So I'm planning on changing my "Fender 57 Reissue Maple Neck Stratocaster Made In Japan Since 1993"'s original pickup to "Lindy Fralin's Blues Special" pickup. And I'm not sure even if let's say I'm playing on a Marshall tube amp, is the sound difference/improvement going to be huge/obvious or not by swapping the pickup? I mean, for an experienced player who have been playing for a long time it might easily sound very different and much better to them. But for a beginner or the audience in general, is swapping the pickup going to sound so different that they're going to notice the sound difference/improvement if they heard the before and after? If the audience just wants to enjoy music and majority of them probably doesn't know much about guitar and doesn't pay so much attention on the sound quality or overall it just sounds the same to them. Then what's the point of swapping the pickup? Yea maybe it matters if you're an experienced player and looking for getting the exact perfect tone? But for an almost intermediate player like me, perhaps it's better to save the money and invest on an effect pedal / multi-effect first if I don't have one yet? And think about swapping pickup when I'm better and start to seek for a particular / better tone in the future? Also, I use a Roland Micro Cube amp for practice and I don't see why I need to invest on a tube amp if I'm just practicing on my own in a dorm of university where usually I can't play at loud volume and not doing any record at the moment? Also, they already got great tube amps on stage or band practice room. Besides, isn't it hard to carry a huge tube amp around.

Furthermore, I often hear people say "I would recommend a better amp before you invest much in pickups." or "A good amp can make a bad guitar sound good. But a good guitar cannot make a bad amp sound good." With that said, if a guitarist is seeking for a better or different tone. What would you invest first for the most obvious improvement or change in sound? Pickup / Amp / Perhaps Multi-Effect which would give you many types of tone to choose from? In my case, maybe investing on an effect pedal / multi-effect first would be the best way to go for now?

My apologize for the long thread...

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My opinion, for what it's worth, would be an amp.

There are so many different voicings on today's amps
along with mods that can be done to improve or tailor
your tone.

Good luck!

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

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I understand why you're not going to go in the "better amp" direction (understandable logistical reasons...I would not leave a good amp in a dorm room)....and I'm not saying the Micro Cube is a "bad" amp. It is what it is...a practice amp.

I would probably get a pedal or two before I invested in new pickups. If you're only playing through the Micro Cube, you probably aren't getting the full effect of how good your current pickups actually sound. If you're able to play your guitar (pics needed, by the way) through a good amp, you might be surprised how good your guitar sounds.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the MicroCube has built-in effects, right?
I would choose either (1) an effect the MC doesn't have or (2) an effect that the MC doesn't do well, and get one of those pedals...

Just MHO...

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Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals

hi jimmy , you got my pm then as i've already said get yourself a decent drive pedal to beef up your sound , be it a big muff or a rat or a marshall bluesbreaker or guvner , you will get more sound pallets to play with than a pup change mate , and as i also said once your more experienced you can pick up a nice tube amp ( the wee 5 watt epiphone junior is a cool small amp and sounds excellent) . keep practicing , cheers
Alan

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A better amp hands down. You'll never get any guitar to sound great if the amp just mediocre.
I've seen it a million times. High end Gibson and Fender guitars modded to the hilt with high end pups, and all kings of expensive hardware being played through less than stellar amps. It's a shame to waste so much money and get so little in return. A nice clean boost can work wonders.
As for experience, I have over 40 years worth of gigging and sitting in on recordings. As for your audience, most of the time they're too trashed to know the difference.

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I agree a better amp is in order; all he has right now is a practice amp. Even a small tube mid-level tube amp would be an improvement.

However, I think he's looking at the short-term situation of wanting a new sound that would be usable in a dorm room. Right now, a good gig- or jam-worthy amp would be a waste...he's not gigging and he's living in an environment that's not conducive to properly rocking out.

Every body has their idea of what a "good amp" would be...in his situation, (not able to really crank it up, probably poor security that could lead to theft) he might do well to get a good but cheap old silverface Champ and a couple of effects pedals.

