How To Choose Guitar Pickups

[@demodeiowa]

what people also fail to consider is the fact that these guitar tones they fall in love with often goes through sometimes heavy studio processing before the record goes out changing the sound of said guitar hero to something difficult to achieve

[@johndalber1165]

Good point actually. But made me think, what about during a live performance ?

[@demodeiowa]

@@johndalber1165 kemper perhaps

[@shoon1093]

I know i’m 2 years late, but Tool is a good example. I know their not for everyone. But their replication of tone is uncontested. If you can extrapolate any guitar philosophy out of them, it’s definitely live tone reproduction. If anyone reads this try finding some information about Tool’s tones. If you can apply that to yourself it might both help the quality your mixes/masters in your originals, and the tone of your guitar live in front of an audience. I hope I added something positive.

[@Kaz999998]

Yeah, like obviously pickups matter, but the finished result you hear is after it goes through an amp, possibly multiple pedals, and then gets mixed and mastered.

[@r-bascus]

@@Kaz999998 And then you have the speaker in what kind of cabinet, and end it all with a hopefully decent mic, if you are recording or gigging.

[@eddiebrandenburg835]

My brother R.I.P. put a set of the older Bill Lawrence Humbuckers in his 72 Fender Telecaster around 1980-81 and the guitar was his work horse for 30 yrs in the honky tonks.He had a great tone and the guitar had twang,blues,and Rock n Roll just pouring out of it 6 nights a week,every guitar player he let sit in tried to buy it. Those pups are still in it,that guitar stayed in tune and to this day it has not had a fret job or any work done to it.

[@williamdon3442]

Condolences. Cool story.

[@gringogreen4719]

Great video Dylan! In short tone is a quest we are all on. Just a heads up, this may be a little long. I was fortunate years ago to take a pickup winding class with Jason Lollar at Roberto-Venn here in Phoenix. I got to ask him and the Roberto-Venn staff quite a few questions while I made my humbucker and Strat pickup. Everything you said echoed most of those conversations I had then. Something really interesting that Jason told me is that pickups sound different in different guitars. Years ago I had some Seymour Duncan 50s style PAFs that I originally got for my Epiphone Sheraton I had at the time. These were exposed coil black pickups that really clashed with all the gold hardware on the guitar. Eventually I had the Sheraton rewired wiith new electronics and Gibson pickups installed to really push that guitar to Gibson territory and specs. I took the Seymour Duncan pickups and moved them to a black Samick SG that I had punked out. I didn't think anything of it at the time but those pickups DID sound different even from memory. Unfortunately I had to sell both later. In chasing tone there are so many variables that one thing is not going to be the night and day difference you might be seeking. When I was at that class the instructors mentioned that even wood will have different sound qualities depending on which part of the tree you get the wood from for something like a Spruce for an acoustic top. So I did find what I like tone wise, mainly Telecasters, hollow bodies, Filtertron pickups and P 90 pickups. For amps I prefer 10 inch speakers over other sizes as my main speakers. I like overdrive, echo and reverb as my "go to" tones as I play a punk/country type of mashup. I like heavy strings and heavy picks...that's Jazz physics! It took me many years and many guitars to figure these things out. Also it took many different variations on brands and equipment I never would have originally considered to find aspects of my tone. Enjoy the journey!😎👍✨

[@nick1fenton]

Love this. Love it. So much good information here. I think of pickup performance as being resistance at gauge size on combined with what magnet strength. My personal preference has always been to have attack and clarity out of a pickup rather than output. You can always add more gain, right. You can't easily add clarity without affecting eq balance.

[@bradt.3555]

Also people are chasing a recorded tone!!! In person it sounds different!!!

[@gringogreen4719]

Keep in mind a recording is EVERYTHING from the player's hands to the recording consol. And yes most bands and players can sound considerably different in person. Lots of that is actually the sound guy and how good they are. I will say Ride sounded the most similar to their recordings when I saw them live. The Reverand Horton Heat has had great sound every time I have seen them.

[@zarlodious1]

@@gringogreen4719 Tom Petty in concert literally sounded like the CD 💿 was inserted and they hit play.

[@dylaneagles]

Your videos have always given us so much knowledge. We appreciate you! Keep doing what you're doing. Such an amazing channel.

[@ubellubo]

Dylan your videos are so great. It’s hard for most guitar players because we don’t have twenty or thirty guitars to compare. And most of us have zero technical knowledge. We just want to get the best guitar for our money. So we turn to forums where we receive a hodgepodge of advice, it we don’t have enough understanding to understand the advice or critically assess the advice. Your videos are a big help. Thank you.

[@michaelcraig9449]

Yes they dont teach this stuff in school, only learn this stuff in the school of life, and we got to take the initiative to try and learn as much as possible..

[@richclayton5785]

😂 Being an amp guy, gotta say “The tone’s in the cone”. Good advice and good explanation’s again-thanks!

[@johnhutsenpillerjr1785]

I watch Darrell Braun alot and he did a video on cheap vs expensive pickups. I honestly couldn't tell a major difference in the sound. Love your channel tho !! All the best Sir.

