Changing pickups

[Exophagy]

I want to change the pickups on my guitar to improve its sound.
I'm currently using an Epiphone LP Custom with stock pickups.
What pickups do you guys recommend? Also, where would I be able to get them?

 

[SmFizz]

try the Tesla pickups at Standard value.
http://standardvalue.com.sg/

 

[teleplayer]

I help people to ask: what's your amp?

 

[Exophagy]

I use a Roland Cube 15, but only for practice at home.
If I'm out jamming at a studio or playing at a gig then the amp I use will obviously differ.

 

[LadyInTears]

shit, not one of these threads again

 

[Dime]

What do you play?What kinda tone you wanna achieve?Have you done any research and found anything that you're interested in?

 

[teleplayer]

Exophagy: HEY.. I also have this mindset that changing pickups will improve the sound... and because of my mindset, I changed my stock tele pickups to some high output pickups.. and also my lp copy... and I'm still using my shitty amp... but I have decided to change my mindset because, pickups are highoutput, lowoutput, actives, passives... the similarity is that they are all magnets! I don't think this little piece magnet could improve your guitar to somewhere so good. but for amp, it will project your guitar sound... which is totally different. there are settings on amp and the tubes and preamp and etc... I now feel that you don't need real good pickups to sound good... but a not-muddy-and-clear pickup to help you sound good....(it's sufficient) amps are still most important... Haha I said this because no matter what pickups you change, it will either be a ceramic or alnico.

 

[jskadiang]

^WHAT are you talking about? Ceramic or Alnico? So what?? Pickups can make a big difference, "this little piece magnet" can be very significant to your sound. But the thing is, with a practice amp, the pickups are not the best thing to invest your money in to improve your sound. Spend your money on a good tube amp before spending your money on other things like pickups. But teleplayer... "pickups are highoutput, lowoutput, actives, passives... the similarity is that they are all magnets!" :???:

 

[teleplayer]

lol i trying to say amp is important. LOL. the only difference between and pickups and pickups is that they are either ceramics or alnico.... I dont know if there's other kind of magnets in pickups..

 

[Exophagy]

^WHAT are you talking about? Ceramic or Alnico? So what?? Pickups can make a big difference, "this little piece magnet" can be very significant to your sound. But the thing is, with a practice amp, the pickups are not the best thing to invest your money in to improve your sound. Spend your money on a good tube amp before spending your money on other things like pickups. But teleplayer... "pickups are highoutput, lowoutput, actives, passives... the similarity is that they are all magnets!" :???:

The thing is, I'm not looking so much as to improve my sound when I'm practicing at home.
More to improve my sound when I'm jamming/performing.

 

[dudelove]

this dude has a valid reason.. just hope u know why u want to change ur pickups and what u want.

the roland cube isnt a bad amp anyway..

 

[THOA]

Threadstarter: What kind of tone are you looking for? What do you play mostly?

Do consider that your guitar is pretty mid to bass tone heavy (mahogany body and neck), so you might wanna consider brighter sounding pickups to balance out its inherent acoustics.

 

[MutantBanana]

Amp makes a big difference. You may not be able to hear the change otherwise.

 

[THOA]

^ Hence, as stated by TS, the amps that he will be using is pretty much dependent on where he is jamming. There is little to no control in that aspect, unless he is willing to lug around (or even afford) an amp head.

However I believe most jamming studios will be equipped with 1x12 combo at least. Pickup change can be pretty significant right there.

 

[Exophagy]

Is there a difference if a pickup were to be installed in the bridge position as compared to the same pickup installed in the neck position?

Also, what is the difference between 'active' and 'passive' pickups?

 

[teleplayer]

Ya. it will sound more trebly in the bridge. active runs on batteries and passive don't. like what dudelove said: hope u know why u want to change ur pickups and what u want.

 

[Exophagy]

I want to change my pickups to try and achieve a better sound. I'm not exactly sure what I want, which is why I'm trying to find out more about different pickups and what sounds they can get me.

Active pickups run on batteries, so there are batteries in the pickup itself?
What advantages do actives have over passives?

 

[keiith]

Actives have much higher Output , Hence much agressive and are suited to Heavier Genres Eg rock/metal. They also are very independent in the sense that they have a certain character unlike how a passive pickup's tone will take the specs of the guitar(eg type of wood) Into its character.

The batteries are not in the pup itself but rather connected to the pup so they will be placed together with where your soldered components are , Or in a routing done by a professional specifically for the battery storage.However they have a lifetime of XXX hours so you'll have to change them occasionally which i find a hassle..
and you'll have to leave your guitar unplugged otherwise it will continue to drain the battery life.But of course you pay for what you get, the tone that most metal guitarists crave for

I loved my Emgs but i couldnt stand the idea of something in my guitar having a lifeline so i swapped them out for passives haha.

 

[Exophagy]

Thanks for the clarification. If the guitar is left unplugged, will the battery in the active pup still drain away?

 

[keiith]

Nope, so long as your plug is connected into the jack the battery will start draining so to maximise your battery life just remember to plug it out