# Whats your choice of Pickups?



## DimebagTributer (Aug 12, 2008)

My question is what your choice? and post why/what model?


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

Out of my electric guitars & basses I have 9 humbuckers & 3 single coils-all passive.

Overall I prefer humbuckers, but I do have my Les Paul wired to have the coils either series (normal humbucker mode) or parallel--which essentially is 2 single coils beside each other. Sometimes I like that sound--sometimes I like my Mustang's single coils, which I usually have out of phase. So I like some variety.

(For those keeping score the other single coil is on my EB-3 copy. The original EB-3 had a humbucker in a huge casing with one set of pole pieces sticking through the cover--and a lot of wire in the coils. My copy has a small single coil in a big casing. I usually have both this pickup & the bridge humbucker on together. I like that sound the best.)

I'm not a big fan of the active pickup sound--at least for my playing--although for bass active pickups can work very well.

As for others--hey--I've enjoyed listening to music played with all sorts of pickups, guitars, amps, effects, etc, that I don't like for my own playing--but others use them very well.


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## DimebagTributer (Aug 12, 2008)

ya im not quite sure exactly rather active or passive, all i know is i like humbuckers


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## screamingdaisy (Oct 14, 2008)

You left out P90s.....


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## Geek (Jun 5, 2007)

Passive, single coil smooth mannnn


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

I've tried the noisless Kinmans which are basically humbuckers. Supposed to mimick the sound of single coil while being noiseless. They were pretty nice but nothing beats the sound of true single coil for me. Both the guitars I currently own are stock single coil with the exception of a seymour humbucker in the neck position that came stock on my tele.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

I enjoy singlecoils in strats and teles, and buckers in LP's, superstrats, SG's, etc.

I want to spend some quality time with some P90'd guitars as well 

i love the stock pickups in my gibson LP studio


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## hoser (Feb 2, 2006)

screamingdaisy said:


> You left out P90s.....


That'd be my choice.
Followed by SD lil 59er.


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## bobb (Jan 4, 2007)

I'm still an Evans fan for Strats


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## fraser (Feb 24, 2007)

passive single coils for me.
for clarity and definition mainly- i find small riffs, fills and things get lost in the fuller sound of humbuckers.
i like a low output set, alnico 2 or 5, set real low on the pickguard, i like the guitar to produce a clean , realistic sound. then for dirt i use the amp.
my particular favourite depends on whatever guitar im playing, but i like all the ones i own.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

fraser said:


> passive single coils for me.
> for clarity and definition mainly- i find small riffs, fills and things get lost in the fuller sound of humbuckers.
> i like a low output set, alnico 2 or 5, set real low on the pickguard, i like the guitar to produce a clean , realistic sound. then for dirt i use the amp.
> my particular favourite depends on whatever guitar im playing, but i like all the ones i own.


Pretty much the same here, except I only own 1 single-coil guitar and 2 humbucking guitars, but the Strat gets about 70-80% of the attention :smile:


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## DimebagTributer (Aug 12, 2008)

ha i take it not many people are for Actives or EMG's haha...


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

Humbuckers - The Beano Album.


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## zdogma (Mar 21, 2006)

Humbuckers-Jon Moore. http://www.tonefordays.com/

P90-Lollar. http://www.lollarguitars.com/

Tele/strat pickups-Amalfitano. http://mysite.verizon.net/res8n7ad/amalfitanopickups/


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

I prefer EMGs. If I use humbuckers it's the EMG 89 which is switchable from humbucker to single coil.


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## dwagar (Mar 6, 2006)

I prefer Humbuckers with some kind of vintage flavor, around 8 ohms, AL2s and 3s. 

The old Stickered Patent #s in my '74 Custom are killer pickups, in my R9 I run a set of matched (7.8 ohm AL3) Voodoo 59s, nice pups, the '57 Classics I took out of the R9 are good pups.

For single coils, I'm okay with whatever Fender put in my Am Std Strat. 

And for P90s, the only experience I've had is the pups in my '64 ES330, nice P90s. But I'd love to someday get my hands on a 50s set of P90s, I fondly remember the tone my old Special had.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

I've been winding my own for a quarter century now, though I couldn't resist buying a pair of Mighty Mite P90s a couple years ago when Songbird had them on sale. They're okay but I tend to like my own, simply because they're idiosyncratic. I don't necessarily aim for a particular sound. Rather, I wind something "interesting" and then figure out what I can do with it and what it's good for.


