Pickup Shootout...

[Matt Crooks]

This is very cool:

Music page of Pickup Shootout 2009 - MP3 music page on SoundClick

Basically a shootout of 30 humbuckers... clean, dirty, distorted, and mixed in with a band.

Here's a link to some videos of the setup:

The Ultimate Pickup Comparison Shootout : - My Les Paul Forums

[Mike]

That is pretty dang cool.

[Josh]

James Lugo, the same guy who did this shootout, also did a huge shootout of high-gain heads in a similar way. There are youtube videos of the process (which are INSANE) and sound clips on Soundclick too.

[Matt Crooks]

Lugo is a pretty well respected engineer/producer out in LA, FWIW....

[Josh]

Originally Posted by Matt Crooks

Lugo is a pretty well respected engineer/producer out in LA, FWIW....

Yeah, I know. He's got a lot of connections and a fuckload of energy. The videos of him doing the amp shootout are like Chris turned up to 11...

It also adds some great credibility to the tests. Seeing the lengths he went to when setting up the shootout and dialing amps in was really cool.

[The Dark Wolf]

"Browneye!" Jesus Christ. Hear it once...

They all sound about the same. Whatever, I guess.

[MFB]

Originally Posted by The Dark Wolf

"Browneye!" Jesus Christ. Hear it once...

They all sound about the same. Whatever, I guess.

I imagine this will go the same way their "high gain amp shootout" did - in which you have heads that were meant for metal + 40 year old blues wankers who dial them in for their own needs and wants thus making them "high gain blues amps shootout" and no one then gives a flying fuck

[Matt Crooks]

I hear definite differences in all of them...

[Josh]

Me too. It's a good indicator of how much a pickup swap will change your sound, as it's more subtle than some would have you believe, but there's definitely differences there.

Originally Posted by MFB

I imagine this will go the same way their "high gain amp shootout" did - in which you have heads that were meant for metal + 40 year old blues wankers who dial them in for their own needs and wants thus making them "high gain blues amps shootout" and no one then gives a flying fuck

To be fair, James was dialing those amps in for what they would be most likely to be used for in a studio setting - clean, dirty, then "heavy rock" drop-D alternative. Gives a good baseline for how they sound in a mix too.

The number of "extreme metal players" is dwarfed by the guys who want high-gain heavy rock tones anyways.

[The Dark Wolf]

Originally Posted by Matt Crooks

I hear definite differences in all of them...

Definite Differences? I'm listening on Sony MDR studio cans at home, and I barely hear shit. Maybe in output, and little BS here and there, but seriously? I listened to them all, and "definite differences:... wow. Take the average person and let them hear, and they'll think guitar players a nuckin' futz. Take even guitar players, and ask them to ID those pickups from tone? Forget about it. Never happen.

Even for me, when it came to pickups, in all honesty it usually boiled down to a) is it noisy? b) is the low end mushy or tight? and c) does it have good definition? Any other differences are mostly me being an anal retentive retard.