Need some pickup advice

jdecker12

There's this girl, she sits 2 seats in front of me.......

No really, I have this Rogue guitar (the ones that were made by Fender only in some wierd country and made really crappy so they could sell them for a lot cheaper). Anyway, I got it when I first started playing guitar and it was a good guitar to practice on. Since then I have moved up some. I'm now thinking it would be cool to beef this sucker up a little. It's regular 3 coil strat style with tremolo. I looked at Seymour Duncan and DiMarzio but I'm not sure what specific pickups I should look at. I'm not looking to spend a whole lot on them though, because, like I said the guitar isn't that great to begin with. Can anyone offer me any advice?

Pacomc79

Originally posted by jdecker12
There's this girl, she sits 2 seats in front of me.......

No really, I have this Rogue guitar (the ones that were made by Fender only in some wierd country and made really crappy so they could sell them for a lot cheaper). Anyway, I got it when I first started playing guitar and it was a good guitar to practice on. Since then I have moved up some. I'm now thinking it would be cool to beef this sucker up a little. It's regular 3 coil strat style with tremolo. I looked at Seymour Duncan and DiMarzio but I'm not sure what specific pickups I should look at. I'm not looking to spend a whole lot on them though, because, like I said the guitar isn't that great to begin with. Can anyone offer me any advice?

Look for deals. Duncan's performer line for instance would be a good choice to beef it up.

search Ebay for deals on old pickups.

House53

I would think it might be better to save your money and get a better guitar to begin with...

unless the guitar is really comfortable to play I wouldn't put more money into it... I would save up for a better guitar...

I have a squier telecaster that was my first guitar... it became so comfortable to me I haven't gotten rid of it... but other cheap guitars aren't worth any extra effort.

So, consider that as an option.

jdecker12

Originally posted by House53
I would think it might be better to save your money and get a better guitar to begin with...

unless the guitar is really comfortable to play I wouldn't put more money into it... I would save up for a better guitar...

I have a squier telecaster that was my first guitar... it became so comfortable to me I haven't gotten rid of it... but other cheap guitars aren't worth any extra effort.

So, consider that as an option.

Well I'm doing that too. I plan on getting a Epi LP custom this summer, when I'm on break and can work a good amount again. I just didn't know if there was a cheap alternative for the one I have now so I could enjoy it a little more. I guess if there is nothing cheap I'll just have to wait until this summer.

House53

it depends on what you mean by cheap?

There are good deals on pups to be had. The shop I go to they charge list price for the pup, but install and setup the guitar for free afterwards... so it is a pretty good deal.

Otherwise, when you buy you have to either install yourself or pay someone too, so the cost can add up.

jdecker12

Originally posted by House53
Otherwise, when you buy you have to either install yourself or pay someone too, so the cost can add up.

That's true. I guess I will have to see if I can find anything cheap and go from there. I was just trying to get an overall opinion of what the best "bang for my buck" would be.

who's_pearljam?

If you're handy at all, grab a 10 dollar soldering pen and a soldering kit from Radio Shack and take your pickups out, then put them back in and put it together and see if it works. If you do it right, and you haven't burned yourself :eek:,or the guitar :(,then you could try putting some cheaper Seymour Duncans in by yourself.
Otherwise, it wouldn't be worth it to put too much money into it, but it could be good learning experience for learning how to fiddle with the electronics, or adjusting action or what not. If you don't mess up the new pickups, you can always put them in another guitar someday.

mccreadyisgod

Well, good pups will put you back about $50 to $100 apiece, new, so that's not exactly a bang-for-your-buck option. You could always figure out which pup you use most, and replace just the one with a better option. If you can find a used set, that's always a good choice, too. Like me, I use the bridge position most, and on any typical Strat or clone, that's always a real thin sound... so replacing the bridge pup with a better one would only cost like $80-120. You could look at the single-space humbuckers, stacked humbuckers, or high-output single-coils (Hot, Quarter-Pound, Texas Special, etc).

jdecker12

All great ideas guys. Thanks!

mikeswasteland

Its a piece of shit! Throw it out.

mccreadyisgod

Originally posted by mikeswasteland
Its a piece of shit! Throw it out.

That's hardly constructive advice.

jdecker12

Originally posted by mikeswasteland
Its a piece of shit! Throw it out.

I'll never throw any guitar out, no matter what shape it's in. There's always a way to learn more about the guitar or make it better.

mccreadyisgod

Originally posted by jdecker12
I'll never throw any guitar out, no matter what shape it's in. There's always a way to learn more about the guitar or make it better.

Exactly. I've never liked letting any piece of gear go, no matter how bad it was or how much I hated the sound.

who's_pearljam?

If anything, play with it and learn about guitars, and if you don't want it,,, give it to a kid.

I wonder Jimi Hendrix's crappy Kay guitar is now?

Drummachine

i would suggest you to take a look on a new guitar-some mexican or american strat and also EMG pick ups-they have really strong sound and David Gilmour signature models are two coiled as humbuckers but big as singles so they will fit any standard strat.


Also i would never throw out my own equipment because music is soul and then, my instrument is my soul too.if you dont understand it, your are a big headed jerk...