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## mikerockstar (Jan 7, 2008)

I love the tones I get from both of my LTD's with active EMG 60/81 sets. My baritone used to have an 85/81 set, but changed the neck EMG 85 to a 60 and love it.

I'd love to try the Seymour Duncan Blackouts. I've heard they are the new actives to have, if you're into that.

Passive Pickups.....research Bare Knuckle "Nailbomb" pickups or Lace "Drop & Gain" pups if you play heavy music. Unreal.


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## Gene Machine (Sep 22, 2007)

*passive baby*

always passive, don't need no batteries.

HB in LP or SG. Low output preferred, Burstbuckers are nice.

single coil in strat and tele. Low ohms, twangy 50's style is my fender preference.

haven't been bit by the P90 bug yet. One of these days I'll end up wth a LP special or SG classic, etc.


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## northern1 (Feb 2, 2006)

Passive pickups always now. I tried the EMG's etc. back in the 90's not required.

Tom Anderson HB's and SC's
Bare Knuckle Steve Stevens Rebel yell
PRS HFS VB, SC245 both, #7 neck


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## bagpipe (Sep 19, 2006)

I like the handwound pickups (especially by Canadian winders :smilie_flagge17 :


Jon Moore(http://tonefordays.com/) humbuckers (PAF wind) in my PRS.
 

Copperhead (http://copperheadpickups.com/) 59 Strat set in my strat.


Van Zandt Vintage Plus in my tele.


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## gtrguy (Jul 6, 2006)

Being a 'strat guy' it's passive single coils for me for the most part. Currently Fender Fat 50's, Fralin Vintage Hot and Real '54s, along with a mutant configuration of Dimarzios in my MIM- Red Velvet (in the neck position!), Blue Velvet in the middle and Pro Track (rail humbucker) in the bridge. An odd combo but does it ever work! Lots of great tones with the Pro Track auto splitting in the bridge/middle position.

I think the Fender 57/62 pickups are also great as long as you don't mind the lack of RW/RP in the middle. Pretty similar to the Fralin Vintage Hots but with a little less output and a little more sparkle... kind of midway between the VH and Real 54 sets.


gtrguy


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## ennisphd (Nov 1, 2008)

*pickup preferences*

Single coils for me in general. Every once in a while I pick up a guitar with humbuckers and am enamoured with it for a few hours, then the novelty wears off. I've got Bill Lawrence Keystones in my tele and Fender Fat 50's in my strat and love 'em both, especially the Fenders. I've also got an Epi Les Paul with a Duncan JB in the bridge and a Van Zandt Trubucker in the neck which are both great, but just don't love buckers as much. 

Ultimately, I think P-90's might end up being my favourite thing. Thicker and grittier than other single coils but not as full sounding as humbuckers.


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## Perkinsfan (Oct 17, 2007)

It depends on the application.
I prefer passive humbuckers most of the time.
The Super Distortions in my Vox sound the best to my ear for most of what I play.
Single coils get the nod when I'm playing any old school country tunes though.The singles in my Tele really make you "pay attention" to keeping any bad habits out of your playing so its more like "work" playing singles.(to me anyway)
Eric


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## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

Passive humbuckers.
I've had several sets of EMG 81/85's and dont see the big deal. I've tried passives that are hotter, if thats what you're going for.
The only nice thing about EMG's, is any guitar you try with EMG's will sound like any other EMG equipped guitar. 
Its kinda like Mcdonalds. Not the greatest, but wherever you are, you know what you're going to get!


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## Guest (Nov 19, 2008)

I could never say just one type. If I had to choose I'd say humbuckers, alnico II magnets. But I also love Teles, it depends on the mood.

I would *love* an ES175 with P90's in it...


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

I am almost sure that Dime "has left the building" as the old saying goes.

Cheers

Dave


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## fraser (Feb 24, 2007)

greco said:


> I am almost sure that Dime "has left the building" as the old saying goes.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Dave


doesnt matter much dave, good thread for a guitar forum. i liked that dimebagtributer guy. i thought he was fekked because he liked dimebag, i mean come on. but i didnt hold his musical taste against him. others drove him off because people enjoy preying on the weak. 
still a worthy thread.


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

fraser said:


> doesnt matter much dave, good thread for a guitar forum. i liked that dimebagtributer guy. i thought he was fekked because he liked dimebag, i mean come on. but i didnt hold his musical taste against him. others drove him off because people enjoy preying on the weak.
> still a worthy thread.


I agree that it is very a worthy thread, especially given the topic. 

I just wanted to indicate the recent posters that they should not expect Dime to respond in this thread (that he started).

