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Pickups, which is best in terms of results vs cost?

Posted by Clarky on August 2, 2013 at 10:49am in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion

Ok so, I don't know too much about pickups, I used simple piezos in my first 20 builds and since then I've used rod piezos which have been mostly great.  My current build is going to have a single coil pickup so I'm working on that.

Are there better (fairly cheap) pickups out there that I don't know about?  I've seen Chickenbone John talk about passive piezos in his videos, are they different/better than a normal one?  Excuse my ignorance.  I want to get the best bang for my buck without breaking the bank!  Am I best to stick with the rod style?

I tried a search but am not really getting the answers I need.  Thanks folks :D

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Replies

  • Clarky August 5, 2013 at 4:47am

    Thanks for the replies.  I just finished my first one with a single coil and the difference in sound quality from a rod piezo is huge.  This was just a cheap single coil with tone and volume control, it blows any type of piezo I've used out of the water.  A bit more expensive but seemed worth it.  For selling them I think I'll stick to rods though, nice and cheap and they sound pretty good.

    • Randy S. Bretz > Clarky August 5, 2013 at 6:07am

      Rod bridges are so easy to install [ more so if you make rod bridges up ahead of time and have some in stock ]. Just an 1/8" hole in the lid and solder to either pots or straight to a jack. Or the special jacks that the rod wire can plug right in to. Or the option of an on board EQ that the rod wire can plug in to. Plus no need to ground the strings.       I have used mag pickups and still do time to time. There is a noticeable sound difference between the mag and the rod.  But with a rod the bridge that it goes in can be made to look awesome and to ones own look. With the mag it`s either the way it was made or what I do...hide it with a look all your own.  For myself 75% of my sales come from my custom rod bridges and they will always be what I choose to install as a standard pickup.

  • Mr.melo August 4, 2013 at 1:11pm

    Shane speal did a little segment on cbg acoustic pick up rod that's solderless with jack  wrks for me..easy clean clear but if you are looking to wow people ...make em..

    Railroad Don has three really great vids from beginning to end that you have to see..

    Hope that was helpful.............

  • 3 Fingered Ape August 3, 2013 at 7:41am

    Well I'll check in on this topic, It depends on a lot of variables right now my favorite pickup is a gold covered single coil from CB Gitty. That said I've tried Piezo discs (just one build),  Rods (sounds ok through an acoustic amp) and have a set of Gitty  4 pole bass pickups on the bench right now. I will be trying a preamp with the rod Piezo and have heard some awesome sounding Piezo setup here but right now I think magnetic is the best sounding thru my amps. I'm using a Mustang 1, Peavey express blue stripe 112, a Esteban G10 (acoustic), and a little battery powered First Act. The Piezos work best thru the acoustic and battery powered. I think it is a never ending quest for tone with every guitarist.

    • Mungo Park > 3 Fingered Ape August 4, 2013 at 1:17am

      I bought a lot of cheap PU's, how good could the expensive ones be right. Well if you are keeping the build for yourself get something that really sounds great. So next would be what sounds great for the price. You did not give a ball park figure so who knows if you are talking 5 bucks or what. So it is hard to recommend something, for me amd my ears these are the very best dollar value PU's, better ones out their but not better for this price. This guy sells a lifetime of PU building knowledge for a pittance.

      http://www.wildepickups.com/Wilde_Bill_s_NF_Singles.html

      Read disclaime:

       What sounds good to me might not to you Yada Yada Yada...............

                                                          Cheers Ron.

       

       

  • Ted Crocker August 3, 2013 at 12:54am

    <--- maybe I'm biased...

    Gitty carries Ted Crocker mag pups for a good price.  Stonehenge and DownUnder power thousands of instruments almost 10 years running, Search YouTube for Ted Crocker pickup or ask me for vids.

    https://www.cbgitty.com/cubecart/ted-crocker-handmade-pickups.html

    :) 

    • neanderpaul > Ted Crocker August 3, 2013 at 1:13am

      Post links to clean and dirty samples!

  • The Phrygian Kid August 2, 2013 at 5:46pm
    *imho there is no definitive answer. Lot of guys will tell you that buzzer discs are just awesome. Some guys have a big valve amplifier, others a wee battery powered opamp circuit squeezed into a cigar box. They've put a lot of work into it, of course it sounds absolutely fabulous. (TO THEM) some guys have real guitars and amps and can play them. This (hopefully) sets a benchmark for their own builds. Other guys around here are here because they can't play a regular guitar, tried before but it's too hard, so now they make three stringers. They don't necessarily compare to a fender guitar or whatever, they're operating in a vacuum. So they say 'oh product x here works awesome'... Well I'm real happy for em...

    I think piezo discs suck. I think piezo rods suck quite a bit less than them, but they still suck. I think little op amp powered guitar amplifiers are worthless. These opinions are of course utterly worthless to you.

    The best and only thing you can do is roll up your sleeves, start at the beginning, try EVERYTHING, and form your own informed opinions. Then of course bring your dogma back here and force it on others :D
    • Ron "Oily" Sprague > The Phrygian Kid August 2, 2013 at 8:59pm
      In uncharacteristic fashion, I will keep this short.

      Jef is telling you to take your dogma for a walk.

      >:-E
      • jabes > Ron "Oily" Sprague August 4, 2013 at 2:01pm

        may his karma run over his dogma....;)

This reply was deleted.