[@causetherat308]

Ya, Hi, I want a pickup that makes me sound like i know what I'm doing. Got any? : ) Awesome video. Clarity and a wide frequency range is what I look for. I can bring out the sound I need.

[@Luablood]

EMG... oh wait sorry I misread... I read "like I don't know what I'm doing"

[@michaelcraig9449]

@@Luablood EMG Select..even worse. A beginners mistake I once made myself. Some player to me.. "Yeah get the EMG Select, cheaper than EMG, everyone is going with active pickups now"..sounded like generic crud.

[@leonardoignaciorodriguezga9667]

@@michaelcraig9449 For me EMGs would work pretty good (specially the steve lukather) since i play metal

[@jochem420]

Yea its called practice lol, every intermediate guitar player's nightmare

[@TeensierPython]

I’ll take a set of “knows what he’s doing” pickups.

[@SteeringSteel]

And just like that I’m a little wiser today than I was yesterday 👨🏻‍🎓. Thanks again Dylan for another great guitar tech video 🤘🏻✌🏼

[@KennethCrickmore-sl8jl]

I like your content and how you explain things such as facts about how everything work in a guitar. ...I have to say sorry ahead of time because this is gonna be a long one like most comments I post.. LOL And ...here we go.... I chose the pick ups for my guitar build for the supposed power and sound I expected from what I had chosen.. along with the wiring scheme i designed to get the most from my designs and doing it all by myself and learning as I went along in the build.. I ended up with a better sound than I expected.. the Pick ups were pretty hot measuring at an average of 18.5 K ohms with pretty strong magnets . as these were quad rail/coil humbuckers for $16 on Amazon. as with all the parts i got there they were of better quality than you might expect, they had a magnet between each of the rail/blade poles that makes 3 magnets each pick ups.. so very stronf magnetic feilsa and al the wire winds in the coils. so the way they are made makes for fairly powerful output from them... add to this the way I wired the controls each has a 500kaudio taper P/P volume and a500k regular style audio taper pot but for the bridge pot which is a P/P type to activate the bridge and neck P/ups together anytime. so ciol split or not makes no difference despite how its switched in the circuit .. everything plays nicely with everything else in this circuit design but it took a lot of work soldering all those connections as I wanted them to work... looking at the wiring in the control cavity you might thing 'What a mess.. but it all works after a few tweaks and false starts I figured out the details and got it right finally. what fun that adventure was ans the result was better than I had any reason I had any reason to expect. but then that's how it usually goes with my plans for a project go for it and see what hapens. Even with the extreme design I came up with for this guitar build/mod project.. My mind comes up with these possibly crazy Ideas that in the end work almost too well for how it came together... Just lucky? or do I have real design genius.. I don't know nut it works for me either way... I built bicycles from scrap parts and got ghood riding and cool looking bikes with discarded parts, paint cans and as few new parts as I could manage but for inner tubes and tires as needed... other custom parts I wanted took barted of labour with those s[pecialty makers for chrome. and a special miniature size springer front fork to fit a 20" bicycle frame that I had kicked out fot it to look like a real chopper with the sissy bar on the rear, a 'King/Queen' seat with the battery for the working light system under the rear/Queen part of the seat. it took a whole summer to finish that little custom bike build. I didn't expect it to win at the 'world of Wheels show that year for it's category.. but came in second so I got a trophy for it.. don't know where that went.. but I still have the good memory of that build and how good it came out and yes the lights all worked headlight turn signals front and rear and brake light all worked just like a real motorcycle... I sold it real quik for a good price.. at least 10 times what I had into it.. .. that seems to be the case in most of my builds... just frugal on parts and do as much myself as I can get a good result.. I don't like spending more than I have to on things is all... growing up not exactly poor but with a low budget in mind.. why pay more for the same I can make on the cheap... I like working with my hane weather it's on a car I need to fix or upgrade. or anything else the catches my fancy at the time.. I can't afford collecting cars right now but guitars are cool and I like that I can sink my teeth into a good project guitar for a little money and get a good result with my owm 2 hands and some basic tools and some good special skills learned along the way too.. I had to buy a few special tools like the soldering station and a few other tools from Harbor freight.. as well as all I got from Amazon and other places... seems I have a gift or something...I don't know....I just try to make it as good as I can for the least money I can get away with.. seems to work well...

[@charleswallace5818]

I want to thank you for all the time you spent making sure my tone needs were met. First time I ordered from you, you called me at 830ish to make sure I received a pickup that worked for me. I still enjoy watching your videos. I know I have said it before but you are a class act. So real. Would have another day trip to hang out with you guys again. Stay safe and be blessed

[@gordyn5292]

That was fascinating Dylan. I really didn't think temperature caused so much of a variation before.

[@Leo_ofRedKeep]

It was only a 6% difference and we haven't heard that difference so we don't even know if it is perceptible.