I should have been more clear.:food-smiley-004:

Dave


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## Bustard (Dec 26, 2008)

*p/u's*

I have found really great p/u to be the alnico offered by bezdez on ebay the ones w/o the exposed pole peices and only 3/4 of an inch thick. Ive tried them in all positions depending on the DC resistance(they vary) and they are just the cats ass. For cheap too like 12 bucksa or something. Now I aint no salesman for those folks, I dont even know'm, Im just an old luthier trying to make a buck...
I recent;y used one for a custom job I did for a well known cat in LA who just finished a world tour with (I wont mention the little ) band in question.)

Point being: It doesnt matter what p/u you choose, every instrument is different. Why not buy the cheapos and let the musicians figure it out.

I do have a partiality towards duncans the YJM series they are a superb high resistance low output design that really makes the grade for anything. Very pure tone. Evans are okay for blues but do have a distinct tone which makes them so, extremely hard to vary the amps tone with out leaving some remenants of that signiture sound. Personally for versatility I wouldnt use them, unless electric blues especially the hard 80's stuff is your bag.

ΞšΟΟΞΉΞΏ


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## canadian tyler (Jul 7, 2009)

*passive aggressive*

I prefer passive pick-ups but I have a deep love for both single coil and humbuckers. Other than that I just like what I like, and thats all that I like.


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## smorgdonkey (Jun 23, 2008)

I like any pickup that is good! 

Singles and humbuckers...about 4 or 5 brands consistently make my favourites list.

Fralin is probably my top choice all of the time.


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## keefsdad (Feb 7, 2006)

Stock pups in my AMST '99 Strat, and my '78 Gibson The Paul. I think about changing them, but I'm not unhappy with the sounds I'm getting, and I don't have the bucks either so....


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

Filtertrons.


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## zjq426 (Aug 23, 2009)

passive humbucker Duncan
Play metal mainly but still want a kinda warm/rich tone. Not for active EMG for they are too cold.
I tried the blackout active pickups a bit but didnt like them.


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## EchoWD40 (Mar 16, 2007)

MJS custom wound humbucker's for me.


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## buddroyce (Feb 12, 2008)

Totally depends on what I'm going after. Passives are always preferred over the actives in my guitars. For detuned stuff where I want a thicker "kick in the chest" tone, I like the Lundgren M6. For more aggressive (ie. tighter bottom end with more aggressive mids), I like the Bare Knuckle Painkiller and Miracle Man pickups as well as the Caparison PH-R. For everything else, it's DiMarzio's.

My goto set is the DiMarzio Air Norton and Tone Zone combo which is by far the most versatile set of pickups I've found, from blues to smooth jazz and from hard rock to metal, it does it all. Never been a huge fan of Duncan's too much though. I used to quite like the Duncan JB until I found the DiMarzio Norton which is like the JB but without the annoying "honk" that the JB has.


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## Drazden (Oct 26, 2007)

For me, it's all about passives--I find actives are much too compressed and... 'present' is the only word I can think of to describe them. Everything's on the surface. There's no depth to the notes.

Humbuckers / single coils are difficult to pick between, though, but I love a 4-conductor humbucker with a series / parallel switch. I think that's an incredibly versatile mod to add to any guitar.


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## tojoe (Apr 5, 2009)

passive and not to hot unless the guitar is a boat, then I think hotter pu's will push out some high end...


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## lofasz (Sep 19, 2009)

K and K pure western for acoustics.....not a UST therefore no interference or sound alteration....


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## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

Passive. Tried EMG 81/85's in 2 different guitars. Nothing special at all. IMO some stock Gibson pickups like the 498/500's are meaner sounding although still not great.

I have yet to find a hotter and better sounding pickup that the Lado Shadow I got in '88. Wish I could find some more.

My second fave would be a SD JB/Jazz combo. Nice all around pickup, can do anything well.

I'm messing with some Suhr Aldrich's in my LP right now. Not bad. Surprisingly I'm digging the neck pickup much more than the bridge, which is a little dark for my tastes.

For nice crunchy rhythm in a big mahogany guitar, I dont think the Gibson Dirty Fingers gets enough praise.

I'd take any of those before EMG's.


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## julienpier (Aug 7, 2009)

I seriously know nothing about pickups.
I know I've got Dragster humbucking Pickups on my Jaguar... and some dual-coil pickups on my Gretsch.

