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previous: Dick Hi All,Why are cheap pickups ru... -- 9/5/2002 12:35 AM

Re: Why are cheap pickups rubbish?

9/5/2002 4:24 AM
Tim Escobedo	Re: Why are cheap pickups rubbish? There's gotta be more than physical quality often times. I mean, there's lots of subjectivness to consider. What makes a cheap strat pickup copy bad, or a vintage Danelectro lipstick tube cool, or a no-name lap steel pickup have so much "mojo"? I have a Harmony with incredibly loud Rowe/DeArmond pickups just oozing character. Yet, if a cheap strat pickup sounded like these, you'd certainly think they were defective and would probably replace them ASAP. I've observed some pickup upgrades that really only sounded like replacing stock pickups with hotter pickups. I think that alone would generally be percieved as a upgrade... louder=better. Makes me wonder how many folks in the 60s or 70s ripped those "weak ass" pickups out of their vintage Strats and replaced them with Gibson humbuckers. If there's no appreciation for the classic strat sound, such a modification might seem like a godsend.

9/5/2002 4:24 AM

Tim Escobedo

Re: Why are cheap pickups rubbish?

There's gotta be more than physical quality often times. I mean, there's lots of subjectivness to consider. What makes a cheap strat pickup copy bad, or a vintage Danelectro lipstick tube cool, or a no-name lap steel pickup have so much "mojo"? I have a Harmony with incredibly loud Rowe/DeArmond pickups just oozing character. Yet, if a cheap strat pickup sounded like these, you'd certainly think they were defective and would probably replace them ASAP.

I've observed some pickup upgrades that really only sounded like replacing stock pickups with hotter pickups. I think that alone would generally be percieved as a upgrade... louder=better. Makes me wonder how many folks in the 60s or 70s ripped those "weak ass" pickups out of their vintage Strats and replaced them with Gibson humbuckers. If there's no appreciation for the classic strat sound, such a modification might seem like a godsend.

Replies:

Dick What I meant was that cheap stock p... -- 9/5/2002 6:04 AM