You don't believe me about Pickups?

I try to do my science tests in a simple and repeatable way. Yet people refuse to acknowledge the evidence because? Well, I'm not sure why. Perhaps you can enlighten me! Love the show? Support it by grabbing the new Singularity Bass LIbrary over at Spectre Digital: spectredigital.com/plugins/si...
About Spectre Sound Studios:
I'm Glenn Fricker, engineer here at Spectre Sound Studios. I love making records, and after doing it for sixteen years, I want to pass on what I've learned. On my channel you can find tutorials on how to record guitar, bass, real drums and vocals. There's reviews and demos of tube amps, amp sims, drums, mics, preamps, outboard gear, Electric Guitar, Bass Guitar, and plugin effects.
We've covered Moon on the Water, played Bias FX, given you the absolute best in Stupid Musician Texts, ranted & raved about bass guitar, and this channel is where The Eagle has Landed.
Everything you've wanted to learn about recording Hard Rock & Heavy Metal can be found right here on this channel!
I also respond to your comments & questions: The best make it into the SMG Viewer's Comments series of videos. Loads of fun, lots of laughs.
Thanks for checking out my channel & please subscribe!

[@SpectreSoundStudios]

Almost 50% of Spectre Sound viewers are NOT subsribed. I need your help to grow this channel! Please hit the Subscribe button!

[@buckbreaker5185]

If pickups dont matter, why does the YJM sound so fuckin good???

[@iridios6127]

And you're pretty lucky. Most channels have a 30/70% ratio (sub/non-sub). 😉😉

[@michael1]

This isn't true is it? I see your videos typically have around 37k-50k views, perhaps the odd one on a different topic gets more. Whereas you have well over 500k subscribers. Thus it's more true to say that most of your subscribers don't watch your videos. Go figure.

[@tayzonday]

I’d believe in unicorns if Glen told me they existed with that face in the thumbnail 😳

[@RichardGarcia93]

Tay!!!!!!! Awesome seeing you here

[@PooNinja]

Vampires are real, how else do you explain all the dead unicorns!

[@ObviouslyNotJake]

​@@PooNinjawasn't that trolls?

[@jdestrada6281]

I'm convinced you're subscribed to all the same channels as I am at this point.

[@PooNinja]

@@ObviouslyNotJake I’m not sure now, but I’m still blaming vampires they know what they did!

[@Dovahkiin0327]

Glenn: let’s be nice and positive for a change! Glenn 5 seconds later: 😡😤🤬 I love you Glenn keep the positivity going!

[@zorbitalz]

I am 100% in that boat of people who you helped with music production. I learned recording, mixing, mistakes to avoid and a lot more from this channel and I am grateful that you put the time and effort into showing newbies like me the ropes. My mixes have gone from downright shameful to show to people to something I am proud of and excited to share.

[@electrikjam7661]

GLENN!!!! I have been recording for over 20 years at this point, and your videos have helped me with mixing guitars all the time. I am always learning new stuff, as EVERYONE should.

[@toxicStudios21]

Glen you and spectre academy is the reason why i know how to record and mix, i owe everything i know for recording because of SMG and i greatly appreciate this world you've let me in to. Thank you

[@bfunkadelicmusic]

I have to say you’ve helped me a ton both recording and mixing. Your series on recording drums had me change my mic position on snare and toms and it was night and day. I also remixed a track after your input on the Monday Mix Review, sent it to my friend a co-writer and he was just like “yeah, that’s it. Don’t change a thing.” Thanks so much!

[@niteshades_promise]

You've helped my music production with your years of experience so much. From live drums, to a kick mic a foot away from the bass cab, which gave me that nasty gnarly grindy over driven bass sound I've been after for years. It's glorious. I can't thank you enough for all your priceless wisdom. Hopefully soon I'll have some completed demos n extra cash to get on the mix review.🎃🍻

[@matiaserp]

I don't record anything anymore, but I love the show and usually get some pretty good laughs with some of your answers. You're the best, Glen!

[@stuartgoodwin819]

Glenn thank you for all the advice on production. You've saved me hundreds on plugins since the free ones you've highlighted like amped roots can do the job just fine and also saved me from having mixes that sound like a sad tin can with badly recorded mono guitars. Now I have solid mixes going that breathe. I literally said "CROMS BALLS!" When I heard my guitars suddenly pop out bright and clean for the first time!!

[@hellskreamer]

Been watching for a long time, thanks for all the amazing content over the years!

[@chasej7337]

Thank you so much for the shout out! If you hosted something I would definitely want to attend. I know I could benefit a lot from a boot camp experience to improve as a musician. My new band had our 1st paid gig last night, and I always go to your channel for tips before performing.

[@sixtiviris]

Thank you for this video SO MUCH! I wrote a question on your last video like this, and seeing this video that question and more has been answered! thank you SO VERY MUCH not just for that, but for your channel!

[@josephconti9655]

I’ve been watching for a few years and at first I thought to myself god this guy is a d-bag but, gave the channel more time to grow on me. As time went on I started learning alot from you and really enjoy the content. Now I find myself searching and waiting for your videos ! Thankyou for being amazing brother !