Probably a pair of Lipstick and a single coil pickup on my jB hand made Square guitar... still in reflection.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

I like passive buckers, and I'm a duncan guy. That said, I will have J S Moore's in my 6-string and I think they'll work out phenomenally - as for production though, a '59 or Jazz in the neck and a good moderate high output bucker in the bridge of a singlecut and I'm set.


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## Andy (Sep 23, 2007)

Passive humbuckers are where it's at for me. I have an Alnico 2 Pro neck and 59 bridge in my SG, which are fantastic. I find that using lower output pickups with a boost before the amp if needed gives me better clarity than overwound pickups.


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## warse22 (Dec 2, 2008)

I love singles, but lately I've been really wanting a P90 or humbucker equipped. 

I would have to say my favorite pickups would be the Anderson TV series in my Tele...awesome pickups.


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## rockgarden (Oct 29, 2007)

I abstain from voting. I decided that "humbucker + single-coil + Seymour-Duncan + other brands" would simply not add anything of value to the poll results.

The truth is, I have several different pickup configurations in guitars, from Seymour Duncan humbucking models to branded and unnamed single-coil pickups. I find that pickup positioning is at least as important as the design, though. For example, I much prefer a single-coil pickup where the 24th fret would be to get what I hear as the true sound of the guitar. However, when playing with large amounts of gain, the benefit of a humbucker in terms of noise reduction far outweighs the tonal difference (assuming a good humbucking pickup, of course), and for that matter, it could be argued that the tone difference is stylistically appropriate for high-gain sounds, anyway.

For bridge pickups, I tend to prefer both single-coils and humbuckers pretty equally. Sometimes I find the humbuckers tend to have an almost compressed sound (with no external compression applied, that is), compared to single-coils. Whether I prefer that usually depends on mood.



screamingdaisy said:


> You left out P90s.....


Arguably, those are single-coil pickups, but we do differentiate them from the narrower single-coil pickups. I agree it should have been a separate selection.


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## Wired (Jul 21, 2009)

Always passive for me!

My ultimate fav, and my main stay for pickups is, and has been since I first started changing out pups, are Gibsons.

Gibson ES-335: Gibson Burstbucker II Pro / Gibson 500T
Gibson Les Paul: Gibson Burstbucker II Pro / Gibson Burstbucker II Pro
Gretsch Firejet: TV Jones Powertron / TV Jones Powertron
Epi ES-335: Gibson Bustbucker I / Gibson 500T
Tokai Tele: FCS Twisted Tele / Antiquity 


However, I do wanna change out the bridge pickup on my Tele for something with more gain, but similar tone.


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## gtone (Nov 1, 2009)

Me likey da humbucking side of the universe. Far from trying 'em all yet (Burstbuckers & Seth Lovers still on my "hitlist"), but some of my personal faves over the years have been Duncan '59's and JB's, DiMarzio Super Distortions, Gibson PAF's - different tastes for different styles of course. Special place in my heart for the Duncan Pearly Gates - yowza!!!

Single coils can still give me wood - good P90's and DeArmonds, in particular. I'm not a Fender kinda guy, but I had a Tele for 20+ yrs with a Lace Sensor Blue in the neck for the last half of it's life which was particularly tasty.


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## warplanegrey (Jan 3, 2007)

I'm a big fan of passive humbuckers. I've tried EMG's and thought they sounded terrible. I've recently put an Anderson H3 in my SG....and holy cow, she sounds amazing.


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## Stickman (Oct 27, 2009)

TV Jones Classics are killer. Chimey humbuckers that break up really nicely.

GFS Mean 90s are probably their best pickups. Aggressive P90's in a humbucker size. Really no good clean, but they kill with a bit of crunch on the amp.


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## boilerboy (Dec 1, 2009)

I really like my Carvin p/u's. The Carvin Classics really do something for the mix when recording. Well, that is my take and I am always wrong, just ask my wife...........


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## MattKnight (Nov 27, 2009)

*Good question...*

For Humbuckers I really like the Seymour Duncan Jazz / JB combo. I tried active but found they were really not for me.

Honourable mention to Gibson Classic 57's.

For single coil I have a set of Suhr FL's (Fletcher-Landau) in my strat and have a hard time putting that guitar down. For me, they are perfect. 

Honourable mention to Seymour Duncan SSL-1


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## kw_guitarguy (Apr 29, 2008)

Don't like hums at all...so it's all single coils for me.

The Tele EMG's I have are quite nice....haven't played too many others, but I just love the silence of them!!

