Which pickups?

[Yimi]

Hy everyone,

I'm new on this forum (and guitar building by the way.)  Big HELLO from the newbie  :headbang:. Ok, seriously, I was wondering what humbuckers to use on my 2 humbucker build. I've heard pretty good comments on the Rio Grande BBQ Texas set, but they're a bit expensive... The PRS Dragon II also seem nice. But here's my problem : do they coil-split well (series, parallel included) and is the price difference worth the Rio's? So you know, I'm planning on a versatile guitar, like prs, with a sapele body, curly maple top, and I'm hesitating on the neck... Either maple back/Rosewood fingerboard, or cocobolo back/Ebony fingerboard... don't know yet, but let's not get out off subject. So which pickups are suited, better, and worth the money?

Cheers  :headbang:

 

[bpmorton777]

GFS has a good selection of humbuckers all in the $30 range. Ive and a few other people here have used their pickups and have good things to say about them.

Brian

 

[tfarny]

Rather than recommend a specific brand, let me just say a couple of things. First, the first set of pickups you put in a guitar is mainly just a guess about how it/they will sound. Don't be surprised if you find yourself replacing them once you hear the whole thing together - you might find that in that particular guitar and in your rig, the neck pickup is too muddy, or whatever. Other people's sound clips and recommendations will be helpful but ultimately you're out to please yourself through trial and error. Second, very few of us, myself included, have actually tried all the major brands of humuckers out there, and so we're all just recommending whatever worked for us at the time we built our own. There are a ton of good quality pickups out there to pick from, any of which will probably make you happy. Finally, get some good ones - you're buying the best possible quality parts for every other aspect of the guitar, so there's no reason to skimp on the #1 (far and away) thing that determines the tone of the guitar. A set of Lollar humbuckers or Joe Bardens or Kinmans will set you back more than $300, but if I had a guitar that really called for them I would not hesitate. At the same time, price and quality are not the same thing (to some extent). Sure, try out some GFS if you want (I have, with very mixed results) to save $ but I doubt you'll be getting all the tone that you deserve with your otherwise fine axe.

 

[m4rk0]

( I just wrote this next week I love the Rio Grande BBQ/Texas set, but recently found out that the IronGear Hot Slags sounds very close for only a fraction of the price!

 

[Yimi]

GFS has a good selection of humbuckers all in the $30 range. Ive and a few other people here have used their pickups and have good things to say about them.

Brian

Thanks, I'm aware of them, but like tfarny said

Finally, get some good ones - you're buying the best possible quality parts for every other aspect of the guitar, so there's no reason to skimp on the #1 (far and away) thing that determines the tone of the guitar.

tferny, thanks for the advise ^^ the only problem is I don't have the budget for over 200 on pickups... if only...  :sad:

( I just wrote this next week I love the Rio Grande BBQ/Texas set, but recently found out that the IronGear Hot Slags sounds very close for only a fraction of the price!

Wow! thnx for the tip. But are they close as in nice, unnoticeably close? Or cheep, almost it close? Also, do they split well? (a must for this guitar)

 

[m4rk0]

Wow! thnx for the tip. But are they close as in nice, unnoticeably close? Or cheep, almost it close? Also, do they split well? (a must for this guitar)

I can't tell about splitting, they do not sound exactly the same, but still really good. look for reviews online
not sure about splitting. I have one myself, still in the box, however, Luke (also on this forum) has a set of hot slags in his Gibson SG and they sound really good!
it was a use improvement on the stock gibson (not epi) pickups.

another one you may want to check out is the tonerider rocksong set.. really good for the money

 

[Yimi]

OK, Thnx i'll check them out  :blob7:

 

[tfarny]

I should also say - I had a Rio Grande P90 and didn't like it at all, and I've had one good set of GFS strat pickups and two other very mediocre pickups from them. Those are two companies I probably won't try again.
I have loved everything I've tried from Lollar, Bill Lawrence, and Dimarzio actually, and I liked most of the Duncans I've tried, and they make a lot of flavors to please everyone.

 

[djf67]

First, the first set of pickups you put in a guitar is mainly just a guess about how it/they will sound. Don't be surprised if you find yourself replacing them once you hear the whole thing together - you might find that in that particular guitar and in your rig, the neck pickup is too muddy, or whatever.

I'm on my 5th set of pickups in my soloist (ash topped w/birsdeye maple, all rosewood neck)
Even though I play through modelling units (Behringer V-Amp Pro previousy, Digitech RP500 now) I can tell difference.
If you want a versatile, splittable pickup I have to say try SD P-Rails - they split to a convincing P90 and  a blade single coil, have A5 magnets so are nice and warm, medium output so they're not stupid hot and can do cleans...

 

[Yimi]

I should also say - I had a Rio Grande P90 and didn't like it at all, and I've had one good set of GFS strat pickups and two other very mediocre pickups from them. Those are two companies I probably won't try again.
I have loved everything I've tried from Lollar, Bill Lawrence, and Dimarzio actually, and I liked most of the Duncans I've tried, and they make a lot of flavors to please everyone.

Man! I thought Rio Grande was a decent brand. Maybe their better with humbuckers than with singles...

I'm on my 5th set of pickups in my soloist (ash topped w/birsdeye maple, all rosewood neck)
Even though I play through modelling units (Behringer V-Amp Pro previousy, Digitech RP500 now) I can tell difference.
If you want a versatile, splittable pickup I have to say try SD P-Rails - they split to a convincing P90 and  a blade single coil, have A5 magnets so are nice and warm, medium output so they're not stupid hot and can do cleans...

I'm a little sceptic about those pickups... I'd rather stick to the traditional designs (not mentioning their not the prettiest design on earth  :icon_tongue: )

After doing some research I now know I know nothing xD. Could anybody help me pick a pickup that would recreate well the following tones?: Santana, SRV, Dire straits, AC/DC, and some nice jazz and blues tones

 

[rockskate4x]

After doing some research I now know I know nothing xD. Could anybody help me pick a pickup that would recreate well the following tones?: Santana, SRV, Dire straits, AC/DC, and some nice jazz and blues tones

Sounds like you need to build 3 or four separate guitars to nail all those tones, but if your ok with just "getting in the ballpark" with one guitar. There are pickups that can do that with some tweaking. I liked the way my seymour duncan jazz splits, and can do a little SRV stuff on it when it's in that mode. If you roll down the tone while it is in series you can get that nasty phat santana stuff, or jazz when you lose the OD. The JB is also a rockin pickup that I like to use to drive my blackheart into AC/DC crunch. When it splits it sounds ok, but certainly doesn't nail Dire Straits. These two pickups come in a set called the hot rodded humbucker set that you can find on musicians friend or ebay, or many other places for around $130, so they are a great value. If you want more versatility I'd suggest a middle single coil pickup as well, but I don't know if that works with the guitar that you have planned.

Hope that helps.

 

[Yimi]

Thanks for the advice!

Sounds like you need to build 3 or four separate guitars to nail all those tones,

I was half-planning to build a second guitar (strat or tele, don't know yet) after this one...

When it splits it sounds ok, but certainly doesn't nail Dire Straits

Guess that does it. I will build two guitars! (I was a bit reluctant to the idea, but what th hell!) This one being my les Paul-ish rock one

I just realized that by building a versatile guitar I may have access to most of my tones, but not all of them. Also, it might just be a guitar that does it all, but not quite nail any of them tones. It won't do Eric Clapton as good as an Strat, or Guns n roses like LP. So yeah, I might go for the rock side of the force on this one... Is the hot rodded humbucker set still suitable for such a guitar?

P.S. Man! I just realized how often I change my mind lol