software

i was thinking of geting some good pickups for my cheep strat would there be any differenses worth the money and what would be the pros and cons

I have put Duncan JB's and Jazz on several cheap guitars that were used for gigging (MIM Strat, ESP MV series, and an old Ibanez Roadstar).
In every case, the sound was improved at least a little, and in some cases dramatically.

The only down side I can see is the cost of the pickup, though to me, it's simply part of improving the guitar. (and remember, cheap guitars always have cheap pickups... usually meaning lousy sounding pickups).

Good Luck

Yeah it works but if you put 3 new pups in a strat, thats $300
$300 plus trade in u could get a better guitar. Yuo'd have to decide whether the playabilty of your current giutar is good enough.

Depends if your going for a more drastic change, I for one is going from stock S-C in bridge of MIM strat to a Duncan Custom...BIG difference there.

Depending on what type of sound you want, actives will make a cheap guitar sound a whole lot better....the problem is they make an expensive guitar sound the same as the cheap guitar.

IMO, actives seem to overpower the wood the guitar is made out of, making it less of a factor in the overall tone of the guitar...a plus if you are dealing with cheap wood and construction.

you may consider, assuming you're replacing the bridge pickup, switch the tone pot from the middle to the bridge

it'll take out a lot of the shrillness associated with strat bridges

it totally depends on the quality of your body,neck,hardware.
there are cheap copies, which do sound fine with a little tuning.
did you try to play your guitar at night, when everybody sleeps-WITHOUT your amp

-does it sound good silent for you?
-is the sustain good?
-is it comfortable to play?
-do you like the look and feel

if all that is the case, you could consider to swap one or more
pickups and see if it does that for you .

if not, .. if it has the sustain of a shoe carton with strings ...-gt; don't invest any money

if you think of screwing around on strats anyway, you can make a
complete second pickguard with pus and electrics an keep it, if the
project fails

just my 2 (#8364;-)cents

It's not necessary to post the same question in 2 rooms: from : localhost//forum/showt...d=1#post675403

. . . and twice, in one of those rooms.

from : localhost//forum/s...ad.php?t=57102
from : localhost//forum/s...ad.php?t=57101

I believe my point was made.

i origanaly posted it in 3 but they moved it so now its 2 in 1 room sorry


Originally Posted by big_blackDepending on what type of sound you want, actives will make a cheap guitar sound a whole lot better....the problem is they make an expensive guitar sound the same as the cheap guitar.

IMO, actives seem to overpower the wood the guitar is made out of, making it less of a factor in the overall tone of the guitar...a plus if you are dealing with cheap wood and construction.

Sorry BB, but this statement is wrong on all counts.

Actives are just like any pickup. Wood and construction will make a difference in tone with any pickup.

I put new Pickups in a squier start and it was a huge improvement on its tone. The original pickups in it were very sterile. It may not sound as good as some guitars, but if replace that guitar I'll just stick the stock pickups back in and use the better pups on another guitar.

I answered on at least one of the 2 identical threads in the Pickup lounge... this is getting annoying.....


Originally Posted by Benjy_26Sorry BB, but this statement is wrong on all counts.

Actives are just like any pickup. Wood and construction will make a difference in tone with any pickup.

Hmm. I don't know...I get that opinion from my admittedly limited experience with actives. I didn't notice nearly the difference in the three or four active loaded guitars I've played compared to guitars with passive pickups.

It depends.

It worked for me.
lt;-----------------


Originally Posted by big_blackHmm. I don't know...I get that opinion from my admittedly limited experience with actives. I didn't notice nearly the difference in the three or four active loaded guitars I've played compared to guitars with passive pickups.

I've put the EMG Dave Gilmour set in my MIJ 62 RI, my 77 ash strat, my friend's 57, and my brother's parts-o-caster and it sounds different in all of them.

They still sound like EMG's, but then again, a JB sounds like a JB in any strat as well.

if you like the feel of your guitar, go for it. Better pickups will make for a better sounding guita and also make you want to play more. If down the road you want a better guitar (I am thinking about a strat but any kind of guitar will work really as long as it has the same kind of pickups.) take the pickguard or nice pickups from this guitar and install them in your new guitar. Then you have an even better playing and sounding new guitar.

I would only ever put an active in a cheap guitar. Exspensive passives for more exspensive guitars. Reason is like said above the active kinda just makes its own sound no matter what wood or anything, thats why they are good for cheap guitars. But a passive still depends on wood, etc.


Originally Posted by Pecan. Reason is like said above the active kinda just makes its own sound no matter what wood or anything, thats why they are good for cheap guitars. But a passive still depends on wood, etc.

This statement is just wrong. Have you ever used actives in any of your guitars?