adjusting the distance to the strings, the angle between high and low strings and the height of individual pole-pieces will change your sound quite a bit - at least with a unit that preserves such nuances like the PROFILER.
Often, pickups are set too close to the strings (as if we need the little bit of extra output with so many ways of gain available) and the bass side is too close in relation to the treble side, since guitarists like to get that 'oommph' when palm muting low strings, which is pretty pointless from a 'big picture' mix or production perspective, in live ot recording situations.
Instead of trying to remedy this with EQ later on, it is much, much better to get the angle right first.
After playing a SD JB for years and years, I swapped the AlNiCo V magnet (a $10 mod) with an AnNiCo 2 and while I liked the to my ears wider mid-bump, I missed the bite and power of the original magnet. Went a bit further and put an AlNiCo 8 in and it is perfection to me 
Basic setup aside (distance from strings, etc) ā¦.IMO pickups are the single most important aspect of an electric guitarās tone. Itās not even a discussion for me.
Nothing else comes closeā¦.and Iām not one to simply swap parts for the heck of it.
I have a Fender ā52 Reissue Telecaster. It plays really well, but Iād always thought the tone was lacking. I could never decide which pickup set to choose, and wasnāt throwing cash at it to ātestā.
One day as I was visiting a guitar tech friend while he worked. I told him (again) about my dilemma.
He grabbed a Mexican Tele with Fishman Gristletones heād just installed for a client.
I plugged into the amp he uses to test (a custom tube amp Iāve always disliked not matter what guitar was run through it.)
I knew what my Tele sounded like through itā¦.and hereās this (comparatively) cheap guitar with sound WAY better than my ābetterā one.
I ordered a set the next day, installed them and completely transformed the guitar.
Same thing happened with my Les Paul. Swapping pickups took a āgoodā guitar and made it something I donāt want to put down.
The amount of a piece of gear affects your tone goes from:
Speaker - This is absolutely the most important piece of your chain.
Microphone/Mic Placement - This can change your sound drastically.
Amp - Actually doesn't have as much of an effect as you may think. Of course there are differences, but not as much as the above.
Amount of gain/compression - Adding gain passed a certain level usually adds compression to the signal.
pickup type - Different types of pickups have different characteristics. A humbucker will NEVER sound exactly like a single coil. Splitting the humbucker really only lowers the amount of signal.
pickup design - Different pickups have different outputs, as well as EQs
One of the most overlooked pieces that can make or break your tone is an EQ. Placing an EQ pedal BEFORE the amp, changes your guitar's tone. Placing the EQ in the FX Loop, changes the amp tone. Placing an EQ after the microphone can change your entire tone.
I guess this is a long winded way of saying that for higher gain tones, the pickup isn't as important as the Speaker/Mic combination. If you're looking for a change of tone, start there.
Basic setup aside (distance from strings, etc) ā¦.IMO pickups are the single most important aspect of an electric guitarās tone. Itās not even a discussion for me.
I agree.
Every guitar I have owned over the last 30 years has had custom pickups put into them expressly because of this.
My current PRS SE Custom 24 has a set of Bare Knuckles "Rebel Yell" pickups in it. I should have done some before and after recordings to illustrate the big difference.
The new PUP's are simply more harmonic, less harsh, and have been a pleasure to play.
I recently pulled out my American Strat that has Lindy Fralin PUP's. These are very nice and provide a very good "Strat like .... but better" sound.
I think it is the biggest part of your tone chain.... other than the amp :).
The main thing that affects your sound is your playing style, and then the amp. I can use any number of my guitars with different pickup configurations, then plug them into a Marshall and only hear super tiny differences. Basically, I always sound like me no matter the guitar or amp.
unless i'm mistaken here, the exception is noiseless pickups like lace-sensors.
If my memory serves me correctly, they are required to be very close to the strings, ie a couple of mm at most.
I appreciate these are a special case and few guitars have them
Not to forget things like pickup covers, pots and cable length of intern wiring of guitar electronics. For example I heard people saying that one Les Paul sounds so warm. Yeah, because it had 300k pots (with at least a +/- 10% tolerance) instead 500k, very long shielded wires and pickup covers which all darkens the sound quite a bit.
The main thing that affects your sound is your playing style, and then the amp. I can use any number of my guitars with different pickup configurations, then plug them into a Marshall and only hear super tiny differences. Basically, I always sound like me no matter the guitar or amp.
You will always sound like you. You could play EVHās rig - and sound like youā¦.through EVHās rig.
But pickups - humbucker vs singles, Tele type vs Strat typeā¦etc? I hear *gigantic* differences in tone, feel and dynamics.
Of course "You" make a bigger difference than anything else ;).
I would say that as far as equipment goes, these are the things that make the most difference to "sounding good" with respect to a guitar tone:
All of the 4 above have a great deal of effect on your guitar tone. I would say 3 & 4 are close and may be swapped in some people's opinions.
Replacing the stock Fender pickups in my 79 Stratocaster with a set of Kinman Woodstock pickups had a massive positive impact. Went from weak and thin to fat and punchy with no noise. Similar results swapping Tom Anderson pickups (humbuckers in one and HB sized noiseless P90 in the other) into 2 other HB guitars and some TV Jones Starwoods into my barncaster Tele. In each case I was more than happy with the results.
