in need of new pickups

[boaty]

http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/electric/humbucker/progressive/sh12_george_lyn/

You'll have to compromise on output if you want to maintain string separation and expression.  I was going to recommend the SD Custom until I read that you've already tried it.  The losing output while bending is just natural, because when you bend you transfer energy away from the string.  (Your frets might need polishing.)

 

[Orpheo]

then make up a list of pickups you would consider and let people here give you feedback on the ones they have used?

Brian

ok. thats something that might be an option too.

pickups I have in mind:

alternative 8
prails with an alnico8 + ceramic magnet instead of alnico5 (I really, REALLY don't like alnico5! the only alnico5 pickup I have is the JB, and that I kinda like... the rest of the ones I like, is ceramic)
WCR ironman
WCR icebucker
bareknuckle painkiller
bareknuckle miracle man

but only the idea of prails+other magnets really appeals.

 

[m4rk0]

Now have you looked into the punch/crunchbox?

 

[Xplorervoodoo]

The SD Blackouts seem to be getting good reviews, how bout them?

 

[neuftone]

In all seriousness, have you tried (unless I missed the mention earlier) Q-Tuners?  They seem pretty geared toward hi-fi.

 

[boaty]

One option might be to take a pickup you like the tone of, then use a clean booster to increase the output, and perhaps add a compressor to your effects chain.

 

[Orpheo]

crunch/punchbox: I like the tone of rio grande, but from what I've heard, they're too warm sounding...

the blackouts are active, and I really don't wanna go active. besides; they don't have a really versatile wiring.

Qtuners: tried them out (a dutch company huh!  :headbang: ) but unfortunatelly, they're as bad sounding as they look. Dead like a maggot. they're absolutely hifi, very flat in their sound. not really so broad and wide as I would love to have.

I have given my idea to a pickupbuilder in the USA, and he's willing to make  a pickup with the following specs: 1 coil, 5500 turns, 43 wire. 1 coil, 6500 turns, 42 wire. alnico 8 and ceramic magnet.

 

[stubhead]

Well, I have to weigh in now that you've called Bill Lawrence L500XL pickups "mushy." I've tried a bunch of different pickups in 35+ years, and I use Lawrence because they're not mushy - trading one DiMarzio for another doesn't get me anywhere, that's for sure. I've converted a number of pickup hounds over to these, now their boxes full of Duncans & DiMarzios sit forlornly in the closet.... Like the other posters say, if you've tried a zillion pickups and you still don't like the way you sound, maybe you need to try something else:

A) Take the cover off your speaker cabinets before you play;
B) Dump the $4.99 Guitar Center curly cord and get some Lawrence or George L's cabling;
C) Dump the felt pick;
D) Dremel the wax outta your ears;
E) Pull the hood on your hoodie down;
F) All of the above.
:blob7:
One real good indication of how a pickup can sound is how it sounds when someone great plays them - what do your favorite guitarists use? If they can use them to sound great, then you know it's not a pickup issue... do you know that putting a high-powered pickup in the neck position is going to cause excessive magnetic pull, which is why most everyone uses a PAF-type for the rhythm pickup, or works out an electronic scheme like the Lawrences or the Music Man guitars where the magnetic pull of the neck pickups isn't too strong? I cringe when I see those Duncan Invaders in the neck - it kills the tone from the lead pickup. Take your neck pickup OUT, wire the lead pickup straight to the jack, and see what happens....

 

[Orpheo]

Well, I have to weigh in now that you've called Bill Lawrence L500XL pickups "mushy." I've tried a bunch of different pickups in 35+ years, and I use Lawrence because they're not mushy - trading one DiMarzio for another doesn't get me anywhere, that's for sure. I've converted a number of pickup hounds over to these, now their boxes full of Duncans & DiMarzios sit forlornly in the closet.... Like the other posters say, if you've tried a zillion pickups and you still don't like the way you sound, maybe you need to try something else:

A) Take the cover off your speaker cabinets before you play;
B) Dump the $4.99 Guitar Center curly cord and get some Lawrence or George L's cabling;
C) Dump the felt pick;
D) Dremel the wax outta your ears;
E) Pull the hood on your hoodie down;
F) All of the above.
:blob7:
One real good indication of how a pickup can sound is how it sounds when someone great plays them - what do your favorite guitarists use? If they can use them to sound great, then you know it's not a pickup issue... do you know that putting a high-powered pickup in the neck position is going to cause excessive magnetic pull, which is why most everyone uses a PAF-type for the rhythm pickup, or works out an electronic scheme like the Lawrences or the Music Man guitars where the magnetic pull of the neck pickups isn't too strong? I cringe when I see those Duncan Invaders in the neck - it kills the tone from the lead pickup. Take your neck pickup OUT, wire the lead pickup straight to the jack, and see what happens....

A: I have no cover
B: I have a monster cable, and a spectroflex aswell
C: I use fingers, nails, dunlop nylons or copper picks
D: No wax in my ears
E: my hood on my hoodie? I'm a rocker, not a hiphopper...

and when someone else plays them, I hear the same issues too. always.

what my fav. playes use, well... I tried their setup, and I can't play on those. They have great tones, but I really loath their guitars amps and pickups John Sykes has, for example, a set of 57 classics, and those pickups, well... 'not my cup 'o tea' to say the least. Ritchie kotzen plays a freakin strat and tele's, and I hate fender shapes and tones, at least, when I play them. When he plays them, it sounds great.