[@maekong2010]

Man, what I'd give for a two-minute conversation and a set of pickups from you. But I live in SE Asia and bringing in anything overseas triples-to-quadruples the cost of the actual product. And the budget simply won't allow. But, in my gut, I know you're the guy I'm looking for. So it goes. Have been a subscriber for a while, but today I rang the bell. Happy New Year to you.

[@jdavis6355]

Definitely gonna refer back to this when I get good enough to mod my guitar. Thanks man!

[@raulgrangeiro]

Your explanation should be heard for everyone changing pickups. Here on my country I did that with a local pickups producer and I ended up buying a completely different pickup than I got there expecting to buy and now I’m pretty happy with it.

[@jonathanj-g-yyelle6144]

_Awesome_ info on your video! I have always adjusted my own pickups. (pickup height and pole profiling if the pickup allowed it.) Your explanations really help me understand a lot more of what I thought a pickup was. Thank you!

[@3cardmonty602]

Tell em Dylan. This is why when I go into a guitar store I always play a new guitar on the same amp with the same settings all the time - clean channel. Then I add dirt. But, even then - are the pickups adjusted to the correct height. My best guitars are a $65 Partscaster S-Style & a $50 LP knock off. So - there's so many variables.

[@rayprevailer8454]

Speakers are a huge part of any sound. Same with a Volume POT. 250, 500, or 1 meg.

[@singleplayer75]

One of the best videos on the subject, hands down. All the right things said in the right way.

[@RonaldMarceau]

THE best explanation I've ever heard! Thank you so much.

[@thomassawicki2065]

Hi Dylan Early 1950's Gibson and Fender designed the pickups to get the most beautiful musical response. Guitars were used in Jazz Country and Pop music . And a pretty tone was desireable. In the 1960's distorted overdriven guitar was getting popular and players wanted hotter p'ups. The problem is that hotter pickups lose the pretty to get more gain. I play Jazz. I use 57 Classics on my Gibson and Original Vintage Telecaster pickups. These 1950 output pickups sound wonderful clean for Jazz/ Country/Blues.

[@T25de]

Really digging the level of insight you share. I’m a total guitar modding rookie but I own a fluke 289 so not a total rookie with the pixies.

[@coilsboutiquepickups]

Maybe the BEST tech channel on YT!

[@DylanTalksTone]

thanks so much!

[@paranoidbeing1191]

Wish I understood the terms you’re using here a bit more, interesting stuff for sure but the science goes over my head a bit.

[@rustyaxelrod]

Here’s an odd situation I’m guessing. I have put a bunch of time into a 1960 TrueTone arch-top guitar. It was my Dad’s and he passed away a couple years ago, so it’s a sentimental more than logical thing. After a neck reset, some cosmetics and dressing the frets I’ve got a couple of strings on it and found I have exactly 3/4 of an inch from the bottom of the string the the top of the guitar at the neck position. It was equipped with one pickup originally, one volume and one tone. As a kid, I remember it having a chrome covered pickup. I can put it together anyway I like, the original pickup and electricals are long gone. I’ve been shopping for a unit that will fit without cutting the body (it’s gotta be surface mount) and I’m not finding much. Most of the likely candidates I’m finding are neck mounted. I’m not opposed to going with a bridge pickup either, there is .865in clearance there. I would like for it to sound accurate and it will mostly be played clean, I’m a rock guy and love mountains of distortion but I have other guitars for that. I expect with the giant hollow body, it may be boomy but I have little experience with amplified acoustics. I have a few pickups on hand but the only one that seems a possibility is a Seymour Duncan Humbucker labeled APH 1B1 but some mods would be required. I could modify the mount (it has a tall one on it) which would leave it at .550in tall and leave me .200in for string height, more than enough as I would be shooting for .093 (3/32in) gap. It also has long screws for the poles so I would have to drill some holes for them or shorten them (what effect would that have on the sound?) I’m reluctant to do that not knowing if this particular pickup will sound acceptable. Alternatively, I did find a Snake Oil pickup that is suspiciously inexpensive with the proper dimensions but for $37 prewired, I suspect disappointment would be the result as far as sound but appearance would be good. I have found a couple of vintage options but they are out of my price range and would probably at least triple the value of the guitar. I guess I’m asking if you are aware of an affordable, thin, surface mount pickup for a archtop guitar. Maybe in the $100 range? I “think” I need a humbucker as shielding will be pretty much non-existent (except for the wiring). I’m also thinking tone may be reasonably accurate if I use quality 500k pots and an orange drop for the tone and leave the volume rolled back a little. I have also seen some passive tone controls lately with a small board and few components that say they offer more control, any thoughts on that? Thanks for any help you (or anybody else that made it this far 😉) can offer and for a good video. 👍

[@memphramagog]

Excellent presentation! This explains a lot and will help to find the sounds I'm looking for. I can now also avoid the expensive mistakes I've made in the past. Thanks Much!

[@steverivera419]

I'm blown away by your pickups, the sound I get now is just amazing! Anyone who cares about tone can't really be go without giving you a shot,,!

[@jeffgagne5482]

Thanks for this! Exactly what I needed to know to get a better understanding of the pickup puzzle.

