👕 Get New Ernie Ball Merch Now!
  • Ernie Ball
  • Music Man
  • Sterling by Music Man
Axis 30th Anniversary

best pickups for albert lee hum and single

B

billy carr

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 17, 2013
Messages
265
Do you prefer stock pickups in the AL? Or if you have replaced them, what did you use? I love the transition pickups in the luke3, could you get that style of pickup in an Al? What would be comparable?
 
I love the stock pickups in my als. The humbucker sounds grey in all positions. Fat in the neck and bridge position with gain for rock, the between positions are thinner , good for sounds that albert is famous for. My SSS with original pickups sounds also great , a great guitar for " tele single coil sounds", if you´re looking for that classic chicken picking thats the guitar. My other SSS, bought it used from a fellow member here, has 3 strat pickups made by dimarzio. Guess what, strat as it´s best.I purchased the guitar with the dimarzios installed + the original pickups included.
To me there is no need to change the pickups, the factory pickups are great. But the sss with the dimarzios is the best strat i owned.
get one, if you don´t like the pickups you can swap them easily.

great guitars, i have 5 ALs now :-))
 
Never had the desire to change the pickups in my HH Al.
 
V_S said:
Never had the desire to change the pickups in my HH Al.
Click to expand...


I also never had the desire, BUT as I tried some pickups in a Strat of mine I also tried them in the AL, just for fun and to see how it sounds with others. I was interested in seeing how important the pickups are for AL-sound. I tried a Kinman Traditional Set and a LeoSounds Redhouse Set (German Manufacturer, Redhouse = Jimi Hendrix Style Set). Was a bit disapointed of the Kinmans, the LeoSounds stayed in my Strat. But the Stock AL-Pups were the best in the AL. They are a big part of the transparent, beautiful 50s-style AL-sound. I tried them also in my Strat. Not bad there but now my AL is pure stock again. It was interesting to see/hear but no need for a change!
 
Last edited:
Sweet, can't wait to get that AL guitar...I'm freaking out....hopefully it will be coming soon!
 
Tim O'Sullivan said:
Music Man guitars generally have excellent stock pickups, and you never have to worry about swapping them out!
Click to expand...

^^^^^ This.

However, I have OCD when it comes to 60 cycle hum and even the wonderful job performed by the Silent Circuit does not satisfy my insane requirements. As such, I put all noiseless pickups in my SSS AL. The neck and middle have DiMarzio Area '69s and the bridge is an Injector. That is, by far, my number 1 guitar - BUT it does sound quite a bit different than a stock Albert. YMMV.
 
Ditto- stock p'ups are excellent but I also like messing with things.

In one AL I've got Bill Lawrence L200s (similar to the Dimarzio Areas) and in the other I've got Lawrence Microcoils- now those are something. More full-range and real singles, but very quiet.
 
I tried a couple of singles in one of my ALs...Lollar Blondes and Bareknuckle Mother's Milk amongst them. I finally settled with the Lollars but if I had only one AL and had to choose I'd most definitely stick with the stock pickups. Wait until you try and hear them in person, I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised...there's really no need to mess with the pickups, they are quite capable to go far beyond the "signature AL sound".
 
Oh man I'm soooo stoked, this will be my 3rd ebmm! I started with a jp6, loved it. Then I scored a sweet luke3, loved it more! i cant wait to get an AL.
 
Sorry for opening old threads, but I didn't want to create new one.

I'm considering about to try single coil looking HH to my Albert Lee in bridge position. Does anybody try some?
I'm playing rock to heavy rock, so thinking about to give it a try. But I don't want to totally change whole pickups set.

Thanks
 
The Tone Zone S works nicely. There are tons of good options. I personally use a DiMarzio Injector - a single coil high output noiseless pickup. It's great as well.
 
Love the stock pups in the hardtail HH Albert. There are great brands out there but these Dimarzios are just great. Just the right output for a very versatile sound. You can go lower or higher output and make a more specific sound by switching em out, but as all arounders these pups sound fat and full of harmonics. and the 2 and 4 positions sound clean and shiny. People like dimarzio for heavy, but I like them for clean too - just great articulation and very expressive. I'd only switch out if I wanted a specific style, be it 57 classic or heavy modern.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Neck Rest
Back
Top