I don't understand the high end Pickup Market

rsm said:
:yes:


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https://www.dimarzio.com/
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I can hear that spike between 2k and 3k from here
 
Ah, my friend, don't fret about bespoke pickup prices, it's just a front so us wealthy types can launder their money. Also, if you think $850 for a pair is high, wait until my dear friend Paul Reed Smith releases the prices on his pickups handwound by immigrant children held at gunpoint. The wide tonal spectrum is insane, just as much as the men that do Paul's bidding.
 
Says the crowd that will drop $4k on an amplifier and not bat an eye....

If you cannot hear the difference, then those pickups are not for you. Yes, boutique pickups are expensive. So are guitars, amps and pedals these days. Play what makes you happy and let others do the same. I can say that the Florance VooDoo 59 set that came in my 2003 CS Les Paul Custom R7 are some of the best sounding pickups I have ever had. I'm very happy the previous owner left them in the guitar. And yes, I have contemplated dropping $800 for another set as they are no longer made. If I found a set and had the cash, I'd jump on them.

Some people love Friedman amps. I don't care for them personally. Does that mean that people who spend $4k on their BE100 are stupid or not valid for liking that amp? I don't think so. It's all about finding the tools that make the sounds you hear in your head. If inexpensive tools get the job done for you... that's awesome. Some of us just like more expensive tools.

Play guitar... make noise you like. Be happy.
 
DanTravis62 said:
Depends what sound you want.

Unless you want a super vintage correct sound, no, pickups aren't that expensive

But yes, there's a huge difference between the 40$ pickups and the 150$ pickups
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Is Scott still making and selling his pickups?
 
DanTravis62 said:
If you can't hear the difference between GFS and Seymour Duncan, i'm actually jealous (but not surprised)
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I can hear the difference when I A/B them directly but I own 3 of the same guitar/same pickups and they all sound different. I'm more in the camp that there are bigger differences between even the same guitars than there are in pickups. If I have to continously A/B them, it won't matter as much when I fire my rig up the next day. I find swapping pickups to be a pain in the ass vs making other changes to my set up for desired results.

My experience is biased as I tend to play higher gain amps and the bigger differences I hear are in clean/low/medium gain settings.
 
What makes a $100 Dimarzio different than a $850 TMM (take my money) ???

They get the bobbins from the same place, the magnets from the same place and the wire ($6 in CU) from the same place, wound on the same machines.

What’s the OBJECTIVE DIFFERENCE?
 
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PiggySmallz said:
I can hear the difference when I A/B them directly but I own 3 of the same guitar/same pickups and they all sound different. I'm more in the camp that there are bigger differences between even the same guitars than there are in pickups. If I have to continously A/B them, it won't matter as much when I fire my rig up the next day. I find swapping pickups to be a pain in the ass vs making other changes to my set up for desired results.

My experience is biased as I tend to play higher gain amps and the bigger differences I hear are in clean/low/medium gain settings.
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I completely disagree. I don't think there's anything on a guitar, except maybe scale length, that has a bigger impact on the sound.

Then again, I don't use the fuzzed out type of sounds most people on RT use, either. It's more like medium/high gain crunch type sounds that I specialize in.

I've done a million really detailed shootouts and recorded them in posts going back years on RT, and this is a hill I am more than willing to die on.
 
DanTravis62 said:
I completely disagree. I don't think there's anything on a guitar, except maybe scale length, that has a bigger impact on the sound.

Then again, I don't use the fuzzed out type of sounds most people on RT use, either. It's more like medium/high gain crunch type sounds that I specialize in.

I've done a million really detailed shootouts and recorded them in posts going back years on RT, and this is a hill I am more than willing to die on.
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I'm not saying you're wrong. I'm admitting I can hear differences when I A/B them, but from day to day I don't find them large enough in a high gain setting to be swapping back and forth. In a lower gain setting I can see the differences being larger but still not massive enough for me to keep going down the rabbit hole.