[@tedc6694]

Conversation with the pickup manufacturer. We are so lucky nowadays. 1978 when I started playing electrics we were lucky to find a magazine to read that didnt lie. Too much to hope for to find a guitar salesman that wouldn't lie. Couldn't slow down a song you wanted to learn. Jeeze now that I think about it, I ought to be amazing be now. Where is my guitar and where are my reading glasses? And who are you people reading over my shoulder? Punks!

[@ianyoung8392]

There are pickups that I think were designed to mimic the overall sound. For example Yngwie used some of the lowest output pickups possible, boosts his signal with his overdrive and dimes his bass on the preamp as well as cranking the preamp. I would argue the Dimarzio Chopper is Yngwie without the overdrive pedal and bass boosted at the amp. It sounds not like his pickups but his finished sound. As for choosing pickups my criteria is: 1. What vowel shape is the voice of the pickup? 2. What output do you require for the genre of music and the velocity on the preamp? 3. Does your pickup need to match the output of others? Ie neck+bridge 4. Do you want to prioritise body, mid range and power of a humbucker or the chime of singles? 5. What is your ideal switching situation? 5 way with lots of session musician options or 1-2 genre specific pickups to play only a single genre via 3 way? I've been able to put together 6 coils, Hum, rail + rail with a hyperswitch because I want the best of all tones. My bridge and neck are high output which allows split options for positions 2-4 to be quieter and more gentle/chime on the preamp. To help guarantee chime my guitar is all maple and basswood and my pots are 1 Meg and 500k tone. This helps exaggerate strat high frequencies.

[@93mathis1]

Great subject you are so right there's so many things that come into play

[@pa-pyro2804]

And I haven't had the opportunity to shop for hand made pickups but your prices definitely shocked me I was expecting a higher price. Totally doable if I need me some pickups some day I'll definitely get me some Dylan's

[@michaelcraig9449]

How do you contact him about it?

[@Leo_ofRedKeep]

People who cannot cook still talk about ingredients instead of taste.

[@rockinran]

I smell what ya cookin

[@DylanTalksTone]

I can cook. I LOVE to cook

[@ThaRealChuckD]

Tasteless ingredients are a matter of taste.

[@alexmar1382]

@@ThaRealChuckD True; but remember, you can't make chicken salad out of chicken shit.

[@brandon.4451]

@@alexmar1382 You can make chicken salad with chicken shit and sell it to a customer if you're full of bullshit.

[@baronvonchickenpants6564]

Before changing pickups why not try an EQ pedal?

[@allanwilson8878]

baron von chickenpants Spot on! So much money is spent on guitars, amps, pedals, whatever when an eq could easily do the trick.

[@johnramsey7706]

Absolutely YES SIR!! People never seem to think about that brilliant fact!!! That's what their guitar hero's do to hone in their signature tones.

[@rickwoods5313]

What about like smokeless pickups going to real single coil. Eq may not do that trick?

[@rickwoods5313]

Stupid phone and me not proofreading, that's noiseless pickup...sorry

[@GC-ji3ye]

Rick Woods Smokeless made it better 😂

[@firemarshal2629]

Dude you deserve so many more subs. Great stuff.

[@DylanTalksTone]

Real Heel Ryan thanks so much

[@guitmanful]

I agree, there are so many variables, that it could wind up being a crap shoot (trial and error) unless the pickup maker has had enough experience at it to know what effect each part produces.

[@emiliano9321]

Thanks a lot for taking the time into doing this informative videos Dylan!

[@Unrosine]

Keep up the good work man, it's true that you are the best channel about guitar gear on youtube.

[@mikefarquhar5063]

