Best/worst stock pickups

[Zeetwig]

Hi everyone

As the title imply, what do you think are the best and worst stock pickups?
This is very subjective I know, but if one reads forums and talks to people then a "trend" starts to reveal itself, sort of.

For instance: I know a lot of people think most Ibanez pickups are bad, compared to say SD, BKP and even EMG. But compared to other stock pickups? Lets say

Ibanez, Jackson, Gibson, ESP, Schecter, ESP, Dean, Fender, Bc Rich, etc.

How would a list of stock pickups, best to worst, look lik?

I know it depends on what kind of music one plays, so if it's not possible to make a list that encompass all genres, then lets say heavy metal just for the sake of it.

And please don't pick on me or something. I do not ask this to start an argument or something. I ask because I'm curious and I don't have any experience regarding this matter myself.

Thanks for your help!

[Rook]

Best and worst aside, I'll go for 'I like' and 'I don't like'. I can't see this thread ending well...

I don't like guitars that come with the classic JB and 59/Jazz set. People call it tried and tested, but I don't particularly like the JB and I certainly don't see it as a 'jack of all trades', I think it also means people tend not to realise how much variety and potential there is out there.

I hate PRS pickups period, never tried one I liked.

I don't mind EMG's in moderation, but it depends on the model. If I got a guitar with some EMG X's I'd probably keep them (particularly the 85/707X, I do rather like those pickups) however if they came with and standard active EMG I'd probably swap it out for either a passive if it has a pickup ring or the equivalent X if it was direct mount. I generally don't go for EMG fitted guitars, not because of the pickups it just happens that a lot of guitars that come with EMG's aren't for me. Exceptions including the RG2228.

I don't mind some Ibanez stock pickups despite the flack they get, but I'd probably change them anyway, I know what I like. I wouldn't do it out of habit though, only if it were justified.

Guitar brand wise;
Jackson - give you quality pickups, but this is only good because you get good money when you sell them to put something you actually like in there. Shows the guitars off well though.
Schecter - Mostly come with EMG's, see above
ESP - Combination of Jackson and Schecter really
LTD - I really don't like the cheap stock pickups they give, for the EMG's and Duncans, see above
PRS - Hate PRS pickups and they refuse to use anyone else's (which is fair enough)
SE - SE stock pickups are surprisingly passable given the price point. If I were on such a budget that I were buying an SE, a pickup change wouldn't be the first thing on my mind.
Ibanez - High end Ibanez tend to come with the TZ, TV, AN set which I'm not so fussed about but I favour Ceramic magnets so that's just taste. Good pickups though. Indo Ibanez pickups can be fine or awful, they don't tend to be good though. If again I was on such a budget that I got an RG350 or something, I'd probab;y happily live with the pickups until I could find a cheap upgrade, if however I had to Lo-Z active's, they'd be gone in a shot.
Dean - Tend to put crap pickups in their guitars
Fender - Single coils can either be good or awful to me, largely across the Mexican line and up the single coils are pretty darn good, they give you the characteristic sound at that budget, what more could you want? I tend to say you don't get the most out of angles until you get some big heavy strings on the guitar, and a Mexi standard with fat strings really does sound pretty good. Fender hum buckers on the other hand
BC Rich - Not tried their Rockfield stuff so no comment
Gibson USA - Tend to be very good, I quite like them anyway
Epiphone - Depends on the model, but usually perfectly acceptable given the kinda of target audience your average Epi is geared towards.


This is all kind of irrelevant really, what I love you might hate, lol.

[mikemueller2112]

Well all of those companies have shitty stock pickups in their entry level guitars. A lot of their higher end models come with "after-market" pickups, such as SD, Dimarzio or EMGs for metal guitars.

Don't worry too much about what other people say about things like pickups, instead use your own ears and discern if they are shitty or not. People love to echo things that their heros/superiors say, so people often buy things like BKP just because someone said it's great (not that they aren't, though I haven't played through any myself) but have no opinion as to why they are great. Obviously there are pickups that are better suited to certain genres and that pair better with certain body woods, which I think you understand anyways.

