Pickups for my SG

[mikeyw123]

Hi, Which pickups would you advise for a Gibson SG Standard. I play mainly classic rock (AC/DC, Led Zeppelin mainly) but also blues. Which pickups do you think would be best for me.

[Twinfan]

Greetings  :)

The pickups of choice for SGs are Stormy Mondays, Riff Raffs and Mississippi Queens.

RRs are biting, rocking and very Angus.  But for blues they're a bit 'cold'.

SMs are smooth and bluesy, with a softer bass than RRs.  Still great for rock though, but not as sharp as RRs.

MQs are P90 (single coil) pickups and a bit of an acquired taste.  You either like them or you don't.  They're fat and powerful and a real cross between 'buckers and singles.

Have a listen to some clips in the players section, read around the posts on the forum, and see which you prefer the sound of for your needs  :)

[mikeyw123]

Ok thanks for your help. I will have a listen to the ones you suggested.

[_tom_]

For that sort of thing I think I like p90s the best but as twinfan says they seem to be a bit of an acquired taste. I really like mine, I'm starting to prefer singlecoils for lower gain, they have more "give" in the sound than humbuckers which feel more stiff to play if that makes any sense? I cant really explain myself very well :oops: I have a few clips of my bridge pig 90 and neck MQ in the Players forum. I still really like my Mules though I find them better for the mid gain GnR type tone than ACDC and stuff now I think. When I get my p90 guitar back from the tech I can do a comparison clip if you want, just name a track and I'll play it twice using the different guitars :)

[AndyR]

Hi mikeyw, welcome to the forum :D

I've just been writing a massive essay about swapping my Riff Raffs and MQs over on a new thread http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=14098.0.

I've not tried the Stormy Mondays, but I pretty much agree with what Twinfan and Tom say. I think the MQs are an acquired taste, but as I've just found, it also depends on the guitar itself.

My Epi SG is mahogany. It's not a particularly bright or resonant guitar.
My Gibson Explorer is also mahogany, but it's a lot heavier, it's darker sounding and is much more resonant accoustically.

I liked the MQs in the SG, but I now know I found them a little too aggressive for me in that guitar. They are doing a superb job in the Explorer now, where the Riff Raffs were coming across a bit weedy when compared to the other guitars.

The Riff Raffs are now back in the SG (which they were bought for originally). If it was the only guitar I had, I would be very happy with it, it does crisp 70s rock - I've been playing Bonn-era AC/DC and 70s Ted Nugent on it today. It also does bluesy, which is where my main interests are at the moment.

My gut feeling is that you probably want Riff Raffs because of the "classic rock", but Twinfan's right, they might seem a little "cold" for blues - but I believe it depends on the circumstances. How clean a sound do you like using for bluesy stuff? The cleaner you want to get, the more you'd notice the "coldness". If you want to be playing like John Lee Hooker, for example, thick, slightly breaking up, you'd want MQs. But if you want a biting bluesy sound like 70s rockers used, I reckon you'd be fine (eg Angus on The Jack on If you want blood - that's where I started on the blues... long time ago now...), I was a big Rory Gallagher fan as well, and although I've got a Strat and Tele to cater for that sort of thing, my SG with Riff Raffs does Rory-type blues quite happily.

[mikeyw123]

I like the sound of Eric Clapton when he was in Cream and usually I play blues with the biting sound you mentioned. I was thinking perhaps a RR in the bridge and a SM in the neck, do you think this is a good idea?

[AndyR]

I don't know the SMs myself, but I think that's one of the combinations people go for, I understand the SM neck is a particularly sweet sounding neck - that might well be the solution for you. I very nearly tried the RR bridge MQ neck combination today - I understand that's another one - if it had been the SG I was most interested in"getting right" I would have done it, but I wanted both MQs in the Explorer...

The MQ neck is very tasty, gives a creamy sort of tone with a nice top end to it. As a strat-player, I use tone controls a lot, and out of Riff Raff, Mule, and MQ, the MQ is the only one where I'm happy turning the tone control down on the neck pickup.

I suspect I'd love the Stormy neck, but it would mean buying another non-Fender-type guitar :lol:

[Canadian Steve]

You should also consider Mule + Black Dog pickups.
What BKP are closest to Eric Clapton's tone in Cream?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rq6r23-le5o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXaJ6X4rJbQ

[mikeyw123]

I have had another look round and I think SMs might not be right for the Claptony sound and I do like the sound of the Black Dog for Led Zep etc
Edit: I am now think a Mississippi Queen Neck with a Riff Raff Bridge

[Twinfan]

I suspect I'd love the Stormy neck, but it would mean buying another non-Fender-type guitar :lol:

Not at all - I'm thinking a Keef-style Tele in open G  ;)

[AndyR]

Now, let me see, is that a picture off a shop's website, or is it...

You haven't got three teles now have you?

I have wondered about a Keef tele. In fact I've done it before - I have an old Squier that needs some work now to put it back to "Normal" after I hacked it about years ago. I didn't really like the humbucker/single arrangement - although I suspect that a Blackguard Flat 50 would compete better than whatever it was I was using. I was right in the middle of restoring it and choosing BKPs when I thought "top-loader, made of some sort of ply, hmm... might as well buy a Baja instead" it's back in the loft at the moment :lol:. The Baja has the Tusq nut I bought for it, and the tone capacitor, the Dano has the tone pot.

No, I think I'd want Stormies to go on a Les Paul or SG type... but I'm immune to GAS (this week anyway!)

[badgermark]

That's from the Guitar Guitar site. Good shop, pretty good selection too.

[Twinfan]

Now, let me see, is that a picture off a shop's website, or is it...

You haven't got three teles now have you?

:lol:

No I haven't.  But I have got a TV Jones TV Classic on order for the neck of my Squier Classic Vibe.  So it will look similar to that one at Guitar Guitar in a couple of weeks  ;)