Are there no such things as good stock pickups?

[richard]

I guess that most guitars never get gigged. My Firebird Studio came with the 498T/490R set. The 498T was a lovely pickup to play at home through my Microcube but I couldn't get on with it at gig levels. On the other hand the RYs don't sound that great at low level through the Microcube but totally demolish the Gibson pickups through a cranked valve amp.

In another thread I talk about the Yamaha guitar I will probably be buying very soon that comes with a Duncan C5 (bridge) and Duncan P90 neck. The more demos I listen to the more I like the sound of the Duncans. Also, there doesn't seem to be a BKP that would qualify as a 'better' C5 (SH14) except for maybe the Cold Sweat ?

[jesperbc]

I would guess that since we are all on this forum, most of us have replaced our stock pickups but why do we always do it? Are there no such things as good stock pickups?

My US Standard Strat came with Custom Shop Fat '50s, and stopped me dead in the tracks while I was looking for a replacement set of Strat pickups from Bare Knuckle. They totally kick ass! I don't see my self replacing them any time soon.

[Toe-Knee]

I've had a few guitars with fantastic stock pickups.

My RG331m which is a cheap guitar came with some INF things. With my amps they sound amazing far better than anything that i've tried replacing them with. My RG950 came with some dimarzio/ibz that according to dimarzio are a super distortion with less bass and a super 2 thats a little more scooped and nothing suits the guitar more than them and trust me with these guitars i've tried everything. BKP,Bulldog,EMG,Duncan,Dimarzio

The only one in the RG950 that came close was a catswhisker A8 that is currently in there but the guitar is missing a certain something now so i'll be changing it back most likely.

I find that with an excellent amp or three you can sound amazing regardless of pickups. If it was still playing standard amps or modellers my opinion would be the opposite that different pickups are needed to overcome the deficiencies in the amp/modeller.

[Telerocker]

I've had a few guitars with fantastic stock pickups.

My RG331m which is a cheap guitar came with some INF things. With my amps they sound amazing far better than anything that i've tried replacing them with. My RG950 came with some dimarzio/ibz that according to dimarzio are a super distortion with less bass and a super 2 thats a little more scooped and nothing suits the guitar more than them and trust me with these guitars i've tried everything. BKP,Bulldog,EMG,Duncan,Dimarzio

The only one in the RG950 that came close was a catswhisker A8 that is currently in there but the guitar is missing a certain something now so i'll be changing it back most likely.

I find that with an excellent amp or three you can sound amazing regardless of pickups. If it was still playing standard amps or modellers my opinion would be the opposite that different pickups are needed to overcome the deficiencies in the amp/modeller.

Surprising. My experience with Ibanez-stockpickups is that they are totally bland.

[Toe-Knee]

I've had a few guitars with fantastic stock pickups.

My RG331m which is a cheap guitar came with some INF things. With my amps they sound amazing far better than anything that i've tried replacing them with. My RG950 came with some dimarzio/ibz that according to dimarzio are a super distortion with less bass and a super 2 thats a little more scooped and nothing suits the guitar more than them and trust me with these guitars i've tried everything. BKP,Bulldog,EMG,Duncan,Dimarzio

The only one in the RG950 that came close was a catswhisker A8 that is currently in there but the guitar is missing a certain something now so i'll be changing it back most likely.

I find that with an excellent amp or three you can sound amazing regardless of pickups. If it was still playing standard amps or modellers my opinion would be the opposite that different pickups are needed to overcome the deficiencies in the amp/modeller.

Surprising. My experience with Ibanez-stockpickups is that they are totally bland.

Oh they are in certain guitars I have hated the INFs in many guitars but in that one they shine. And the ones in the 970 by dimarzios own admittance there is very little difference between the standard models theyve even made by Dimarzio themselves in NYC

[Kiichi]

I am one of those guys who hated the INF that came in my Ibby S series. Staggeringly horrible. Worst stock pickups out of any of my guitars.

