Should I change my pickups ?

[BucurAdrian]

Hey everybody ! I've got a Les Paul replica ( vintage v100 - mahogany body , rosewood fingerboard ) that I run through a Fender Mustang I amplifier . My question is , does it worth changing the stock pickups ? The only thing I don't like about the stock ones is that the clean tones are muddy .

[Edgecrusher]

Really only you can answer that question. Is it worth it to you to spend the 100+ dollars to not have a muddy clean tone?

you can try other remedies such as adjusting the pickup heights and adjusting your amp settings. another thing that might help is if you have 250k or 300k pots to go to 500k pots but it all still comes around to is it worth it to you.


Keep this in mind too if you do decide to buy new pickups keep the old ones. So if you ever upgrade guitars either keep the new pickups or sell them separate from the guitar you will recoup more money that way.

[GuitarDoc]

It sounds like you've got the typical Asian-import-muddy-pickup blues.

Try those things that Edgecrusher has suggested. After you do, you will still want to change out those muddy pups.

There are many SD pups that will work wonders for your guitar, but in order for any of us to give you suggestions we need to know what you are after. What sound do you want? What kind of music do you plan on playing with this guitar? Do you want low or high output pups? Does your LP have a maple cap or is it solid mahogany?

Give us more info and we'll be glad to give you some (many) suggestions that will help you breathe new life into your guitar.

[big kurka]

Use the search tool and search for de-mud. You'll find lots of great info

[blueman335]

It sounds like you've got the typical Asian-import-muddy-pickup blues.

Try those things that Edgecrusher has suggested. After you do, you will still want to change out those muddy pups.

+1. I have a bunch of imports and have upgraded PU's in all of them. I get most of my PU's used on eBay, so I usually pay about half price for Duncans, DiMarzios, Gibsons, etc.

As far as what model of PU's, if you play blues and/or classic rock, PAF's are great in LP's, and Duncan makes some of the best.

[hareek]

another thing that might help is if you have 250k or 300k pots to go to 500k pots but it all still comes around to is it worth it to you.

Excuse my ignorance but why does this matter? It's my understanding that the higher pot values mean the muddier the sound can be made. In other words, dialing the tone knob back from 10 to 0 has greater increase in muddiness with a 500kpot than a 250k pot, but cranked to 10 both the 500 and 250k pot have no difference in sound as that is the fully "Opened" setting, or the natural sound of the pickup and their placement to the strings.

So in this case, increasing to 500k pots will not help the OP with his "muddiness" sound, but give him more muddiness. So height adjustments of the existing pickups or a pickup swap would be the answer as I understand it.

[Edgecrusher]

Excuse my ignorance but why does this matter? It's my understanding that the higher pot values mean the muddier the sound can be made. In other words, dialing the tone knob back from 10 to 0 has greater increase in muddiness with a 500kpot than a 250k pot, but cranked to 10 both the 500 and 250k pot have no difference in sound as that is the fully "Opened" setting, or the natural sound of the pickup and their placement to the strings.

So in this case, increasing to 500k pots will not help the OP with his "muddiness" sound, but give him more muddiness. So height adjustments of the existing pickups or a pickup swap would be the answer as I understand it.

Nope sorry doesnt work like that. Not unless you have a no load pot. (most arent) A guitar with 500k pots will be brighter with any pickup than one with 250's.

You can think of it this way a guitar with 250k pots will sound like a guitar with 500k pots and the tone know turned half way down. Its not precisely like this but its similar.

This is why they recommend 250k pots with single coils is so they can tame some of the excess highs that occur.

[hareek]

Nope sorry doesnt work like that. Not unless you have a no load pot. (most arent) A guitar with 500k pots will be brighter with any pickup than one with 250's.

You can think of it this way a guitar with 250k pots will sound like a guitar with 500k pots and the tone know turned half way down. Its not precisely like this but its similar.

This is why they recommend 250k pots with single coils is so they can tame some of the excess highs that occur.

Ok I must be thinking of something else I read. Capacitors maybe? A .22 capacitor allows more highs or is brighter than a .47 right?

EDIT: Strike that. For equivalent tone pots cranked to 10, a .22 and a .47 capacitor do not sound different. It's when you start to roll the knob back to 0 that they make a difference, correct?

[Edgecrusher]

Ok I must be thinking of something else I read. Capacitors maybe? A .22 capacitor allows more highs or is brighter than a .47 right?

EDIT: Strike that. For equivalent tone pots cranked to 10, a .22 and a .47 capacitor do not sound different. It's when you start to roll the knob back to 0 that they make a difference, correct?

Yeah that part is correct.

[hareek]

Yeah that part is correct.

Gotcha thanks. Sorry to the original poster for temporarily hijacking the thread. Carry on!

I think you should swap your pickups.

[blueman335]

So in this case, increasing to 500k pots will not help the OP with his "muddiness" sound, but give him more muddiness.

Almost all humbucker guitars come stock with 500K pots, except for Gibsons. It's a 99% chance that his guitar already has 500K's.

And as was pointed out, it's caps, not pot values that make no difference unless they're dialed down.

Just a suggestion, but next time, maybe you ought to think your posts through a bit more.

[Funkfingers]

The stock control pots and selector switch on your guitar are not of professional quality. Upgrading these would allow more of the treble frequencies to the jack socket.

Forum member Left_Hand_Strat has exactly same guitar as you - only left-handed. Contact him about the modifications that he made.

Pickup changes may help to tweak the amplified sound of your instrument. They cannot rescue a guitar with little or no natural acoustic resonance.

[hareek]

Just a suggestion, but next time, maybe you ought to think your posts through a bit more.

Just a suggestion, but perhaps you should read through the chain of posts a bit more before jumping on your keyboard. You might find your .2 to be unnecessary.