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i was thinking of geting some good pickups for my strat copy and was wondering if it would be worth it and what the pros and cons would be

Speaking as someone who has good pickups on a low end guitar, it can sometimes work out very well. as long as the guitar you're putting the pups on isn't such low quality that it doesn't work properly or is difficult to play or intonate.
Rock On ~ Kac

put an SD jazz/jb combo on a cheap les paul knockoff that sounded muddy when i got it..the body is mahogany, rosewood frets and it sounds like a million bucks! (instead of $128)

I love cheap guitars. The quality of inexpensive guitars is amazing these days. Also, there are guitars, like older MIA Peaveys, that just don't command high resale value, yet are every bit as good as the latest offerings from Fender et al. My entire guitar collection could be had for less than the cost of a MIA Strat, but when equipped with Duncans, they sound killer.

One other thing: if your a semi-beginner, inexpensive guitars, with good pups, gives you a greater opportunity to quot;discoverquot; which axe and pup combo is going to work for you. After you establish that, then save for the upscale instrument.

Artie

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Go for it... buy used and it won't even be that expensive.


Originally Posted by ArtieTooI love cheap guitars. The quality of inexpensive guitars is amazing these days. Also, there are guitars, like older MIA Peaveys, that just don't command high resale value, yet are every bit as good as the latest offerings from Fender et al. My entire guitar collection could be had for less than the cost of a MIA Strat, but when equipped with Duncans, they sound killer.

One other thing: if your a semi-beginner, inexpensive guitars, with good pups, gives you a greater opportunity to quot;discoverquot; which axe and pup combo is going to work for you. After you establish that, then save for the upscale instrument.

Artie

exactly my rationale, artie..playing for about 9 months..don't want to invest $800, $900 in a guitar at this point..have a knockoff jay turser les paul and a MIM 96 fender strat that between the 2, cost me about $300 u.s. the strat pups are fine (and the strat is quite a decent guitar, i think in itself), but i'm playing with a variety of used SD's on the les paul to get a sense of what sounds i like, to get used to difference in tonal quality, etc. but before i buy an expensive guitar, i need to find out if i can be a decent player!

You know- when I play a guitar (usually at at music store...) I rarely plug it in to hear it. The most important thing to me is the FEEL. If it's solid, holds it's tuning, and is resonant (based on the vibrations I feel when playing), it's good. After that, my amps, effects, and the pups are going to provide most of the sound. I have rescued some killer guitars from pawn shops when people chose crack over music for less than two bills. Clean it, set it up, and drop in some decent pups and rock. And I'm kind of the opposite of Artie these days. The older I get, the less appeal premium axes have - because I know that my epiphone w/ the CC/PG would whip any off-the-shelf Les Paul in a blind sound check!


Originally Posted by AcemanAnd I'm kind of the opposite of Artie these days. The older I get, the less appeal premium axes have - because I know that my epiphone w/ the CC/PG would whip any off-the-shelf Les Paul in a blind sound check!

Hmmm . . . I don't think thats opposite me. I think its dead on where I stand. My most expensive axe was less than 3 bills, and the others were under 2.

Like I said, I love inexpensive guitars. (Got my eye on a Suzuki LP in a pawn shop right now.)

Artie

Aceman and ArtieToo have it absolutely right. The older I get, the more I am aware of the fact that wood is NOT the absolute thing when it comes to the tone. The quality of the guitar tone has more to do with the quality of it's construction AND the pick-ups. Aceman and ArtieToo hit it right on the bulls eye with this topic!!!

a while back i was thinking of buying a new guitar, i tried every Lp and LP copy at 5 different stores and could not find one with the same quot;mojoquot; my cheap Turser LP had. now i've had it for almost 10 years so maybe i'm biased. anyways one of the guys at one of the shops suggested i try quot;hot roddingquot; my guitar by modding it rather than replacing it. it took me almost 4 months of fidling with pick ups and wiring and pots and stuff i finally got quot;myquot; tone. i agree with artie that the older i get, it's not as much fun to me to buy an expensive guitar off the rack, than to find a used or cheap guitar and try to find that quot;tonequot; i like. i think you can only get it through blood sweat and tears, and solder iron burns and alot of frustation. but when you get to the end you have this great guitar that no one in the world can copy. that's how some of the greats got their tone. once upon a time LP's, Strats, and Teles were not worth that much money. but the guys who got them worked on their sound before they made it big. i find with a lot of big name guitar companies, could probably sell someone a guitar made out of plywood, but because it's got a quot;brandquot; on it they can charge what ever they want. but that's just my 2 cents

About a year ago, I got some Duncans put into my old Squier Stratocaster. The results were more than satisfying, and this guitar kicks major butt now.


Originally Posted by Aceman

I have rescued some killer guitars from pawn shops when people chose crack over music for less than two bills.

Makes me wish there were more crackheads in my area or at least ones with better taste in guitars.

Part of me wants to get the Hello Kitty strat and switch out the humbucker.
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I think I have the cheapest guitar with a Duncan on it.. I MOST DEFINTLY AND HONESTLY belive the guitar is not doing justice to the pickup.. But the Duncan has brought life into that guitar.. My Dad had got that guitar for me used around 10years back.It was somewhere in Feb-March 1996. for Rs.2500 thats around 54$. But the guitar was just like ACEMAN described SOLID, Resonating ( you wont belive how much it resonates, you can feel it) and is very light weight.. My only crib abouth the guitar is I dont like Flying V's and would prefer a slightly diff neck profile.. But other than that this guitar rocks, I have alredy decided not to sell it, although I am going to shift the JB to another guitar in the future

It's definitely worth it. Not only will can it improve the sound of your current guitar, if you decide down the road that you want to upgrade guitars you can just move those pickups over to the new guitar. That is, of course, assuming that the pickups will fit and match the guitar properly. But if they don't you can still get some money for them if you try to sell them. Cheap pickups won't get you much of anything on the used market.


Originally Posted by ArtieTooI love cheap guitars. The quality of inexpensive guitars is amazing these days. Also, there are guitars, like older MIA Peaveys, that just don't command high resale value, yet are every bit as good as the latest offerings from Fender et al. My entire guitar collection could be had for less than the cost of a MIA Strat, but when equipped with Duncans, they sound killer.

One other thing: if your a semi-beginner, inexpensive guitars, with good pups, gives you a greater opportunity to quot;discoverquot; which axe and pup combo is going to work for you. After you establish that, then save for the upscale instrument.

Artie

1!

Guitarists today have no idea. Artie, you're old enough to remember cheapie guitars where the strings sat an inch above the fretboard! There are some very nice cheap guitars out there nowadays. There is very little out there that I would consider junk.