Over the years of being part of this forum many people have posted questions about pickups and how bad this pup is or that pup is. The the said pup, "doesn't sound good." It got me thinking. Then why on earth did you buy the guitar?

Maybe it's not the pup. Maybe it's the player. I'm ferm believer that one of the interesting things about single coil pups is that they expose bad playing and that HD hide it. Look at Teles. If you bad technique, well the Tele bridge pup will expose this. Same goes for Strats.

Receintly I've heard some music producers tell me that a lot of young players who are recording music sound terible. They don't have good rythem or timing. So the question is: Do you think that the pups sound bad because you don't sound as good as you did on another guitar?

Am I way off base here? Let me know what you think.

Paris...I would have to agree with you on this. Single coils do expose your playing more. But I would also add your amp has something to do with it too. Fender clean type amps expose your bad notes right there for everyone to hear...with distorted amps, you get some leeway.

FWIW

T2

_________________
-----------------------------------------------------------
What time is it? It's Fender Time.

Yes bad playing has a lot to do with it, but i have bought some off sounding guitars strictly because of the neck. Swapping out pickups and electronics seems to be second nature lately.

I think 99% of the time it's the player. I bought my daughter a Squire Mini a few months ago and out of curiousity I plugged it in to my rig. I wasn't expecting much, the pickups are VERY cheap but to my surprise I thought it sounded pretty darn good.

_________________
Tune Low, Play Hard & Floor it!

If the individual is a good player, (s)he will still sound good even with a lousy guitar through a lousy amp.

As always, this is merely IMO where YMMV.

_________________
You dig?

I think poor sounding pickups are result of not adjusting the pickups and not setting the amp properly.

Seems to me a lot of people think their guitars are fine when they bring them home from the store and do not attempt to do a proper setup.

This is relative in the sense of their understanding of a proper setup.

_________________
You dig?

I'd agree with this. I've heard some sweet sounds coming out of crappy guitars.

Tone is in the fingers.

_________________
-T

"You can't spend what you ain't got, you can't lose what you ain't never had" ~ McKinley Morganfield

Kind of saddened by this post..now I realize I just suxxx..damned single coil lace pups anyways..

_________________
Mona
"Music is What Feelings Sound like"

Its a combination of many things. Pickups are a small part of it. You still have to play the guitar and if you play bad theres no pickup that will hide that. A bad player will make a good pickup sound bad also. I only find small differences in different pickups anyway but I do have my favorites.

If the pickups are from a good maker, whether OEM or aftermarket, then it may be either the guitar or the played. Pickups have a tendency to sound different in similar guitars. No two Strats sound exactly alike. (Thank you Leo for that). One set of Strat pickups can sound entirely different in another Strat. I have had pickups sound dull and just plain bad in one Strat and sound really good in another Strat. What is next?

Now we come to the player. Your playing should reflect your soul, mood, or your inner self. If you have ever seen a great performance and watched the player get into THE ZONE, you know what I mean. Then there are those who are just going through the motions of playing the song and praying it ends. I have been to both types of concerts. One left me with the feeling that I had just witnessed the greatest performance ever, the other with the feeling that I just wasted my time and money.

If you don't find the emotion in your music you won't play to the best of your ability.

Next, if your equipment is not set up right how can you expect to play right. Tune up and your off key. Intonation can be off, amp settings or pedal board not set right. Man, it just goes on and on...

There is a lot that can go wrong. There is a lot that can go right from the start. It's up to you to be ready to give it your all and have your equipment set right from the start.

As an actual young player, I'll tell you exactly what the problem is: headphones. Or rather, doing almost all your playing either thru headphones or at very low volume.

Guys use too much gain to make up for the lack of vol and only find out they sound like crap when they turn up to hear themselves over a live drummer. The lack of vol also means they've never EQed their rig properly, which means they think the problem is -- the pups.

(In fairness, though, it seems this EQ via pup swap mistake is common to all age groups.)

Having said that, there are bad pups and wrong pups and advertising won't tell you which ones they are, your ears will. If you bother to listen -- which gets us back to lack of rhythm, timing etc.

Finally, single coils are no more or less revealing than humbuckers. Just a different tool for a different job.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pgVHFh6DM8

_________________
2010 AmDeluxe HSS
2008 Jackson Pro Series DK2M (w/ 5-way SuperSwitch)
2005 Band of Gypsies Tie Dye Strat

If your good enough you can play around/Make sound good near anything.......So it would seem watching top guns......

_________________

I think that you're right!

Some people blame their guitar for bad playing.
Maybe they're not experienced in setting the amp right.
Or both!

I'd go even one step further:

I'd say that this is the same reason why many players suffer the GAS so badly (including me!).
I wouldn't say I play bad but at least I often don't sound the way I WANT TO!!!
So buying another guitar cheats you into the feel that you will sound better just because you like the sound of the guitar.

After a while you notice, that you still sound like yourself!! So you're looking for the next guitar to buy .... and so on.

I've seen a video of Joe Satriani. Joe's private friend was visited by Joe and his friend made a video with Joe playing his cheapo 150 bucks Ibanez guitar.
Guess what?
Yes, Joe still sounded like Joe but without the high end equipment.

Well, Joe said in the video that it was a PITA to play that guitar but it still was recognizably Joe!
He sounded like he always does (with the exception that the amp sucked quite badly!

So there's just two logical ways to solve this problem:

1st: accept the fact that you're a bad player and excercise more!!!

2nd: if you're a good player, accept that you sound the way you sound! Period.
You can work on your style, you can work on your amp control settings and guitar control settings to improve, that's it and it makes sense!
It doesn't make sense to end up with 20 different guitars, still being unsatisfied.
You can't change who you are!
You will always add your own "flavour" to your playing.
You might come close to the sound "in your head" but you will most likely NEVER get it managed!

On one hand it's a good thing that we are never SATISFIED with our playing because once you're satisfied you will not improve any further.

On the other hand it's bad because you are tempted to spend more and more money on gear!

So we all should take the road in the middle: accept that we need to improve but also accept that MORE GEAR WILL NOT SOLVE THE PROBLEM!!

Once we've recognized that, it will be easier AND cheaper!

But then again ..... isn't it great to hold a new axe in your hands????
Oh man, it's so difficult!! ha ha ha

BTW, I do not agree that SCs show more mistakes in your playing than HBs do. With good guitars, good pickups and a good amp, both will reveal your sucking playing!

_________________
Kindest regards from Germany, Dee
My recordings --> http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_mu ... dID=564337
STRATS ROCK!!! but Teles and Firebirds, too!

[quote="Smokin' Frets"]


I wouldn't say I play bad but at least I often don't sound the way I WANT TO!!! +1 till my 6th beer then the magic happens.....


On one hand it's a good thing that we are never SATISFIED with our playing because once you're satisfied you will not improve any further. I'll hang right on to that!!!!

So we all should take the road in the middle: accept that we need to improve but also accept that MORE GEAR WILL NOT SOLVE THE PROBLEM!! Stupid comment....


But then again ..... isn't it great to hold a new axe in your hands????
+1000
/quote]

_________________