~Andrew


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## Abrasive (Feb 1, 2008)

Mostly humbuckers, but I'm getting more and more into single coils.
I have SD Alnico II in my LP that I love.
I recently got finished putting together a Jackson V with a Duncan Custom Custom/Jazz combo with push/pulls for coil splits and series/parallel. Used a 330pf silver mica cap for a volume treble bleed. Crazy versatile.

I've tried the GFS '59 bridge. Nice sounding pickups. Would probably make a better neck than bridge. I have a set of GFS vintage staggered pickups in my Squier strat. Fantastic pickups. Unbelievable how much of a difference it made.


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## ajcoholic (Feb 5, 2006)

I would have to say I am a humbucker guy. Trying many brands over the years, I would say my favourites have had to be the SD 59' & JB, Fralins, EMG 85 model (didnt like the 81 at all), and I am really liking the pickups I have gotten custom wound by Bryan Gunsher of BG Custom Pickups in California . I have a number of Bryans pups and they are all excellent.
I have two guitars with Ibanez super 58s which have a great sound. The Diarzio 36th anniversary PAF's I have in my homemade LP are very very nice.

I have three guitars with TV Jone's pickups, they sound great as well.

In terms of single coils, I have had Fralin Tele and Strat pickups that sounded great. BG custom Tele's in two of my guuitars which are my fave Tele pickups. And the EMG Tele set I had in a few guitars were also very good.

I havent had too many dissapointing pickups actually - the only ones I would say that didnt suit me were a few sets of Rio Grande's (p90's - too hot for me) and a few off brand sets of humbuckers I tried out.

There are a lot of pickups tp choose from, thast for sure!

AJC


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## Cort Strummer (Feb 16, 2009)

I use Passive DiMarzio pickups but I do want to Try the EMG-X series at 18v.


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## Hypno Toad (Aug 1, 2009)

I like to put both singles and humbuckers into my stuff.

I think humbuckers are more a lead sort of thing, and singles are good for rythm. Then again singles can be used for lead aswell, but humbuckers just have that fat driving tone. IMO the middle position of a guitar is always fairly bland (not really needed), so either a humbucker in the neck or bridge, and a single on the opposite end. so either HS or SH


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## Cdn_Cracker (Oct 7, 2006)

I've got Lollar's in my McInturff (P-90s) and Lollar Imperials in my Larrivee RS-4. I have a stock PRS McCarty and the Imperials blow them out of the water!!!

All my other stuff is stock and works well.. but I had to speak up for Lollar. The guy is also awesome to talk to and a modern legend in hand-made pickups!


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## Crunchie (Feb 24, 2009)

Choice is passive single coils because they are very articulate and always have that "little click" right before you pick a note. I use no brand in particular as long as they are hand scatter wound.


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## thecarpenter (Feb 14, 2009)

*Like em both*

I put a Bare Knuckle Stormy Monday Humbucker in the neck and a Black Guard scatter wound Single in the bridge of my G&L asat and now I can't put the thing down.

c


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## copperhead (May 24, 2006)

it depends what your doing ..srv,blues ,country....grab the strat with single coils alnico 5 ,alnico 2 singlecoils both are nice .for hard rock ,classic rock & metal i like the sound of humbuckers in the bridge position :rockon2:


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

I prefer passive pickups. The only active ones I have are the Acousticaster undersaddle pickup and I suppose all the K&K pickups in my acoustics when I use a preamp. On electric guitars and basses though it's passive exclusively.

Mostly singlecoils like in the Strat, Telecaster (Aerodyne with a P-90 at the neck), Godin Belmont (2 lipsticks but a 'bucker at the bridge), even the Godin LG with 2 humbuckers has coiltaps I use a lot. The Epiphone Emperor has a Bartolini neck mounted humbucker, but I rarely get this guitar out. I'm a little low on electrics at the moment as I'm reconfiguring the collection a little to reflect the reality of my needs, and to concentrate on Canadian made instruments.

The only active instruments I've played lately and thoroughly enjoyed are the Godin Progression and Passion, and they give you a choice. Stellar axes in my opinion. Most active humbucker equipped guitars sound choked to me, though I get what folks use them for, it's just not my sound.

As for brands, I love Seymour Duncans and Lollars. The Duncans in the Belmont are superb. I don't know who made the Godin LG pickups but they're very good.

Peace, Mooh.


