Home› Musicians and Gearheads

hot pickups vs. hot pedals

DriftingByTheStormDriftingByTheStorm Posts: 8,684
edited February 2006 in Musicians and Gearheads
i just need to figure out where to go with my little LP Custie ...

My SG has old soapie P90s in it ... i dig the sound they got ... but even then, i find my self using my TS9 on top of their natural grit ...

so, that brings me to the ultimate question ...
is it better to run with hot pups first,
or should i leave them stock and dick around with more pedals?

or perhaps upgrade to something middleground like an overwound PAF type 'bucker?

i'm not talkin' about replacin' the P90s, mind you.
the SG is stayin the way it is.

this is for my LP.

part of the problem is the actual fretting of the notes ...
i feel like there isn't enough sustain ... even with the amp cranked ... i know this, cause when i do use my damned big muff, i find i play more fluid ... i think the problem is that when the notes aren't ringing long i tend to compensate by holding my fingers down longer ... or refretting and trying agian ... which either leads to off rythm playing, or just a bummed attempt at a run, because i restarted ...

but i'm just not sure i want "hot" pups ... once you do that ... there is really no cleaning up your sound, is there?

so whats the middle ground here?
i need to balance the need for sustain & the need to have the full ring of all fretted notes being picked up with the desire to maintain some "natural" guitar tone ... and not sound like a balls-to-the-wall rocker all day long ...

sometimes i do like that chimey sound ... like when i'm playing Jane Says ... haha.

thoughts, recommendations?

? :D ?
If I was to smile and I held out my hand
If I opened it now would you not understand?
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • Pacomc79Pacomc79 Posts: 9,404
    I'd say get some kind of non super squashing compressor like the Tone Press or say a one knob Orange Squeezer type, that you can crank for the P90's.

    Hot pups are fine for some folks, but it's a character you can't manipulate. You lose a bit of the highs for instance in favor of midrange and things can get muddy. Keep in mind even guys who got drenching sustain like EVH used relatively low to medium output pickups. SG's are fairly bright anyway so you can go hot if it's too bright, (kind of like on my strat I prefer less brightness more fatness) so I get in the medium range about 6.5 to 7K. Compressors will generally give you a little knock off of the edges tightening up bass and squeezing down harsh trebles (the diamond has an EQ that is lovely)

    Oh, for the LP, look into Fralin Unbuckers. you can split the coils and they make them unbalanced to get a better single coil sound but that's also the way some of the sought after PAF's were made also I think LP's at least mine anyway tend to be dark with the stock 490's. The fralin Unbucker and regular Humbucker keep the output in the happy range of say hot single coils, so you still get the note definition you want. Eric Shannon just built a new guitar with the Unbuckers and he loves them, maybe one day he will come back and share.

    Also look into clean boosts a good comp can do this for you sometimes. Tone Press is lovely at it, you just need to make sure it's happy with your humbuckers and dosen't squash the treble and output too much.


    Maybe JofZ will "chime" in about the Pale Green Comp. I just have a difficult time spending over 200 bucks for such a subtle effect, even though it can make a tremendous difference. An OS clone or the Tone press or the Diamond are probably right up your alley.

    This is a cool looking OS clone http://www.analogman.com/rossmod.htm#os

    Vintage Tone Project actually worked with Dan Armstrong. http://www.vintagetoneproject.com

    http://www.barberelectronics.com

    http://www.diamondpedals.com

    that should get you started.

    http://www.fralinpickups.com
    My Girlfriend said to me..."How many guitars do you need?" and I replied...."How many pairs of shoes do you need?" She got really quiet.
  • Dirty_FrankDirty_Frank Posts: 957
    I use a hot bridge pickup in my LP Custom. It's a Paul Reed Smith HFS, which stands fro Hot Fat and Scream. This is pretty much an accurate description of the pup. IT's midrangey, but isn't as muddy as you'd expect. It's really articulate with your individual playing, and is awesome for lead and rhythm work. It also has the coil split option, which I've done with a push/pull pot on the volume knob. I don't really use the single coil much on the bridge pickup, but it is handy to have, and really an inexpensive mod. I use the coil split on my neck pup (PRS Vintage Bass) almost religiously for clean guitar work. This does sound sweet.

    It's funny you bring this up, because I'm getting away from the hotter, flashy stuff and more into the classic, straightout ballsy rock tones. Thinkin' about Duncan '59s.
  • enharmonicenharmonic Posts: 1,917
    Here's the thing Frank. It's painfully subjective. When I first started playing, I wanted super high output pickups slamming my front end. Then, I started backing off of the high output, and focusing more on good gain staging in front of the power amp. It became harder to play and sound good, but my tone improved.

    These days, I play lower output pickups. They don't take over the sound of my guitar, and I get most of my gain from the power section. I don't have as much of the blistering front end saturation going, but when I play chords, it will make the hair on your arms and the back of your neck stand up...massive, throaty, grinding chords. The downside being that if your technique is spotty, you will be totally exposed on my rig.

    I say play what you love. Over time, your ears will tell you where you want to be. Today is high output. Tomorrow, it could be even higher output plus high gain pedal. The next day, you switch to strats with low output single coils and play Wind Cries Mary for the rest of your life :).

    It never ends bro.
    new music: http://www.myspace.com/blackbirdsymphonique

    old music: http://www.myspace.com/slowloader
  • Dirty_FrankDirty_Frank Posts: 957
    enharmonic wrote:
    Here's the thing Frank. It's painfully subjective. When I first started playing, I wanted super high output pickups slamming my front end. Then, I started backing off of the high output, and focusing more on good gain staging in front of the power amp. It became harder to play and sound good, but my tone improved.

    These days, I play lower output pickups. They don't take over the sound of my guitar, and I get most of my gain from the power section. I don't have as much of the blistering front end saturation going, but when I play chords, it will make the hair on your arms and the back of your neck stand up...massive, throaty, grinding chords. The downside being that if your technique is spotty, you will be totally exposed on my rig.

    I say play what you love. Over time, your ears will tell you where you want to be. Today is high output. Tomorrow, it could be even higher output plus high gain pedal. The next day, you switch to strats with low output single coils and play Wind Cries Mary for the rest of your life :).

    It never ends bro.

    Haha. That's true.

    I think I'm going to have to keep a soldering iron handy...
Sign In or Register to comment.