[@michaelsnydermusic]

8:41 you totally helped me in my recordings, and not just Metal stuff but my ambient work too. There are so many things I’ve learned but I think they all come down to one category: simplifying. I’ve been good at that in life ever since I began having severe facial pain when I was 18, then heart failure at 26. However, the key to simplifying is knowing what matters and what doesn’t. In situations like mine, that tends to be obvious if you have a clear head. In recording, not so much. I was constantly was struck with (digital) choice paralysis and it made what was supposed to be my escape another source of frustration. However, thanks to your knowledge and experience I am now able to get the sound I want quickly and get on with the fun part, creating. So thanks Glenn. Despite the hate you get there are those of us that have been actually impacted in a positive light and in more ways than you know. Plus you always make me laugh and laughter is the…well you know. 🤘

[@sunflowerhaze1498]

Just found you, Dude. You're hilarious, I love the roasting and the ranting, definitely the cussing. Thanks for keeping it real and being someone who just wants to have fun and share knowledge. I look forward to all the laughs and hanging out!

[@derickcofell9004]

You helped me make better mixes in a way. Most of what I took from you is leaving in things instead of editing everything and aligning everything to a grid. I think that really gives everyone their own sound.

[@theozimbro]

You not only helped me with my mixes, but you helped me increase my understanding of english vocabulary! Thank you!

[@jorgosagb]

I believe that the muddy sound was gone after I replaced the stock pickups on one of my guitars with different ones. Simple as that.

[@arazos9394]

Yeah i wouldn't agree that changing pickups do nothing. I have the same guitar, but one with high output pickups and the other with lower output. There is definitely a difference. Although I do agree that there are other ways to change tone/sound.

[@madmod]

In the context of a mix, the pickups matter very little. Without a/b testing a recorded sound, you have no way of knowing if the pickups made a difference at all in your muddy tone.

[@AndyRayZed]

totally agree, a lot of pickups are pointless but some are absolute gold, can't generalise on this stuff unless you're all about controversy and click bait of course :) but you can't really convince a sound engineer that fixes dynamic tones with fixed frequency boosts and cuts and plug ins, no doubt in the world of post production and mixing it all sounds the same apparently i'm glad this channel is all about sarcasm and positivity or i'd have thought he was serious !

[@michael1]

You probably installed the new ones at a different height. Although some pickups sound wildly different from each other others sound very similar. This idea about "in the mix" is just bullshit - I mean yes the music OP generally records nothing much matters or changes anything - it's just overly gained noise, but his ideas are as stupid as a guy who breeds Yorkshire terriers saying that all dogs look the same. All yorkshire terriers look similar. The music he produces all sounds the same, yes - and he's barely got enough hearing left to hear it anyway - he can't even hear himself speak without shouting.

[@Some_Habitual_Musician]

Gleeeenn! I like the idea of comparing a broken in speaker with a brand new one. I always wondered about that. Btw, the blue Harley Benton DC you reviewed is really great. Got one because of your reivew. What a gem that guitar is. Thank you!

[@MrChopsticktech]

Same here. I bought monitor speakers to run my PC through (and eventually DAW) and they sounded fine straight out of the box. Someone reviewed them on Amazon and said they sounded terrible out of the box and didn't sound decent until a ridiculous amount of time (like two weeks of 12 hours a day!). I have never heard a difference in new combo amps (guitar, bass, PA) either.

[@larryreis7273]

I always love watching you dude, whenever I need a laugh. You gave me one this morning, and whenever you have to deal with winie idiots, especially when they don't get sarcasm. Rock on.

[@MichaelSheaAudio]

I learn a ton from you! Even if it's not recording stuff (I watch a lot of videos, it's hard to track down where all of my knowledge comes from), I learn other things. I wouldn't have had the idea for a "control guitar" if it weren't for guys like you and Jim Lill putting in the work to bust the myths in music gear. And the point that I really wanted to get across with the control guitar is that if every single guitar review features the new guitar head to head with a different specific guitar, maybe people will eventually get the hint that humbuckers pretty much all sound the same, and single coils all sound pretty much the same, so they'll get in the habit of asking about the rest of the chain instead of something magical about the guitar.

[@houseofmars4319]

"...Unfortunately, they're just wires around magnets." Quote of the day😂😂

[@Freddy_4_Fingers]

I literally saw a video in my feed of a pickup maker on KZbin responding to you about this right before I clicked on this video. Definitely making some waves Glenn, keep it up 🤘

[@darkphotonstudio]

Yeah, even on a VST, moving the virtual mic around makes a massive change in tone. Listen with your ears instead of "mojo" bullshit. Idk what's so hard to understand about this. Btw, you did help me better understand how to use drum samples (on one of your critique streams), and I have a new album coming out soon. Thanks!

[@michaelsnydermusic]

Good luck on the album!

[@raakareiska9804]

Only thing here is bullshit is that people argue from their own perspective as the whole truth. Yes, pickups dont necessarily make difference in studio or live situation cause the studio gear, mixing and other stuff dictates the outcome. Yes, the pickups sound vastly different when you are playing alone home learning and rehearsing. This is why mostly guitarist's change pickups because 99% of time they hear their guitar is when they are practicing. Not in studio making albums or playing live. When I play death metal riffs at home I dont want to hear some weak ass Seymour Duncan JB sound that lacks tight low end on palm mutes. I want to hear some gnarly Black Winter, Nazgul or EMG 81 sound. No, you cant EQ pickups to sound the same with EQ pedal. I challenge everyone claiming this to make a video where you EQ Ibanez V8 pickup to sound as EMG 81 or Fluence Modern with single EQ pedal. Not going to happen.