Hi, to start I do not know where to start other than tell you what gear I have and the issues I'm having with what I don't like about the gear I have and if changing or in my case right now choosing what to put in my DIY guitar build so it may be easier in a clean slate sort of way. Amp- solid state- line 6 Catalyst 100watt/50/0.5w attenuator option with 6 amp models from clean, boutique, chime(vix ac something) , crunch, dynamic(similar to clean with more dynamic) to high gain. I mostly use the clean and chime amp Connections to pedals- 4 cable method through line 6 pod go using the fx loop footswitch set/merged to switch on pod go amp and cabs Or Same footswitch on Podgorica for fx loop to switch off pod go amps and cabs and allow me to use the catalyst amp models I mostly use clean and chime, and this choice also allows me to use my jhs 3series compressor into Boss OD-200 pedal and what's cool about this is the catalyst amp has a power amp in/fx loop switch, so it is in this 4 cable method always switched to power amp in, and interestingly enough I believe the amp is designed for this as when I switch the pod go fx loop footswitch toggled either or, say using the pod go amp/cab sits the catalyst amp won't allow any adjustment of settings other than master volume so bypassed except speaker and that section of the amp, so when I toggle the pod go fx loop switch to catalyst mode it only switches off the amp and cab sits, leaves all other fx blocks on the pod go and I'm now allowed to adjust the catalyst amp models, and everything from there on to the speaker. It's pretty cool, and effective as most of the pod go presets suck so I either buy off of line 6 marketplace but still have muddy tone issues yet positively I still have the compressors set up, drives set up etc Ie the "inspired by pink floyd" preset pack is very close is made by fremen a guy who plays in a pink floyd tribute band, successful one at that. The best tones I've aired so far, and I play mostly blues, and rock as much like Gilmour as I can, I love his clean tones and high gain delay type sounds, I don't really step outside of that box much so I'm more invested and inspired by his stuff also john mayer, but that may or may not be helpful, Both options require pod go to bypass amps and cabs via global settings This allows the option manually to make the two possible without the amps/cabs coming on all the time. I've often went back to just using the catalyst amp by itself it's got a pretty good clean amp model I use thus the most, and use that for a foundation for compression and drive pedals and have taken out the delay pedal that was right after the boss od-200 because the delays on the catalyst where they are in relation to the pedals sounds better to me. I have issues with muddy tones in some of the fremen inspired by pink floyd preset pack, it has full set list presets for 30/40 pink floyd songs, 80 overal presets Inc the snapshots, plus 6 impulse responses to choose from which are binded to the presets they're intended for, I contacted the fremen guy about the muddy tones his answer was the catalyst isn't a true FRFR speaker/amp But I can still get fresh crisp tones with the gear and settings I use mostly. My guitars are an old Fender mim STARcaster strat ripped out the guts put in sss config with 5 way switch and additional toggle to make 7 way- Gilmour black strat mod, pos 1 toggle on uses bridge and neck- no tone control tho Pos 2 toggle on all 3 pickups Lately I've been using pos 4 and 5 /and/or. I also have a 75th anniversary fender telecaster mim I use that for a broad range of tones from clean to fuzz, bluesbreaker, centaur on boss od-200 or pod go, I like to experiment. 3rd and final guitar My new build, still needs pickups and paint- clean slate I'm going for the HSS configuration hoping I will cover more bases and i see this is an opportunity to build something different, From what I have already can be enough but I hope to overcome the muddy tones on the pod go if it is possible without changing the eq or global eq so much it'll wreck the rest of the presets I like. I also go direct from catalyst xlr out to scarlett 2i2 3rd gen Audio Interface to cakewalk, the tones on the troublesome muddy presets are slightly better, but when testing the difference by using the pod go's headphone jack there is still a lot of difference in the overall range of frequencies this is just my guess. It sounds way more like stereo because obviously it is but in mono monitoring mode on the audio interface its still muddy and thar is bypassing the catalyst amp physical speaker and cabinet. So maybe there's a way to still punch through the mud without sounding like a bunch of hrnets in a tin can, I know it's not a tube/valve amp, but I'll satisfied with what the catalyst can do already but am confused why even direct to daw recording from either catalyst xlr with attenuator to off and no amp speaker sound only xlr, or main out mono and stereo to ch1 and 2 to audio interface or amp out to audio interface still has less desired effect. Could a certain type of humbucker allow more of the desired frequencies to get through or be more prominent idk the terminology, ive looked at eq graphs, saw that most are 2 dimensional and that decay being the 3rd dimension especially in the lower frequencies in milliseconds the low end may be taking longer to decay and this somehow somewhere in the whole chain could be the issue it could also be my studio monitors classed as near field- brand/model Alesis m1 Active mks' Saying that.. its (after a lot if time of trying the same preset through all of the output choices I have, it's still muddy and bumping up the treble or cutting the lows doesn't add it only makes things worse I'm looking for a solution, if humbuckers in an HSS strat type body, with two single coils wound in a certain way, pickup height to suit the pickups maybe, I'm willing to experiment on this new build, parts aren't that expensive I can easily get more pickguards and pots caps at various values, setups and try them out but pickups cost more it'll take more time. Which I am will to commit. Isn't everyone in one way or another en pursuit of the desirable tones? Everyone loves music, I'm just more into the how and why without forgetting to enjoy and have fun along the way! Kind regards, Mike (farker) Farquhar Or Lord farquard - yeahbits me fro the livestream q&a from Scotland! I still love you guys. Maybe deep down you know this'll make up for the taking the piss outta my name lol I'm live and let live. Just getting your attention. If you somehow invent a brand new pickup that will not only solve mine but many solid state amp user's similar problems, I'd be OK with it being named "The Shrek-bucker"

[@chrisball8080]

G'Day Dylan. I really enjoy your videos. Its good to see someone talk sense. I'm 76 yrs old and started building my Lap Steel Guitar. I know, probably a bit late, but if don't get to use it my grandkids will, I hope. My design is an 8 string, 2 pickup, 24 inch scale with 24 fret parallel fretboard. I cannot decide what pickups to use and where to get them at a reasonable price. I'm using a Tele type tailpiece, 92.9 mm wide with a 10.5x7 mm string spacing. I have seen some 8 string double Humbuckers on ebay, but I'm not sure what quality they will have. Hopefully you can point me in the right direction. Keep up with the great viewing. Motorhome looks good too. Cheers from Australia. Chris. 👍👴

[@thegolfnut812]

Your correct in what you say. You can have a great guitar but you still need an amp and if you have a low end amp you'll never get the tone you're after. One problem is that most of us that play and can play really well aren't in bands and aren't making money playing. We play a range of stuff from Zepplin to Jazz and everything in between. Pickups are made of magnets and there are a range of magnet types and the charge on the magnets, then the wiring and how they are wound. There is so much to this that it boggles the mind. Then the hands of the player. Not everyone has touch. Someone with hands of stone won't produce much tone on any instrument. Like a kid banging on a piano. Your thoughts are good and thanks for the video. Now, where was I in my search for the holy grail, oh yea, I already got one, and it's a nice one too.