Edit: ^ Fun111 basically covered what I said here, but more specifically to what you're asking.

[Zeetwig]

To Fun111
Nothings irrelevant, it's just the context that makes it irrelevant

Even though what you say is true, it might hate what you love, but it still give me some insight in this matter. As I said: I have very little personal experience, so any input is greatly appreciated! ^^


To mikemueller2112
Wise words! What you say is very true.


One of the reason why I ask is (except for my curiosity :P) because I will in the near future acquire an BC Rich Jr v 7, and I don't know whether the stock pickups are crap or ok... I've heard that Rich makes decent pups but I wanted some more info. The pickups I had in mind as the replacement was the SD TB-4 and maybe SH-4. What do you think?

[Geognosy]

In the end, pickups are not really high technology. You can generally tell the difference in voicing between similar output pickups in the same guitar if you take the time to compare them correctly. But for the most part, if they have the output you're looking for to drive your amplifier and they're not actually broken (microphonic, not adjustable to the right height or tilt, etc) then you will have a hard time ordering them from best to worst in any kind of blind test. Of course, the biggest difference is between active and passive versions, which are clearly distinctive. I generally only replace my pickups if I need different output or balance between positions, or if I'm looking for a major tonal change (P90's vs humbuckers).

The fact that you can spend $500 on a set of pickups wrapped with vintage 50's wire should indicate that a lot of the hype in the pickup world is designed to part you from your hard earned $. This is not to belittle the hard engineering work of pickup designers - I'm just not the kind of person who needs to take advantage of their science.

[Konfyouzd]

Agile stockers sound good to me.

[Pikka Bird]

I personally think the stock V77 and V87 rule for the RG1527 (great tone, superb note separation, though a little low on the output, but that can be helped with a screamer pedal or similar), but the six-string V7 and V8 variants really blow in the mahogany-bodied RGA121 (doesn't give me any chug-chug, but rather krrunk-krrrunk, you know), and I can't figure out why. On paper they would be just fine for the RGA, but it's just not happening.

And I've heard similar sentiments from people regarding a pretty wide palette of the entire Ibanez line- sometimes the stock pickup doesn't suck in general, but it's just not paired well to the guitar it comes with for some reason.

[Zeetwig]

So what you mean is that no pickups are "bad" or "good"? It's the context that determines if a pickup change is necessary or not? (Makes sense )

And in some cases, like Ibanez, the context often speaks against the stock pickups?

So if I don't find anything wrong with the stock ones then it is completely pointless to change pickups, since I will only get something that either does not sound as good as the stock ones (maybe) or something that maybe sounds a little better depending on how you look at it (but deprives you of cash)?

Btw are there any rumors around BC Rich B.D.S.M. pickups? Like they're ok, they're crappy, they're nice?


EDIT: this was meant as a question to all in this thread, not just Pikka bird

[Pikka Bird]

What I'm saying is that there's a certain amount of trial and error in this, and it's not always just a numbers game, since some pickups will complement a certain guitar's characteristics and some will seem to fight against it in a very un-musical way.

The only way to be sure is to take advice from someone you trust who have had experiences with the specific guitar/pickup combo you're looking at, or find some well-recorded samples.

(it doesn't have to be the exact same guitar- for instance I'm guessing there are many basswood RGs with maple necks that would give you similar results)

If you find nothing wrong with the stocks, then that's fine. But something doesn't have to be wrong in order to leave you lusting for something else, by the way. You can't fix everything with equalizers and boosters.

[Zeetwig]

Originally Posted by Pikka Bird

What I'm saying is that there's a certain amount of trial and error in this, and it's not always just a numbers game, since some pickups will complement a certain guitar's characteristics and some will seem to fight against it in a very un-musical way.

If you find nothing wrong with the stocks, then that's fine. But something doesn't have to be wrong in order to leave you lusting for something else, by the way. You can't fix everything with equalizers and boosters.

