The pickup's effect on overall tone ...

[TwilightOdyssey]

This is a matter of some debate among guitar players: What defines a player's tone, and I think the most common belief is that it's at least 50% player, and the rest of the lot (pickups, guitar, amp, effects) that make up the other half.

There are some who believe that up to 75% of a player's tone is in the pickups. I never thought I would be saying this but I agree with that theory.

Case in point:
My band was in the studio yesterday cutting basic tracks. Both myself and the other guitarist in my band were playing very different rigs.

I was playing an ash strat with a maple neck/fingerboard into a Splawn Quick Rod and Rivera 4x12. The other guitarist was playing a mahagony neck-through Schecter with rosewood fingerboard into a Marshall JCM2000 and Marshall 4x12. Apples and oranges all the way.

Both cabs were in iso rooms and mic'd the same way:
Close mic = SM57 into an API mic pre
Off axis close mic = 414 into an API mic pre
Further back mic = 421 into a Vintech (Neve clone mic pre)

Console was a Langley desk going into Apogee converters and then into Pro Tools HD. A very respectable signal chain!!

Jimmy and I use different guage strings used by different manufacturers. We play different picks of differing thicknesses. And our playing styles are polar opposites. (Jimmy's playing is lithe and fluid; I play with a much harder attack)

The only thing we have in common is our bridge pickup: The Cold Sweat.

And when we listened back to playback, in most places, it sounds like a single guitar playing. The tones are virtually identical!! I think that my brighter guitar and darker amp versus Jimmy's darker guitar and brighter amp essentially nulled out to a zero difference.

If I hadn't heard it with my own ears, I wouldn't have believed it!!

[PhilKing]

I guess the Cold Sweat really made a difference then!  When Jimmy had the EMG's there was a world of difference in the tone.

[ToneMonkey]

This is a matter of some debate among guitar There are some who believe that up to 75% of a player's tone is in the pickups.

Ahh, the age old arguement.  How I see it is that a large percentage (lets say 75%) of a GUITARS tone is through the pups.  As for a players tone, that comes from the soul man.

[TwilightOdyssey]

This is a matter of some debate among guitar ... There are some who believe that up to 75% of a player's tone is in the pickups.

Ahh, the age old arguement.  How I see it is that a large percentage (lets say 75%) of a GUITARS tone is through the pups.  As for a players tone, that comes from the soul man.

Are you saying that Jimmy and I have the same soul? :)

[Davey]

interesting.

[BloodMountain]

:o  :o  :o  :o  :o  :o  :o  :o

and here i am buying a new amp over a Warpig. darn!

although, i doubt the pickup would improve an MG!

well... maybe it would........  :?  :?  :?  :?  :?

[JoshuaLogan]

amp has more to do with it. play a warpig through a fender twin reverb and play it through a bogner uberschall and it's not going to sound even remotely similar

and playing is playing... it's just technique, not tone. sure, it might sound a little different, but it's just different playing style. tone is the sound timbre and nothing more

[dave_mc]

I'm definitely coming round to the fact that pickups are extremely important (as long as you already have a good amp etc.). They're kind of the icing on the cake (and that's probably suggesting that they're less important than they really are, but I can't think of a better metaphor)- good pickups + good rig = awesome. poor pickups + good rig is still good, but you feel like there's something missing.

another thing that I'd say doesn't get mentioned enough is that it depends what you're playing- for example, if you're playing a piece that has a load of pinch harmonics (say anything by zakk), you're going to want a pickup rich in harmonics, while this wouldn't matter so much if you weren't.

Etc.

EDIT: I'd definitely say playing style is the most important, though I doubt too many would argue with that. But good gear/pickups can make you play better...

[BloodMountain]

good gear/pickups can make you play better...

AMEN. my practice amp makes me practice because it has good tone. my MG makes me storm out of my rehearsal room to practice with my little amp.
my mouth waters when playing through my practice amp, but it dries up when playing through the MG.

i could go on and on, but you get the picture.

[dave_mc]

^ yeah, i was getting so annoyed with my old avt, I was practising less and less...

anyway, back on to the topic at hand, I guess, don't want to hijack ben's thread.

:drink:

[Davey]

amp has more to do with it. play a warpig through a fender twin reverb and play it through a bogner uberschall and it's not going to sound even remotely similar

well.. you are currently comparing apples to oranges man.. a REALLY high gain amp, to a very clean amp.

ben and jimmy were playing through amps that had a similar gain structure, power and differed pretty much only in tone complexity and "color" of tone

[shaman]

ahh,grasshopper...we all are searching for the holy grail of tone-I have played for 25 years(Yikes!!!) , and the search for me began in earnest just a few years ago-i had tones and rigs that worked-as long as I had a 4x12,tubes,and a Paul..it was ON!2 of my dear friends are mesa boogie disciples-they shared with me, on a cold dreary night, the magic of their fabled MArk IIc+ amps-my buddy lives amongst the tubes,transformers,chassis,etc....tis a beautiful mess...his very own tone farm..mad scientist for sure-they have turned me on to the GRAIL-we all seek it---I had to quit my job because of a congenital heart defect, so I turned my energies to music full time-I have been mixing,matching,buying,trading ,etc over the past few years-after i found my amp,effects,etc , it became time to fine tune that sound in my head-the BK's have become what I would consider a missing link-it has taught me that all variables are equally important-if something isnt quite right,figure it out and attack it-the recent purchase of the MM/CS combo has helped define my technique-I also own RY-so versatile--I am almost at tonal nirvana -the search is a BLAST-you get to play with all the stuff you wanted as a kid-you lose $$$...you make friends-it is like good Asian food...everything needs harmony and balance-all equally important..bottom line--enjoy every sandwich(W Zevon)-

[Mr Ed]

Well, I'd say it's equal parts player/guitar/pickups/amp.

[DeanS]

I'm suprised by TO's findings and guess they must be similar players in terms of attack/ style and the tone thats in their head- if you know what I mean. I always found that using different equipment may bring out different aspects of my tone but my basic tone never changes- I always sound like me!

I read somewhere about the time Ted Nugent had the opportunity to try out EVH's rig. Played a couple of bars and walked off in a deep depression!!

[gwEm]

i guess the notes you play are the most important...