[@chriskettlewell801]

Interaction between pickups is a good one. I have a Tokai Les Paul I’ve been thinking about replacing the pickups on because while I don’t mind the bridge pickup I’m really not a fan of the neck pickup and definitely the middle position I think is useless. I played a Gibson Slash Les Paul at a shop recently and just loved the clarity of the pickups at all positions of the volume knobs and they sounded great in the middle position too. So definitely like the idea of trying to get somewhere near that in replacing the pickups.

[@ianbraganza3065]

Just learned about your channel and man I'm loving it! Thanks so much! I think if you put out a course on this stuff you would kill it. Then again, I really appreciate learning this info for free. The next time I need to buy pickups, I'll be calling you

[@DylanTalksTone]

patreon.com/dylantalkstone we do a monthly zoom class

[@ianbraganza3065]

@@DylanTalksTone cool!

[@BI0L0GYN0T35]

Good video man! I’m building another guitar and trying to nail down a new tone is what I’m focusing on. This helped me ask the right questions.

[@alexanderswinimer2287]

I'm currently building a flying v, do you know any good pickup brands?

[@jonbuckner4467]

Years ago I received a Yamaha SE812. The pickups on it sounded fine when new strings were on. After a day or two it sound dull. New pickups eradicated this issue. So for me now it old strings factor in to a pickups assessment

[@yormajesty]

I Appeciate U Dylan, I usually just go by the price & usually if it is a Seymour Duncan, Lindy Fralin, or DiMarzio

[@swampdog1592]

Fascinating i want more videos about the inner secrets and comparisons of various single coils verse different humbuckers p90's etc!

[@MrSonorbakken]

Brilliant video. I just discovered this channel, and I really like it. The problem is that the more I learn, the more questions I got. Well I subscribed, and the next time you make a video that is remotely within the ballpark of some of the things I’d like to know, be prepared to get a bunch of questions.

[@terryjohinke8065]

Your best comments so far. You got it right. You need to have that conversation about several factors with a pickup builder. I liked the demonstration with the cooler, why can't it be 23C and medium humidity all the time? I was measuring two for a Tele last night and the weather here at the moment is spot on for a set change ( 2 different brands) but Ohms readings were spot on. I have also used both before so it's ready to go tomorrow Aussie time. Good call Dylan. No coffee?? No Scotch??

[@jvgauthier]

What I'd look for if I changed my two humbuckers.. I play a Jackson SLSMG soloist with those passive EMG which are ok for that they are, but the 3 different positions differences are on the subtle side, which is my biggest pet peeve of that otherwise fantastic guitar. I like when the tone difference between the 3 positions are as in your face as it gets. Give me a edgy hard rock bridge, a funky middle and a jazzy neck. As long as there are no major volume drop off at a given selection, I'm happy. We'll talk about specs later.... An other thing that I'l look for, that's irrational, but I fully assume it : aesthetics. I like the two pick ups to look obviously different.

[@MrStu9459]

Thanks Cobba, a good viseo talking straight. Thanks

[@noelrizzo5829]

this is the best information i have ever heard. thank you.

[@schwenke069]

Yep ... variables. Easy to solve for one ... hard when there are 3 ... 5 almost impossible. More of an art than a science.

[@marks2254]

Thanks for the invitation to suggest videos. My first question would be how do you define the borderline between low and high output pickups and how do I determine where on that spectrum I want my pickups to be.

[@emmanuellehuu8818]

Great vid as always :) keep up the good work!

[@Umo44]

Much appreciated brother!

[@taokichavez9319]

I agree that the term overwound is subjective but that can be really easy to solve, You take a really popular well-known pickup and use that as a baseline and advertise it as such, lets say Gibson 57 or a seymour duncan JB/59, or a fender or P90 or whatever. And yes, ultimately what defines the sound of an artist is the sum of a guitar+pickups+amps+effects+production so the tone chase (obsession) for a guitar pickup makes sense as long as one already have all of it

[@TomReinerDE]

Thank You, Dylan! Super helpful!!!

[@PhilHeesen]

Great video, thanks Dylan!

[@jimismith6648]

I had the pleasure of borrowing a 1965 Fender Jazzmaster for a recording session, this thing sounded beautiful, absolutely stunning. I have since bought a modern Fender Jazzmaster, and was trying to get close to how the 65' sounded. Same gear, same player but they sound very different. Since DC output is not necessarily a good way of predicting how pickups will sound, I was wondering how to best match old vs new pickups? Also as a side note, I'd be interested to hear how 55 years of playing alters the tonality and function of a pickup. If that's something that can be replicated, or accounted for when trying to match pickup tones?

