pickups

Vintage is a term that gets used a lot in the world of music gear. From classic guitars to iconic pedals, you don't have to go very far to bump into gear that prominently features the tag as a selling point. And the fact that new reissues keep coming out every year just goes to show how popular the vintage market really is. This is especially true when it comes to pickups. From Seymour Duncan to Lindy Fralin and more, there are a good amount of manufacturers out there that dedicate a lot of their resources into recreating some of the most iconic pickups ever made. Today, we're going to look at what exactly is a vintage pickup and few of the reasons why the original manufacturers went away from the classic formulas in the first place. Continue reading →

[caption id="attachment_2235" align="alignright" width="300"] SEYMOUR DUNCAN SHPR-1s P-Rails - Neck and Bridge Pickup Set - White[/caption] Hard rock seems to get most of the attention when it comes to shredding solos and being the atypical music star, but that doesn’t mean blues guitarists can’t melt faces with the best of them! Today, we're selecting our top five picks for that good ol’ American sound. It does come to mind that pickups aren’t made to fit on all guitars, so we’ll do our best to get a little variety in there as far as featured guitar bodies go. Well then, read on and check out our list for the top pickups for blues!     Blues Pickups for Stratocaster and Stratocaster-styled Guitars One of the most popular guitar bodies ever produced is that of the Fender Stratocaster. There are innumerable clones of varying quality and even a diverse model assortment of the real thing, and while certain aspects may be different from one to the other, one thing that you can always count on is the uniformity of the pickup slot sizes, letting your Fernandes Strat don the pickups of the real thing. The Stratocaster and their clones use three single-coiled pickups with only very few exceptions in the case of special models, but for all intents and purposes, these are for your standard Strat pickup configuration.   Continue reading →

Installing a set of replacement pickups is a great way to alter your instrument's tone so that it better reflects your own personal taste and style. While there are plenty of great humbucker sets out there, each with their own distinct sound and feel, these five managed to create a tonal combination that took them above the rest, becoming one of our most popular humbucker sets.      Continue reading →

Back when punk was still in its infancy, there wasn't any right combination of guitar, amp or pickups that you had to have in order to play  -- all you needed was a few friends and plenty of attitude. Since then, the genre that was birthed on the back going against the grain has matured and evolved into a versatile style with a wide range of sounds that are very different from one another. From the classic, single-coil tones of The Clash to the humbucker heaviness of The Misfits, if you have a certain style in mind you're going to need the right setup. While you still need plenty of attitude, these various pickups will help you get one step closer in your quest for that perfect punk tone in your head.   Continue reading →

Whether you're looking to give an old, worn-out bass a much needed tuneup or breath new life into your perfectly good instrument, the following upgrades are some of the best ways to easily and effectively get better tone quality and give your bass a fresh new feel. Today, we're starting off with the big one - pickups. If your bass is anything less than professional-grade, you owe it to yourself and your instrument to pop in a set of aftermarket pickups. While the pickups that come with most of today's bass guitars are pretty good, the sheer number of pickup manufacturers and the tonal options available should make you give this upgrade heavy consideration, especially if your still equipped with a stock set and are interested new tones. Whether your bass accepts humbuckers, single-coils or even soapbars, there are a wide range of pickups available to you in several tonal styles.   Continue reading →