What difference do pickups make

[novel oar]

Because amps have so much control over the sound that is output by the pickups what would a new pickup set give you in terms of sound vs changing the setting of your amp? Specifically changing a pickup set from say a player series telecaster to a custom shop set from Fender. Can you not make that change with EQ and your Amp settings?

[wind sorrel]

I think the difference is not so much in tone but in clarity and note separation

[novel oar]

Can you elaborate a little?

[elfin venture]

U can hear a small difference in voicing although u can tell the difference between active and passive pretty well but some pickups mostly the more expensive ones when at lower volumes get really clean where as a cheaper pickup might get kinda muddy at lower volumes

[novel oar]

Well I don’t know anything about active pickups. And I won’t use them ever most likely but I thought lowering the volume and losing clarity was a pot problem that’s fixed by a treble bleed circuit

[elfin venture]

Higher end pickups do a lot with low volume clarity as well

Some of it can be adjusted w treble blead but pickups do make a difference

[novel oar]

Oh okay, I didn’t know that. So the difference is mainly just having clear separation between the strings and having a sound that isn’t muddy.

[elfin venture]

Yea there is that but there is also other things but that is kinda one of the main ones

[novel oar]

What about the “punchyness” a pickup has? Like one pickup would just feel different when you play no matter what the EQ does?

[elfin venture]

That would be an output thing I forget exactly what it is called but that is the thing that is like 7k or 9.2k or whatever ur pickup is

[novel oar]

Gotcha

[elfin venture]

Also different styles of pickups like humbucker vs single coil and that type of stuff but u probably already know that

[novel oar]

Yea I got that, it’s mainly the difference between the same types of pickups that I’m confused about

I’m probably going to do a partscaster this summer and I want to make sure I know what to look for

[elfin venture]

They can also be voiced differently depending how they are made

[novel oar]

Voicing is an EQ thing correct?

[elfin venture]

It can be but also like some pickups are “vintage” voiced and some are more moddern

There is a difference between alniko and ciramic pickups

[novel oar]

Well I know sometimes they use “era correct” wire and stuff

[novel oar]

I do know a lot about that

Ceramic pickups tend to sound really punchy and have a much darker/deeper sound

A lot of low mids and lows

[elfin venture]

Yea pair them 1 and 1 and it works pretty well like one alniko and one ceramic

[novel oar]

Oh for a humbucker, that’s an interesting idea

[elfin venture]

The EMG revalation set is like that

[novel oar]

So basically I should look for a pickup that sounds “clear” and one that has a certain output based on my preferences

Like a single coil that has less output has a really snappy sound

[elfin venture]

Yea some ppl like lower output some like higher and look for something that cleans up nicely

[novel oar]

Okay, I can definitely can do that

[elfin venture]

That’s just single coils in general

[novel oar]

Yea

Thanks for the help!!

[wind sorrel]

Overall ... Pickups make up for 5 to 10 percent of your tone

[fluid kernel]

The amp can only take what signal it's given, so pickups definitely matter. The question is how much do they add and subtract? Different types of pickups will shape what your amp is given. Your amp has a lot of control, but it can't really introduce a sound your guitar can't make. Hence, people like to replace pickups.

There are so many rabbit holes with pickups. The type of magnet, the width of copper wire etc.
In general, pickups are broken down into 3 categories. High, medium, and low (vintage) output.

• High output pickups are very well suited for distortion. High output grabs the signal and really pushes it. It adds compression, which can restrict your dynamics. It might be hard to play quietly, or very loudly, high output pickups limit that. These are your active EMGs, Dimarzio D Activator, Super Distortion etc. It's like keeping your foot on the gas pedal perpetually, without a lot of room to slow down.

• Medium output pickups have less output. Lower output means less compression of your signal, it might sound a little less powerful on its own. Medium output pickups can still do very well with distortion. Gojira's pickups are medium output, and they have a pretty massive sound. They also have really expensive amps.

• Low/Vintage output pickups are where you would really notice a difference with distortion. It'll take a lot more effort for things like pinch harmonics, the notes might not "sing" as much. Like a high output pickup can be pretty limiting, a low output pickup is also limiting in its own way. It can be like trying to go really fast in a car, but the car can't go over 50 miles an hour.

What about clean tones? Again, consider the natural compression of these pickups. A lot of compression can make chords sound muddied together, but a lower output pickup can allow a lot of clarity (and dynamics). This becomes a lot more noticeable between single coils and humbuckers.

There are so many types of pickups out now, so many options, so many pedals, that pickups might not REALLY be important. However I'll confidently say that I've changed my telecaster bridge pickup 3 times and all three pickups definitely had an impact on the sound.

[novel oar]

Wow thank you so much, that helped a lot. So I think I’ll probably get Brad Paisley’s La Brea pickup set because I like the snappy/midrangy sound that they put out and if I want to get a much heavier tone I can just go on my helix and program a booster pedal and compression pedal before my overdrive and amp

[novel oar]

That helix can basically make my pickup set sound much more compressed and overdriven because I can bind a ton of controls to one foot switch

[fluid kernel]

I really like the SD BG1400. It keeps some of the twang and has more grind to it.

[novel oar]

I’ll give it a look!

[mild coral]

no chance

[elfin venture]

The more clean u play the more noticeable It becomes once u get into od territory let alone distortion it makes little difference

[mild coral]

wrong

i can tell the difference between my dimebucker and my esp designed

i can tell the difference between my ibanez pickups and the esp designed

its quite clear

[elfin venture]

One is a hot rail the other is a humbucker

If u have 2 humbuckers there isn’t much of a difference

Like yea one might be slightly more clear but not by much in distorted teritory

We are solely talking abt humbuckers here

[mild coral]

dimebucker isnt a fucking hotrail

🤦

they are both humbuckers

at least know what youre talking about man

[mild coral]

yes by much, the direction is a ton different

[wind sorrel]

In a blind shootout it's proven that almost no one can distinguish one pickup from the other ...in high gain settings

Between a single coil then yes

The amp and mostly the speaker is what drastically changes tone ... You'll notice when you're in the digital realm and change IRs

Clarity and note separation is a other thing though and that can differ widely between pickups

[elfin venture]

The dime bucker is essentially a glorified hot rail. There are some small differences in them mostly being the dime bucker hss abit less mids and is full sized. But that’s about it

[mild coral]

you can definitely differentiate high vs low output

[mild coral]

no except its really not

[wind sorrel]

In the last blind shootout I saw ...no one actually could

I'll probably switch out my stock 8 string set for a set of Fishmans because the stock ones are a bit muddy and low output and I want a coil tap

[mild coral]

depends what they are tbh

sure maybe in invaders and another high op