• From: northern England
  • Registered: 2006-12-03
  • Posts: 36

Topic: changing my pickups

hello everyone

I recently bought myself a Tokai LP.  The guitar feels (and looks) great but the pickups are a bit 'muddy'. They don't sound awful and I've gigged with her just fine but I think she could do with a bit of a boost.

Can anyone suggest a good set of Humbuckers to upgrade this fine looking young lady.

I play in a covers band so she needs to be versatile.  We don't play metal, country or jazz but we do pretty much everything else.

Any suggestions?

  • From: Almancil, Algarve, Portugal
  • Registered: 2006-09-02
  • Posts: 6,205

Re: changing my pickups

Hi Shaunm,

I had a friend that had a similar problem and I fitted a pair of Bare Knuckle pickups for him. Hand made in the UK and certainly not the cheapest but he is over the moon with the results. On their site you can see the different ones they do and listen to sound clips to hear what they sound like.

Roger

"Do, or do not; there is no try"

Roger Guppy's Website

  • From: A black hole in deep space
  • Registered: 2007-10-28
  • Posts: 7,865

Re: changing my pickups

GuitarFettish makes a fine true Texas coil pickup in single and humbucking style priced reasonable I installed 3 of them in my strat build

"Growing old is not for sissies"

Russell_Harding's Website

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  • THE METALIZER. Naughty Rocker Boy.
  • Offline
  • From: WASHINGTON ST
  • Registered: 2006-07-29
  • Posts: 2,811

Re: changing my pickups

Ill double what Russel says,, I have used GF pick ups on a flying V (they were hot metal pickups) but GFS makes great pick ups at great prices. how about just getting some http://www.guitarfetish.com/GFS-profess … _4165.html or you can go  http://www.guitarfetish.com/GFS-Classic … _c_86.html  or active http://www.guitarfetish.com/REDactive-H … _6670.html

“Find your own sound.  Dont be a second rateYngwie Malmsteen be a first rate you”

– George Lynch 2013 (Dokken, Lynchmob, KXM, Tooth & Nail etc....)
  • From: northern England
  • Registered: 2006-12-03
  • Posts: 36

Re: changing my pickups

I'm liking the look of those GF's.  Reading the review they're as good as Seymour Duncan's (some say better) and, even allowing for shipping and import duty, I'd still be about

  • From: Nova Scotia, Canada
  • Registered: 2013-01-20
  • Posts: 4,083

Re: changing my pickups

Has anyone installed a set of Seymour-Duncan P-Rails in their guitar? My EP Les Paul has the coil-splittable ProBuckers in it ... which are pretty good, but I'd like something hotter. When the ProBuckers are tapped to single coil mode (push/pull volume pots) they're kind of weak.

http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/e … ils_shpr1/

  • From: Western Oregon,US
  • Registered: 2008-07-22
  • Posts: 2,498

Re: changing my pickups

This has been an interesting thread so far, all this talk about buying pups and such.  But what about those little cheap tone caps?  They have a life expectancy like a light bulb (albeit somewhat longer than most), and if you are not getting the sound you want to hear, perhaps a few bucks spent in changing those little critters would save you having to shell out serious ducats on new pickups.

There are some good articles out there to explain the particulars, but generally higher value capacitors darken the tone, and lower values brighten it.
That "muddy" sound just might be result of dumping the high frequencies to ground via a "dead" cap.  Just a thought....

"what is this quintessence of dust?"  - Shakespeare
  • From: A black hole in deep space
  • Registered: 2007-10-28
  • Posts: 7,865

Re: changing my pickups

I installed 3 GF true texas coils and for good measure I purchased a pre wired harness with large pots and a orange drop capacitor this is what the setup sounds like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdcCnvJ5OCY I think the tone and sustain speak for themselves the only effect is a little delay I purchased the pickups and harness from GuitarFetish they included a wiring diagram for the pickups too

"Growing old is not for sissies"

Russell_Harding's Website

  • From: northern England
  • Registered: 2006-12-03
  • Posts: 36

Re: changing my pickups

A bit of an update.

After reading all the advice from you guys I decided to buy a set of GF humbucker pickups for my LP.  I sat down with a beer and a credit card and started to browse.  Next thing I knew I'd bought a set of '63 Tele overwound pickups (7.8k bridge and neck) for my Mexican Tele.

Now, this was not what I had in mind but an impulse is an impulse so....

A week and a half later they arrived (not bad delivery across the Atlantic).  I'd never soldered anything properly before let alone changed a pickup so, after watching a couple of YouTube tutorials, I settled down with a mug of tea and set to work.  An hour and a half and quite a bit of foul language later they were fitted and working.

What a difference.  All I can say is thanks for suggesting GF.  They're powerful but you can still hear everything.  They push the amp beautifully without  sounding shrill, even on the bridge with the tone wide open.  I've played them live a couple of times and, at volume, they really growl.

So, after I've got January out of the way, I think I'm going for a set of GF Alnico V Humbuckers (in the zebra case).

Unless I get another impulse..

  • From: A black hole in deep space
  • Registered: 2007-10-28
  • Posts: 7,865

Re: changing my pickups

Cool glad it worked out ok for ya smile

"Growing old is not for sissies"

Russell_Harding's Website

  • From: Nova Scotia, Canada
  • Registered: 2013-01-20
  • Posts: 4,083

Re: changing my pickups

Great news, Shaun! It's always satisfying to make an upgrade like this yourself, and to hear the difference right away.