It's nato, which is very mahogany-esque. And about the lusting: I felt like spoiling myself with some new pickups at first, but now I'm not so sure anymore... Hence the question if BC Rich stocks are nice or crap, cause if they're good then I have one less reason to switch them :P

[Geognosy]

If you want to spoil yourself by buying something to change your tone, get a nice Para-EQ pedal or something that will give you options for shaping your tone before the amplifier (or in the effects loop). It's not the same as changing pickups, but is way more flexible and doesn't cost more than a set of pickups. A really narrow band EQ in the right place can totally reinforce a guitar's natural resonance and can give you a distinctive tone. And you can use your own ears to decide what sounds good, rather than have to navigate the minefield of other people's recommendations and preferences.

[USMarine75]

Best...

1. Dimarzio Tone Zone and Air Norton combo in many of the Ibanez RG Prestige guitars
2. EVH pickups in the EVH and Peavey Wolfgang guitars
3. SD JB and 59 pickups in many ESP models

Worst...

1. Ibanez IBZ and V models
2. Stock Caparison pickups (for the $$$)

[goldsteinat0r]

This is a super broad question, but in my experience, if you buy anything above the bargain basement LTD guitars you get a pretty awesome pickup setup. I have a Viper 400 that came stock with the EMG 81/85 set and it was around 450 new. I also happen to love the Duncan JB for my personal sound which is what most of the middle-tier passive guitars come with. But again thats about taste. I've discovered a lot of people hate EMGs. lol

Fender's stock mexican single coils are just ok. The American made strats come with great electronics for the price. The Fender Atomic and Enforcer buckers are pretty sweet sounding pickups. I have a Clapton Artist series which came with the Vintage Noiseless pickups. For live performance they rock, though some cork-sniffy people will say they lack character. Plus that guitar has the mid and top boost circuits which bring out some seriously fat tones when dialed in properly.

I love how PRS guitars sound stock, but again thats subjective.

[Sephiroth952]

The old ibanez F-series are absolutely badass, but that may be cause their just rebranded Dimarzios with a few tweeks.

[JamesM]

The Gibson 500T and 496R are ....ing awesome.

[zappatton2]

I can speak for my own experience with the BCR BDSM pickups in 7-string format. I used to own a 7-string Warlock, and I found, played through my Fender Twin, that they sounded amazing. High output but not muddy, and the low end shook the whole house. I let myself believe that this guitar could only be improved if I went with a name-brand pickup, so I swapped them out for DiMarzio Blaze pups, and instantly regretted it. The DiMarzio's sucked the life right out of my tone, at least for my setup, the BCR stocks were noticeably, substantially better.

[BIG ND SWEATY]

the AX1+AX2 pickups in my my first guitar ever(ibanez gsz120) are great. iv never even thought about changing them out for anything, id almost prefer them to my SD blackouts.

[DrakkarTyrannis]

The BC Rich BDSM pickups aren't bad..but they aren't great either. You'd be happier with something else I'm sure. The stock Rockfields they put in now are great thought. I now use nothing but Rockfield Fatass pickups

[no_dice]

I absolutely hated the stock RG7321 pickups, but I actually really like the stocks in my Korean Epi Les Paul. I guess it's up to taste, really, though there seem to be some that are generally agreed upon as bad or good.

[Quitty]

Likes:
I rather like the stock PRS pups. Don't know why they get this much flak - they have a very distinct character to 'em, which makes it purely a matter of taste - at least they're not bland.

Reverend pups - great things, really, though i think the higher-end ones come with Duncans.

Jackson - best single coil sound i've EVER heard came from a Jackson Soloist neck. Super sweet - don't care for the humbuckers much, though.

Old expensive parkers - can't recall the model name. Could do some interesting stuff with an external EQ.

Godin - don't know how they did what they did with humbuckers, but i like it.

And best of all - Carvin. Admittedly, my Carvin has gone through the motions and had my favorite BKP installed in the bridge - but it is most certainly a matter of taste.
The stock pups sound very, very decent and blend together better than any matched or mixed set i've ever heard - including all the big names.

Mightymite - can be found on a lot of cheaper Cortek guitars (Cort, to name the obvious). The bridge is boring but definitely tolerable, and the neck is really cool. Splits brilliantly, too.

Dislikes:
Ibby. 'nuff said. Don't know why they'd shoot themselves in the leg like that.

