Low - mid output humbuckers: Am I missing out?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Caca_Spaniel_123
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braintheory said:
Well what exactly are you looking for in your tone in it besides just lower output? And what’s your budget? There’s lots of pickups I could potentially recommend, but would need to know more
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I currently have the Warpigs. Its a very aggressive pickup with lots of bass and mids and the highend is rolled off. Something similar in feel but lower output might work for me.

I've noticed that my Fishman in passive mode definitely lets my Gibson breath more than its active mode.

No budget retraints. I was considering BKP polymaths for starters
 
Caca_Spaniel_123 said:
I currently have the Warpigs. Its a very aggressive pickup with lots of bass and mids and the highend is rolled off. Something similar in feel but lower output might work for me.

I've noticed that my Fishman in passive mode definitely lets my Gibson breath more than its active mode.

No budget retraints. I was considering BKP polymaths for starters
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Well I find low & highoutput pickups generally feel very different from each other. The polymaths in my book would still be a more high output pickup. I guess a BKP with less output would probably be closest to what you’re describing or a lower output WCR (better pickups imho than BKP’s with many qualities of what I think most guys like in the BKP’s, but with better tone & feel imo and more juicy)

I personally find BKP’s honestly to be too 2d or kinda sterile for my taste. If you like the Warpigs, you might like the Iron Man too by WCR (better pickup imo). I myself now only use vintage pickups and some Tone Specific’s (but those aren’t imo for metal). For highoutput pickups my go to’s are various vintage Bill Lawrence’s, Dirty Finger’s, Mighty Mites and a few others. I don’t think any current made highoutput pickups hold a candle to them when compared
 
I play metal on high-gain amps.

I had a phase where I was playing low output PAF's going by the hype that they have more clarity and dynamics. I tried a few, and I ended up really liking the plain jane Duncan '59B for its twangy attack and firm bass. I still wouldn't mind a guitar with a set of those in for some variety.

But then I tried the the Duncan Black Winter and came back to my senses. I realized what benefits I thought I gained from running low output pickups (clarity and dynamics) was negated by the fact that I had to run my gain higher on my amp in order for them not sound super weak, dry, and undergained.

I mean, I understand overdoing the gain can kill clarity fast, but I also like me some chunk to my palm-mutes.

There are plenty of high-output pickups that are voiced for clarity, and, not always but generally, they tend to be voiced tighter and sound more focused and modern.

So these days, I just stick by my Fishmans which I'd put up against any modern vintage-voiced PAF in terms of clarity.

JMO, of course.
 
Rex Rocker said:
I play metal on high-gain amps.

I had a phase where I was playing low output PAF's going by the hype that they have more clarity and dynamics. I tried a few, and I ended up really liking the plain jane Duncan '59B for its twangy attack and firm bass. I still wouldn't mind a guitar with a set of those in for some variety.

But then I tried the the Duncan Black Winter and came back to my senses. I realized what benefits I thought I gained from running low output pickups (clarity and dynamics) was negated by the fact that I had to run my gain higher on my amp in order for them not sound super weak, dry, and undergained.

I mean, I understand overdoing the gain can kill clarity fast, but I also like me some chunk to my palm-mutes.

There are plenty of high-output pickups that are voiced for clarity, and, not always but generally, they tend to be voiced tighter and sound more focused and modern.

So these days, I just stick by my Fishmans which I'd put up against any modern vintage-voiced PAF in terms of clarity.

JMO, of course.
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+1 with the Fishman passive sounding godlike
 
To my ears I find the mid to lower output pickups to be more articulate.
Every note becomes a bit more focused.
 
For me it's a feel thing. Higher output pickups tend to have a more immediate response with the amp. While I do enjoy using PAF style pickups, I tend to prefer higher output pickups. I like the way they smack the front end of the amp.
 
SFW said:
For me it's a feel thing. Higher output pickups tend to have a more immediate response with the amp. While I do enjoy using PAF style pickups, I tend to prefer higher output pickups. I like the way they smack the front end of the amp.
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PAF style pickup tend to be slower, but other low output pickups can be fast, especially some of the old Gretsch ones like the Supertron or some of the old mini-humbuckers, but these all would probably feedback too much in many guy’s setups on here
 
Letting the amp do the work is the best lesson i've learned. Especially when recording.