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## Phlegethon (Dec 18, 2009)

seeing as I don't think I commented on this I'm going to offer my opinion in this whole affair. 

hands down, I prefer humbuckers (but they need to be four conductor to allow for series/parallel/coil split options), and I also have a preference for actives. while this does add a disadvantage as your guitar would need batteries at some point the advantages that it offers (extreme noise reduction, increased harmonic content and sustain, superior string to string response, use of bar magnets in most cases which eliminates string dropouts, lower impedance signal) are numerous and significant enough to warrant their use. single coils seem to benefit the most if they're active though, as it kills the 60 Hz issues that come with passive single coils.

while other pickups certainly have their fans and their place in the music world I'll leave the ones that I don't care about for other people to play, they would be able to appreciate them more (and use them to a better degree than I would be able to. haven't touched anything that doesn't have humbuckers in 10 years)


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## Hypno Toad (Aug 1, 2009)

Wouldn't mind getting one of these Langcaster pickup systems at some point. For 300 dollars and seems quite expensive, but those are some high tech, great sounding pickups. Uses an active built in overdrive system.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSbaDPNvSvU


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## powrshftr (Sep 8, 2006)

The Duncans in my Strat are very nice,thick sounding pickups...they really seem to accentuate the natural qualities of all that maple and alder and don't mask the natural tone...
The stock P-90's in my R6 are an absolute work of art...tough as nails,but without losing the "sound of the wood"....know what I mean...?They really rip and snort,but they accentuate the natural tone of the guitar,rather than try to mask it.


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## picky pete (Aug 20, 2010)

Part of my collection includes 3 Gibsons & 3 Fenders. I find Dual-Coil Humbuckers are great for that muddy "crunch" sound for a 3 or 4 piece Blues Band or for Hard Rock. You will find that most R&B/Funk/Soul Band players are using Fenders as that cleaner Single-Coil sound will cut through a Horn section & Keyboards in a bigger band.


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## blacktooth (Jul 3, 2010)

I mainly use humbuckers, I like my Bill Lawrences a lot, l-500Xl's, and I have dean neck pickup that is apparently hand wound that sounds awesome. I have a set of EMG's, and I do like them, but don't know if I'd buy another set. The active's in my80's Charvel sound better to me. 
Duncan Distortion sounds good ina basswood body guitar I own, one of my favorites, but I tried it out in a mahogany guitar and it didn't do the trick for me. 
I have a set of GFS crunchy PAF's, and they are really good, especially for the price, I also have the power rails which isn't terrible. 
Next set I get I am THINKING will be J S Moore's, probably a Jekyl and Hyde set. I'd like to try some non-mass-produced pups, and support my fellow Canadians.


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## codfather (Sep 23, 2010)

I build Cigarbox Guitars and other instruments from that era, and use single coil and salvaged Piezo's in my builds. Mostly out of necessity and the fact that they can be had for nothing or next to nothing. The Piezo's are the poorman's choice and are very versitile. Being that they react to body and neck vibration as opposed to magnetic disruption, they can be used with non metalic strings as well as steel. They don't respond quite as nice as mag/pups at the bottom end but their top ends are really bright and crisp. They don't like feedback much or too much gain but for CBG's they fit the bill to a tee! You can also get some great percussion effects happening at the same time.


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## AJ6stringsting (Mar 12, 2006)

boilerboy said:


> I really like my Carvin p/u's. The Carvin Classics really do something for the mix when recording. Well, that is my take and I am always wrong, just ask my wife...........


I recently installed a Dragon Fire Rail (12.41k ohms), a Guitar Fedish "Lil" Killers (15.28k ohms) and Carvin M22SD. The M22SD is a mean scorcher, like a Dimarzio Evolution with more headroom and high end , the GFS "Lil" Killers is like a cross between a Dimarzio Fast Track 2 (but with more treble-upper mids) and the DF Rail is like a mix of a Bill Lawrence L-250, Dimarzio Chopper and YJM. GFS and Dragon Fire make awesome pick ups for the buck.
Here my list of Faves:
Dimarzio : Evolution (N,B), X2N, Fast Track 2, Fast Track 1,YJM, The Chopper, Steve's Special, Fred, Tone Zone, The Breed, FS-1, Blue and Red Velvets.
S.Duncan : Screamin' Demon, Hot Rail, Dime Bucker, SH-6, JB Humbuckers, Pearly Gates.
Carvin : AP-11, M22SD, M22V, M22T, TBH60, C22T, C22B, H22N, H22T.
Dragon Fire ragon Screamers, X2N type set, Gold Buckers, Gold Screamers, Rails, their active set (blows EMG out of the water), Texas Blues set.
Bill Lawrence : XL-500, L-250, L-500.
Schaller : S-6, their active Pick ups.
GFS : "Lil" Killers, Fat Pats, Power Rails, Boston Blues.


