Want to ask if DiMarzio 35th PAF are worth changing? Im now using Epiphone SG

a friend of mine once said,"if you dont like the sound of your guitar, change the pickups, and you'll get a totally different sound". is that really true? n does anyone know the distinctive sounds for Seymour Duncans, EMGs, DiMarzios and give some brief info about them?

I agree that the greatest sonic improvements of a budget guitar is to change their pickups and also have it properly set up.

Generally speaking, metal player favors emgs, shredder favors dimarzio, SD pickups are popular in all genres, Gibsons if you want the traditional PAFish tones.

Of course, nowadays they come up with pickups that can suit all types/similar to each other. For example for PAFs you can get the Dimarzio 36th Anni PAF, SD Antiquities, Gibsons Burstbuckers...

It all comes to personal choices.

EMG VS DUNCAN VS DIMARZIO

which one suits u most? sound is very subjective so i don't want to say that emg is best , duncan ftw and so on..so what current setup do u use? for example emg 81 in bridge and 85 in neck..

mine is seymour duncan invader for both bridge and neck..what's urs??

hmmm i only use emg once....the sound was kering....how to describe?

i also used emg b4 but then..the sound seems like lifeless..maybe it just me

This post has been edited by nizamextreme: Jun 8 2009, 04:37 PM

Again, it depends on the body, wood type, construction, neck....... too many things to factor in.
You can't just group all together and say EMGs sound kering..... The EMGs on my Razorback, Les Paul Custom and LP-100 all sound completely different, even though they are all EMG 81/85.....

yes true indeed...the emg i use was on ibanez rg....not sure its the pickup or the guitar or maybe the amp, but i like emg sound from jeff loomis....chunky

i've read somewhere that people telling that emg doesnt adapt to ur body sound whether it is mahogany,alder,basswood,ash or poplar..they sound exactly the same on any type of wood

i will post after i can find the article..and somehow many people agree with that..let me find it 1st

hey i know were talking about duncans and emgs, but does anyone know how the ESP LH-100 pickups would compare to emgs or duncans?

dat stock pickup kinda muddy to me..but still sound nice..i dunno why people talking bad about that pickups..i guess u bought a new LTD guitar bro?

haha not exactly new, had it for half a year now. but im just curious about how the sound would change if i decided to change the pickups to duncans, im not exactly going for a metal sound, (yeah i know i bought an LTD guitar! but it just felt so good!) so i was wondering how different it would be with some duncans on.

Havent had much experience on pickups, but I'll try to list down some of those that I've played and liked.

Gibson 498T: Tried it in a LP copy, instant modern LP tones. Bright but not harsh, with thick mids. Love it on cleans and especially on distortion. Not the most extreme sounding pickups for metal.

Dimarzio Super Distortion: Tried it in an RG, LP and SG copy. Don't really like it in an RG, to me it fits my alder body SG the most. Bright, piercing mids and powerful sounds. Currently used with the SG downtuned to B and it sounds great. Not very good for cleans, but splits sounds fine.

Dimarzio Humbucker From Hell: One of my favourite pickup, usually people fits it in the neck but I like it on bridge too. Perfect pickup to clear up the muddy LP neck tones. Sounds defined like a single coil, strong like a PAF. Low output.

SD JB: Tried it in a JB copy and a Jackson DK2M. I like it on the alder body Jackson better. Bright piercing tones that are great for distortions. Easy harmonic squeals. Don't fancy its cleans.

SD Jazz: Played it once, not much impressions on my head.

Bill Lawrence 500XL: Surprisingly I like it a lot. Seems very well suited for a basswood guitar.

Dimarzio Evo: Powerful neck pickup for solos, but not really my type. Sounds kinda.. one kind.

Ibanez V7/v8: Good pickups for the bargain minded. Good shredding sound. Sounds muddy on a 24.75 guitar.

I would like to try out some PAFS in the future.

thats quite a lot

This is becoming more of a pickup thread, so merging it with the Pick-up thread topic that's on the sticky at the top.

I havent try emgs, tone zone, Duncan 59's, A2Pro,Dimebag, Invaders, blackouts, PRS, gibson 57s, burstbuckers, tom andersons, fralins.... could go on and on. Pickups are such a magical thing to me.

This post has been edited by quarantined: Jun 8 2009, 11:00 PM

i like the sound of duncan livewire metal on their web..but i havent found shop that are selling them..damn..

there is a huge noticable difference once you change your stock lh-100 pickups to emgs. tighter tones and a fatter crunch

oh cool, but from what i've gathered so far, EMGs are more for metal music right? im going for an all-round sorta tone. good cleans and not so much distorts, but louder than a squier strat.. anything?

Actually, the EMGs are very versatile as well. I use my EMG equipped LP for alot of clean stuff too. It just gives out more output that's all.