 
Don’t overlook raising a low output humbucker closer to the strings to get a bit more push out of them as their magnetic pull won’t be as strong as most high output types. And vise versa for mid-high output ones. Experiment as every pickup will have it’s optimal height, depending on the guitar, amp, etc. Raising single coil pickups close to the strings doesn’t work well, even if they’re low output because the nature of the magnetic field emanating from the single coil slugs is more focussed and more prone to interfere with string vibration than the more spread out magnetic field of humbuckers. If severe enough the problem manifests itself as wonky intonation all the way to slightly out of tune notes on certain sections of the neck.
 
Maybe, maybe not lol. I mostly play high gain metal and have found some low output stuff that works great. I’ve also put those same pickups in different guitars and didn’t like them as much because they didn’t match those guitars as well. I feel like sometimes (not always) hotter pickups are a little more forgiving in that regard with high gain amps since they let less of the guitar’s natural characteristics through. It all just depends on the guitar and your whole set up. Best bet would be to try some so you can hear and feel it for yourself.
 
I prefer very strong output for metal and much lower for clean stuff, but I'm also fine with making either work for either style.
Most of my guitars have very high-output pickups and I just rely on rolling back the volume pots for different/darker tones.
 
Rex Rocker said:
I play metal on high-gain amps.
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As always it depends on the style of music you play. I've always gravitated towards higher output humbuckers for harder rock and metal especially. Can you do metal and chugga with lower output pups? Sure. But even with high gain amps, boosts, EQs, etc., it just doesn't feel or sound the same.

I have Thornbuckers in my Suhr Andy Wood and they sound great for everything up to hard rock and metal. They can do it okay, but when I play a guitar with higher output pups it just feels better.
 
jeff5 said:
As always it depends on the style of music you play. I've always gravitated towards higher output humbuckers for harder rock and metal especially. Can you do metal and chugga with lower output pups? Sure. But even with high gain amps, boosts, EQs, etc., it just doesn't feel or sound the same.

I have Thornbuckers in my Suhr Andy Wood and they sound great for everything up to hard rock and metal. They can do it okay, but when I play a guitar with higher output pups it just feels better.
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same with me & my prs
 
I don't correlate high output pickups vs the amount of gain amps have, or whether I'd want to boost them the way a lot of players do. I focus more on how the guitar sounds & feels in my hands, and if it gives me what I need with little effort, so I can concentrate on playing. I tend to gravitate more toward high out put pickups, just because I get the sound and feel I generally want from them with ease. However, I do have a few guitars with lower output pickups that offer something different, and I enjoy having them.

If you're only playing a couple of guitars, and what you've currently got is working for you, I'd stick with it.

If you have half a dozen guitars, and are always experimenting with different sounds, I'd say it's worthwhile to have one or two sets of pickups that aren't your normal go-to.
 
cobrahead1030 said:
I don't correlate high output pickups vs the amount of gain amps have, or whether I'd want to boost them the way a lot of players do. I focus more on how the guitar sounds & feels in my hands, and if it gives me what I need with little effort, so I can concentrate on playing. I tend to gravitate more toward high out put pickups, just because I get the sound and feel I generally want from them with ease. However, I do have a few guitars with lower output pickups that offer something different, and I enjoy having them.

If you're only playing a couple of guitars, and what you've currently got is working for you, I'd stick with it.

If you have half a dozen guitars, and are always experimenting with different sounds, I'd say it's worthwhile to have one or two sets of pickups that aren't your normal go-to.
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Have you tried a duncan alt8 because I migjt swap out the warpig for a higher mid peak.

Also do you notice any differnce with/without humbucker covers, all the manufacturers say theyare merely cosmetics but youtube clips and users seem to say otherwise.
 
Best chug I’ve gotten was with the steckel candy signature pups, and second degree black belts, both lower output. But, honorable mention goes to the lynch super v.

The all around sound of the candy pickups was great. I think they are replicas off a 60 PAF steckel came across in a 60 burst. They sounded great no matter what I threw at them, but I did have to bring the gain up on my amp a little.
 
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