[Daniiel]

heyyy,
instead of buying a new guitar im gonna look into getting some nice pick ups.
but im not too sure what ones make what songs and so on
i wanna get some good humbuckers with a grungy or dirty kinda sound.
its hard finding people who know alot about pickups and i dont really wanna ask a shop keeper,
cause i dont really trust them.
what do you guys think?

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If you are looking for the good pickup, I would definitely go with the Dean Markley Pro Mag:


http://www.deanmarkl...oMagGrand.shtml

[handhfan]

If you are looking for the good pickup, I would definitely go with the Dean Markley Pro Mag:


http://www.deanmarkl...oMagGrand.shtml

[silencedmessage]

Hi Daniiel,

There are a ton of options out there for pickups. I personally love the sound of EMC pickups, but it is somewhat hard to find them for sale as individual pickups, most people get them because they come with most LTD guitars.

What kind of guitar (type/model) and what kind of pickups do you have now? Also, how many pickups are there? You said you want a dirty/grungy sound, so I would definitely recommend a high-gain pickup... most likely active pickups.

Also, another huge thing is the type of distortion you use (assuming you do from your description). If you are using a $20 distortion pedal (like I did for years before I started to record....) then I can guarentee no matter what kind of pickups you have you will not be getting the sound you want.

Normally, what you get the most of from a pickup is your tone and clearity/brightness. That is another important thing that contributes to the all-around sound of your guitar. Of course, the biggest item is your amplifier. If you have a decent amp, then that is going to help a lot too.

Hope that helps a little, of course, you probably already know most if not all of this. I am just covering a little of everything just in case you were not aware. If you already knew, no offence was intended, I just wanted to be as clear as possible.

-Silenced Message

[jorge33]

Something to consider when upgrading your pickups is how nice is the guitar you are upgrading them on. IMO it is maybe foolish to buy a set of pickups for more than $100/$150 on a guitar that cost little, especially if you plan to buy a nicer or newer guitar on the future, but if you do plan on a new guitar, you can always replace your new really nice pickups into the new guitar.

An incredibly good sounding and inexpensive pickup manufacturer is an overseas brand called GFS (guitar fetish). Their pickups easily compete with brands and products over $100 more. Here is a series of reviews of some of their pickups from a guitar forum I frequent. The pickups are also so inexpensive its not nearly as bad if your playing a game of hit or miss.

[Daniiel]

Ohhh
sweet thanks guys.
I think i might get some Seymour Duncans, they seem like pretty good pickups.
I hope there not too much though.
Do you nkow how much they are?
on average?
i dont remeber what one im interested in getting but it sounds like the one im looking for.
ill look through the sites you guys sent.
thanks for replying.
i wasnt getting emails saying people had replied to my thread.
sorry for answering so late

I did want to buy a new guitar but i've chagned my mind.
im not interested in a car now.
i dont see the point of getting a whole new guitar because im not really serious about making a band and so on.
although me and some friends have one in the making.
my guitar will be good enough.
I just have crappy stock pickups. Im not sure there brand or anything. My guitars brand is magnum
ive tried to find their website but ive had no luck
you'd think they would have a website.
That Dean markly pickup said it was for an acoustic hahah.
I think those GFS pickups seem pretty cool
and there not too expensive either but they dont give a good description of there sound
they seem more for classic kinda rock.
although i love classic rock
i can create those sounds already with my amp.
speaking of amp
i have a marshell 80watt
i should of got a 100 watt
they seem so much cooler.
but i was foolish and just went in a baught what i wanted at the time
i have a Zoom G1X pedal
which can make some really cool sounds
some of the distortion on it is really good
but it rather have better quality pickups aswell
if you guys want ill show you the seymour duncan site and the pickups im thinking about getting
Thanks again.

Edited by Daniiel, 28 January 2007 - 01:49 AM.

[silencedmessage]

Those Marshall 80 watts are more powerful than most 80 watt amps, and I personally think they sound pretty decent.

if it were me I would just wait and save and save and save and save and get a half stack, as they are the best way to go (especially with marshalls). From my experience with Marshalls, MOST of the half stacks offer a great combination of tone, distortion, and power.