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## keefsdad (Feb 7, 2006)

All stock in my 99 AMSTD Strat, the only electric I have left, I wouldn't mind trying something else in the bridge, other than that, it sounds like a Strat, and I haven't been blown away with the improvement when I've tried pup changes in other guitars I've owned.


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## riff (Oct 10, 2010)

Love Single Coils ..and love P90's....


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

1) Humbuckers are the best overall pickups as they seem to be the quietest and have the best overall range.
2) Single coils are the choice for tele and strat type guitars
3) P90's seem to be gaining ground in popularity


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## Buzz (May 15, 2008)

My new favorite is a vintage Ibanez Super 70 humbucker, made with rare alnico 8 magnets. The cleans are crisp and full, and it overdrives very nicely. With the neck pickup I can get some smokey tones. I read some jazz guys like these older pickups also EVH. I just found an old pair for $50...I was so happy! Also they dont have the full nickel covers, the screws are showing so even more clarity. Now I have to decide which guitar to put them in. I'm not sure how to wire them, they have a single wire with mesh covered ground.


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## Morkolo (Dec 9, 2010)

I chose all of them because at any given time either kind could be the sound I'm looking for.


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## copperhead (May 24, 2006)

Tele's,strat,buckers,P-90 's - i enjoy them all why choose one ?


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## ThePass (Aug 10, 2007)

Great thread! I love pup talk.

I had Lace Sensor's in my 93 Strat (came stock with Red/Silver/Blue) 

Changed them to a set of Lace Sensor Hot Golds ~ GREAT pup's IMHO, some like Lace, some don't. Variety is the spice of life I guess.

But recently I was gassin' for a more "traditional" look to my Strat, I was happy with the sound, but never in it's 18 years (YIKES!) have I seen it with pole pieces.

So, out came the HG's and in a pair of DiMarzio's True Velvets in the neck and middle, and a DiMarzio FS-1 in the bridge.

I will NOT complain, lol.......great sound for my style.


My Les Paul is loaded with Burstbucker's and I will never feel the need to change them. Well, not now anyway


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## Steve Adams (Dec 31, 2009)

I dont have a preference, well, yeah i do. but I will and do own both singles and buckers. also have p90s which are a boon to play too. love em all for different reasons.


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## Samsquantch (Mar 5, 2009)

Single coils for me. The Lollar Dirty Blackface set or Suhr V60LP's are my favourites so far.


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## AJ6stringsting (Mar 12, 2006)

Seems like a lot of new Pick up companies are coming out and putting the big- established pick up makers on edge, which is better for the consumer. I would compare this to the time when Kramer, Jackson, Charvel, Ibanez and Hammer put the shivers in to Gibson and Fender in the early 1980's ( 1980- 1985). Gibson and Fenders quality and options went up due to the other up start companies raising the bar and offering more for less. Funny, Gibson owns Kramer ( since the quality .... went down ) and Fender owns Jackson (quality is the same) .... that says a lot


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## Loudguitars.com (Jan 29, 2011)

I would say my primary pick up of choice is a P-90 in the Duncan flavor SP-90-3, next would be the Duncan JB and Jazz and Alnico II, some of my guitars have Dimarzio's Air Norton, Fred and Evolutions, in Single coils medium wound Alnico's. I have recently tried some of the GFS PAF's and they are really impressive.

My Gibsons all have 490's and PAF's which really sing!!!


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## loren9050 (Apr 28, 2011)

I have many guitars, some with humbuckers and some with single coils (all passive) and variety of makes. Tom Anderson pickups are great, singles and humbuckers, so are Melancon singles, Gibson humbuckers in my Johnny A sound great too (better than my Les Paul) and Carvin humbuckers. . Love 'em all depending on what I'm playing and how I'm set up. 

Newest guitar (Warrior Isabella) has P90, single, P90 arrangement (Fralins) and I get a great sound mixing the P90 with the single coil, plus the single coil alone sounds more like a Strat than my Strat does. 

Also very interested in the new Duncan P-rail pickups, anyone out there tried them?


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## ampaholic (Sep 19, 2006)

Slider's Strat pickups out of Australia are nothing short of unfreakingbelievable.


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## Harvester1199 (Apr 4, 2011)

for me its always been active emg's 81 in bridge and 60 or 85 in the neck @ 18 volts

im really lookign forward ot the new hetfiled signature pickups, especially if they do what james they do


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## jmarquis (Jan 15, 2011)

I fell in love with Motor city Black belt 2nd degree. Just great Boutique burstbuckers with a little extra mojo.


