What kind of pickups do you use? I'm thinking of fitting my trusty tele and Les Paul with some cool new pickups (they both have the stock pick-ups). For the LP I'm thinking Seymour Duncan Jazz and JB, for the tele I don't know, maybe a humbucker in the neck position or if I win the lottery, some Kinmans would be cool. So what do y'all recommend and why?

hectim said:

Oh man... that's one BIG question!

I like DiMarzios. My Musicman silhouette has them fitted as stock and they are just great pickups. Perfect for funk, jazz, blues, rock - whatever.

Some guitars suit EMG's - especially tele's. I have EMG's in mine and they are just great. A little too clinical for some but the natural tone of the tele gives something back to compensate.

The Seymour Duncan Jazz/JB combination is tried and tested and always sounds great. I put the same in my old Les Paul and it just oooozed with slick, fat, juicy sex! There's no real right or wrong with pickups but it's a kinda personal thing.

Kinman's aren't that expensive... not really.
[Edited 12/14/04 9:22am]

I've always dug the Duncans.

On an old "frankenstrat", i've got a single Duncan Custom in the bridge position wired straight to a volume control.
Played through a Mark IIC the thing just sings. Backing the guitar volume down a bit, you get the clearest bell-like rhythm sound you'd ever want to hear without any loss of top end.

The Les Paul Standard has a set of old Duncan PAFs.

On my Woodstock Strat, the pickguard and pickups have been removed and replaced with a set of Duncan LiveWires.
No buzz and more of a modern sound. Having to change the batteries (2 9volts) is a bit of a pain, but I make a habit of doing it as part of a New Year's ritual.

tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...rmusic.htm

I am a Duncan guy,

have a pair of humbuckers on my JS, Alnico II on the neck, that are great for clean sounds and overdrive and a Duncan custom on bridge that has that old van halen thing going on.

Scotty2funky said:

Hmm that sounds cool. How did the Jazz sound on on high volumes with clean sounds? Not too jangly bright? And how did the middle position sound? Useful for funky-jazzy rhythm?

I have used a bunch over the years. In my Tele I switch between the Duncan Jerry Donahue which is a wonderfully warm pickup in the bridge and the Dimarzio Virtual Tele which is similiar with a bit more grind and is a humbucker. Love them both but lately like the Virtual for its lack of hum. I use a Fender Delta tone in the neck which is pretty underated IMO. Very bright top which I live in a neck pickup . I hate muddy response.

In my Strat I have a High Order PAF. 8.2 A2 magnet. A friend who has just started winding his own pickups has just knocked me out with this thing, clarity and warmth better than any pickup I have played in the past 20 years. He charges 50.00 for these things which is freaking cheap for a hand wound pickup. I also have used the Duncan 59 in the past which is a very solid rock pickup. I tend to prefer lower output pickups, I much prefer the clarity and chime the have. The American Vintage 62 RI pickups by Fender are amazeing in the neck of a Strat. I have used them for years
and have never been compelled to change.

Kicking this one up for Otan...

I had EMGs single coil versions on my old trusty frankenstrat and I swore by them for years. No mic-bite from poor grounding, no hum, and a fat fat tone.

And then I played a USA Strat w/stock pickups and never touched the Frankenstrat again unless I had to.

And then I got a Tele w/nashville pickups and never touched the Strat again.

And then I got a Variax and I love it. I'll play the Tele every now and then, but I honestly like the sounds and the tones that come out of the Variax. It's not what I'd call "authentic", but taken on their own, the sound is full and clear and there's a very broad range of sounds you can get out of it... 80% are great, 20% are totally WTF.

I used to be hell bent on tweaking out the guitar for the perfect tone and all that stuff, and now, I'm a stock person. If the guitar sounds good, it's good. If it sounds bad, well, go get a new guitar.

It PAYS to be rich!