In all fairness I'm in the middle of a major pickup shootout in my custom 24, so that may change my mind. It currently has a 59/09 in the bridge and it sounds absolutely terrible. Going to try a mojotone black magic , duncan pegasus, dimarzio at1, duncan scourge, duncan alternative 8, bkp ragnarok. I spent a shit ton on that guitar and I'm willing to try everything before chalking it up to a major loss and moving on.
 
PiggySmallz said:
I'm not saying you're wrong. I'm admitting I can hear differences when I A/B them, but from day to day I don't find them large enough in a high gain setting to be swapping back and forth. In a lower gain setting I can see the differences being larger but still not massive enough for me to keep going down the rabbit hole.

In all fairness I'm in the middle of a major pickup shootout in my custom 24, so that may change my mind. It currently has a 59/09 in the bridge and it sounds absolutely terrible. Going to try a mojotone black magic , duncan pegasus, dimarzio at1, duncan scourge, duncan alternative 8, bkp ragnarok. I spent a shit ton on that guitar and I'm willing to try everything before chalking it up to a major loss and moving on.
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Man that sucks, but i've heard that story alot with PRS. Plays great. Looks amazing. Pickups aren't anywhere close to good enough to measure up to everything around it. I'm not a 59/09 fan at all. It depends on what type of tone you want, but i'd probably go for something like a black winter if I was doing heavy stuff, EMG retroactive if i wanted versatility, and duncan custom 5/jazz if I wanted classic type sounds.

As far as it not making a huge difference.... it depends a lot on what you're doing and what you value in a tone. I don't think most of the ridiculous expensive PAF clones are worth buying, though they might be the right choice for someone out there

but I hear a massive difference between the super cheap stuff and the industry standards. And the difference in feel is even bigger. I've done shootout recordings on this before, but there's a huge difference in clarity and string separation between a wilkinson/GFS level pickup and a duncan/dimarzio, and a similar jump from duncan/dimarzio to tone nerd/wagner IMO.
 
DanTravis62 said:
Man that sucks, but i've heard that story alot with PRS. Plays great. Looks amazing. Pickups aren't anywhere close to good enough to measure up to everything around it. I'm not a 59/09 fan at all. It depends on what type of tone you want, but i'd probably go for something like a black winter if I was doing heavy stuff, EMG retroactive if i wanted versatility, and duncan custom 5/jazz if I wanted classic type sounds.

As far as it not making a huge difference.... it depends a lot on what you're doing and what you value in a tone. I don't think most of the ridiculous expensive PAF clones are worth buying, though they might be the right choice for someone out there

but I hear a massive difference between the super cheap stuff and the industry standards. And the difference in feel is even bigger. I've done shootout recordings on this before, but there's a huge difference in clarity and string separation between a wilkinson/GFS level pickup and a duncan/dimarzio, and a similar jump from duncan/dimarzio to tone nerd/wagner IMO.
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“I hear” is subjective.
 
DanTravis62 said:
It is, and when you post clips of what "you hear" you'll have a subjective opinion too!
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Why do you attack everyone about clips as a way of trying to win your point, yet you never answer any objection inquires?? Your default mode is always a pissing contest of clips.
 
Pickups sound different. You like some better than others. Not magic

Cheap Chinese ceramic pickups sound different than quality pickups with alnico magnets imho.

If you play music with high gain you might actually prefer the shitty ceramic pickups.

I have found that Gibson and Fender make good sounding pickups. I do like Seymour and Dimarzios as well. Lollar is pretty kick ass but too expensive for me.

If you are a TPG Orthodontist, keep buying your $900 sets of muff-rubbed jizzmaster 3000s.
 
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TheBiggestJerk said:
Why do you attack everyone about clips as a way of trying to win your point, yet you never answer any objection inquires?? Your default mode is always a pissing contest of clips.
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Because saying something is "subjective" is a nothing statement. Everyone is stating their subjective opinions, including you - except you never post any clips of anything backing up your subjective opinion :dunno:
 
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