[@wesleywheeler7891]

i will always love the sound of p90's pushing a high gain amp...as long as i have a noise gate

[@blackhavocjim]

Haha I just went through this chasing that early Megadeth tone Dave Mustaine had. I swapped in the JB bridge and Jazz neck, and it got me the brightness and clarity I wanted. But the tone just wasn’t there. I recently picked up a Blackstar tube amp to replace my 80’s Peavey solid state, well that was it. The lead channel cranked up, bass rolled off, and the shape set to a little more to the British tone side and boom there was the Rust in Peace tone. I tried my old pickups for good measure, the Jackson neck pickup was waaaay off, but the bridge was closer than I thought. I had a Duncan Screamin demon on the bridge. It sounded close to the JB but with a little more mids, and little less brightness. Still went with the JB/Jazz combo in the end. But my amp played a much bigger role than my pickups did.

[@thanosp.8140]

"Yeah... hey... I'm looking for a new guitar pickup... for my guitar..."🤣

[@Wildman9]

Hi Dylan,there is plenty of pre-amp circuits available for guitar, the TBX, treble bleed etc., Maybe do a video on the pros and cons.,and maybe a schematic or diagrams .Thanks.🎸

[@rockinran]

Great video Dillon, I'm very impressed with your knowledge of pickups and sound. My problem is when I saw the title of this video I thought wow, this is going to be the video for me as I'm looking to change the pickups in my Epiphone Les Paul. As much as I like watching your videos and enjoy picking your brain I now have more questions and answers. LOL ain't that just the way it is though? Thanks brother have a great day.

[@DylanTalksTone]

rockinran feel free to go to the website and shoot me an email.

[@fraterlemuele.s.l.d.6435]

What about”What type of pickups to use on thinner body Guitars”?much love homie!

[@steev6946]

This was awsome and helpful. Thanks for the insight.

[@michaelcraig9449]

I have not seen anyone else address this side of things as well. So many factors go into it, I knew this, just did not know the names of everything and what exactly the factors are. OK.. I had a conversation with a very advanced player in my area a few years ago, a pro for many years. He said he recently got his amp modded for less gain, more crunch..I got confused, because I thought more gain was more crunch. He said "Too much gain takes away some of the sound, makes it sound smaller, more crunch, edge of breakup, is actually a much bigger sound", basically that was the point. So, this set me to a different way to look at this. I play a Stratocaster, the way huge Hendrix Stevie Ray type tones is what I am looking for. I want to go even huger if possible to do my own thing with that tone, not copy anyone, use that tone and have it dinosaur huge! I am not a metal player, more of a classic rocker, but with tons of extreme variety.. I play, and write lots of extremely different types of songs, some so opposite it seems maybe odd that I would like such different stuff. From Hank Williams to Hendrix, Frank Marino to Frank Sinatra... OK.. I want a super monster huge tone that has lots of variety. So I would think that would mean adding as much highs, mids and lows as possible, instead of eliminating, or scooping anything, am I right on this? I have some pedals, like Ibanez TS9 Turbo, Boss Power Stack, Boss Super Overdrive, Wah, chorus, analog and digital delays, phaser, Big Muff, Fuzz Face.. But to me the pedals are just added bonus. It should sound awesome with no pedals if it is done right. I play through a 1965 Bassman and also have a 1968 Fender Twin reverb.. I have one 2006 stock US made Fender Strat. So the gear is all good. What to do next to get that way huge tone ?

[@johnnieguitar5724]

My vintage strat tone sounds different through different amps and through different speakers. Amps add and subtract tones, and speakers I suppose will do the same thing. Finding the amp and speaker combo has always been my challenge. My Fender amp with a specific Weber is my present winner.

[@jeffmclowry]

Thank you Dylan!!!

[@dobby240]

Dude the air con parts amazing. I know it's just electrical resistance but it'd something I never considered.

[@DRodMuzicman]

Thank you for the knowledge 🎸

[@richthetrashpicker-upper5244]

Hey I think I see June Mountain in the background Mono Lake area

[@Phil-Grocholl]

I know this video is a few years old now, but I am new to this channel, and just came across it. I just wanted to say, the info you are giving out is great! I play classic country, and some rockabilly. Sometimes some Frank Sinatra kind of stuff. What would be the best pickups for someone like me? I like a little slapback echo, delay, reverb, but generally clean tones, with good clarity.

[@Editing72337]

This is an excellent video. I have a couple of different guitars but I am never sure how much the pick ups influence the tone. I was thinking of buying other ones to put in a guitar and this has made me look at it in more detail and ask what do I really want.

[@DylanTalksTone]

Let is know how we can help! I can make you something nice and hemp you spec it for your needs

[@leftyzappa]

“Knickleback”. LOL

[@khersy]

outside of time bro, nickel back is listenable now lol. I love ur commitment tho 👌 good bit man

[@GC-ji3ye]

Great video Dylan!

