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xxmartinxx « A good all around humbucker »
Published on 10/10/11 at 11:28This has been my go-to pickup for when I don't really have a particular sound I'm going for, for probably a decade now. What makes it so great? Really? Nothing. It's really not that great. It does no one thing exceptionally well except it does everything reasonably well. The clean tone is decent, the mid gain tone is pretty good and it even does higher gain stuff fairly well. When looking at a humbucker, that's kind of hard to find.
One of the other benefits of this pickup is that it is not at all hard to find. You can probably go into any guitar shop in America and they will probably have one of these in stock. The price is also reasonable. That is a huge plus over the internet shops and custom makers sometimes outrageous delivery times.
What this pickup does not have is character. It's very vanilla and plain sounding. That's not necessarily a bad thing. If you want the sound if your Les Paul or other humbucker equipped guitar to come through, this is a pretty cheap and easy way to get there. If you're looking for a signature sound, try any number of the higher end pickup makers. There is a bunch of really great stuff out there.
But just because it sounds vanilla and plain doesn't mean it sounds bad. It sounds pretty dang good and depending on the guitar and amp, it can sound pretty great. There just are not any offensive frequencies to be found. It's somewhat mid rangy and not very high output, but if you're looking at PAF style humbuckers you probably already realize that. As with all pickups, you should experiment with pickup height to find what sounds best.
I have tried other pickups from companies like WCR, Voodoo, etc and even higher end Seymour Duncans. As amazing as a lot of them are, this pickup can hold its own against them. In fact, it just might beat some of them. Not too bad for a pickup in this price rage.
One of the other benefits of this pickup is that it is not at all hard to find. You can probably go into any guitar shop in America and they will probably have one of these in stock. The price is also reasonable. That is a huge plus over the internet shops and custom makers sometimes outrageous delivery times.
What this pickup does not have is character. It's very vanilla and plain sounding. That's not necessarily a bad thing. If you want the sound if your Les Paul or other humbucker equipped guitar to come through, this is a pretty cheap and easy way to get there. If you're looking for a signature sound, try any number of the higher end pickup makers. There is a bunch of really great stuff out there.
But just because it sounds vanilla and plain doesn't mean it sounds bad. It sounds pretty dang good and depending on the guitar and amp, it can sound pretty great. There just are not any offensive frequencies to be found. It's somewhat mid rangy and not very high output, but if you're looking at PAF style humbuckers you probably already realize that. As with all pickups, you should experiment with pickup height to find what sounds best.
I have tried other pickups from companies like WCR, Voodoo, etc and even higher end Seymour Duncans. As amazing as a lot of them are, this pickup can hold its own against them. In fact, it just might beat some of them. Not too bad for a pickup in this price rage.