Replacing the stock Fender pickups in my 79 Stratocaster with a set of Kinman Woodstock pickups had a massive positive impact. Went from weak and thin to fat and punchy with no noise. Similar results swapping Tom Anderson pickups (humbuckers in one and HB sized noiseless P90 in the other) into 2 other HB guitars and some TV Jones Starwoods into my barncaster Tele. In each case I was more than happy with the results.
I have 2 strats. One with Fralin PUP's and the other with Kinman's. Honestly, it depends on the day which tone I prefer. Both are pretty darned good.
I was not suggesting that PUP's don't make a difference, only that other things make more of a difference IMO. A poorly setup guitar is going to ring "wrong" on every cord (especially with higher gain). Changing pickups won't fix that.
Using a late 80's digitech RP1 digital amp is going to make any guitar you play through it sound bad (which is why we are all using Kemper!). PUP's won't help you here (ok, maybe a little).
For the majority of people on this forum, I would suggest sending your guitar to a Luthier if you haven't ever done that. Best money you will ever spend.
I assume we are all using Kemper (or something else just as ... or nearly as good), so the amp isn't the weak link.
It is absolutely a good thing to discuss how pickups effect the sound as it is next in line IMO.
In my case my guitars are all carefully set up just the way I like them, so there aren't a lot of other variables. But my Anderson guitar is so much better than the rest that it does reveal that the construction and materials of the guitar make a really big difference.
I do acknowledge that there's probably some confirmation bias when you've bought expensive pickups and want them to sound great.
I had (not anymore) a LP with BB pro and I swapped them for HƤussel Alnico II, it made a huge difference in tone and feel.
I anyhow agree that setting the height of the PUs should always be the first step: in most guitars are set way too high.
Display MoreI agree.
Every guitar I have owned over the last 30 years has had custom pickups put into them expressly because of this.
My current PRS SE Custom 24 has a set of Bare Knuckles "Rebel Yell" pickups in it. I should have done some before and after recordings to illustrate the big difference.
The new PUP's are simply more harmonic, less harsh, and have been a pleasure to play.
I recently pulled out my American Strat that has Lindy Fralin PUP's. These are very nice and provide a very good "Strat like .... but better" sound.
I think it is the biggest part of your tone chain.... other than the amp :).
Exactly the same here. Same guitar, same PUs. Same result.
Hello Guitar friends š
There are different opinions on the web about how much the pickups affect the sound of a guitar.
Iām not talking about swapping single coils with humbuckers, Iām talking about same pickup style from different manufacturers with different magnets etc.
What is your experience about this topic? Guess you all care a lot about the sound of your guitarsā¦
I have done many pickup swaps. Sometimes I put the originals back. I put bluesbucker and air norton in a Les Paul or two. I ordered 1963 spec Firebird pickups from a dude in Australia. Glad I did it. I put a hotrail at the neck of my 1983 Kramer Pacer. These are the best swaps and adds I've done.
A humbucker will NEVER sound exactly like a single coil. Splitting the humbucker really only lowers the amount of signal.
Splitting the humbucker get my guitar a singlecoil-ish sound. Not only a lowering af the signal; not unless that somehow turns the tone into a singlecoil-ish tone, that the humbucker cannot produce. But noā¦.it doesnāt sound 100% like a real humbucker. But close enough for me.
Splitting the humbucker get my guitar a singlecoil-ish sound. Not only a lowering af the signal; not unless that somehow turns the tone into a singlecoil-ish tone, that the humbucker cannot produce. But noā¦.it doesnāt sound 100% like a real humbucker. But close enough for me.
That isn't exactly true. Splitting the coils on my PRS produces a VERY different tone than using both coils in the humbucker. Yes, it is less output (therefore I have specific rigs with higher output than others for this purpose), but it is also a different tone completely. When I split the coil the sound I get is much more like the guitar strumming part in the Eagles "Take it Easy". Light, thin, unobtrusive in the mix.
Using my Strat and real single coils, I get more bell like chime sound (and some strat quack). It is very different from my PRS split coil sound. Neither are "bad", just different.
This does highlight what a difference pickups make though.
pickup type - Different types of pickups have different characteristics. A humbucker will NEVER sound exactly like a single coil. Splitting the humbucker really only lowers the amount of signal.
This is, well, less than factual. Splitting a humbucker: (1) definitely lowers the output signal, but (2) also lowers the output impedence, which means there is more high end. Why? A coil has higher impedence at higher frequencies, and therefore when loaded by a resistor (frex a volume pot) or a capacitor/resistor combination (frex a tone circuit), then there is a low pass filter in play. Lowering the pickup's OI by cutting it roughly in half means the volume pot and tone circuit have a stiffer signal to filter and leaves more mid-high signal. In addition some coils aren't split evenly, another variable. Lastly, when you use a humbucker you're picking up signal from two places on the string. This creates a comb filter. Using only one coil doesn't do that. Now some humbuckers (low output ones) have a drone coil that also doesn't do much comb filtering, but that is not the norm. So in most ways it's more like a single coil than a humbucker to use only one coil. However that does not mean it will sound like a specific single coil because humbuckers are in some ways built differently. But it is far from true that splitting a humbucker only reduces the signal level.