[@LeMans512]

Superb analysis.

[@pjmoreau]

Great videos glad found your channel

[@nicholassaridakis381]

So, how do the Pickup Manufacturers (like the one from Brooklyn, N.Y.) manipulate the EQ part of the Pickup Build to the point where they can scoop the Mids or numerically valuate the frequencies, in general? Thank you for the great Video's BTW!!!

[@C1schecter101]

Absolutely brilliant !!!!

[@ThijsLammerse]

Thanks for this great video.

[@lorenkrug]

Temperature changes pickups that much... I thought it was the wax in my ears from day to day 🤪

[@paulwesley3222]

Very informative video! Thank you.

[@DavidHBurkart]

This is great 👍. Much appreciated

[@stanesposito2664]

I like the painting! 👍

[@BishopEddie5443]

Amps, pedals and tone controls play a huge part of the equation as well. Don't buy new pickups for more power- use the gain knob on your amp!

[@Dldmny]

Absolutely!

[@hannuback]

At some point I was surprised that cheap guitars often have hot pickups already and those vintage style pickups can sound fuller than really hot ones. I thought it goes the other way around, but I guess not. Now I prefer something that stays relatively clean even at full volume and has good dynamics. In my opinion some of the worst pickups I've come across have been on those cheap guitars intended for heavy metal and rock. Then again they do get interesting with distortion. One thing I've noticed that people still relate cheap with bad. I've bought a few Squiers and sometimes I've modded them and people keep asking "what pickups are you going to get for it", like it would be obvious you have to change them. But I don't change pickups if I like them and they go well with the styles I play. You never know before you play them, I think it's more about what you're playing with them than are they "good or bad". I think I'll learn how to wound my own pickups for my next build, this stuff is really interesting and I would like to do some experimenting myself.

[@Leo_ofRedKeep]

I have heard very good sounding cheap Strat's and terrible sounding cheap fanfret things with mushy active "hi gain" humbuckers, which is nonsense in that pick-ups have no gain, only an output level. Maybe it meant these were designed to sound good with a "hi gain" amp setting. I guess this is what you get from pigeon holed instruments. It is a common misconception that stock pick-ups cannot be good enough. There is a cultivated misunderstanding selling character for quality. If we were talking about single malt whiskies, I would agree, but since pick-ups are just an element in a chain, blandness and a broad frequency response are actually objective qualities leaving more room for shaping the sound further down. So cheap guitars should come with "bland" pick-ups on purpose because they are targeted at a broader audience and often at players who are still developing a taste. Bland is good and "full" means bass and treble equally represented.

[@cyanidacal0lulz]

Lol nickleback killed me 😂

[@michaelcraig9449]

Nickelback is not worth a dime.

[@realtruenorth]

Finding the tone in your head can be such an uphill climb,, especially in the beginning of playing years.

[@trroland1248]

This was very informative. 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻

[@jsin197835]

Thank you for doing this. I’ve got a 1983 Ibanez Artist with a EMG81 in the bridge and a stock in the neck. I have only used the EMG81 all of these years. I see where a 81 pairs with an 85. My amp is a Orange CR120 through a Marshall 1960 cabinet. My effects are DD3,Compressor,and RAT. I appreciate any help you can give. I play a lot of down tune like D to B. I’m leaning towards Seymour Duncan sh4 with the jazz. I play in the styles of Buzz Osborne,Adam Jones,Steve Vai.Joe Satriani,Slayer,Tony Iommi,Joe Walsh,and Matt Pike of Sleep.

[@jimiksjk]

Hey Dylan my name is Jimi and I am wanting to change pickups for my guitar. I watched the video and you make a lot of sense and taught me a few things. How could I have a discussion with you further on picking the right pickups for my guitar? If you would be willing to take the time. I own a Kiesel HSS and just not satisfied with the sound 😔 I run through a Helix LT. Thanks!

[@FubarNicky]

when making pickups have you ever used neodymium magnets and if so what was the tone like compared to regular pickup magnets?

[@TheStacanova]

While I’m sure there are some people who want to sound exactly like Slash, I would assume that listing players tone the customers like would be extremely helpful to get in the ballpark of what they are looking for? For example: Someone who says SRV, John Mayer, Clapton VS the customer who says DJ Ashba, John 5, & Metallica will eliminate half an hour of someone trying to describe sound, which is always difficult, Custom: “I want it to sound more purple” Builder: “Umm, more like Prince?”

[@mikelundquist4596]

Lollar makes the best P90s, Seymour makes the best humbuckers, TV Jones makes the best Filtertrons, and the jury is still out on single coils. I have some VanZandts that I love, some stock Fender, have used some Duncan and DiMarzio that sounded fantastic. For me, for the tones that I am chasing. Just my humble opinion. It is different for every player, depends on what you're looking for. Edit: oh, forgot... got some Fishman Fluence in my tele, incredible!

[@JayMoreau]

Pretty fantastic stuff