Replacing aftermarket pickups with stock

[kats]

Plenty of threads with the opposite, so I figured I’d pipe in with this one

When I bought my 2013 Joe Perry I played a few gigs with it stock, got quite a few compliments on it’s sound and personally really dug the tone. Very “woody” you felt like you really heard the guitar’s personality. But for no reason other than “that’s what I always do” I swapped them for some high end boutique pups. Great pups, excellent balance etc - but a little plain vanilla by comparison. I felt the sound of the pups more than the guitar - if that makes any sense?? Deep down I knew I preffered the original but I thought I’d stick it out a bit longer before making my final decision. FF about 4 years to last week and I finally got around to it LOL! Ahhh my gut feeling was right after all - I really love the stockers (and the guitar even more)! A great match between the wood and the pup.

 

[BLOYD]

Well, so far I only own one LP Custom. Not to be a homer but my LP sounds so fantastic I couldn't justify swapping them out for any other boutique (insert flav of the day here) pickups. IMO that's a huge piece in what makes an LP what it is...

 

[renderit]

Most of the LP's I have bought in the last few years remain as purchased, but slowly I am rolling some changes through a few of them. I STRONGLY believe that lightning can be bottled with the right PU in the right electric. But you have to be willing to go through a few brands and the maybe even several of the same brand to get the sweetest match. I have one guitar (non LP) that sounded like meh with the factory pickups in it. I went through 3 or 4 sets before finding Wizzes worked best. I tried DiMarzio Anniversaries, Wolftones, 490's, and Lollar Imperials in it and more meh. The Wizz set instantly sounded excellent. I also keep Tyson Tones and several different sets each of Thrōbak and Duncans (and Wizz) around just to play. I would suggest keeping an eye on the sale sections here and catch different types used to add to your arsenal.

But there is no reason to change anything if you like it the way it came!

 

[AA00475Bassman]

I keep my historic guitars with the stock pickups I buy in hand and have found guitars I find have the tone I'm looking for . Im not a great player guitar is very challenging for me I don't believe I would find the tone these after market pickups could provide . I do change out my ceramic stock firebird pickups . IMO your finding the sound you like with stock pickups is a good thing !

 

[67SLP]

Depends on the stock tone of the guitar and what you want from it. Some are fine just as is from the factory believe it or not. :spabout

 

[slammintone]

Haven’t always been the biggest fan of Burstbuckers but I did long ago come to the conclusion that even
the plainest sounding examples give a very good idea of what the guitar should sound like. In other words they are at least fairly transparent sounding that way. Finding a much better sounding replacement pickup vs just a different but maybe not better sounding set can be done but it can get frustrating.

 

[kats]

Plenty of threads with the opposite, so I figured I’d pipe in with this one

When I bought my 2013 Joe Perry I played a few gigs with it stock, got quite a few compliments on it’s sound and personally really dug the tone. Very “woody” you felt like you really heard the guitar’s personality. But for no reason other than “that’s what I always do” I swapped them for some high end boutique pups. Great pups, excellent balance etc - but a little plain vanilla by comparison. I felt the sound of the pups more than the guitar - if that makes any sense?? Deep down I knew I preffered the original but I thought I’d stick it out a bit longer before making my final decision. FF about 4 years to last week and I finally got around to it LOL! Ahhh my gut feeling was right after all - I really love the stockers (and the guitar even more)! A great match between the wood and the pup.

And 2 years later they weren’t quite right with a ‘67 Black Flag Superlead build LOL. Swapped the boutique ones back in and Vioia, where it needs to be.

 

[Bluesman1956]

I recently aquired a R8 with a after market pickup in the bridge position. Knew it was overwound and way to hot for my taste. So I looked around and found a replacement Burstbucker 2 VOS. I pulled the pickup in question out to find it was a Wolftone Marshall Head(doulble cream bobbins). I know they are a sought after and a quality pickup but when I cranked the Paul through the Marshall there was no turning back for me pure vintage killer tone!!

 

[LeonC]

Yeah, I love the stock pickups that came in my two Les Pauls. They were a big part of the sound of these guitars, I figured, and the sound was one of the main reasons I bought each of them! I've gone through pickup swaps with other guitars (and other Les Pauls)...but in these two, I'd never consider changing them.