[@solosabbath8940]

@@raakareiska9804 So I went to your channel and watched all of your highly scientific AB pickup comparison videos and I'm convinced.. that you don't know what you're talking about. A lot of words and no sources. In fact, you challenged some invisible person to make the video you want to see instead of providing evidence of what you're blabbering about. It's the "my god can kick your god's ass" argument. And if/when Glenn does make your highly specific video, you'll claim he "didn't do it right" or "this proves nothing" when it doesn't work out in your favor. Anyways, wanna buy my custom pickups? Made from real fairy dust, only $10,000! You'll have to hear it to believe it, and no, we won't provide you ANY audio examples!

[@tragicallymalicious1]

Wow I had to rewatch the intro, that's such a good laugh I had to do it twice. Good job!

[@tallmccartneymusic]

Hey Glenn I appreciate what you've taught me over the last 5 or so years I've been watching! Just wanted to mention my client was ecstatic after hearing your feedback on our track "Astro Babe!" That recording is a testament to cheap gear. No single piece worth more than $400 on the used market other than a akg414 I was borrowing from a friend at the time. The guitar I played was a $150 Revelle--whatever that is--going through a katana 50watt. I heavily credit your emphasis on mic placement when it comes to capturing the right tone for a recording!

[@AtillaBleicher]

Upgrading the PU-s in my budget and first-ever guitar to SD-s was life-changing. It started to actually inspire me, no matter how bad of a player I was, and I think that is an important aspect. That said, I think what you have to ask yourself is if you need different PU-s at all. Yes, there's a difference between PU-s meant for different genres, but then you might as well keep different guitars for those. EQ-ing a Gibson 498 to sound like an SD Nazgul may take a while to figure out, and you may still lack something, because the source is lacking. EQ-ing a Seymour SH4 to sound like an SH5 is literally 5 seconds. It is more about EQ-ing the amp in the first place at that point - which you might want to do before a performance anyways. Sure, get multiple guitars for your Pink Floyd and Metallica tribute bands if you want to. Buying top-quality brand metal PU to switch your other top-quality metal PU is just an expensive way of avoiding setting up a certain amp/cab combo you are familiar with.

[@michaelpartridge2049]

I've learnt so much about recording from you! The biggest thing by far was about creating space in a mix for bass by high passing guitars. In my early mixes I got a little stuck on the idea of trying to capture the sound of how guitars sounded live. Thanks to you I realised I was barking up the wrong bush. I've even started to apply the same thinking to my live sound and it has really helped with my bands on stage sound and my ability to hear my guitar better on stage. Thanks and fuck you.

[@ankh_franclim]

I'm a guitar player (non-professional) and a few years ago an audio technician recommended your channel - and I've watched every episode since. He was the firts person to tell some truths about recording process and why guitar players screw up a lot of the job. He was very polited, but clear: there's no way to get good results if you don't put effort in it. I have to admit: once I put my ego aside and started thinking about the recording and mixing process, my recordings got soooo much better. A good D.I. (sold an amp I wasn't using to buy a J48 and an IMP2), a well tuned guitar (every take!) with new strings, good and reliable cables, a lot of practicing before pressing the "rec" button and recording every track/line more then once (sometimes 4, with 2 different guitars). Well, it worked. Got a long way ahead, but feels like i'm on the right one. Thanks for the advice and keep up the good work! Greetings from Brazil!

[@thebearded131]

Hey Glen, I sent you a mix last week and you made a comment about the snare being tuned too low. I used some pitch correction on it and it made a big difference and brought a little extra life to the mix so thanks! My old ears didn't know what I was missing.

[@michaelthomas9991]

Another great episode Glen! I love your videos.

[@jessehutchings]

Glad you are still uploading these funny and interesting videos, Glen. You helped me understand that good gear matters but it doesn't have to be the big money legacy brands to do the trick. Of course, I have an Epiphone Prophecy and all BOSS amp equips, which I guess is technically big name legacy brands, but it's not GIBSON + MESA and still sounds heavy AF on stage

[@cadenruda4159]

I had totally been that guy who was copy and pasting one track. Working on recording my first full track and mixing it. Used the 3 guitar tack method and the bass like the MOP mix and it sounds MASSIVE. So THANK YOU for helping me make better mixes and tracks. I think you’ve covered it some in a video but if you haven’t already or don’t already have a video in the pipeline can you do one on what your levels are with the bass tracks. Thanks again Glenn much love to ya and thanks for the videos helping make the work week a little nicer.

[@aeoteroa818]

thanks for all the production and recording tips. ive been doing it for about a month. i dont play metal but most of your stuff seems still applicable. im demoing a single and working on some backing tracks for some indie covers to live stream a set. theres a huge lack of musicians in my area so i just got all the instruments myself. i just record everything di and i use midi drums. i have everything in my livingroom/bedroom, because my place is small so this is the only space i have.

