the two pickups as a lot can be balanced by pickup height. "Balanced" sets are nice but not a total deal breaker. Check out reviews of some of the GFS pickups since there are the occasional gem among them. I don't check the forum everyday so PM me if others are not responding here, its summer and people may be on vacation. Also, remember you can experiment with different picks to see how that colors your sound too.