Pickup vs Guitar

[offy1]

Hi,
I'm intending to change the pickup of my really old cort guitar cos it doesnt have enough punch for the metal stuff im playing now. Looking to get SD blackout humbucker. On the other hand, I have another ESP guitar with much better stats than my cort n my friends are asking me to invest the blackout humbucker on my esp instead and transfer the existing esp humbucker to my cort cos they feel that I'm just wasting the blackout humbucker on my cort since its not a very good guitar. What are your views on this? Pls advise. Thanks =)

 

[dudelove]

neither!!

invest in a real good amp. with a good solid amp, ur "wimpy" cort will sound like a monster regardless of what lousy pickups u have

 

[Ized]

Play harder!!!!!

harder= more punch

there, you just saved yourself a few pennies.

 

[subversion]

invest in a real good amp.

+1

there is a need to know that amps make much difference when it comes to a bona fide drive/distortion contribution.

 

[EugeneSmasher]

Either that or get a nice distortion pedal. You see, when you go jamming, you're going to be using the studio's amplifiers. You won't be bringing your own amplifier, so spending a bomb and getting a hell of an amplifier for home use is really not worth it if you ask me. Besides, there're distortion pedals that sound really good.

 

[dudelove]

Besides, there're distortion pedals that sound really good.

plugging a really good distortion pedal into an amp with a 6" speaker and u'll still get bad tone.

 

[Ized]

plugging a really good distortion pedal into an amp with a 6" speaker and u'll still get bad tone.

i beg to differ....the 7th heaven into the microcube still sounds awesome but i guess that ananomaly was one-off.

 

[junkiemanxl]

Amp plays a big part in tone. i agree about the importance of amp. But there is also an importance in quite a few factors when it comes to tone.

mainly, it's in your fingers.
I bet some of us have seen some players who use really crappy gear and can do wonders with it.
I bet some of us have seen some players with expensive monster gear and cant play whatsover.
hehehe

Well, back to TS question.
Bro, i think a wise choice will be to put those pups in and try them out to see if you like the tone when swapped. best way to find out even though it's not the most practical. pups will react differently to different woods.

 

[Ized]

mainly, it's in your fingers.
I bet some of us have seen some players who use really crappy gear and can do wonders with it.
I bet some of us have seen some players with expensive monster gear and cant play whatsover.
hehehe

+1 to this!

 

[ShredCow]

Hi,
I'm intending to change the pickup of my really old cort guitar cos it doesnt have enough punch for the metal stuff im playing now. Looking to get SD blackout humbucker. On the other hand, I have another ESP guitar with much better stats than my cort n my friends are asking me to invest the blackout humbucker on my esp instead and transfer the existing esp humbucker to my cort cos they feel that I'm just wasting the blackout humbucker on my cort since its not a very good guitar. What are your views on this? Pls advise. Thanks =)

Why don't you keep the Cort for other music?

The Blackout is killer at what it does... I would also think it will slay for metal regardless of the guitar it is put into.


By the way, the key thing about a pickup when it comes to playing with ridiculous amounts of gain (e.g. metal) is how it holds together. A pup that is geared for metal tends to retain tightness under heavy gain... but then of course, you might lose out in the cleans/feel/etc areas. A non-metal-gear-ed pup might not hold together as well under high gain, and things start going muddy + loose + ill-defined + boomy + etc... but these tend to have clearer cleans, less compression, etc.

So its not necessarily all about the amp alone. The pup matters. Your fingers matter. The whole equation. Its kind of lop-sided to focus on any one aspect alone.

 

[offy1]

haha. nice to hear from you again shredcow. anw im not really for the idea of changing amps cos unlikely i'll be bringing my own amp for jamming and gigs. I thought about your suggestion actually shredcow, but my cort doesn't have a nice clean tone either. what pickups do you suggest i get in this case?

 

[keithC]

+1 to shredcow, the entire equation matters. budget and money spent matters. skill matters. playing content matters too. where u play matters (big amps in studios or small amp at home?)

blackouts will sound like awesome metal blackouts on almost any guitar.

actually in your case... i'd say get a real kickass cheap distortion pedal. in the worst case senario where your jamming place doesnt have decent amps, pedal> crappy amp can get you closer to a heavy distortion compared to awesome pickups> crappy amp.

 

[ShredCow]

haha. nice to hear from you again shredcow. anw im not really for the idea of changing amps cos unlikely i'll be bringing my own amp for jamming and gigs. I thought about your suggestion actually shredcow, but my cort doesn't have a nice clean tone either. what pickups do you suggest i get in this case?

Haha... I chill out here. Policing the forum coz I gotches 10k posts!

Well, I'm assuming you have a decent amp.

I'm not sure what kind of tones you're looking for but start with the lower output pickups. E.g. Dimarzio's vintage output & medium output range. Maybe a PAF Pro...

There are plenty of pickups out there that have varying amounts of "good clean tones". There are humbuckers that sound crystal clean... but some think that's bland. Then there are those with a nice fatness to it, its clean but not crystal clean... but some find that a middle-of-the-road tone. There are some that sound fat & warm, smooth... but some think its too dull for jangly stuff.

Also consider contacting HighOrder Pickups (google it) because he makes great vintage/medium output pickups are pretty much the same price as a Dimarzio. He can better advise you.

 

[Ized]

Stan Heinsley pickups....google it.

 

[offy1]

i see. let's say if i were to use my cort for those eng pop songs instead. which pick ups do you recommend. do i only change my humbucker or the neck as well?