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An Old Man and his Pickups

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3K views 23 replies 18 participants last post by  Luafcm 
#1 ·
Now that I'm a total geezer, I basically "un-ceramicized" my entire guitar collection this weekend.

--My '83 Kramer Pacer went from a Duncan Custom in the bridge to a vintage Duncan "JBJ" that I had sitting around. Made an instant difference in what is a fairly bright guitar.

--My '90 Jackson Soloist Pro went from a Duncan Custom in the bridge to a DiMarzio Virtual PAF that got thrown into some guitar deal or another. Really like this pickup!

--My Heritage 157 went from a Duncan Distortion neck position to a Pearly Gates neck version that was previously in it. The Distortion Neck isn't bad for really high gain stuff, but it has some annoying high-end stuff that isn't what I'm looking for in a Les Paul on the neck position.

The Duncan Custom was such a part of my sound for so long, but the big low end is useless in a mix and the high end is really grating on its own. Plus, playing an Axe-FX means I have no need for a pickup to boost the input. They just muddy up everything.

As a geezer bonus, I even had to use my wife's magnifying lamp that she uses for sewing. Such fun to get old!
 
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#7 ·
I have never personally had a Duncan pickup that I thought really nailed what I was looking for. I've had that with DiMarzios and of course my go to (when I can find them) Bartolinis, but not Duncan.
 
#8 ·
I've never had great luck with their high output pickups. I've had a few JBs, a couple stacked singles, an Invader and a Distortion that didn't do anything for me or the guitars they were in.

The lower output stuff, however, I've liked. I've had '59 and Jazz in a few things that sounded great.

I recently recorded with a buddy of mine who has a Distortion in an ESP H-III that actually sounded killer, so I'm considering giving it another shot in a Charvel I've been piecing together.
 
#11 ·
No, that one's still in that guitar. This was another one that I bought when I was on a bit of a buying binge. The white Soloist and that particular JBJ go together so well that I'm loathe to mess with it. This JBJ in the Kramer seems a little hotter, but oddly not quite as bright. They're all old pickups now, so who know why these things happen...
 
#21 ·
I too, have de-ceramic'd and de-active'd all my guitars. A few years ago all of my guitars had EMGs. Now the only EMGs I have left are in my 4-string bass. Several of my guitars now have humbuker sized p90s too.

I really like ALNiCOs for single note lines, but sometimes I miss the cutting chug of a ceramic for metal rhythms.
 
#23 ·
Same here. I've just finished getting passive/alnico pickups for all my guitars. The BKP Juggernauts are Alnico/ceramic hybrids and that's as far as I'll go. I'll probably miss the cut and attack of the ceramics as well, but to be honest I don't chugg that much lately.

Although the EMG 57/66 sounded pretty darn good on the guitar they're in. I might keep them around just in case.
 
#24 ·
I have replaced ever stock duncan pickup in my collection except for one sustainer guitar that scares me.

It seems I buy pickups based around the marketing hype and nothing to do with tone.

Stock JB's I've had seem to be very bright and clacky sounding in my setup. I have an old bc rich(80's nj) with dimarzio pickups and they sound amazing.

I put an X2N, fasttrack1, and airnorton single in a dk2 and it's my fav config. I'm considering changing out the X2N with a Super Distortion, but the airnorton and fasttrack are there to stay, amazing pickups!

I guess I'm learning that experimentation is the only way to go, a hard task if you don't have a ton of money and soldering equipment. I'm going to consider an alnico pickup in the bridge position now after reading this thread, I'm that old too.
 
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