I agree completely with jorge33 about taking into consideration of the cost of the guitar vs the pickups.

Another thing that may contribute to whatever it is that you do not like about your sound could be the setup you have. If you are using the distortion built into the Marshall WITH the zoom, then it may be a little too much and make it sound really muddy. Also, when/if you crank it up, there is a good chance you will get a lot of feedback. I played at a show tonight where one band was using a marshall half-stack, but also had distortion pedals they were using on top of the amp distortion. The feedback was just..... well, I am still somewhat deaf


Anyways, hope whatever you decide on sounds good and serves its purpose!

-Silenced Message

[Daniiel]

I dont really use the amp and the pedal often.
I get yelled at by people whenever its to loud.
and loud is always better
but when i do
i just put the amp on clean
because yeah, the pedal sounded crappy with the onboard distortion and so on
what is a half stack ?
ive never heard of them before
are they expensive?

[jorge33]

Another thing if you are looking to get a more gritty tone you could just get a (or couple of) effects pedals. For $40 buy the digitech Badmonkey or the BOSS SD-1 and use always run your guitar into that. Then even when you don't want huge distortion, turn the overdrive/gain on the pedal down but leave the level up and adjust the tone to make your sound a lot warmer/smoother/brighter/etc. You are gonna notice a big difference (at least I do) if you switch from your Zoom multi effect to a single stompbox, in guitar analog straightforward means better.

Also if your looking at a Seymour Duncan humbucker I can suggest their 'Pearly Gates' for a lot of good gain and crunch.

[silencedmessage]

A half stack sounds like it would be bigger than what you need. It is basically when the head is separate from the speakers, and yes they are very expensive. They are 130 watt on average, but last I knew, there were not may made by marshall that did not sound good. However, it is insanely loud... so, maybe not a good idea for you

-Silenced Message

[Daniiel]

hahahah yeahh
its probly beter for a small gig or somthing
i guess i could get a pedal
mine already makes alot of nice noises but i dont like having to lob it around with me.
replacing batteries.
itd also be good to make my guitar better quality
i take it alot of places with me.
just the guitar itself and rely of the amp i use.
These are the ones im trying to decied out of
but i cant see why they arnt the same
they sound pretty much alike


If i were to get one of these and install it any everything.
then play on a clean channel.
the noise will be clean right?
or will it be distorted and everything that it describes the sound to be?

[jorge33]

The noise will still be clean, but it will be a much different sounding clean. Before you buy any of those try to find some good reviews. Ignore all of the sales website reviews (musiciansfriend, music123, zzounds, etc.) and if you go to www.harmony-central.com and look at reviews there make sure to read all the bad reviews since those are the distinguishing negative from the most picky people. If you can find a "professional" review, from maybe a magazine or actual website (not one for sales).

[silencedmessage]

Ignore all of the sales website reviews (musiciansfriend, music123, zzounds, etc.) and if you go to www.harmony-central.com and look at reviews there make sure to read all the bad reviews since those are the distinguishing negative from the most picky people. If you can find a "professional" review, from maybe a magazine or actual website (not one for sales).

That is some of the best advice about purching music gear online that I have ever seen. However, I slightly disagree with the one point about ignoring the reviews on musiciansfriend.com, music123.com... etc. If you read the USER reviews, you may get exactly what you are looking for. Not everyone will write a good review. Also, the people who will write reviews will have all different kinds of experience/knowledge/backgrounds, so I personally think it is good to read those. Someone may say that a piece of equip is "not so sturdy" but they could be using it only in a studio. If you read some of the others, you may get someone who is not so well informed, but tells it as it is. "I dropped the piece of crap once and it broke!!!"

Those are not from an actual review, but IMO, it would be worth while checking out those reviews as well after looking at the "professional" ones, just to see what average people think.

-Silenced Message

[Daniiel]

Thanks, ill have a look
ill probly end up gettign the bottom pick up.
but ill have a look
i just hope there not expensive.
any idear where i could get a price?
ive tried google but i dont get much
i emailed an australian dealer in sydney.
i hope he replies soon.

Edited by Daniiel, 30 January 2007 - 04:40 AM.