Will Changing Pickups Really Make A Difference?

[spirittoo]

I bought this guitar back in early 2022 ...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

If I replaced the bridge pickup with DiMarzio True Velvet Single Coil Pickups, and the Seymour Duncan SH-4 JB Model Bridge Humbucker Pickup would there be a noticeable difference in sound? Are they worth the price?

Thanks for reading my post.

[FrankHudson]

Yes, pickups offer different sounds, so a different pickup will change the sound of your guitar. Will it be the sound you want or have in your ear of imagination? Not necessarily.

I've played one guitar with a Duncan JB bridge pickup (on a 50's style Flying V alike). That pickup is a long-time part of the Duncan line so it must meet some folks' expectations. I wouldn't be anywhere near my list for an electric 12-string -- but I'm me, not you, or even most people.

Me? I'd consider one of the humbucker cavity sized P90 style pickups that most aftermarket pickup makers have. Duncan's is called the Phat Cat I think.

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by spirittoo

I bought this guitar back in early 2022 ...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

If I replaced the bridge pickup with DiMarzio True Velvet Single Coil Pickups, and the Seymour Duncan SH-4 JB Model Bridge Humbucker Pickup would there be a noticeable difference in sound? Are they worth the price?

Thanks for reading my post.

I went full on and full circle with price, build quality, styles and trying different pickups.

For sure pickups can make a difference but similar types did not have major or earth shattering differences. It might make more difference in a very budget guitar like that but my fixing up a Squier model when they were not as good as now yielded I still had an inexpensive guitar and the used/trade market cared little for my efforts. From that I would think about a pickup swap mostly about the experience for doing it.

On price, I took the time to try different pickups that were modest custom shop, and boutique types all in the same guitar. It was soldering practice that taught me it was still a Telecaster. Depending on knob and amp adjustments it was hard to tell much difference but some differences were there.

It was fun to work on stuff and learn for both the very inexpensive Strat clone and the Telecaster so I wouldn't say no except to keep in mind the used and trade markets did not care about my efforts.

I did not try DiMarzio or Duncan but tried the generic Squier, different Fender, Lawrence and Lollar.

Amps make a big difference too. When I finally got a decent tube amp with spring reverb I realized much of what I was chasing with pickups and guitars was really the amp. There are home/practice solid state amps with much better characteristics too - Yamaha THR and Sparks as good examples.

Make sure you have the right stuff for soldering and have fun! Practice your soldering first if that's a new skill.

[Charlie Bernstein]

Seems worth a try. What's the worst that could happen?

The amp matters, of course. But the biggest single improvement you can make to the sound of the guitar itself is probably refinishing it. What you have is most likely thick poly — cheap, but a tone killer. So if you like the guitar and are really ambitious, you could strip it (there could be as much as a pound of poly on there) and refinish it in rattle-can nitro or thin hand-rubbed poly.

There are lots of YouTubes that will show you how.

[H165]

I happen to like TV Jones pickups, and they suit my idea of the sound I want better than others.

HOWEVER, the comments about amplifiers are spot on:

Amps make a big difference too. When I finally got a decent tube amp with spring reverb I realized much of what I was chasing with pickups and guitars was really the amp.

[spirittoo]

I checked out this video Darrell did on less expensive pickups ...

CHEAP vs EXPENSIVE Humbucker Edition! - Can You Hear The Difference?

[URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jf4xYCMtFVg"][URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jf4xYCMtFVg[/URL] 10 min

So I decided on the manufacture he showed. I got them through Ebay ...

[URL="https://www.ebay.com/itm/284308703831ttp://"]
[URL="https://www.ebay.com/itm/284308703831[/URL]

[URL="https://www.ebay.com/itm/175743632658?var=475134301150"]
[URL="https://www.ebay.com/itm/175743632658?var=475134301150[/URL]

[URL="https://www.ebay.com/itm/175743632658?var=475134301149"]
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MustLT50--fender-mustang-lt-50-50-watt-1x12-inch-combo

I don't know why the other links didn't embed I tried a couple of times to redo it, but there it is.