[@Doomchild2XL]

Gawd, 11:34 made me giggle a lot more than it should have at this point. Just never gets old. 😅

[@AndyNocturne]

Yeahhhh... I mean, honestly, there's definitely A place for Gibsons, I just have no idea where.

[@phileisermann1257]

mshea_audio’s comment is spot-on, i came to the same conclusion ever since you opened my eyes to the impact speakers have on tone. Eagerly awaiting your video on this!

[@AnthonyVolpe]

8:35 not only has your channel helped me with my recordings, but I’ve passed on your advice to other musicians and engineers. I suggested the 5 foot equilateral triangle monitor set up to someone who has been trying to mix songs for commercial applications and it made her mixes sound a lot better and a lot more accurate.

[@alexandermikrievskij5332]

😂😂😂 Glen's sarcastic humor is just awesome!!!!! And HE IS HELPING YOU FOR FREE with real pearls!!!! This guy has a lot of EXPERIENCE! That's something money can't buy !!!!! Consider this! You unthankful ***** of *****😂😂

[@DigitalChemistryBand]

Turned my bassist on to your show... sent him the heavy drums playlist as he is engineering our recordings... he subscribed... yes... they can learn... 😂

[@davidasher22]

That was a nice touch getting Dan Worrall do the PSA in the beginning of this video!

[@gregamann2327]

Hi Glenn. 62 year old progger who’s been watching since #35 and bought the #2 mug for the bass player in my wife’s band. Good work!

[@SpartanA73]

Happy to hear that some content on bass tone coming soon. Honestly hearing about guitar pickups is getting REALLY old. Soooo let's hear about bs with bass pickups! love to see more content on bass anyhow.

[@Blazikenas]

You should also bring the control guitar for professional setup (maybe fret leveling) to some luthier and get some measurements for string height and neck bow. That way you can also accurately compare the setups without having to resort to "strings FEEL a bit lower here". If you have measurements, you can keep the control guitar setup exactly the same as the seasons change (because necks do move a bit). This whole idea of having a reference guitar is great!! Just you know, you need to make sure that the reference does not change across time.

[@BrantleyAllen]

LOL! That announcement was funny as shit! Sarcasm. Gotta say, that's part of the charm of your show. I love it, even if you think we bass players are... Well, you know.

[@brettmarlar4154]

The thing that I learned from you that improved my workflow, mixes, and even saved my bacon, is to ALWAYS get a D.I. of any electric guitars and basses. That way if you got a great great performance, but the tone just won't gel, you can re-amp it with the necessary tone tweaks, sorted.

[@marianoarnaiz]

Hi Glenn.... I just wanted to point out something as a viewer (since you had 10k subs). I have a Doctorate in engineering and work as a researcher, and I can testify that you have followed the basic steps to have factual results in all your tests. Yes, we can always improve on stuff, but you do not need a scientist in the room as it has been suggested. You are in the right track! If you do give a call!

[@mikeyj80]

@ 8:00 in, is this sarcasm too? Just busting your balls, thanks for all the effort on your channel, i don’t record metal but i still find tons of value in what you’re putting out. Much appreciated.

[@FPSBird]

Your videos have helped get so much better with my mixes and has taught me everything I know about recording guitars helped save me money buying pickups on my second guitar. I don't regret it on my first guitar because i mostly did it for the bad ass look. You also helped change my world on how to use compression and inspired me to go local for my hardware compressor and bought a delta mu compressor the mdc-1 built by my friend mitch at mitch davis circuits to get a unique sound. He is in Canada and has a reverb you should check it out it's amazing.

[@user-zx8bh7xc8q]

Thank you, Glenn! You awesome! Благодарю за очень полезные видео. Твой юмор позволяет учиться чему то новому без ощущения скуки!

[@The_Maddest_of_Hatters13]

Glennnnnnnnnn!!!! I'm so insanely excited for the bass stuff man!!! As a guitar player I can't wait to have one less thing to blame for my bad tone!!! Also have you checked out the Neural amp modeler?? It's a free, software version of something comparable to the kemper!! really awesome!! Would be cool to see an A/B. Anyway thanks Glenn, long time fan!!

[@slide8570]

I really appreciate your channel..lots of good information! I do believe, after 40 plus years of playing guitar, it's been my observation that pick ups do sound differently. I stuck a Telecaster neck pup into an EVH Wolfgang..surely not the same as a humbucker! Interesting tones for sure. Keep sharing..love the content!

[@SpectreSoundStudios]

Sure. Nobody is debating single coil vs humbucker.

[@mikestckl6939]

what i learner over the years messing around with gear , guitars , pickups, pedals , mics , amps , cabs , rack equipment , building pedals myself , even making pickups myself just to try it . what really matters is , fresh strings , pickup position (neck/bridge) , gain of the amp , eq / boost infront of the amp , the clipping method (not op amp of tube or shit like that , i´m talking asymetrical , symetrical , FWrectified , rail to rail clipping , that kinda stuff ) THE TONE STACK OF THE AMP !!! , eq AFTER the preamp (in fx loop) , Speakers/cabs , mic placement , and last but not least TIGHT PLAYING !! FFS thx for doing your thing glenn !

