Author Topic: New Humbuckers for Epiphone G400 (SG) (Read 4132 times)

COMKEEN · « **on:** April 12, 2006, 05:47:13 PM »

Hi there!

This is a very long post. Scroll down for a short summary.

I've been lurking around for quite a while now (about half a year) and I think the point has come to ask the mother of all questions: What pickups should I get? :)

I know that there will be a website update in a few weeks with tons of sound samples online (to which I want to listen before I order) - but I am interested in your opinions as well! After all you guys have some experience with this subject :)

I am the owner of a '04 SG model from Epiphone (G400). The body is all mahogany; the (set) neck is mahogany, too, with a rosewood fretboard. The guitar is equipped with two stock "Alnico V" Humbuckers and a volume and tone potentiometer for each pickup.

I am a recreational player only. Well, what does that mean? Basically it's: I don't play in a band and I don't gig. The only thing I do is sitting in my living room and playing around with the guitar.

Well, let's come to the most difficult part: What should it sound like?

I'm not after a "certain tone", so I guess I'm different from most people which want to sound like their idol. I don't want to be misunderstood: There's nothing wrong with that! It's just I can't say "I want to sound like Slash/Santana/Satriani". There are so many sounds I like.

I am not very good in describing sounds. Really. I don't know (well, let's say: I can hardly imagine) what people mean when talking about "mellow" neck pickups or bridge pickups "with bite". I wish I could do that, too, because I think those metaphors can be more precise than any technical specifications.

However, there are some things I considered:

It would be so nice if the tone controls would actually do something. It seems to me that I have only 2 settings: "treble" when set to 9/10 and "high-cut" when set to 2/3. But what is between those two extremes?
Same goes for the volume controls. I've read so many times forum posts like: "<insertpickupnamehere> rocks! There's a creamy distortion when set to max, sweet crunch when rolled back and a nice clean tone at lower volume settings". I can hardly believe that! The only thing my volume pots are doing is: well, control the volume (as opposed to the "output" of the pickup).
I played classical nylon-stringed guitar for two years, but I am pretty new to E-Guitars. I find (just my humble opinion) that classical guitars react much more ruthless to sloppy playing than E-Guitars do - and I like that! So the pickup should pretty much reproduce what is actually played and should not "euphemise" sloppy playing. I think I can only improve my technique and skills when I hear my mistakes.
I think this also includes that the pickup reacts to a certain degree to dynamics and doesn't compress too much (a little bit would be fine, though).
As stated above, I play only at home in my room/appartment; therefore I can't crank the amp past a reconcilable level. I don't know if there is any possibility to make a pickup sound "huge" even at low volume levels? Maybe a pickup with a little more harmonics?
The pickup should rather be an all-round pickup than specialised in a certain way. Hmmm, does that mean that it should be balanced, too? For example, I've heard that the Miracle Man has scooped mids while the Nailbomb has plenty of them.
It shouldn't be too trebly (without being muddy)! Of course, the bridge pickup should sound like a bridge pickup, but not like a tin can (I don't think that any of the BKPs would sound like that, but you get the point) or - even worse - makes a Telecaster out of my SG ;-)
After all, if I were forced to describe the sound I'm after, I would say it should be a (classic) rock tone, especially when it comes to playing lead. I like everything from Slash to Santana, Lynyrd Skynyrd to King's X. I don't play any high gain metal/shred stuff. My amp isn't made for that anyway (although a Boss DS-2 can do magic) :)
Nevertheless I am not averse to some higher output pickups like the Crawler (unfortunately I haven't found any clip of the Holydiver yet, which sounds pretty interesting).
[/list:u]

From what I've read here on the forum (I listened to lots of soundclips, too), I've put down a list of some candidates:
- Abraxas
- Crawler
- Emerald
- Holydiver
Summary:
I am looking for new all-round pickups which make the volume and tone controls work and sound good through my solid state amp even at bedroom volume.

Apart from the fact that we are all BKP fans here: Do you think it's worthwhile (in my situation) to get new pickups or do you think it doesn't make any difference for me, because:
- I can't play loud enough to hear any difference?
- It's seems to be crazy to put 300-EUR-pickups into my beginner's Epiphone? Will the pickups make any difference at all? I really like the guitar!