The 230 quid Dean 7 string? Not great, but usable. The 45 quid axe off ebay (newprize around 60 I recall)? Fizzy and weak, but not muddy and had a certain lowfi charm. Classic 57s in an Epi? Probably my favorite stocks so far. EMG HZ (passives) in my ESP-type LP? Usable for rock and could do a certain sound well. Wilkinsons in my Superstrat-ish? Muddy, but alright for low-gain. The Ken Armstrong HB in my headless Feline? Great, but not really what is meant here.

The INF were to me the absolute worst out of all of them. Just a muddy, undefined mess with no character. Fell totally apart under gain.

Weirdly enough one of my favorite bands, Protest the Hero, has on occasion played them and made em sound alright.

[38thBeatle]

None of the stock pickups have been bad in any of my guitars -mainly Fenders (US, Jap & MIM) and one Gibson. They have been replaced in the hope that they would sound better and all have. The Gibson still has stock pickups though but as I have said a few times before , I am considering changing them. They are not bad but I suspect that the BKP's will improve things.

[CommonCourtesy]

Out of my 5 electrics only one guitar - a Gibson Les Paul Junior has still got its stock pickup in it, a P90 which I'm looking to change.

The others have had some kind of pickup change, 3 have BKP's in and I'm really happy with them, 2 guitars (the dirty rock tones) have humbucker bridges and other 2 (clean stuff) a single coil set.

I would say the pickup changes have improved the tone of the guitar as the original stocks were flat, uninspiring and weak.

Just my opinion though sometimes you'll get a great guitar with a great stock pickup and not need to change a thing!

[p4vl]

I'm not honor-bound to stick to any company's idea for what their guitars should sound like.  If Gibson makes terrific pickups, fine then, I won't have any trouble selling them on ebay so I can buy what I want. 

[Dave Sloven]

If your amp and cab sound bananas, then you can only improve it by improving your guitar.  A great set of pickups can really open up your amp's potential.

If your amp is weak you can make all the changes you like but it will still sound like cr@p.

Volume levels make a big difference too, especially on valve amps.

[_tom_]

None of my guitars have stock pickups. I replaced all the Gibson pcb stuff so I could fit some decent pickups as the stock ones weren't that inspiring. The old Pearl I have has passable pickups but they're a bit muddy. I've got a duncan in my strat which actually sounds great but for the most part BKP are the best I've tried so far!

[ben_f]

Stock pickups seem to be selected with the aim of being good all-rounders, so even if they are relatively decent, they won't be outstanding for any particular tone or style.

That said, I like the Dimarzio D-Activators that came as stock in my Ibanez XPT700.  If I did ever change them out, I'd reuse them in another guitar.

I will definitely be upgrading the stock Dimarzio/IBZ S pickups in my S2170, once I can afford to.  They're far from terrible, but considering this is a 'Prestige', I can't help but be underwhelmed. 

[ben_f]

Also, I think the Ibanez Uppercut series come with some pretty good stock pickups. 

Can certainly do much worse than Aftermaths / Nailbombs!  Is Ibanez the only brand to offer BKPs as stock?

Their Iron Label series also offers decent stock pickups.  EMGs or decent Dimarzio.

[everyemptyvein]

The stock pickups on the PRS S2 Mira are absolutely awesome for what I play. Sadly it's a bit out of my price range, but at Guitar Center it sounded incredible through a Triple Rectifier and not half bad through a used Fender 10G.

[AndyR]

I read somewhere (here?) that stock pickups are voiced to sell the guitar. In other words, they're voiced to sound as good as possible when the guitar is played in a shop at "shop volumes".

How much truth there is in this, I don't know... but it's certainly what I'd do if I wanted to shift a bunch of cheap to mid-range guitars.

EDIT (Hit send by accident!!)

Obviously, the stock pups will do a job, but the job they're designed for (sell the guitar in the first place) is not necessarily the job we want to do with it!