Best pickups made by a guitar manufacturer

Which guitar manufacturer makes the best pickups

  • Gibson

    Votes: 10 66.7%

  • PRS

    Votes: 1 6.7%

  • Tom Anderson

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Fender

    Votes: 1 6.7%

  • Ibanez

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • G&L

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Other

    Votes: 3 20.0%
  • Total voters
    15
  • Poll closed .
All of that increases my cynical thoughts
and makes me wonder how much hoopla, hype and spin I should believe.

These days, we should believe nothing.

Because Sir Robert is correct about something he points out here...
If manufacturers use identical components, winding machines and operator
technique, then their products ought to be identical whether it's Gibson p'ups made
in China or J&J tubes made in Czechoslovakia.

I've been told that all the tubes people obsess over are made at one big facility somewhere in Eastern Europe.
I've also been told that tubes made to the identical specifications will give identical performance.
Electronic engineers say things like that. Musicians tend to deny this, and insist that their favorite
brand of 12AX7 tubes gives better guitar tone than Brand X. I don't know what to believe, so
I don't believe anything.

It comes back to stock Tone Rooms Wisdom: You have to play it. That's how you know.
Because Guitar maker XYZ may claim that their p'ups are second to none and are made in
the black forest by the Elves... but do we believe them? No. Their p'ups may turn out to be made
in a Chinese sweat shop by forced labor, political prisoners, aging POWs, and truant children.

If they sound good, do we care? I've read very few posts by members who do. Not only that, but we all write our posts on Far East made computer products which can be smeared with the same
horrendous tar-brush. Who speaks up for electronics workers in Red China or Taiwan, or Indonesia or Vietnam? No one. Do they have any safety regulations, or limits on what they can be forced to lift, or weekends, or break time, or any of the benefits that U.S. workers bargained for, and received, and now have lost.... likely not.

This comes back to us, as players... because we do care about pickups and the guitar tone that
they deliver. I used to believe that if I bought a U.S. made guitar, it would be just that... made in my country by my countrymen under conditions regulated by law and by common sense. But I don't believe anything now. If it sounds good, I'll play it.

I believe in music, and in the Human Spirit, which can rise above all
adversity if given a chance.
 
Col, I hear ya.
I could not help scratch my head after hearing this comparison of the "same" amp.
Tell me what your take on the sound differences are except for the country that made it.

 
chilipeppermaniac said:
Col, I hear ya.
I could not help scratch my head after hearing this comparison of the "same" amp.
Tell me what your take on the sound differences are except for the country that made it.

Click to expand...
I'm not the Colonel, but...
Difference in same amp model sounds...
Difference in age: speaker break in, and component value drift with use.
Difference in country of origin: component values/tolerance may vary with different suppliers available.
So yeah, same amp models, made in different factories, sounding different is not too surprising to me.
 
Thatbastarddon said:
I'm not the Colonel, but...
Difference in same amp model sounds...
Difference in age: speaker break in, and component value drift with use.
Difference in country of origin: component values/tolerance may vary with different suppliers available.
So yeah, same amp models, made in different factories, sounding different is not too surprising to me.
Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly. Kind of how I assessed part of what Col was expressing the proof is in the pudding ( playing) as to the question, is there really a difference in valves, amps, pickups, etc if indeed they are made in the same place, same wires, same etc but just a different name on em. My Epi LP sounds great to me, but even with essentially the same T Top pickups as my original OLD Norlin LP, it just isn't the same guitar. If I could say it even better. Take Col's prized Walnut SG. He made it his own and bonded with it from the start. I suspect he would never mistake my essentially same guitar if he were blindfolded and I were to hand him one to play and then swap the other one and ask him if he could tell the difference.
 
chilipeppermaniac said:
My thoughts exactly. Kind of how I assessed part of what Col was expressing the proof is in the pudding ( playing) as to the question, is there really a difference in valves, amps, pickups, etc if indeed they are made in the same place, same wires, same etc but just a different name on em. My Epi LP sounds great to me, but even with essentially the same T Top pickups as my original OLD Norlin LP, it just isn't the same guitar. If I could say it even better. Take Col's prized Walnut SG. He made it his own and bonded with it from the start. I suspect he would never mistake my essentially same guitar if he were blindfolded and I were to hand him one to play and then swap the other one and ask him if he could tell the difference.
Click to expand...

Tell you something...I experienced more tonal improvement from a fret level than any other modification/gadget I ever used.
 
Robert Herndon said:
Tell you something...I experienced more tonal improvement from a fret level than any other modification/gadget I ever used.
Click to expand...

Yup, I saw this. Believe me, I may not have had a fret level on my Epi LP, but when I took it to the Luthier to have a bone nut put in, he mentioned he took care of a few high frets as the cheaper Asian guitars like Epi sometimes don't get installed/tightly so he addressed the issues he found. Needless to say, I was quite pleased how my LP felt and sounded after getting it back from him.
 
I knew it would, Robert.

Now go check out my 2 Roland JC 120 you tube clips where the guy plays blues with a Strat and blues with a Lester. I know which you will like more
 
chilipeppermaniac said:
Col, I hear ya.
I could not help scratch my head after hearing this comparison of the "same" amp.
Tell me what your take on the sound differences are except for the country that made it.

Click to expand...

Am I mistaken or is he using a Boss chorus to split the signal? That would make for some very different tones from one amp to the other.
 
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