High, Medium or Low Output Pups? Why?

[ShredCow]

Hey there guys,
Saw a little pup discussion happening over at the Gallery 2006 thread, so i thought it would be wiser to start a proper thread here.

WHAT KIND OF PUPS DO YOU GUYS GO FOR?

WHY?


I'm in the medium / mixed camp. I will tend to get a medium to high output pup (ala Double Whammy, Breed bridge, Tonezone or Evo bridge) for my bridge, the neck i will ALWAYS take medium or low output (ala PAF Joe, HFH, Air Norton, Evo neck).

Why? Because I'm primarily a rock player, I go for tigher, hard hitting rhythms, but I want a dynamic smoother neck tone. A good example of such a player is Steve Vai.

high output for me means, able to push a tube amp harder, more compression, more sterile cleans.

Low output would mean, well, little power to push anything, dynamic and great cleans.

Right now, my pups are...
Dimarzio Double Whammy (330mA output) in Bridge
Dimarzio Air Norton (270mA output) in Neck.

For those of you interested.. the Double Whammy is similiar to the Tonezone, its modern sounding, FAT and punchy.. However, its more dynamic, not so in your face all the time, and it has less (read tighter) bass.. which I absolutely love.

 

[thor666]

Low-Medium output pups. They -tend- to be more versatile than high output pickups, and have less compression.

Middle output pickups work for me when i need a little bit of rock crunch there on my rhythm.. they tend to sound a bit tighter imo.

It's not fixed for properties of different output pickups.

For those who feel low output pickups can't rock, think again. SRV used stock Fender singlecoils live and in records. Shield the guitar well, and turn the amp louder.

For those who are in a hurry to buy afternarket pickups, remember that at the end of the day, pickups are just magnets with lots of wire coiling. Don't expect it to sound awesome alone - you need a good amp/guitar for a good pickup to shine.

 

[LimpPisskit]

I custom wind all my pickups to 281.44mA as that is the exact output where the ions in the magnet resonate at the same frequency as a 6L6 tube filament at 220w..... :wink:

seriously la....output is only 1 factor. This is like asking if you like a girl ONLY because of her cup size [insert any other body part here] is A-cup, C-cup or DD-cup 8O

I never cared about what the output was, or what type of magnet is was or how many polepieces or if there's "air" between the magnets.

I use what sound good to me not because of the spec's

I use Pearly Gates because it is great "crying/screaming" 80's hard rock lead guitar tone and raspy rhythm crunch.

I use V60 (not V60LP) because it sound like a classic strat tone on clean

I hate JB because of wah tone

I don't like Tonezone because it booms on bass

I don't like Breed because it was so muddy and dark on rhythm

I like white EMGs because they look cool

 

[Chronicles]

i heard that, even a change of pickups, a change of budget guitars to a good guitars, u need a good amp to hear the difference. how true is that? and mgcdr15 is shitty which im using -_-

 

[whitebrokenriff]

i read somewhere, high output pickups means a higher tendency of letting others hear your guitar playing mistakes. eg evo i guess.

 

[trianglebiscuit]

high but not too high. i dont have a high gain tube amp so i wish for a tighter sound even at lower gain levels. dont want the stiff and compressed sounds of the uber high ones too.

 

[ChanMin]

well... my only preference for low - med output pickups only stays at humbuckers. where ive honestly heard and felt a difference.

for single coils... too low and vintage output doesnt neccessarily mean it will be real sweet. i used to have a set of lace holygrails. which honestly was lifeless and so low output i had to crank my amp to get decent rock tones. next came a full rock set of dimarzios... yjm , vv54 and vvsolo , those rocked.. but the cleans got boring.. and didnt have the "strat" clean i had always envisioned. I put in kinmans ..they are expensive but they are really close to true single coil tone. and they are really quiet. even more quiet then dimarzios.

humbuckers wise , i used to use EMGs they are great for metal. and rock.. but thats about it. The sterile clean also added to my sonic dissatisfaction.
my old seymour duncan 59 and dimarzio super dist have more...organic distortion tones. albeit more old school sounding..

now im using even lower output pickups like my super 58 humbuckers and the pot tele thailand humbuckers... and some how they both sing... way better then my old setup used to... really really sweet.

Can still do rock and metal ... but need a high gain tube amp. dynamics of your playing show and your picking attack will affect your tone.
But then again.. with a Mesa dual rect you can sound heavy even with a downtuned banjo.

