Aftermarket pickups: Find one and stick with it/Variety is the spice of life?

[CTN]

all my guitars have wildly different pickup combos so yeah...spicy variety.

[pinto79]

I don't think any of my guitars has the same pickups as any other...

I find the best match for the guitar. As a result I have a combination of Duncan, DiMarzio and EMG pickups.

I really want to build another Strat and put a set of Lace Sensors into it...

[Shockme.au]

I have 4 electrics, none of which have the same pups.... Or even close.
I am not currently gigging so I do not need a back up so I can understand the need for a back up that sounds similar.

[jacksontrader]

I have a problem with leaving guitars and pickups together but. I have several guitars that have JB's in the bridge. I have Jazzes in the neck in a few which is my most common neck pup. I have an Alt8 in my drop C guitar's bridge with a Jazz in the neck. My drop B guitars have the Blackouts in one and Rockfield Mafias in the other. I get my variety in switching. All of my guitars have either mini switches or push pulls or super 5 switches in them. I like the different tones I can get but it can be a little bit of a boggle when I have to remember what sound is in what guitar. The only pickup I currently have in a guitar that I'm not happy with is a Suhr Aldrich in the bridge of a DKMG, my guess is the alder body wood doesn't go well with it. Not a bad pickup but I want to try it in a mahogeny body.

[Flint Stone]

Some guitar/pickup combinations are more versatile and will do a fairly good job with diverse musical sounds and styles. Other guitars are very much targeted for certain styles of music.

All my guitars have different pickups, but things like set lists, band members, venues, and audiences will determine what guitar I'll use or how many times I'll change throughout.

[Bfeeney]

Like my signature shows I'm trying 'em all. I've since bought/traded some but I want to have the best of all worlds. I'm really digging the GFS stuff lately.

[Aceman]

It's a personal preference. Depends on how many guitars and why you have them.

Maybe you dig one sound - cool, load them all the same. Or if you want a signiture sound.

Or maybe you have lots of different styles; Jazz Classic rock, metal, thuis A2P, PG, and Distortion.

Or maybe you want the same sound REGARDLESS of the guitar. You get the pup that gets YOUR sound in THAT guitar.

Me - I like certain tones; Ceramic Screamers and PG's. But I like other sounds too. I'm kind of down the middle.

[scarr]

Having a backup is, paradoxically, a unique case. The question (as I read it) is: do you have 4+ guitars that could all act as backups to each other?

I get new gear because I'm looking for something different than what I have. Rarely, that means putting the same pickup in a different body to get the variation of the shapes. Most of the time, I pick both the pickups to enhance a certain aspect of a guitar that makes it different to what I otherwise have.

[Archer_of_Fish]

I've been around long enough to make pretty good choices based on what I hear when I plug a guitar in and play for a while.

I dont have a go to pickup model.

[Jason_Clement]

I feel like each guitar will sound different regardless, even if you put the same set in two guitars. That's a pro, for me, 'cause I feel like it would be fun helping every guitar find its own voice! I guess I'm just a bit of a guitar whore, I want them all. >: D

[Funkfingers]

Curiosity often leads me to wonder what a given pickup would sound like in a particular guitar. I may try several different possibilities in one instrument. If a particular design or output level seems right, I stick with that general formula.

e.g. My PRS SE One arrived with a budget P90-alike pickup. I changed this to a hot ceramic P90, then a vintage-style Alnico version then a JB90 before stealing Wattage's idea of using a Filter'Tron. In the end, it seemed to me that the right vibe for that guitar was the SD Ant P90. That is what is on the guitar now.

Sometimes, I luck out. I was about to sell a JB when I decided to give it one last try in an Eighties Ibanez RG410. It turned out great - even with the pickup mounted on a stupid slant a la EVH.

[Mosher Zone]

I'm very much find one or two & stick with it, after trying Duncan's, EMG's & Dimarzio's i find i can get my best tone with a DD or JB as far as the bridge goes, for the neck the search is still on.

[rumblebox]

Different guitars like different pickups. And different styles call for different pickups. Different hands call for different pickups. Different amps call for different pickups. Etc etc et etc

[verbotenco]

Variety is the spice of life? No wonder divorce rate is high in America. I am promiscuous, so variety it is. Has anyone ever tried Tesla pickups by the way?

[elelpe]

Variety but all with big boobs? I like Tesla soapbar, don't care for the humbuckers.

[Zhangliqun]

My philosophy on gear has always been simple: stay with what you have until you find something that's actually better. The End.

[Diego]

In the last 8 years, I've had:

-Four guitars.
-Two amps.
-Only five aftermarket pickups. A2 Pro, Screamin' Demon, JB, DD HB103 and a Dimarzio Breed which I sold.

I also have some nice Tonerider single coils but those came in my AllParts so they count as stock.
I just stick to what works.

[superpete]

I like to mix it up. Why not? It's fun, gives you more tones, and gives me a better understanding of what I like/don't like in pickups, opposed to what people on a forum think (no offense). I've used 9 different Duncans. 9 different Dimarzios. 2 Rio Grandes. 2 EMGs. 4 Gibsons. Plus what ever came stock in some other guitars.

It's a disease, what can i tell you.

[xxxplorer]

I like hot thicker bridges for my heavier stuff, but I almost don't care what I'm playing if I'm just jamming with my friends and family. I keep my 'gig' axes the same and everything else is stock. Sometimes I even find new tones for my band with my other guitars and use one for a song or two. It keeps it from getting boring and stale.

[jtrocks12]

i've customized different guitars to do different things - an LP Standard with Sheptone PAFs, LP Custom with a Jazz and Custom Custom, Schecter Devil downtuned with EMGs, Strat with Custom Shop 69s. I love the variety and never get bored.

But I will say that the approach of having different guitars to specialize in a certain sound has kinda kept me from digging deeper into the dozens of ways you can tweak tone, from changing pickup height to playing with tone/vol knobs or tweaking amp settings.