[@Joey.Darkwoods-Studio]

GLEEEEENNNNNN!!!! Ok, so you me realise something I wasn't totally sure about in the past. Because to "MY EARS" my pickups sounded different in gear, and this was somewhat confirmed when jamming once and I switched guitars, one with a Fender Talon loaded with Dimazio's (Super 3 and Superdistortion) and then went to my Washburn 333 Dimebolt (stock pups), and difference was night and day... This might have been the only time I, and the other guys noticed such a difference. But I often brought up the Keith Merrow videos here and so did you, there is a very noticeable change. You mentioned you would recreate this test, but still waiting!!

[@adamd.6698]

Thanks for another great video Glenn man

[@DethronedDeity]

lol that intro made me howl, thanks for that Glen!

[@jamiewatson4442]

Hi Glenn love you brutal honesty about all things and appreciate you sharing about being bullied awesome dude and I got a harley benton ja-20 hh active and mine arrived without any ground/earth issues and I love it please keep up the good work being honest about all music things mate greetings from Cumbria UK

[@MrInitialMan]

If I went to a boot camp for musicians, you just KNOW I'd haul along something weird.

[@craigtheibanezaddict]

Would be cool to see a test with breaking in the speakers, new vs "broken-in", maybe playing some stuff through a loop pedal (one that saves the recording even when powered off) so that you eliminate human error and even the strings being fresh/old. Also the loop pedal pedal will never get tired no matter how long you leave it on for!

[@jakacresnar5855]

Kohle did that. Minimal difference. He also had Jensen speaker's engineer chime in. Just play the cabinet normally for a few hours, the rest does nothing. Not worth investing extra effort beyond that.

[@Memu_]

Glenn uses re-amping whenever he does these kinds of tests so the performances are always the same.

[@craigtheibanezaddict]

@@Memu_ Ohhhh, that's a much better idea haha! Thanks for letting me know!

[@craigtheibanezaddict]

@@jakacresnar5855 I will have to check it out, thank you!

[@imcrazedandconfused]

@@jakacresnar5855 This. We see no such "break-in" tests anywhere, because they actually don't make sense - because there is not much to hear. Should not make any noticeable difference whatsoever. If it would be different, the speakers would be, uhm, kind of trashy? I expect any transducer to be as accurate as it can be from the beginning to the end of it's lifetime. Have you ever tried to "break-in" a microphone? Exactly. Nobody does this. Same reason. Do they wear off? Sure. After years, many years, in best case.

[@ghostofpanama622]

Glen, thanks for a great channel and I love your no nonsense calling out of bullshit. I am in no way a heavy metal guy but I seriously appreciate your take on things. One observation, back in the day headphone burn in was quite a big thing. Maybe it’s not now but I am not sure why as the laws of physics ain’t changed. The idea that the sonic character changed due to increased flexibility of the speaker cone seems fair enough. As speakers are just headphones for people with big ears, maybe there’s some detective work or bullshit exploding to be done. Thanks again for a great channel.

[@CommonsenseMK]

Make it so, Glenn I'll buy that shirt and hat. Great positive episode, Glenn. Cheers!

[@Dad-Gad]

EQ , Amp EQ , Pedals , all have made more of a change to my tone than any of even my " boutiquest " of pickups imo 👍

[@nathanowens3423]

I’m not even a metal guy. I play punk. But I love your channel. I use reaper based solely on your recommendation. You are a valuable resource. I would also say, watch other channels too. Music is in the ear of the beholder. Glen may get you to one place you want to go in one area, some other guy might get you where you want to go in another. I can’t speak for him, but I feel like Glen would agree with this.

[@m.a.6478]

Glennsplaining sarcasm, the thing I needed for a starter 😁

[@Zestran]

You basically thought me how to record in general. The only thing I ever did before I watched your videos was record my voice you KZbin videos, now I’m recoding and mixing my own band and getting pretty decent results using a lot of tips I’ve learned from watching your videos over the years

[@mikaeliby387]

Hi Glen! I´m a multi instrumentalist (I play whatever I get my hands on, litteraly since I stood up as a kid). I write and record in many genres. A couple of times a year I get the urge to make something heavy, and yes recording metal is definately the most difficult genre to nail in a mix. I´ve gotten WAY better at it though, and it is all because of you. And the tricks and methods carry over great to other genres, which is not necessarily the case the other way around. Keep it up!!!

[@mr.smithgnrsmith7808]

Skin Flute Maestro

[@stephenmoore2840]

I have just bought a Harley Benton custom DC and my band mates couldn't tell me what guitar I was playing when comparing that to a Gibson SG and an Epiphone SG with dimazio pickup in a blind test. They all pretty much sounded the same. What did make a big positive change in my guitar sound was fitting 2 WGS retro 30 and 2 vintage 30 speakers into my 4x12. I'm very happy that I listened to what Glen had to say 🤘😊

[@georgecorg783]

When I bought my first guitar, a cheap-ish 250$ Ibanez, the pickups in them were not terrible, but lacked a bit of clarity. I upgraded that quitar with a pair of DiMarzio Crunch Lab(some ppl hate them, I love 'em) and it cleaned the sound, you can hear in the chords that they got cleaner and the same amp sims I used sounded way better. Last month I got a brand new Ibanez with another set of DiMarzio in it, DiMarzio Fusion Edge Humbuckers, to be precise. They have, in the same amp sims that I played for years, pretty much the same sound as the CL, with some minor differences in tone and even more clarity in the chords. We are talking about stock pickpups, DiMarzio CL6 and DiMarzio Fusion Edge. Do you notice the difference in tone? yes. Can you swear by it? No, I would not. The amp(amp sim in my case) and especially IR makes way more difference than the pickups. I think this is the entire idea behind these A/Bs. Invest as much money as u can in an instrument that holds the tuning(you don't want to submit out of tune quadruple guitar tracks to the mix engineer, because you will get a polished quad out of tune tracks), get a decent pair of headphones or monitors, to carve out a good sound in the first place, get a good amp sound and an even better cabinet sound(try combining cabinets, experiment with IRs, blending more than one or even two can do wonders), once you did all that, THEN think about the humbuckers upgrade. Just my opinion.

[@victorlucky]

Hey Glenn, love your content! Do you think we could get a new 500 Series video? What are the good essentials for 2023/2024 and all that for people (like me) who are considering stepping into this type of gear. Keep rocking, man!

[@drewinman7171]

The intro was humorous and easy to understand. I know, I'm a bassist, and I did.

[@proshredda91]

I would definitely love to see some kind of boot camp happen. Watching your videos has changed a lot of my views on things. Also, I love your Futurama shirt. Could you tell me where to get it?

[@ZachProffitt]

Ive been mixing and making music since before I graduating high school, I've been using all of your tips and tricks except live drums (not trying to buy drum mics) but I've been making much better mixes as of late especially with the tips you have been giving in your more recent videos

[@radfury23g32]

I fully believe you in that any pickup can be matched with EQ and gain...but it'd be super cool to see it be done...ever since I used a guitar with the Seymour Duncan Distortion I've been in love it. It'd be super cool to see you turn the signal of something like a JB into a that of a Distortion...please??😁It's genuinely the only pickup that I've ever used and felt like it improved my tone in all kinds of ways

[@biscuit3111]

I beleive you dude. I had a Line6 half stack and it was such an education on amps. I would never have had the chance to own all the amps it modeled and get to play them as much as I wanted. Here's the other thing you could change speaker type and cabinet configuration and that made a very noticeable difference in the tone which was the conclusion you came to. Its hard for people to admit that their $250 set of shiny pickupsi didnt make their guitar sound better. I don't play metal much but I enjoy your channel. I like lhearing about modern recording gear and technique. I worked at a studio but left the scene shortly after digital 32 multitrack machines arrived. Im burnt out on recording its tedious and takes alot of time and I'd rather be playing. I like the way you bash on some of the rude or obnoxious people that write in,. Keep it up, they deserve it!

[@theshedmonster]

Love the channel ...wish there was a Canadian guy shouting about Video Production!!! I know you are very busy!

[@mattnelson8325]

Great show. Thanks for all of your time and hard work. P.S. My butt does not hurt

[@idanshahar]

7:40 watching and hearing this. I'm from Israel, watching for many years. I felt like you might have been referring to our current war, and you've made me feel just a bit happier. Hey if not, all good, lot's happening in the world at the moment. Just to let you know your words, whatever actual subject they were aimed at, made me feel some happiness.

[@acecomet]

Love your videos man

[@HighEnergyPessimism]

I honestly have learnt that the most important thing is being able to recognize the tone you want and knowing how to recreate it. In an amp sim world where I use a full amplitube 5 set-up with tons of amps, eq options, there are so many different ways you can tweak tone so going through the effort of changing pickups is really the least efficient way of doing that. That being said, I am working on switching some pickups in one of my guitars for some soldering practice

[@stolenlaptop]

Just read this and couldn't agree more. I can make most guitars and amps sound the same because I have a tone in my head now. Problem is it took me a very long time to get there but it becomes your style.

[@robinfeathers7134]

LOVE the T-shirt, Glenn!!

[@csiszerg]

Glenn, my theory about speaker break-in is that you just simply get used to it - meaning that it is your ear which really "breaks in" an not the speaker :) I'd love to see an on depth review on that though if you'll ever have the time :)

[@thomastucker5686]

When do pickups matter? Clean tone? Edge of breakup tone? I know this is a metal channel, however, some of us play multiple styles. So including information on this channel that is not specific to metal can still be valuable information for metal heads like myself. I would appreciate if Glen had discussions not specifically tied to just metal. I don't think the metal heads would lose interest in the channel, but more folks like myself could benefit further from Glen's experience which most certainly isn't restricted to metal.

[@cycomiles4225]

Any alnico 5 pups work, at least in my expirience. Fishmans are great as well.

[@MichaelSheaAudio]

There may be some differences in clean tone, but as soon as you start turning up the gain, differences start to go out the window. And like Glenn mentioned, we can control gain and EQ, so why spend so much money on pickups when we can change how they sound externally for no extra cost? I don't think about how pickups "sound" anymore, I just go for the output. I built a single pickup Fender Strat and put in a $20-30 Wilkinson humbucker. Sounds like a humbucker to me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@hunter00143]

Yeah maybe swapping from single-coil to single-coil theres a tiiiny difference but going from a SC to a Humbucker is much bigger Glenn has never mentioned this, its always REEEE DONT CHANGE YOUR PICKUPS sure dude

[@thomastucker5686]

@@MichaelSheaAudio I have a 2005 epiphone that I swear even with high gain, I can hear a huge difference between that and a friend's 70s Gibson les paul. I can be pretty certain, most of that difference is in the pickups, not all of it, but a measurable amount. My Schecter solo II blackjack sounds way better than the epi, same amp. VHT/Freyette Pitbull 100 CLX. It isn't the most high gain amp, but in tone, it is crushing the John Petrucci Mesa JP-2C. I do not like the JP-2C at all. Need more experimentation with it, but the VHT is so easy to dial in tone.

[@cycomiles4225]

@@hunter00143 Yes, he has. That was the point of one of his blind tests. We all knew which one was a single coil guitar and which ones were with humbuckers, but nobody could name them. They were all shit guitars, but people tought they were expensive big brand guitars. Nobody complained about the sound, but the difference between a single coil and a humbucker is something we all instinctively knew because theres a difference and Glenn agrees.

[@StephGV2]

The whole thing about pickups is I really do get different frequency responses depending on the impedance. Doesn't matter if it's a $20 humbucker or $150 one, an 8K is darker than a 4K, a 13K is darker than an 8K, and a 26K has way too little high frequency response to be used with a standard tuned 6 string. They're hot as hell, but the reason no one uses 26+K is they sound like lukewarm ass. There's a good reason why most passive metal pickups are ~8K-11.5K. This is one of those things that's not opinion, it's electronic fact. This is also why companies and people turn to active pickups with ~8K-11K coils.

[@dmncanter]

Coming from the car audio world, there definitely is a change in speaker break in vs fresh soft parts. A dats v3 can measure T/S parameters, and is pretty cheap. Usually a drop in FS and slight q changes. It does make a difference in car audio for sure, we break in speakers then pull parameters to model them in winisd, or bassbox6 because if you do it before break in, it can skew results.

[@deejay7339]

The reference guitar idea really is a great idea.

[@Nobody92421]

Thanks for posting.

[@AzureNightsMusic]

Glen! Love your channel! Ive been a long time fan, short time commenter! In theory, if pickups are just almost like a preset EQ for the guitar signal, in theory could you take say an EQ/Frequency analysis for a pickup (say a seymour duncan nazgul) and then copy that into a digital (or analogue) EQ just after the Guitar DI before going into the amp/amp sim to replicate higher end pickups? Obviously taking into accpunt the EQ/frequncy spectrum for your current pickups? Many thanks!

[@TargetHHH101]

Its sad how many people dont understand the pickups dont matter thing, its a recording studio based show, when mic'd up and under gain and in a mix the difference is minimal at best, and no amp ever sounds the exact same in that situation as it does in a room, hell room to room has variables. Drums are same way, the way they sound behind the kit is different in front of the kit, and again in a mix. People sure are special, and love to argue and be know it alls on the internet. Love the channel.

[@stevetemple8826]

I'm just here for your reviews on affordable guitars 🎸 and to learn as much as I can before I finally buy one. Thanks

[@Caged63Man]

Really love for you to invite 'Frank Marino' (Mahogany Rush/fellow canuck), on the topic of pickups, and the type of guitar, woods, necks and amps used... His tone is to die for in my honest opinion...hell, invite him as honorary guest for one of your 'recording review panelists'!

[@armax00]

Hi Glenn, love the content! I have 2 questions: any chance you could make a video about equalizer tweaking? I think you did something similar previously but I struggle to find it. Second question: what is the contribution of the amplifier (meaning the pre-amp, I believe I understand the power amp is to increase the signal) to the tone? Is it similar to what the equalizer would contribute? Cheers!

[@thiagovidal8972]

the mix tips are black belt for real, this man knows what he's saying.

[@Kevtendo.64]

Honestly, would love it (when he drops the inevitable “how I achieve my bass tone” video) if it’s just a 5 second video of him holding a new pack of strings. Notes: I’m a bass player, and yes I put more time into proofreading this comment than thinking of the comment itself lol.

[@ToxicSentinelTTV]

Loving the Enjoy Slurm shirt, loved that episode of Futurama

[@countk1]

Love the one man army vibe here. I'll hang around a bit. I am following this whole debacle about pickups for a while now and it stumps me a bit that nobody actually thought about from what perspective people actually talk. To me it comes down to this: From the guitarists point of view: there is a bigger difference in tonality between types of pickups (single coil/humbucker/active/...) There is a smaller difference between subtypes (hotrail, lipstick,...) This difference becomes smaller (gernerally) when driven hard. The type of guiter build makes a bigger difference. It also affects how you play and alters the sound in that way. I mean with this that every type of guitar handles The amp alters your tone greatly when driven, and more when driven harder. The speaker cabinet with speakers alter your sound in a unique way that is not deniable in the end mix. The player itself also has more influence on the sound then a pickup for instance (that is at least my feeling) The end product is heard by your ears on a specific position The sound engineer: All of the above kind of drops off, because the sound engineer doesn't give a rat's ass about what a guitarist thinks of his tone. The engineer is given a certain sound, which is further affected by all the new elements when a guitar is recorded. Mic's used angles towards the speaker of these mic's Position to the mic to the speaker (distance in x, y and z) blends of all of the above post processing added. the end product of this sound is heard on full range speakers in a very specific and often specially designed environment. The thing is that when you start mixing the sound of a whole band, the tone of a guitar is getting less an less important when you are getting closer to the mastering phase. All the debacle about tone in the end is reduced to something that serves the band and neglects what a guitarist feels like his tone should be although the tone still influences the end mix. And that influence is mostly "flavoured" by (the amp and) the type of speaker, certainly if we talk about metal. High gain just takes away a lot of the source signal. A trained ear can hear the difference (human hearing can distinguish quite more then what you see on a graph), but the "tone" just not that important in an end mix. It has run through so many filters to serve a total sound instead of the tone of an individual (the guitarist). This said, the individual (sound) is still important in the end product. But too many guitar players are so self absorbed with their "tone" that they just can not fathom the idea of being only 1/12th to 1/64th or even 1/128th of a band's sound if you take it purely mathematical. And I say this as a guitarist. I've been there, being frustrated that my "tone" wasn't there in the studio. After a while I learned to alter my sound to serve the band instead of it all being about "my" sound. Now, I'm not a lead player, I'm a rythm guitarist (something guitarists also have trouble admitting to in gerneral) so I rather serve a band then to be in the centre of it anyway. I like my tone but I understand I'm part of something more then my "unique" being. Sound engineers have trouble with ego's in a studio as it will pull them out of their creative work constantly. It s recommended to have a healhty communication between band and engineer so that they will challenge each other to get to a high end product, but ego's from both sides might end up in a product that nobody involved might fully back up. Ego's can come from both the band and the engineer (I once put aside a sound engineer because he was neglecting his own hearing loss for instance and it helped him solve some personal issues in the end tbh, you know, cheap studios is also a thing to think about)). But I sence that band members (more specifically, lead players and singers) have the biggest ego's. And to be really honest? I think the studio you work with actually defines your sound way more then a freaking pickup. And I get it, I also used to buy the latest Seymour Duncan because it promised me to be a "screaming demon". And it was a good pickup. Just not worth the money I payed for it. But that is just me maybe. People and wanting to hear the truth isn't always a combo that works.

[@aidaneckart5054]

One of the best pre video disclaimers lmao. 😂

[@seanbarker4610]

Love the intro dude! Lol

[@brandonbryson3317]

Pickups make a lot more difference than just the sound. A lot of it is just the feel and response. Stay metal ray did a pretty good demonstration of this. He admitted that in a mix, the tones did sound all that different, but he still felt they responded pretty differently. I have a lot of guitars, and the response I get from my PAF style pickups is alot different than what I get on my higher output pickups. I can adjust the gain all I want on the amp, but the PAFs still have a softer attack and never get quite as tight. This can heavily affect how I play and write.

[@damienalvarez2957]

Response is one thing, but if you think your tone is gonna sound much better through a recording by dropping a bunch of money on some custom Bareknuckles or Lollars versus some production model Duncans or DiMarzios, you’re kidding yourself.

[@brandonbryson3317]

@@damienalvarez2957 never said otherwise. Though, in some cases, it does actually make a big difference. I’ve swapped pickups in some guitars and was instantly like “wow, this sounds exactly the same as the previous.” I hve a Dunable Yeti that I’ve tried several pickups in(already had all these laying around the house) and it basically sounds the same, no matter what. Whereas, I’ve had the total opposite effect, as well. I have a Les Paul that was really bright and lacking a little body/low end with the Gibson burstbuckers. Swapped it with a Duncan 59/custom hybrid and it was like a light switch flipped. Now it’s my most low end heavy guitar. Just sounds huge, aggressive, less harsh but tons of mid content and harmonics. There isn’t a one size fits all authority on pickups. Every guitar reacts differently. Also, recorded mic’d up tone vs in the room is a totally different scenario. If you are not enjoying the pickups in your guitar, you aren’t gonna be as inspired to play….just like if your guitar didn’t play well due to a bad setup.

[@Joel_Roberts]

No butt hurt of the week!?! Very classy of you, Glenn. I guess you do have a heart.

[@kreatos10]

You know, i have to say that i feel like you are right about pickups in a metal context etc etc! Btw thanks for the cab tips ive been messing with a lot of cab capture in my kemper to find my sound. Also this explained to me why when i used my mesa 50/50 power amp into marshall jcm 900 lead 1960 cab (with cab sim off obv.) No matter what amp tone i used it only changed my tone like marginally. (do take into account i would eq etc etc in a similar way) Like i said i kind of know by now how to obtained the tone i want from most amps but it always seemed wierd how close it get from amp to amp. That said, im only speaker about gain preset. a vox type preamp still sound different on clean ish. etc The only thing i can say is that ive installed BKP in a guitar and even my luthier said that he has never seen such special pickups. I dont think on a ab reccording (aka loop) of my bkp juggernauts vs emg 808x you would ear a difference with the same track. but The FEEL somehow is different for me at least which makes me play differently. It could totally be placebo but i prefer no batteries so hey At the end of the day im sure you are right from the perspective of things in a metal setting at least. Also, big thanks for all the test you do. Many I would have liked to do myself but gear is expensive. especially if you are only planing to test a bunch for academic purposes. Ps: Dont judge my choice of kemper :P Its a budget choice ive made years ago but its awesome to test bunch of theories and tones. Pss: The coffee cup like warning is Hilarious!