 

[ShredCow]

i heard that, even a change of pickups, a change of budget guitars to a good guitars, u need a good amp to hear the difference. how true is that? and mgcdr15 is shitty which im using -_-

Yes. You need a good amp.

 

[ShredCow]

i read somewhere, high output pickups means a higher tendency of letting others hear your guitar playing mistakes. eg evo i guess.

That is so not true.

Lets get it right, You make a mistake, you made a mistake, thats THAT.

Evos are HARMONICALLY RESPONSIVE. Much more harmonically responsive... so what? Harmonics are easier to get, true, they scream like no other. But it means that the pups are very sensitive. Run your fingers along the strings of a guitar with Evos. You'll hear it VERY CLEARLY. Hence the myth that Evos are for pros only.

 

[ShredCow]

I never cared about what the output was, or what type of magnet is was or how many polepieces or if there's "air" between the magnets.

You should. They make a big difference to your dynamics. Your guitar is the root of tone, tone starts from the guitar.

 

[whitebrokenriff]

Lets get it right, You make a mistake, you made a mistake, thats THAT..

no, i would'nt say i made a mistake. yeah highoutput such as this, amplifies your mistakes greatly.

 

[ShredCow]

no, i would'nt say i made a mistake. yeah highoutput such as this, amplifies your mistakes greatly.

hmmm... no man, you have to make a distinction between hi output and harmonically responsive. They are different things. You can have a low output but harmonically responsive pup, those things will still pick up the tinniest sounds/movements... A fine example is the Evo neck. Its a medium output pup.

Try a Tonezone, or Breed bridge... considered hi output, but they are smooth sounding. Not as gritty as Evo bridge/neck.

 

[tany]

the tonezone is just nice for me! but my breed neck's getting muddy :lol:

 

[slipout]

i heard that, even a change of pickups, a change of budget guitars to a good guitars, u need a good amp to hear the difference. how true is that? and mgcdr15 is shitty which im using -_-

Yes. You need a good amp.

so mg 15cdr is not a good amp? im thinking of getting it actually

 

[ChanMin]

think of it this way.

you buy the best quality DVD on the market. hi-def with dolby pro logic sound and everything.


watch it on a 20yr old 14inch t.v

vs

60 inch plasma screen with surround sound.

the amp is what makes everything make sense. the guitar , the wood , the pickups , the strings , the efx , the cables blah blah.. everything.

so bottom line is... dun save on the amp.

 

[jf_element]

nah u cant save on anything

from the wood of the guitar, to the pickups, to the cable, to the effects, and ending at the amp. if u get lousy equipment at any point, its gonna affect the final sound u hear..

shucks.

 

[slipout]

icic, actually i got no amp and im thinking of getting a mgcd15, and after hearing several comments, i guess i just give it a skip. actually i had around a budget of max 700 dollars. Im thinking of laney mxd120h, is that a good amp? Anyway if having a good (which is huge? i suppose) amp, and not having to blast the amp out loud, that wont bring out the amp ablitiy? So is it to achieve good guitar sound, u need to get a good amp, good guitar, and turn up the volume? And i heard that tube amp shouldnt be on and off so frequently, will spoil easily, is that true?

 

[hay88]

my opinion will be to stick to a great amp right from the start. honestly, i hate it when some ppl tell me to i don't know how to tweak some 10-15 watt amps. if an amp lacks gain, it lacks gain what more can i say. sitting there tweaking for 10 yrs won't help.

 

[Fruitwine]

to reply to the original topic...

personally, i prefer low to medium output pickups, low for single coils, and medium for humbuckers, 'cause i like the ability to roll off the volume and get those barely gritty cleans. some high output pickups can do that, but i've noticed that some of the higher output humbuckers can do that as well, only thing is that the difference in volume is too great, so... in any case, there are high-gain pedals and on board mods that can be done to increase output when u need it.

about the amp, i'd suggest getting a good 15 to 30 watt'er if u're only going to use it at home, that way u can turn up the volume and hear the best of the amp without busting ur ears and making neighbours and parents want to kill you but if u intend to bring ur amp out to school gigs or something, then heck, get a biggie :twisted:

 

[popeye]

For those of you interested.. the Double Whammy is similiar to the Tonezone, its modern sounding, FAT and punchy.. However, its more dynamic, not so in your face all the time, and it has less (read tighter) bass.. which I absolutely love.

Dan, you seem to love whatever new pickup you have but sell in again in the following month :lol: