pickups review thread

[lmvf012]

Duncan Invader - mejo mellow ung tunog. quite muddy pero kaya i-manage ng EQ. 

[dirt]

mga sirs how about active pickups? bakit konti lang ang gumagamit ata...

according to a friend, nakakakaba daw... di mo alam kung kelan mauubos ang battery... sa gig sha kinakabahan, mawawala bigla tunog nya.

dapat lagi ka may extra 9v.

 

[yahoo!]

pickups currently installed on my guitars
seymour duncan jb model - hi output bright sounding, punchy. it's good for recording hi gain guitar sounds. sounds ok for live application. good for metal.
seymour duncan 59's - i have these on my nuno bettencourt signature washburns. sound pretty good.
seymour duncan alnico ii pros - low/medium output. good for classic rock tones.
seymour duncan custom custom - somewhat similar to the jb model.
seymour duncan dimebuckers - hi output. thin when used for clean tones. very good for heavy distortion.
seymour duncan jazz models - similar to the 59 but with more bass.
seymour duncan pearly gates - similar to 59s but with more treble.
seymour duncan screaming demon - this is one of a hell of a pickup. good for clean and dirty tones. you can distinguish notes from chords with a distorted sound
seymour duncan classic stack - low output hum free single coil. i always use this as a middle pickup on ibanez guitars.
seymour duncan hot rails - single coil size with a power of a humbucker.
dimarzio evo - vai. nuff said
dimarzio paf pro - similar to sd '59s but with a little more output.
dimarzio air zone - similar to the 59
dimarzio yjm - very low output. sounds amazing with clean tone.
dimarzio hs-2 - another low output pickup
dimarzio hs-3 - another low output pickup, a little more power over the yjms

my used to have
seymour duncan parallel axis trembucker (blues saraceno) - somewhat similar to the screaming demon.
dimarzio breed - paf pro like. with more bass. too bassy for mahogany body guitars
dimarzio tonezone - it's like a 59 with more highs

anu mas defined na pup sa dist. and clean un screaming demon or dimarzio breed? un wood ng guitar ay mahogany, string gauge 11-48 

[mrbrownstone]

mga sirs how about active pickups? bakit konti lang ang gumagamit ata...

they're not as versatile as passive pups, specially the low output ones i.e. does not clean-up very well with the volume control and sometimes note clarity is compromised. i like emg's on the neck tho:-D

[bluenote]

Elegee custom pickups for me very versatile and transparent...

Here they are in action...

Single coil neck pup first song, Humbucker bridge for intro to second song and solo and neck and mid single coils for clean sound on second song... 

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[dudeofdude]

anu mas defined na pup sa dist. and clean un screaming demon or dimarzio breed? un wood ng guitar ay mahogany, string gauge 11-48 

+1
mr Mark's sound clips sound nice and warm (breed + mahogany)

[dudeofdude]

according to a friend, nakakakaba daw... di mo alam kung kelan mauubos ang battery... sa gig sha kinakabahan, mawawala bigla tunog nya.

dapat lagi ka may extra 9v.

 

i have a friend who used to have a bridge emg 81, after a few months, kakabahan ka nga daw ng konti sa battery, one time his guitar started to sound clanky live, buti nalang may ibang "band people" na kilala

[Drew Asuncion]

Medyo OT:

Curious lang, do you find that cables and plugs tend to change how a pickup sounds? I recently installed a DiMarzio ToneZone in the bridge of my Washburn N2. When I plugged it in using an unbranded cable (from Audiophile) with one Neutrik Germany L-type plug and one China-made Neutrik plug (I make my own cables, btw), it sounded loud but brittle, with too much high-gain 'sheen' for lack of a better term. Pang-super metal shredder king of the universe solo kumbaga. I was disappointed, because I was replacing a GFS Power Rails with it because the GFS displayed the same traits. So I put it down for a few hours.

After that, I decided to give it another try. I plugged in with a Klotz cable with another Neutrik Germany L-type plug and a Neutrik Germany straight plug on the other end. Lo and behold, the Tone Zone suddenly started to sound great! No more brittleness, much more bass and midrange, and no nasal-ness whatsoever. I immediately went out the next day and bought another Neutrik Germany straight plug to replace the China plug on my generic cable, and the results were the same: Great sound, no 'sheen.'

Sharing this because I'd like to know if it's happened to anyone else, and as a tip for people who may think they got a bad pickup when it might just be the cable.

[oist]

DM evolution bridge

very responsive, bawal sumablay. hahaha. high output. as in, pagka-install ko, may feeeeeeedback na kahit sa neck pup na gamit ko. hahaha. nahawa ata, but the feedbacksound i get is very cool, IMHO.


sarap sa jrock genre namin.
ever wondered vai playing jrock? hehehe
si gilbert saka malmsteen pa lang nakikita ko eh... baka di lang ako aware.


******************
Gibson 496r

bright neck pickup. as in, very bright. XD
super nice sustain, especially on lp's.
parang may overdub na yung treble ko, or is it just me?


havent dwelled on this one for that long though. loaded this on my ibby gax30 before.