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## Buzz (May 15, 2008)

My favorite pickup at the moment is the vintage Ibanez super 70 humbucker which uses alnico 8 magnets. I found another pair which were open and wired it in another guitar and they didnt sound as warm and sweet as in my old Ibanez Artist. The guitar does play a big role in what the pickups sound like.

I also like 80's Fender/Squier Japanese ceramic single coils. Nice and chimey, not as harsh as other alnico pickups.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Recently bought a Jaguar pickup, minus the coil, from a guy and wound it to somewhere around 6.8k or so, sticking it in the bridge position on a frankenstein fixed-bridge guitar. Very nice. I quite lick what the "claw" does for the tone. Gives it a little more meat and bite.

I recommend experimenting with one for a Strat bridge. Unfortunately, the claw takes up a little more room so the pickguard will have to be cut out a little more. But well worth it.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

I'm now in the process of going through all the guitars I intend to use in a band I'm putting together. Most have EMGs but two have passives. The EMGs really sound better to me both clean and dirty.

It comes down to personal taste really.

This Jackson, I built from Ebay parts from various sellers. It has 89 ~ SA ~ 89 with taps on the 89s. It was a workhorse for me in my last band and based on the way it feels today after a restringing and clean up, it will continue to be so.









I also went over this one. It's Greco Zemaitis with Fender Lace Sensors of some sort. They're nice but I suspect I'll ultimately throw a set of David Gilmour Strat EMGs in her.









This one is next. It's an American Masters V. It has passives and I think I'll likely leave them on. They sound smooth and besides, I like the look of the gold covers.


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## OsainteveO (Aug 16, 2011)

I like single coils the best (especially Tele's). 
I don't like humbuckers over 10K resistance. When their too powerful, I find I loose the 'woodyness' and openess to the sound - even if I'm using lots of distortion.


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## screamingdaisy (Oct 14, 2008)

My "Metal" guitars have EMGs in them (Explorer = EMG 60/81, Les Paul = EMG 85/81)

My "Rock" guitars have PAF style humbuckers in them (SG = Gibson 57 Classics, Les Paul = Lollar Imperials)

My "Mojo" guitar has P90s (Les Paul w/ Gibson P90s)


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

It's been a couple years and a few guitars since I've posted here. Currently I'm rolling with a lot of custom stuff from JS Moore, and some other choice pickups as alternatives.

Les Pauls - one has a set of 80's Seymour Duncan AlNiCo 2's in it that sounds fantastic. The other has a set of JS Moore Ultimate Rock Set, with push/pull installed for switching the coils from series to parallel for some tonal variety. My Jr. has a JS Moore overwound P90 in it and it's a killer.

Teles - my Tele Custom has a Lollar Regal in it (fantastic pickup!) and a Seymour Duncan BG-1400 in the bridge that is set-up to switch the coil from series to parallel again (I love doing this), my CV Tele is set for 5 string open G and has a set of 50's blackguard style pickups in it from Vineham Pickups (copperhead here on GC) which sound fantastic (esp in the middle position).

I guess I prefer humbucking pickups these days (though I voted single coil back in the day). They give me the ability to play without noise and with some clever wiring, you can eek out some convincing single-coily goodness from them. Though my P90 Jr. and the singles in my CV both sound fantastic and certainly have their space in terms of character sounds.


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## Guest (Aug 18, 2011)

I am currently running a set of Bare Knuckle blue note P90's. Not the cheapest choice out there but they are nice.

Bare Knuckle Pickups, UK - Hand Wound Guitar and Bass Pickups


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

so far the pups i like best are the bustbuckers


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## Scottone (Feb 10, 2006)

I use guitars with humbuckers, Fender style single coils, and P90's and like them all. If I had to get by with one guitar, my preference would be a LP type with PAF style humbuckers.


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## blam (Feb 18, 2011)

this has probably been brought up, but the list of choices is rather redundant

having said that, I am a humbucker guy.

i run burstbuckers in my Dot, although I'm not overly thrilled with them.
one of my les pauls has SD alnico II pros which I am happy with.
another les paul has P90s which I love
and my tele has single coils which have their own style.

if i could have only one guitar, it'd be PAF style humbuckers with P90s following very close behind.


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## stratman89 (Oct 13, 2008)

I voted single coil although I use Humbuckers a lot as well for the Classic Rock band I'm in.


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