 

[GoDrex]

I've converted a number of pickup hounds over to these, now their boxes full of Duncans & DiMarzios sit forlornly in the closet....

that's dumb - they really ought to sell them

 

[Orpheo]

I've converted a number of pickup hounds over to these, now their boxes full of Duncans & DiMarzios sit forlornly in the closet....

that's dumb - they really ought to sell them

indeed. so we can make even more hybrids

 

[Wana_make_a_guitar]

So what I get out of this is that a low output pickup will give me a clear and defined sound, connect that to a booster pedal and then you can have that un-'mushy' sound on my overdrive channel when I want to play hard rock/metal.

Right? Wrong?

 

[Orpheo]

So what I get out of this is that a low output pickup will give me a clear and defined sound, connect that to a booster pedal and then you can have that un-'mushy' sound on my overdrive channel when I want to play hard rock/metal.

Right? Wrong?

not neccasarily. it depends on the entire pickup itself. for example, the duncan custom is wired with 43 gauge wire, ceramic magnet,but those cleansounds are CLEAN. very clear, bright, almost twangy. the coiltapped sounds are very punchy and crunchy. but with distortion, is tight, kicks ass big time. so its not really easy to say how it 'works' if you understand what I mean...

About my pickup problems. I think I'm still going, again, with motherbuckers. maybe a hotrail and a duckbucker next to eachother to create the motherbucker-idea. but that has so many tonal options for me, unbelievable. with 2 push push pots and a tripleshot, I can get witht the motherbucker a whole legion of usefull sounds. with the duckbucker and hotrail maybe even more.

 

[Wana_make_a_guitar]

So what I get out of this is that a low output pickup will give me a clear and defined sound, connect that to a booster pedal and then you can have that un-'mushy' sound on my overdrive channel when I want to play hard rock/metal.

Right? Wrong?

not neccasarily. it depends on the entire pickup itself. for example, the duncan custom is wired with 43 gauge wire, ceramic magnet,but those cleansounds are CLEAN. very clear, bright, almost twangy. the coiltapped sounds are very punchy and crunchy. but with distortion, is tight, kicks ass big time. so its not really easy to say how it 'works' if you understand what I mean...

About my pickup problems. I think I'm still going, again, with motherbuckers. maybe a hotrail and a duckbucker next to eachother to create the motherbucker-idea. but that has so many tonal options for me, unbelievable. with 2 push push pots and a tripleshot, I can get witht the motherbucker a whole legion of usefull sounds. with the duckbucker and hotrail maybe even more.

Gaak, pickups are to complicated, one of these dyas were gona have one pickup, then we talk to the amp ans say:
Overdrive (then set your bass, treble middle gain etc)

Someday.................

 

[Orpheo]

So what I get out of this is that a low output pickup will give me a clear and defined sound, connect that to a booster pedal and then you can have that un-'mushy' sound on my overdrive channel when I want to play hard rock/metal.

Right? Wrong?

not neccasarily. it depends on the entire pickup itself. for example, the duncan custom is wired with 43 gauge wire, ceramic magnet,but those cleansounds are CLEAN. very clear, bright, almost twangy. the coiltapped sounds are very punchy and crunchy. but with distortion, is tight, kicks ass big time. so its not really easy to say how it 'works' if you understand what I mean...

About my pickup problems. I think I'm still going, again, with motherbuckers. maybe a hotrail and a duckbucker next to eachother to create the motherbucker-idea. but that has so many tonal options for me, unbelievable. with 2 push push pots and a tripleshot, I can get witht the motherbucker a whole legion of usefull sounds. with the duckbucker and hotrail maybe even more.

Gaak, pickups are to complicated, one of these dyas were gona have one pickup, then we talk to the amp ans say:
Overdrive (then set your bass, treble middle gain etc)

Someday.................

no man, they're intersting.

 

[Wana_make_a_guitar]

no man, they're intersting.

Yes, when you have time to sit and fiddle with them, or just simply test them. But i'm too busy sleeping in until 11:30 and simply rocking out to do that!  :icon_tongue:

 

[Orpheo]

no man, they're intersting.

Yes, when you have time to sit and fiddle with them, or just simply test them. But i'm too busy sleeping in until 11:30 and simply rocking out to do that!  :icon_tongue:

I have no time to rock, cause I'm too much annoyed with my tone you know, I play in 1 set, paul gilbert, poison, thin lizzy, the darkness, michael schenker, ufo and los lonely boys. Extremely diverse sounds. not just THEIR sound, but I want a different tone for each song. and I dont want to change a guitar whilst playing that. it would mean that I'd need at least 4 guitars of which 1 strat! I hate strats...so: I need everything in 1 guitar with great sounds, tones and vibes.

i.e.: Not a variax.

 

[rockskate4x]

dude, its not possible....

 

[GoDrex]

dude, its not possible....

+10000000000000000000000000 heheheh

 

[Orpheo]

I've been thinking of doing what I've always thought of doing, and did before with good/great results:

bridge: SD hotrail+JB jr.
middle: duckbucker + hotstack
neck: lil59+coolrail

OR: 3 times motherbucker. I also have already worked out the wiring schematic for this puppy! 4 push push pots, 3 triple shots and 2 2way on/on sliders and a 6 way rotary switch.

this will ROCK!