[markv]

@drew, i once sold a dimarzio tone zone (8 years ago) because of my lack of knowledge on those 'small' things.. amp settings, bad/cheap cables, improper pup height. I tried buying the tone zone again way back 2004, it was then that i realize that 'noob ears' were unreliable! 

[Drew Asuncion]

@drew, i once sold a dimarzio tone zone (8 years ago) because of my lack of knowledge on those 'small' things.. amp settings, bad/cheap cables, improper pup height. I tried buying the tone zone again way back 2004, it was then that i realize that 'noob ears' were unreliable! 

Tumpak chief! Isipin mo, halos 20 years lang ako naggi-gitara, last year ko lang na-realize na dapat paggastusan ko din yung cables ko! That might have been the reason why I stopped 'liking' my N2's Bill Lawrence pickup, kaya nabenta ko.

Then again, it was starting to make horrible microphonic noises na. It probably needed dipping, but 6 years ago I had no idea where to get that done. Suwerte nung nakabili nun pucha.

[bryanarzaga]

Shoot

Here's some pups i tried

Eden Vintage Alnico 2 humbuckers - balanced and transparent perfect to my mahogany bodied guitars, not a hot pickup sensitivity is spot on, you will not get that grit sounding bridge pup, really smooth yummy..coil tap capable



Belcat Alnico 5 humbuckers - more hot sounding, than the eden alnico 2, tried it with a basswood body guitar too and it works well, coil tap capable



Guitarheads Hexbuckers - for hot pups i really like this set, smooth and mid output my favorite pup for basswood, coil tap capable



Guitarheads NeoHex Single coils - noiseless and more output, a dynamic single coil, i only buy the mid single coil



Guitarheads Active Set - i used these a while back, you cant go wrong on these pups, compared to the zack set they have more mids,



Dragonfire Modern Pafs - i thought this was from the same korean company that makes guitarheads, really nasal sounding on the bridge side and the neck pup tends to overpower the bridge pup, coil tap capable

DesertDawg Paf - azguitarparts.com custom paf pup, really hot, sounds great with any gain pedal, clean is raunchy though..

[Igor]

 ako po ung sa GFS power rails - solb na solb, match sa taste ko
 binenta ko na tonezone ko, "d rin kc f spaced" 
 so far GFS power Rails works for me.

[leofelismino]

well how about gfs crunchy rails.... has anyone tried it? wow guitar heads... san nakakabili niyan?

[bryanarzaga]

well how about gfs crunchy rails.... has anyone tried it? wow guitar heads... san nakakabili niyan?

GFS crunchy rails similar to Artec Rails, minus the cost..

Guitarheads available at guitarheads.net or ebay

[skrumian]

medyo off topic lang...

pero paano nyo malalaman kung alnico o ceramic pups nyo? physically and tonewise?

nung nagemail ako sa customer service, sabi alnico. pero nung nagresearch ako sa net and mga forums, ceramic daw. i have squire affinity strat.

[juan_alderete]

mga brothers is the SD jb + jazz combo great on basswood guitars? im looking for a more natural sounding PU, not that hot and gritty(like the old ones), but versatile enough both on clean and dirt.  any other SD combo you might suggest?..

[markv]

@juan_alderetem, i tried the JB on my RG470 w/9-42 strings... and it sounded so bright and a little thin. If your guitar has fixed bridge it should sound better.

[juan_alderete]

@juan_alderetem, i tried the JB on my RG470 w/9-42 strings... and it sounded so bright and a little thin. If your guitar has fixed bridge it should sound better.

fix bridge nga sya sir, gusto kasi maging natural at fat sounding sya, napaka tapang kasi nung stock.

[DesertFox]

@juan_alderetem, i tried the JB on my RG470 w/9-42 strings... and it sounded so bright and a little thin. If your guitar has fixed bridge it should sound better.

I agree, basswood is bright and open sounding with added bass and attenuated mids.  Alnico Pro II would go well with this wood.

mga brothers is the SD jb + jazz combo great on basswood guitars? im looking for a more natural sounding PU, not that hot and gritty(like the old ones), but versatile enough both on clean and dirt.  any other SD combo you might suggest?..

[juan_alderete]

I agree, basswood is bright and open sounding with added bass and attenuated mids.  Alnico Pro II would go well with this wood.

thanks sir, noted..

[markv]

@juan_alderete, try mo dimarzio breed bridge. Hybrid ng tone zone & JB ang sound 

[juan_alderete]

@juan_alderete, try mo dimarzio breed bridge. Hybrid ng tone zone & JB ang sound 

wow kasama nga yan sa mga choices ko, thanks sir.

[ROBORATS]

sino dito nakagamit na ng dragon fire or snydermax active pickups?

[dop]

mga sirs, ano combination sa dimarzio?, ang pang mahogany body at neck, maple top, fixed bridge? sa SD 59/jb or jazz/jb ang recommended ng seymour website...


ang dami models ng dimarzio kasi eh.... i just rely dito sa philmusic at mga website ng SD......right now its either SD or Dimarzio lng.....