Well that sucks

PunkKitty

PunkKitty

Horny bag of electric meat
I just installed a new set of pickups from a boutique winder that people on TGP seem to like only to find out that I don't like them.

I guess I can resell them.
 
bsman said:
Stay away from TGP...
Click to expand...

IMO, that's not the answer. TGP is now the premiere guitar forum. There's a lot of weight in those discussions and it's an interesting slice of the guitar buying public.

As for the pickups, well, that sucks. It's so difficult to figure out what's going to fit exactly. All of my pickups come from Dimarzio or Duncan, but that doesn't work for everyone. Hope PK finds something that works.
 
The thing is that pickups that sound bad in one guitar can sound fantastic in another. There's no way to tell upfront. I'll put something else in there tomorrow.
 
Let me ask a question here. I know that many people playing electric guitar have a bevy of devices between the guitar and amp for synthesizing the signal this way or that, selectively, but is there any device out there capable of taking a clean signal and modifying its tone? Or, is that a taboo thing with full tonal expectation placed solely on the guitar's output?

With acoustics the ultimate goal is to replicate the pristine sound of the guitar alone so lots of effort goes into pick-up R&D in an attempt to capture it. Nothing does that to-date, though, so microphones are always used by demanding players.
 
Yeah, that does suck. Luckily, pickups are pretty easy to flip, or wire into a different guitar. I'm an oddball in the guitar world, in that I have 25 guitars and only two of them have an aftermarket pickup, and in both of those it is a bridge single to humbucker swap. :messedup: I often wonder if I am missing something by not swapping more pickups, but I just kind of live with the sounds I get. I suppose not playing live anymore has a lot to do with my lack of tweaking stuff.
 
Pitar said:
Let me ask a question here. I know that many people playing electric guitar have a bevy of devices between the guitar and amp for synthesizing the signal this way or that, selectively, but is there any device out there capable of taking a clean signal and modifying its tone? Or, is that a taboo thing with full tonal expectation placed solely on the guitar's output?

With acoustics the ultimate goal is to replicate the pristine sound of the guitar alone so lots of effort goes into pick-up R&D in an attempt to capture it. Nothing does that to-date, though, so microphones are always used by demanding players.
Click to expand...

IMO, the clean sound doesn't happen until it gets to the amplifier and is spit out by the speakers. Clean is the absence of as many modulating devices as possible. The guitar will have a range of tones available in it's pickup combinations and onboard controls. But you can't judge an instrument solely based on it's clean sound through one amplifier. Because all amps will impart their own range of tones on top of what the instrument offers. This is why there's so much variety out there. There's no one right answer for everyone.
 
Okay, then the thread starter about not liking the sound of a set of pick-ups means that PK can't manipulate them to an acceptable level because he doesn't have the skills or the equipment or both. Assuming skills are present, that leaves the equipment in question. This loops me back to my original question about there being a tone-synthesizing device available to tweak output.

Fishman and other makers have created acoustic magnetic sound hole pick-ups that are pre-programmed to sound like an acoustic guitar. If their packages were modified to fit an electric guitar the output would sound like an acoustic. Likewise if fitted to a cinder block with strings. Their adware doesn't exactly come right out and say that they're all acoustic emulators but that's what they are. The buying public comes to forums shilling their "true" acoustic qualities as a result of the vague adware. My point is because the pre-programmed (fixed-output) mag pups are on the market, the idea of a controllable tone patch for electrics isn't rocket surgery, or at least I'd think there was something available already for making pick-ups give acceptable (subjective tweakage) tone without the nutty experimentation of changing them "in search of".
 
Pitar said:
Okay, then the thread starter about not liking the sound of a set of pick-ups means that PK can't manipulate them to an acceptable level because he doesn't have the skills or the equipment or both. Assuming skills are present, that leaves the equipment in question. This loops me back to my original question about there being a tone-synthesizing device available to tweak output.
Click to expand...
I can assure you that I know how to manipulate pickups to get a good sound out of them. But sometimes pickups just don't match guitars or playing styles. That doesn't mean that they are bad pickups. I just means that I don't like them in this configuration. I have extensive experience wiring guitars and swapping pickups.

Also, I'm a woman.
 
Pitar said:
Okay, then the thread starter about not liking the sound of a set of pick-ups means that PK can't manipulate them to an acceptable level because he doesn't have the skills or the equipment or both. Assuming skills are present, that leaves the equipment in question. This loops me back to my original question about there being a tone-synthesizing device available to tweak output.
Click to expand...

not really. my statement was "could". there's no hard and fast rule here.

Fishman and other makers have created acoustic magnetic sound hole pick-ups that are pre-programmed to sound like an acoustic guitar. If their packages were modified to fit an electric guitar the output would sound like an acoustic. Likewise if fitted to a cinder block with strings. Their adware doesn't exactly come right out and say that they're all acoustic emulators but that's what they are. The buying public comes to forums shilling their "true" acoustic qualities as a result of the vague adware. My point is because the pre-programmed (fixed-output) mag pups are on the market, the idea of a controllable tone patch for electrics isn't rocket surgery, or at least I'd think there was something available already for making pick-ups give acceptable (subjective tweakage) tone without the nutty experimentation of changing them "in search of".
Click to expand...

there's so much snake oil sold on the guitar market that the entire segment would crater if users discovered what the actual differences between pickups were. equipment specifications are spotty at best. manufacturers want experimentation because it brings them higher profits. as for emulation, i do believe it's more accepted right now on acoustics. but it's not even close when it comes to electric magnetic pickups. remember, electric guitarists are still convinced only tubes are good enough and are easily frightened by new technologies that weren't used in 1968.
 
They went into one of my Heritage H-150's.

Honestly, I think I was just tired when I tried them yesterday. I just spent about a half hour with them through the same amp with the same settings. They sound fine this morning. Nice dynamics out of them. They are balanced well and adjusted properly. I might still sell them though. But I'm going to give them more of a chance before I make that decision.
 
If you still don't like them after installing them in another guitar, I'm sure you'll be able to flip them on TGP.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top