Pickup Suggestions?

bonzai bob

I have an old epi goldtop that i want to bring out of retirement.

At the moment electrics are kinda fúcked, buzzing of the pickups etc. So i want to get a couple of humbuckers and re-wire the whole thing.

Questions:

1. What humbuckers do you suggest(i'm thinking heavy **** man!!!!)

2. How big a job is this? Could a beginner do it? I'm handy with a soldering iron but i've seen a few scematics for pickups and i'm like >

Doctor J

Two Gibson Tony Iommi signature humbuckers. It's a straightforward enough job to wire in a new pickup, though IMO you're better off rewiring an Epi from scratch... which is better left to a professional.

bonzai bob

That's what i meant by re-wiring, i know the wiring in epi's are **** so i intended to start from scratch, how much would it cost to get a pro to do it?

This may be a stupid question, but would it not be better getting two different humbuckers instead of two of the same? A bit of variety n all

Doctor J

I believe in Tony Iommi


It's all down to preference, two different pickups could sound too different and two similar pickups will sound different anyway, given the different placement and be close on output too. If you do get two different pickups then make sure you check the output levels before you buy. There's nothing more useless than a quiet pickup in a guitar with a loud pickup.

You could go for something like these, a Les Paul Standard pair taken out of the same guitar - $99 on www.chrisguitars.com

bonzai bob

meh, that's too.. err... Standard? I think i'll go for something different.

Doctor J

Les Paul Standard pickups are sweet. Your loss.

bonzai bob

True that. However i don't want to go for a les paul sound as, lets face it, it's an epi at the end of the day.

How much would postage be on those anyway? and how much would it take for a pro to put em in?

RicardoSmith

I'd buy a pair instead of two different ones. I tired that in the past and the output were impossible to balance.

Doctor J

bonzai bob wrote:

True that. However i don't want to go for a les paul sound as, lets face it, it's an epi at the end of the day.

How much would postage be on those anyway? and how much would it take for a pro to put em in?

They'd probably cost about €85 to your door. As for installation, well I'd recommend replacing every Epi pot and switch too, so at least €100, probably more, I don't honestly know, I've never needed to get that sort of thing done.

Ancient1

bonzai bob wrote:

1. What humbuckers do you suggest(i'm thinking heavy **** man!!!!)

How about the Bill Lawrence pups (http://www.billlawrenceusa.com) ?

Dime used to abuse these:

dabhoys

The gibson pick ups are alot better then you realise. I was going to swap my ones out for JB's but the doc threaten to break my thumbs if I did!! I haven't regretted not doing it..

Thanks doc

mayordenis

Well come friday im getting a EMG 81/85 set, you should at least consider them.

Zapp Brannigan

if not them EMG 81/85s how about Seymours Favorites? A JB in the Bridge and a Jazz in the neck, great combo!

jcoote

i'd lokk at getting standrd lps or the emg 81 85 combo (zakk wylde baby)

david

Seymour Duncan custom custom (bridge) and '59 (neck) sound sweet in my SG

mayordenis

you said heavy, EMG 81/85's meet that criteria.

david

mayordenis wrote:

you said heavy, EMG 81/85's meet that criteria.

Yeah, but I also play heavy-ish music and I believe that you can get your gain from an amp or pedal. Like, there's no guarantee that the EMG's will sound sweet on clean which you get with the seymour duncans.

jcoote

good point dave ..yeah the power in your setup is most definatly your distortion settings but there is no point having a clean tone that sounds dead cos it'll be tough to keep it sweet when distored

Doctor J

I agree. Heavy does not necessarily mean insanely high output pickups. A good clean pickup with decent output will do the job excellently well.

I'm really keen to try the Tony Iommi, but in my Eggle and Ibanez I've got a Seymour Duncan JB and the guitars are tuned down to B. Heavy as **** but without the schlop.

I've just got a feeling the Tony Iommi one is something special though

david

Doctor J wrote:

I agree. Heavy does not necessarily mean insanely high output pickups. A good clean pickup with decent output will do the job excellently well.

I'm really keen to try the Tony Iommi, but in my Eggle and Ibanez I've got a Seymour Duncan JB and the guitars are tuned down to B. Heavy as **** but without the schlop.

I've just got a feeling the Tony Iommi one is something special though

I might try out the Epiphone Iommi SG when I'm in Dubllin next, apparently it has these Gibson USA Iommi pickups...

jcoote

yeah they do look good doc... i think the emg's...well the 81 at least is more geared towards lead playing so it depends on your style bob

Doctor J

So I've heard. I've yet to see anything less than incredible reviews for it... which is, well, different from most Epi reviews I've seen

jcoote

yeah good things has been said.. supposed to be a good bass and especially mid boost... heard they can get a bit muddy on the neck position tho