Anyone know about upgrading guitar pick-ups?
Discussion
Having two pickups fitted out of phase (note, not the same as having an out of phase available through a switch) you end up with one pickup significantly quieter than the other, you could even it out with a volume pedal but that would get tiresome clicking it on and off every time you switch pickup mid-song. Definitely rubbish.
Pickups are output-matched in pairs for a reason.
Pickups are output-matched in pairs for a reason.
I have to say as has already been mentioned, pickup choice is pretty subjective. I play mainly extreme metal stuff yet I hate EMGs with a passion however most people who play that style seem to swear by them. I always find that Seymour Duncan is my 'go to' brand, even the Duncan Design (Korean mass produced versions) are a cut above standard manufacturers pickups. For example a mate brought an ESP LTD Viper 50 off eBay, it wasn't a bad guitar but the stock ESP pups lacked bite and sustain. We then found a set of Duncan Designed Distortion equivalents on eBay that had been ripped out of another guitar. Once fitted the difference was tangible.
Also agree on mismatched pickups, I got an almost identical Viper to my friends one, again for a song off eBay, this particular guitar had already been modded with a Seymour Duncan Dimebucker in the bridge, it still has the standard ESP pup in the neck and trying to get a decent setup in terms of pickup height to balance the two pups has been a nightmare, mainly due to the Dimebucker's particularly high output. I have what I would call an acceptable balance at the moment but some time in the future I will be looking for a Seymour Duncan Jazz or 59 for the neck to get a completely balanced sound.
With regards to the OP's query though, for the type of stuff you are playing something like a Seymour Duncan JB in the bridge with the corresponding SCs in the middle and neck positions would sound great for the styles you have mentioned. Seymour Duncan now have a snazzy new website with all kinds of resources regarding pickup selection and wiring, so that might be worth a gander.
Also agree on mismatched pickups, I got an almost identical Viper to my friends one, again for a song off eBay, this particular guitar had already been modded with a Seymour Duncan Dimebucker in the bridge, it still has the standard ESP pup in the neck and trying to get a decent setup in terms of pickup height to balance the two pups has been a nightmare, mainly due to the Dimebucker's particularly high output. I have what I would call an acceptable balance at the moment but some time in the future I will be looking for a Seymour Duncan Jazz or 59 for the neck to get a completely balanced sound.
With regards to the OP's query though, for the type of stuff you are playing something like a Seymour Duncan JB in the bridge with the corresponding SCs in the middle and neck positions would sound great for the styles you have mentioned. Seymour Duncan now have a snazzy new website with all kinds of resources regarding pickup selection and wiring, so that might be worth a gander.
gazza285 said:
davepoth said:
singlecoil said:
Re the polarity, they want to make sure that when you use their pickup in combination with your existing one, that the two aren't out of phase.
Which would make things quieter. Rubbish. 
If you want to change the sound of a humbucker, rather than simply shut off one coil (which strictly speaking is called a 'coil split', NOT a 'coil tap') it's better to keep both coils on and change their wiring from series to parallel. It drops the impedance more, thus makes more of a difference - and is still humbucking.
You can in fact get the best of both worlds by using a 3-position DPDT 'on-on-on' switch, this will get you series coils/parallel coils/coil split on the one switch.
You can in fact get the best of both worlds by using a 3-position DPDT 'on-on-on' switch, this will get you series coils/parallel coils/coil split on the one switch.
Mastodon2 said:
Having two pickups fitted out of phase (note, not the same as having an out of phase available through a switch) you end up with one pickup significantly quieter than the other, you could even it out with a volume pedal but that would get tiresome clicking it on and off every time you switch pickup mid-song. Definitely rubbish.
Pickups are output-matched in pairs for a reason.
Never seemed to do Peter Green's tone much harm.Pickups are output-matched in pairs for a reason.
"Out of phase" is a much misused expression. I've even seen it written in guitar magazines that the 2nd and 4th positions on a Strat 5way switch are out of phase, when they are not.
When two pickups are genuinely out of phase it means that when a string moves across both pickups, one will produced a positive signal and the other a negative. They will tend to cancel each other out, except for some of the higher frequencies produced by the string vibrating between nodes along its length.
In some cases depending on how far apart the pickups are, the harmonics of the string will be moving in one direction over one pickup and the other direction over the other pickup.
The net result is that the output from two out of phase pickups when used together will lack bottom end (the fundamental) and will sound thin and weedy.
It's easy to test pickups for phase before connecting them, if you have a meter with a moving needle. Connect the meter probes across the output put the meter on a sensitive DC voltage setting, place a piece of magnetic material such as an Allen key on the pickup magnets, then pull it away sharply. The needle will move, note the direction.
Then perform the same test on the other pickup. If the needle moves the other way then one of the pickups will need to have its leads reversed to correct the phasing.
When two pickups are genuinely out of phase it means that when a string moves across both pickups, one will produced a positive signal and the other a negative. They will tend to cancel each other out, except for some of the higher frequencies produced by the string vibrating between nodes along its length.
In some cases depending on how far apart the pickups are, the harmonics of the string will be moving in one direction over one pickup and the other direction over the other pickup.
The net result is that the output from two out of phase pickups when used together will lack bottom end (the fundamental) and will sound thin and weedy.
It's easy to test pickups for phase before connecting them, if you have a meter with a moving needle. Connect the meter probes across the output put the meter on a sensitive DC voltage setting, place a piece of magnetic material such as an Allen key on the pickup magnets, then pull it away sharply. The needle will move, note the direction.
Then perform the same test on the other pickup. If the needle moves the other way then one of the pickups will need to have its leads reversed to correct the phasing.
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