Why is it ?.....

[richard]

....that, generally speaking, guitarists use high output pickups with high gain amps ? What exactly happens to low output pickups when they're used with a lot of gain ? You'd think it would sort of be the other way round - now that amps have all the gain anyone could want you wouldn't need high output pups any more. Just wondering because I don't use tons of gain myself.

[itamar101]

I have have personally always felt that low output pickup with high gain sound overloaded and powerless... Like the amp is playing the guitar rather than the guitar playing the amp. This is very noticable with Strat pickups and I have common results with low output humbuckers.

Another reason is simply that high output pickups simply give a different sound. For me they compensate using loads of gain by pushing the amp harder, giving a tighter and more powerful sound with more harmonics and overtones. They allow you to have all the aspects that you want from higher gain with the unwanted characteristics like a muddy, unclear sound. For me they just work better for high gain. Of course, I love low output too :)

[Telerocker]

Personally I like low to medium-output pickups best with a good tubeamp cranked. The open character of the pickups allow complex chords to  keep definition and depth in this wall of sound. But that's my taste. I bet some highoutpickups sound good too with highgainamps when you know the sweet spot in the preampgain.

[ericsabbath]

for me, the perfect recipe for a great high gain tone is:
low output + proper booster + low/medium gain setting on a high gain amp channel

[darkbluemurder]

The key to a good high gain sound is to keep the bass at bay as to not overload the early preamp stages with too much bass. That's why many famous guitarists used treble boosters with their classic amps - hit the amp hard but not with too much bass.

In principle, one can achieve this with any pickup but a powerful pickup lets you dial in less gain on the amp, which also helps in getting a better signal-to-noise ratio.

Cheers Stephan

[Mr. Air]

I don't know if it has anything to do with being high gain pickups, but they tend to be have a faster bass response than low output pickups.

[TheyCallMeVolume]

Back when most of our favorite bands made their material, there were only a few choices as far as pickups, and I would think the Super Distortions were the highest output pups then. All those guys musta done something right, so I've always stayed in the school of low-med output pickups with a cranked amp.

[ericsabbath]

I don't know if it has anything to do with being high gain pickups, but they tend to be have a faster bass response than low output pickups.

that may be right with most of the other brands, but not with bkps, unless we're comparing to ceramics
but, I guess it's true that older pickups had softer sounding magnets (less efficient, maybe?), so they were lower output AND looser sounding
there's also the wire gauge...
and the amp response to a stronger signal, which is why I use boosters

[Twinfan]

I find higher output pickups tend to have a narrower frequency range, so they get less messy under higher gain settings - less high treble and low bass to mess things up.

[dingleberry]

I'm using the Holydiver bridge with a SD jazz neck, the HD is no slouch in the output department but definitely found a balancing act to be done with the two pickups after installation, the jazz neck just kept on overpowering.

Haven't tried any other BKPs but holydiver bridge + maxon od 808 into a heavily saturated preamp is a pretty tasty recipe for me.

[ericsabbath]

I find higher output pickups tend to have a narrower frequency range, so they get less messy under higher gain settings - less high treble and low bass to mess things up.

not sure if I can agree with this... the black dog has a quite narrow mid focused range, at least in my maple neck greco lp standard, while the riff raff has wider low and top ends in my '73 custom
the miracle man I had in another les paul copy had lower bass and higher treble than any guitar/pickup combo I had

[Frank]

....that, generally speaking, guitarists use high output pickups

No idea.

with high gain amps ?

No idea.

[Roboten]

Easier to play fast if you are a sloppy player? There's never been any tonal benefits to high output pups, quiet the opposite, except for being somewhat easier to get a dark, tight "thud" out of when palm muting. Low output pups can do anything a high output pup can, but not the other way around.

[Toe-Knee]

Not having to boost your amp with a tube screamer and such is one of the bigger things for a lot of people.

I personally cant stand to use any pedals etc and just like to go straight into the amp.

Even higher output alnicos such as the nailbomb aren't good enough as the bass response is too bloated and slow.

The miracle man does exactly what I need with my SLO. Then again by todays standards the SLO is not really a high gain amp

[ericsabbath]

Then again by todays standards the SLO is not really a high gain amp

yes it is
unless you only consider ENGL, peavey or the marshall JVM, which are insanely oversaturated
any amp at least as saturated as a boosted 2203 is still high gain
lol even the JCM 900 is called "high gain dual reverb"