Fender humbuckers. Sounds like it's going through a Zoom 505, no matter what you plug it into :\

Gibson Burstbuckers - the new ones, at least. Too much output and terrible feedback issues with pretty much every second guitar i've met - they do sound cool, though, but that doesn't help much when all you can hear is sqweeeeeeeeee.

Concerning Epiphone, the LP models have terrible, terrible pups IMO. Muddy, bland and undefined (LP100 and Custom, to be specific)
Epiphone SG's, on the other hand, sound absolutely spectacular - i actually prefer the G400 to it's Gibson equivalent.

[chrisharbin]

Originally Posted by USMarine75

Best...

1. Dimarzio Tone Zone and Air Norton combo in many of the Ibanez RG Prestige guitars
2. EVH pickups in the EVH and Peavey Wolfgang guitars
3. SD JB and 59 pickups in many ESP models

Worst...

1. Ibanez IBZ and V models
2. Stock Caparison pickups (for the $$$)

lol, well I was just going to say that the premium I ordered has the ibz's and it really sounds nice

[sell2792]

The stock pickups in the RG1XXV's are probably the best Ibby pickups I've ever heard. I was very pleasantly surprised when I played them.

[Wings of Obsidian]

Originally Posted by The Armada

The Gibson 500T and 496R are ....ing awesome.

The almighty Buckethead signature model combination. ^^^




Best Singles:

• Dimarzio Chopper (such sweet midrange and bubbliness/bounciness that I've never heard in another pickup! Plus, it's "technically" a humbucker in a single-coil form. This pickup is without a doubt a personal favorite of mine!)
• Dimarzio Air Norton S (again sweet midrange, nice articulation, and sweet overtones and harmonics).
• Dimarzio Tone Zone S (great drive and output and goes great when coupled with the Air Norton S).

Best 'Buckers:

• Dimarzio X2N (one of the highest output and hottest pickups on the market - and it's passive! But you really need to know how to balance it first because it is a little "over-the-top"!)
• Dimarzio Air Norton (versatile as hell from soft tones to hard-driving rock leads! Blues, jazz, metal, country, whatever, this puppy does IT ALL!)
• Dimarzio Tone Zone (again, great drive - and it has a complementary EQ to the Air Norton, which is why these two pickups always sound great together and form such a killer combination!)
• BareKnuckle Cold Sweat (just ask Misha Mansoor why these are great! )
• BareKnucke Painkiller (the so-called "ultimate djent machine"; however, I just love the midrange boost and sweet articulation across the board on this thing. The treble end can be a bit of a problem, but this thing is hands-down amazing just like the Cold Sweat.)

I'm not going to do a "worst" opinion because I've played through so many different pickups that I really, really cannot recall a worst. The "best" ones are just a few standouts that really impacted me when I use them or played through them, but as for "worst"...ehhhh....I'll get to it one-day to warn you guys.

[USMarine75]

Back in the day, I was so in love with the stock Dimarzio Fred pickup after I tried an Ibanez JS... I bought one for my Yamaha RGZ. Also put in one of the Yngwie stacked coils and it was pretty killer for just about every kind of tone. The sweet midrange and overtones were killer from that guitar.

[Zeetwig]

Sorry for late reply guys Thanks for all the answers! It looks like this it's very subjective what people think about pickups and stock pickups in general (surprise! ), so I won't push it any further Getting everyone to write a list and then compare them would be too much to ask. Thanks for all the replies though, you has been very helpful! ^^ And sorry if I bothered you by posting this thread :/

Originally Posted by zappatton2

I can speak for my own experience with the BCR BDSM pickups in 7-string format. I used to own a 7-string Warlock, and I found, played through my Fender Twin, that they sounded amazing. High output but not muddy, and the low end shook the whole house. I let myself believe that this guitar could only be improved if I went with a name-brand pickup, so I swapped them out for DiMarzio Blaze pups, and instantly regretted it. The DiMarzio's sucked the life right out of my tone, at least for my setup, the BCR stocks were noticeably, substantially better.

Cool! Then I'll definitely give the stock B.D.S.M a chance and don't can them the instant I get the guitar