Long-time reader, first-time poster.
This is my first post, and it's the usual question seeking advice.
I have a few guitars, my current favourite is my Epiphone Dot, purchased last year. At present it's all stock apart from the plastic knobs.
Anyway, I like it, and I'm liking the feel of a semi more these days, but I'm finding the stock Epiphone pickups a little muddy at times, so I have decided that in a few weeks I will have the funds to afford some new ones.
I've done a little digging so far and have an idea of the kind of sound I am after. I'm into mainly indie-ish music. Mainly Manic Street Preachers, Smashing Pumpkins and Silversun Pickups. The lead singer/guitarist of Silversun Pickups, Brian Aubert mostly plays an Epiphone Sheraton. I have seen him play a Gibson ES-335 and a Fender Jaguar elsewhere, but he tends to gravitate towards his Sheraton. I read a while back an interview where he said that he had changed the pickups in his to SD Antiquity humbuckers. I like the sounds He's getting. Which begs the question,
why I am asking this question here, if I know what he's got in his guitar? The thing is, Antiquities are expensive, and I have read in some places they can actually be a little inconsistent. I've heard almost nothing but praise for BK. Also, a set of BKP's would actually work out slightly cheaper for me and I'd have a bit more choice. That has to be a good thing.
Another thing that I'd like to take into consideration is that recently I've been listening to a bit of Tom Delonge's guitar sound, mostly Blink 182's self-titled album (what was the last one until the recent reformation) and Angels and Airwaves. Obviously his signature guitars use Gibson Dirty Fingers humbuckers. I normally was never a fan, but I do like his sound since he ditched the strat.
So, pooling this altogether, I had a look around this forum, and have read that the most popular choice of BKP's for 335-style guitars is the Stormy Monday set, maybe the Mules for rockier tones, and also factoring the Delonge thing, I have read that the Cold Sweat is supposedly in the Dirty Fingers ballpark tonally. But then (usually in the same thread), people here tend to advise against using such high-output pickups in a hollowbody guitar, and that it wouldn't be as versatile with them. That said, Tom Delonge can get some varied tones out of his signature Gibsons, so I haven't entirely ruled that out. That said, I will admit, I'm looking more towards the Stormy Monday/Mule humbuckers, as these would seem to be closer to the general thing I'd want.
Here's some examples of the Silversun Pickups guitar sound to help if anyone has suggestions/recommendations:
Well Thought Out TwinklesLazy EyeRusted Wheeland the rest of my Gear is an Orange Tiny Terror head with an Orange 1 x 12 cab, with a Big Muff and Boss DD-3 delay for effects, but sometimes I just like plugging straight into the amp as well.
Apologies for the length of this post, but I wanted to give as much information as I could. All suggestions will be welcome, for pickups and anything else that I should be looking at.