Johnny Mac · « **Reply #1 on:** April 12, 2006, 06:47:42 PM »

Of course it's a good idea to put new pups in. I've got some cheaper guitars that will get some new pups soon. If you like your guitar then it doesn't matter.
What pup is a hard one to answer, as you have a lot of needs! I'd be inclined to wait for the new sound clips and then ask questions based on a shortlist.

Bird · « **Reply #2 on:** April 12, 2006, 08:26:26 PM »

I'm gonna say the Crawler. 8)

COMKEEN · « **Reply #3 on:** April 18, 2006, 04:31:35 PM »

First of all I want to say thanks for taking your time and reading my (very) long post! I'm sorry that I wasn't able to answer sooner over Easter time...

Quote from: Johnny Mac

Of course it's a good idea to put new pups in. I've got some cheaper guitars that will get some new pups soon. If you like your guitar then it doesn't matter.

That's cool. I thought it may sound crazy to put such expensive pickups in a cheap guitar (however, I always like to buy cheap - well, inexpensive - stuff and tune it to my own needs). I read lots of posts here and many people seem to have top-notch equipment (expensive guitars, tube amps and so on), so I was a little daunted :oops:

Quote from: Johnny Mac

What pup is a hard one to answer, as you have a lot of needs! I'd be inclined to wait for the new sound clips and then ask questions based on a shortlist.

Well, I don't know if I really have a lot of needs - I think the main problem is that I can't tell what I actually want from a player's point of view. Do you think Tim can do anything with my description? Maybe I should mail him?

Quote from: Bird

I'm gonna say the Crawler.

This pickup was recommended to me by another forum member, too, but I'm unsure if I would like it. I've heard that's a good all-rounder, kind of a "hotter" Mule (like the Abraxas, too). I listened to the clips from the player's section and found it completely different from the Mule, though! Maybe it's because most (all?) clips were recorded with downtuned guitars (which I don't like)...

I'm also unsure about the Emerald since I found two completely contradictory posts:

In this thread, Steve-Mr Pig 2U wrote:

Quote

Tim usually recommends going two ways when choosing pickups for SG's, either go low output like a mule or Stormy Monday, or go high like a Nailbomb or warpig etc.

In this thread, Tellboy wrote:

Quote

I've got a '61 Reissue SG and have fitted a calibrated set of Riff Raffs. These are generally what BKP recommend for SGs as a first choice. They are excellent pickups but are not ultra high output - clear, bright sound. Because of the mahogany construction of the SG BKP usually advise you not to fit mid output pickups (like the Emerald). I have recently fitted a Nailbomb to my son's SG Standard - He uses it through a Marshall Mode 4 and is delighted with it. It has plenty of gain but cleans up very well if required. I think this would be what you are looking for.

On the other hand, this thread is all about how well the Emerald would work in SGs (look for a post from PhilKing).

I'm a bit confused. Maybe I should discard the Emerald and add the Nailbomb instead? I've heard that I can get a wide range of tones, including some decent cleans, from it.

Bird · « **Reply #4 on:** April 18, 2006, 04:49:53 PM »

I'd hold off for a bit and wait until the new site is up. 240 clips and all kinds of info to make it easier to decide. :)

Searcher · « **Reply #5 on:** April 18, 2006, 05:03:02 PM »

You know, I've always found electric guitars to be more ruthless than any acoustic guitar when it comes to playing dynamics and mistakes. some of that does come with volume though. When you play loud and a bit distorted, there is very little room for error that the guitar doesn't magnify to embarrassing levels.

As for which pickup I recommend, I would have suggested the Mule set for you. The reasons are:

1. It's a versatile pickup and can suit a very wide range of styles.

2. For classic rock stuff you just can't go wrong with a Mule set.

By the way, another way to get a bigger sound is to add an extension speaker box to your amp. A pair of 12" speakers will give a larger sound without more volume. But you will certainly hear a difference with new BKPs compared to what you have. It's the first thing I would upgrade from the gear you have.

aisuru · « **Reply #6 on:** April 19, 2006, 12:20:37 PM »

hey COMKEEN, you won't be disapointed by BK pups. i swapped the standard Epi pups out of my Epi SG for a Mule and a Black Dog, and they're definately more articulate than the stock ones. none of the muddiness or harshness either. the Mule covers pretty much all your classic rock sounds, and the Black Dog at the bridge too, but with more bluesy crunch.

also, like you say, in stock form the Epi's sound doesn't really change too much with it's tone pots, but i was quite surprised to find that with BKs you can sculpt the tone a lot better. might be even more noticable with decent pots as well.