Your favorite guitar pickups?

[chromandre]

I think I just really like a basic fender single coil* in neck and a p90 style single coil in bridge, wired out of phase while middle positioned. and while Im experimenting with an authentic “cunife WRHB” wide range humbucker in one of my guitars I think im only truly at home with single coil dynamics and I suppose I will decide to reserve an all out distortion only sparingly as to avoid the hum.


* with the exception of the tele neck pickup! I simply cant get enough high range out of this one. But the strat jaguar and jazzmaster all have great single coils for neck

[bigtone23]

I also favor single coils.
-My favorite bridge pickup is a slightly overwound Tele/Broadcaster bridge. Just has that little extra push in the mids/low mids. My parts Tele has a GFS Hot 60s Alnico bridge pickup and it's perfect in every way.
-Strat and Jazzmaster pickups are great in all the other positions.
-I have a Les Paul with P90s and I like them, but I still favor an overwound Tele bridge to a traditional wind P90 in the bridge, P90s are just a little too middy for my general tastes. Strat or JM neck pickups have the clarity I prefer over a P90 in the neck.
-The Peavey Super Ferrite single coil from the 80s also a favorite. It's slightly bigger than a humbucker, but sounds like a big Strat pickup. More bandwidth and output, just turn down the volume a touch and it is similar to a traditional single coil. G&L MFD sound and act in a very similar way. My parts Tele used to have a GFS Dream 90 in the neck (which is really just a typical Strat pickup in a humbucker housing) and I switched it to a Super Ferrite and it took some adjusting to get it right, it's much bigger and louder sounding. I also have these in the neck and bridge of my Baritone Strat (no middle pickup).
-Last, and often the more polarizing choice, are EMG SA and T pickups. I love them, particularly when hooked up to a SPC control. They can be bright and spanky, or pushy and fat, all at the spin of a knob. I have a Strat loaded with SA and a Tele with T, both with SPC.

I have a couple guitars with humbuckers, and one that really stands out is the pickup in my single humbucker 1985 Fender Contemporary Strat. It's the stock pickup and has ZERO markings/stamps/identifying features on it. I assume it's some sort of OEM Gotoh pickup, as they made pickups for lots of MIJ from this era. It's open sounding, not hot, not bright. Really killer.

[chromandre]

I also favor single coils.
-My favorite bridge pickup is a slightly overwound Tele/Broadcaster bridge. Just has that little extra push in the mids/low mids. My parts Tele has a GFS Hot 60s Alnico bridge pickup and it's perfect in every way.

True! The tele I have came with some kind of handwound pickups a slightly overwound tele bridge is perfect. I am big for a jazzmaster or jaguar but I would honeslty be OK with somehow a strat neck pickup and a tele bridge pickup

-Strat and Jazzmaster pickups are great in all the other positions.
-I have a Les Paul with P90s and I like them, but I still favor an overwound Tele bridge to a traditional wind P90 in the bridge, P90s are just a little too middy for my general tastes. Strat or JM neck pickups have the clarity I prefer over a P90 in the neck.

Also true thats why I like p90 though as a kind of effect I can kick into but i am more likely to be writing songs on a more balanced pickup

-The Peavey Super Ferrite single coil from the 80s also a favorite. It's slightly bigger than a humbucker, but sounds like a big Strat pickup. More bandwidth and output, just turn down the volume a touch and it is similar to a traditional single coil. G&L MFD sound and act in a very similar way. My parts Tele used to have a GFS Dream 90 in the neck (which is really just a typical Strat pickup in a humbucker housing) and I switched it to a Super Ferrite and it took some adjusting to get it right, it's much bigger and louder sounding. I also have these in the neck and bridge of my Baritone Strat (no middle pickup).

Interesting, I am going to keep an eye out for these things!

-Last, and often the more polarizing choice, are EMG SA and T pickups. I love them, particularly when hooked up to a SPC control. They can be bright and spanky, or pushy and fat, all at the spin of a knob. I have a Strat loaded with SA and a Tele with T, both with SPC.

Ill keep an eye out for that as well, i had always associated emg with more or less heavy/ metal modern sound , which they do also make, but to my surprise I have played a few sets that are just great sounding pickups with minimal noise. The david gilmour set obviously but otherwise too

I have a couple guitars with humbuckers, and one that really stands out is the pickup in my single humbucker 1985 Fender Contemporary Strat. It's the stock pickup and has ZERO markings/stamps/identifying features on it. I assume it's some sort of OEM Gotoh pickup, as they made pickups for lots of MIJ from this era. It's open sounding, not hot, not bright. Really killer.

Yup! I never throw out a pickup I am stocked to the brim with unmarked humbuckers it is possible to sort out based on resistance but every once in a while there will be a surprisingly good pickup that comes out of there