Pickups, anyone?

[Winston Psmith]

The only major investment I'm looking at in the coming year is some new Pickups.

 

I need a set of fairly hot HB's for my Brian Moore (LP-style & PU config), and an H-S-H set for my Godin Freeway SA (Strat-style body & PU config). I wouldn't mind having a mini-HB in the middle position on the Godin, if I wind up having to choose three different PU's, rather than finding one set.

 

I've seen some very impressive PU's, but the prices were no less impressive. Still, I'm expecting to hang onto these Guitars for a while, so it's worth upgrading what I can.

 

Recommendations & links gratefully accepted.

[Delta]

Check out the public Godin Guitar Players group on Facebook. I have a Godin Icon Type 2 Classic and I'm a member. There's often good info for upgrades.

[Larryz]

I always plug my favorite Gibson 57 Humbuckers. They run $165 each at SW so they are a bit expensive. But they will bring that LP to life IMHO.

[Dannyalcatraz]

What kind of budget? And are you aiming for any particular tones?

[desertbluesman]

I always go for Seymour Duncan Distortions for my full sized hum-bucking guitars, for strat style pickups, I use Duncan Little 59'ers which are very like a full sized hum-bucking in tone and power but fit in a standard Strat SSS pick guard.

[Winston Psmith]

Thanks, everyone.

 

In no particular order of response -

 

For overall tone, think warm Rock tone, 70's Gibsons & 80's Hamers, something with a little bite to it. I'd like to spend about $200 at most for the Brian Moore, not much more for the Godin. I know, that's not a lot for PU's, but I have to figure in the cost of installation, as well, and that pushes the $$$ up.

 

For the Brian Moore HB's, I want a warm sound from the Neck PU, and I want to avoid ice-pick highs in the Bridge. Less sure about the Godin? It just lacks character, somehow. It also seems like there are fewer options in terms of matching H-S-H PU sets, when I search online? In this case, I'd prioritize the Brian Moore, if it were easier to find a set for it first.

 

The Gibsons are just too expensive for what I feel I'll really get out of them, especially when you add in the cost of having them installed; I could buy another used SG for the same $$$. Even if I were used to swapping out my own PU's, both of these Guitars have complex wiring schemes, with 13-pin Synth PU's, and dual Output jacks with the Piezo on the Brian Moore. Well worth handing over to a pro, and the tech ay my FLMS is a pro.

 

I've always liked Duncans, and at $99 each with Chrome PU covers ($79 un-covered), the Duncan Distortions are about the right price, but I'm open to alternatives. I've been looking at the DiMarzio page, too.

[Dannyalcatraz]

For $200 for 2 HBs, Id look at:

 

1) RailHammer HyperVintage or Chisels. The HV is more of a classic PAF sound while the Chisel has more heat to it. Chisels are standard in my Reverend Sensei RA, which is one of my go-to axes for stoner/doom metal. But theyre not so high output that they wont clean up.

 

2) Lace signature series HBs. This line is currently all pickups designed by metal heads from Mastodon, Sleep/High on Fire, and similar bands. Theyre all relatively high output, but can clean up nicely.

 

3) Lace Alumitones & Alumitone Deathbuckers. Lightweight, clean and pure, with a fairly broad range. Regular Alumitones are in the PAF range, while Deathbuckers can be compared to EMGs,

 

4) STEWMAC Golden Age or Parsons Street are surprisingly good considering their price. I wouldnt have ever known about them, but theyre one of the standard pickup options from a luthier whose guitars Im fairly fond of, so I discovered them before I could become a price snob.

 

5) Seymour Duncan JB, Jazz, or 59s are all solid options. The JB/Jazz combo is popular as a stock option in many hard rock guitars, of which I have a few. I have a 59 as the stock option in my Godin Belmont, and love it,

 

6) Wilkinson HBs. Ive liked most of the Wilkinsons Ive used, and only swapped out one set- long story.

 

The real question is whether any of these will be a significant upgrade from whats in there now. Do you happen to know?

[Dannyalcatraz]

About the Godin...

 

Is the middle position routed to handle a miniHB, or are you considering having that slot expanded to accommodate a larger pickup?

[CEB]

The Duncan JB bridge and Jazz neck is a standard.

 

I like the DiMarzio Bluesbucker in the neck. It pairs well with the Tone Zone but there are a lot of bridge options.

 

However if you want to coil switching get the Duncan 59 Custom Hybrid. It uses the Custom coil for single coil mode which is a true 7.89 k ( I think) single coil then in Humbucker mode it has the Duncan 59 coil which gives the mids you need for a pushed humbucker solo. The Custom 5 and Custom Custom is too scooped for rock soloing IMO. I put these 59 Custom Hybrids in the bridge of my working guitars. My Yamahas came stock with Custom 5s but they had to go. They sounded fine in single coil mode and clean but would thin out on rock leads.

[Caevan O’Shite]

I really don't think you'd go wrong with some of the Golden Age and Parsons Street pickups from Stewart-MacDonald. The price is right! I knew someone a few years ago who built a Les Paul style guitar with a pair of those Parsons Street humbuckers, and they were very nice. And I think it was Fred C here on the GPF that tried some in a guitar (an Epiphone Sheraton?) at my suggestion a while back, and was pleased with them...

[skipclone 1]

For dual HB, I went with Bartolini. I think Fred also has a set, jazz HB in the neck. No regrets here, he can be more detailed than I if he`s about.

[Dannyalcatraz]

Back to the Godin:

 

Deathbuckers->Alumitone SC size->Alumitone HB size. Gives you a relatively broad tonal array with good cleans from bridge and excellent ones from the middle and neck positions.

 

 

[Winston Psmith]

The PU's in the import iGuitar are unimpressive at best. Not terrible, but it wouldn't be hard to do better, so almost anything would be an improvement. Oddly, while the Godin is a much better-built Guitar overall, the PU's don't really do it for me, and they seem badly unbalanced. The middle position is routed for a SC, AFAIK.

 

Will probably look into the Lace Alumitones for an ERG, once I've settled on a model I'm going to stick with. Still a few models (and tunings and string sets) I want to try out, before I dedicate myself to one.

 

The JB & Jazz combo are such a standard that I really want to try something a bit edgier for my sound. My idea of "Clean" tone is what most people would expect from a Transparent Overdrive. I like the Duncan Invaders, and some of the high-output DiMarzios, but want something w/PU covers, so I can use a bow on the Guitar, as well. (Rosin flakes off and gets everywhere.)

 

Catering job this evening, so I'll investigate some of the other options tomorrow.

[Dannyalcatraz]

Hmmmm...

 

I know theyre out of your price range, but you might want to look at Vintage

Vibe, Bareknuckle and Rio Grande pickups. Those companies are not only putting out good pickups, they also have offerings in nonstandard sizes. All 3 make HB-sized P90s for instance, and RG even makes P90s in SC size as well.

 

FWIW, RailHammer makes nice sc-sized HBs, too, called humcutters- theirs are noiseless. You might really like their Billy Corgan sigs.