[PointlessPicks]

Been soldering joints since I was a teenager and am now 59! Th biggest key to soldering anything is to remove the oxidation layer present. This is for everything, be it wire, terminals, leads from resistors capacitors etc.

If something has wire like leads (resistors, capacitors, or wire) please take some wire cutters and pull the wire leads through the wire cutters rotating the wire each time so that you have sheared off all the oxide layer all around the round wire leads.

It is is something like a terminal on a volume or tone potentiometer, (pots) please take a small sharp screw driver or a small blade from a pen knife and scrape it on both sides, and all edges until it is shiny.

Being shiny means you have removed the oxide layer. With the oxide layer removed the solder will flow quicker, you will add much less heat to make the joint and it will look much better!


Now you are armed with enough information to build anything electronic your heart desires. Soldering is pretty simple.

Cheers, Doug (PointlessPicks)

[ras1500]

If you've already spent the money on upgraded pickups, you may consider upgrading the pots and capacitor. Those items are relatively inexpensive. Also consider a better three way switch and output jack. I upgraded the pickups and all the electrical parts on a Chinese made Strat and it made a significant difference in tone.

[Matthew Sarad]

I took the ThroBak humbucjers out of my SG and replaced them with Z90s from HarmonicDesign pickups, small company here in Bakersfield. plugged into a 1980
Deluxe Reverb sporting a mid 60s Vox Celestion Blue, I got rounder, fatter, and juicier tone ftom the pickups.

I have HD pickups in my Tele, PRS McCarty, and now, the SG.
The McCarty came with Duncan Designed P90s. The HDs are sweeter, more balanced and articulate.

[spirittoo]

Originally Posted by ras1500

If you've already spent the money on upgraded pickups, you may consider upgrading the pots and capacitor. Those items are relatively inexpensive. Also consider a better three way switch and output jack. I upgraded the pickups and all the electrical parts on a Chinese made Strat and it made a significant difference in tone.

I may replace the pots ... the tone pots on more than one of my guitars are not working. I resolder them on one of my guitars and that helped.

What role does the switch play? They are the five way switches. Are output jacks different from on another?

[ras1500]

The switch and output jack will typically not affect the guitar tone. However, higher quality parts are more durable and unlikely fo fail in a short time period.

[Puddleglum]

Count me in as one who believes good PUPs make a world of difference. I have two examples.

I once had a Strat I built from parts. I bought one of those cheap pre-wired pickguards from StewMac to get it finished. Sounded pretty blah. Like a Strat? Sure. Buy nothing great. I then found another pre-wired pickguard that came off a 1993 Fender USA Strat. It was like night and day. The better PUPs gave me the sound I was looking for. Sold that guitar (like a dummy) — c’est la vie.

Fast-forward several years later when I wanted another electric to riff on. I got a cheap Jackson that looked cool and felt great. Sounded ok. Then I got a Sterling / Music Man which also has humbuckers. The Jackson sounds toy-like in comparison. The better PUPs really do make a big difference.

Where I’m skeptical is once you get up into the super high-end PUP world. They are ALL good — great even. So I’m not sure switching between those is really worth it. YMMV.

[rokdog49]

I have two Teles.
One has the Cavalier Nocaster Holy Grail in the Bridge, the other the Cavalier Nashville Lion. both are upgrades
They do not sound the same but both are very good.
The original pickups sounded good as well.
It’s all in your ears and what you want to hear.

[redir]

Pickups definitely make a difference. There are obvious big differences like going from single coil to humbuckers but also how hot or not the pickups are wired. Cheap guitars these days, well I mean Epiphone, Squire, that sort of thing, not dirt cheap, come with pretty good pickups now tough. So it's quite possible you won't hear that much of a difference but you just might too.

As for soldering, the other important thing aside from all the good points mentioned above, is to make sure there is wire to lug contact. You want to solder the wire to the metal lugs making sure you have contact and not have the wire just floating in the center of the lug held together with a blob of solder.