IMHO, the great pickups (as Lindy Fralins are) would be a waste in the current situation...

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Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals

SA I totally agree. Fralins are really, really nice.

I have a 74 Champ and couldn't agree more. I paid $150 twenty some years ago and it's been rock solid. In his given situation I'd even go with a Line 6 POD and a decent set of headphones.

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Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal

Amp, every time. A good amp can make a mediocre guitar sound brilliant. An incredible guitar through a crap amp always sounds like crap. Save up for a good amp.

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Luck won't do it and ignorance can't

George Van Eps.

I've never had to use an EQ pedal in 45 years. Something like this will fatten your tone
http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/s ... pickup_bo/
Save some money and get a great amp. I did the HRD series ting and all I ever got was aggravated. My HRDlx was a poor replacement for my Twin. My Egnater Rebel really hit the mark. The problem is it's not Dorm material. If money's tight, go for a little Champ.

In all honesty, a Roland Cube is a neat little practice amp, but great tone comes from great gear.

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Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal

List of things you can do to change your tone in order of most significant to least significant....

1) Improve your playing (in my case, that damn brick wall just gets in the way).
2) amplifier.
3) pickups.
4) pedals.
5) strings.
6) tone-wood.

I really think a good amp makes a big difference. Cheap guitar/expensive amp is much better than expensive guitar/cheap amp.

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In Reference to Blues Legend RL Burnside:
After a heart attack in 2001, Burnside's doctor advised him to stop drinking; Burnside did, but he reported that change left him unable to play.

A high quality amp will enhance your overall sound way more than any pickup swap will. Today's amps-especially those specifically for modelling will drastically change the tone of just about any guitar for the better.The Vox Valvetronix series and the Marshall Valvestate amps have excellent amp models and incredible effects including echo and reverb of several types but their modulation effects like Uni-Vibe,rotary speaker(Leslie),flanger,vibrato,tremolo is where they really shine.Some models among the Valvetronix Voxes have user programmable settings that you can access through an optional foot controller so that if you're gigging and doing covers songs especially you can change your amps sound and settings just by tapping your foot on the controller.You can pick up very good used ones for a song these days.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

For me, the purer the signal chain the better. You can do more with the tone controls on your guitar(Remember them?) than any modeling amp can provide. The only reason I know this is because I've owned at one point or another the amps they try to model. They miss the mark by quite a bit. The whole dynamic tone of the amp is missing. You can't feel the tone and it doesn't respond as well to your touch. Modeling amps IMO sound lifeless and sterile. Play a real one and I bet you'd agree. I grew up with the real deal. If you didn't, you'll have no reference and think they sound great. But that's fine too. One amp really can't replace dozens.

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Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal

If you are just looking for something to practice with in your dorm room, get something like a POD, or a modeling amp like the Mustang.

In that kind of environment you are never going to be happy with the sounds you get from a traditional amp. A good modelling amp will get you a lot closer to what you want at low volumes, and offer you more options.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

The amp is probably the first thing I would replace. You could probably pick up a used Vibro-Champ XD or a Super-Champ XD for $150 or there abouts. This gives you the best of both worlds a tube amp that has modelling and built in effects for less than the price of a new set of Fralin's. Both those amps are great for practicing, I use a SCXD at home and am quite pleased with it. If you get to a point where your gigging then you'll need something with a bit more power but till then either one would be a fine investment

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Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancin'

Hey Jimmy25........I consider myself intermediate also and as much as i'm very passionate about pickups and guitar set ups i honestly have to say a good tube amp with at least one 12in speaker is essential to even start to have a bench to test middle of the range Pick ups and guitar sound.....
A amp just absolutely has to be next Imho....... It really does.......I found once i started to really use tube amps my guitar & pickup opinions changed....Quite extremely actually.... Now i'm driving a amp sound not trying to drive a guitar......... Hope it helps......

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