What is your favorite Humbucker?

[peter71]

Hey everyone! I just had a quick question for you guys. I am pretty much a single coil guy, and my favorite brand are the Australian made Kinman's, but I have no clue when it comes to Humbuckers. I have an early 90's Sil and another guitar which shall remain nameless that have humbuckers that I am just not totally sold on. I don't use the humbucker pickup much in my playing, mostly becuase of my dissatisfaction with the sound mine make. Now the Sil's is definitely nicer, and I use it from time to time, especially on solos since it cuts pretty nicely.

Anyway, all that aside, if you guys could have any humbucker pickup (try and limit it to $200 and under, since I am going to be using your comments as a purchase recommendation and I may need 2!) what would it be?

Anyway, thanks all for your help. You are a swell board and I appreciate it!

 

[slukather]

I love the EMG 85, or possibly the dimarzio tone zone.

But l pretty much just use EMG now.

Hope this helps,

Scott.

 

[beej]

I'm a big fan of Bill Lawrence. Makes a wide range of pickups to suit tone/styles.

That said, a lot depends on your tone and style preferences, and whether you want to match the HB with your other pickups. E.g. do you want a bridge HB to split and match output with the single coils (so you get a real "quack" instead of a mismatched sound), do you care about a volume drop in switching to the HB, etc. Are the other pickups active or passive? If they're passive, you can't really mix an active pickup in with them. If active, then you'll want an active pickup to match.

There are a zillion options and everyone has their own opinion on the subject. Me, I'm pretty happy with all the stock MM humbuckers- they seem to suit the guitars I have very well.

 

[threeminutesboy]

I love the Axis (bridge and neck) humbuckers as well as the EMG85 (this one is really screaming)

 

[wolfbone07]

I like the DiMarzio EJ Custom pickups in both Neck and Bridge. Also, the Seymour Duncan Phat Cat pickups are really nice. They are p90 type pickups in a humbucker size. My 2 cents.

 

[GHWelles]

I like single coil too, and the Dimarzio virtual paf humbuckers get a nice 3d chime tone for a humbucker. And they can be split for single coil. These are a classic rock pickup.

 

[peter71]

Hey Thanks!

Hey guys, thanks a bunch! These are all good reccomendations. Are the EMG and Dimarzio pickups mostly after market, or do you know of any rigs that come with them standard? I just wanted to see if there was one I could play before I buy it. I have heard good things about the EMG's so I thought I would look into them. But my sound is pretty classic rock/blues/country (probably why I like single coil sounds...) so DiMarzio pickups seem pretty interesting. Anyway, thanks so much guys. I am going to go to a few places and see if I can find any of these to noodle on -

 

[Karlsson-75]

I have EMG 85 in my EB/MM Luke and Valley Arts Custom Pro. And it sounds great in both axes!. Active EMG 85 has an attack thats truly amazing..

 

[beej]

Most of the MM's come stock with Dimarzio pickups. The Albert Lee comes with Duncan's. The Luke comes with EMGs.

You can't mix and match EMGs. (e.g. If you just want a new bridge pickup and your other pickups are passive you'd have to replace all of them.)

 

[Astrofreq]

Agreed. The Dimarzio Tone Zone is just killer for the bridge position. ALOT of punch. I love the Humbucker from Hell for the Neck position. It has a single coil type sound, but still all the response and tone of a humbucker. VERY unique pickup.

The Axis bridge pickup is the best, but you have to buy a guitar to get those.

 

[Norrin Radd]

The Axis bridge pickup is the best, but you have to buy a guitar to get those.

+1! But it's worth it.

 

[Tim O'Sullivan]

+1! But it's worth it.

+2!

 

[Antoine]

Tone Zone, my all time favorite !!!

 

[Sub1 Zero]

seymour duncan JB for bridge and jazz for neck

 

[GrooveHT]

Hey Peter,
I think part of figuring out which humbucker would be for you is to find out what kind of music you play/need to cover. If you do classic rock/blues and don't need b@lls out metal, you can select a vintage/medium output pickup. I've heard people rave about making a Seymour Duncan hybrid...taking a 59 and a custom and reassembling them so you have a coil from each on both pickups...i.e. half a 59, half a custom per each baseplate. People on the SD board flip over those. Also good from SD for medium output is a Screamin' Demon, Blues Trembucker...I could help a little better if I knew what you were shooting for, anyway

 

[PugNinjas]

Personally, I've always found the DiMarzio FRED to be an excellent and versatile pick-up. I believe there is a new version out but since I have become a slave to my MM90 AL I have no need for buckers anymore

 

[peter71]

You guys are so cool! Thanks for all this great feedback. This is why I like this board!

Oh, I guess the gear is ok too.

And I haven't been booted from it yet. That is plus too...

 

[GrooveHT]

You guys are so cool! Thanks for all this great feedback. This is why I like this board!

And I haven't been booted from it yet. That is plus too...

Not for lack of trying though, I'm sure

 

[TheViperKing]

Hey Peter!!

I suggest you "Lindy Fralin" Humbuckers http://www.fralinpickups.com/humbuckers.asp
This is the most close to vintage PAF type pickup and all "hand round"!! It's a REAL Classic!! Very very sweet tone!! You can easy to find them on some online shop or eBay store... Anyway, also you can see another PAF type humbuckers... like Seymour Duncan "Seth Lover" or DiMarzio "PAF DP-103"...
But one more thing you have to know... about the humbucker pickup "legs"!! Not all guitars can fit all brand pickups!! I think you better ask the dealer before you buy!!
Good Luck man!! Hope you can get your new sound!!

 

[Lucidology]

I agree.. Lindy Fralin's humbuckers are wonderful sounding pickups... they have a wide aperature, yet remain very single-coil-ish..

As for myself, I prefer to use Humbucker's that are more single coil in nature...

Dimazio's Humbucker from Hell is a great pickup (for instance: they make an SG or Les Paul type of guitar totally take on a new vibe.. a lot more spank capability ...)

DiMarzio's Bluesbucker is a beautiful single coil sound... (they claim it's a P-90 in a humbucker housing, but it's no where near as raw as a true P-90, which I was very glad to find out..)