https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/pickups-vs-amp/ Guitar Noise Discussion Board en-US Thu, 04 Jun 2026 10:57:29 +0000 wpForo 60 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/pickups-vs-amp/#post-147601 Fri, 30 Dec 2005 01:43:00 +0000
Pickups have very little effect on your tone if you're running through heavily distorted effects or heavily overdriving your amp.

Pickups get way too much credit for tone, good or bad. They're one small link in a chain. You hear their contribution best when playing very clean. They're equivalent to microphones. How many singers have you heard lately obsessing about their mics? (Some do.)]]> Guitar Players Discussion Ricochet https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/pickups-vs-amp/#post-147601 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/pickups-vs-amp/#post-147579 Fri, 30 Dec 2005 00:27:56 +0000
Man I also have the Cube 30 and i have to be honest i think it's pretty cool. I'm running a goth explorer with EMG Pickups through it and it sounds great. More than one person has commented on the sound from that little amp.

When i got my explorer it had the stock pickups which weren't bad but i certainly noticed an improvement when i replaced them.
It's def a bit thin when it comes to volume when playing with drums and the guy next to you has a freakin huge bass amp -youre gonna be struggling.

Try using the rectifier mode turn down the level of distortion till it fits, you might also try adding some delay - just a little though.

Minus Human]]> Guitar Players Discussion Minus_Human https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/pickups-vs-amp/#post-147579 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/pickups-vs-amp/#post-147560 Thu, 29 Dec 2005 23:28:43 +0000 Guitar Players Discussion todds https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/pickups-vs-amp/#post-147560 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/pickups-vs-amp/#post-147539 Thu, 29 Dec 2005 22:15:20 +0000
I noticed that my guitars low end "boomed" a bit. It muddied up the sound. Everytime I used the amps "Low" EQ control I took away too much of the mids as well. I got the Danelectro pedal for Christmas and have been able to really fine tune the guitar's signal. It was a dramatic improvement!]]> Guitar Players Discussion banre https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/pickups-vs-amp/#post-147539 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/pickups-vs-amp/#post-147538 Thu, 29 Dec 2005 22:11:58 +0000
Danelectro Fish & Chips EQ

I am only recommending this pedal because I own one and know it to be very good and effective (read the reviews), and also because it is very inexpensive. But others may recommend other brands to you.

An EQ pedal allows you to fine tune your tone far better than you can with either your guitar's or amp's EQ controls. You can dial in very precise amounts of bass, middle, and highs. Also very simple and easy to use. Just push the sliders and listen to the tone. :D

I would try this first. You will like the EQ pedal anyway, and can be used with other guitars and amps in the future.]]> Guitar Players Discussion Wes Inman https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/pickups-vs-amp/#post-147538 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/pickups-vs-amp/#post-147530 Thu, 29 Dec 2005 21:37:21 +0000 Guitar Players Discussion Ricochet https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/pickups-vs-amp/#post-147530 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/pickups-vs-amp/#post-147522 Thu, 29 Dec 2005 21:15:47 +0000
Now, don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with buying new pickups but i personally believe that an amp has more to do with tone then pickups, try playing your guitar through many amps and see if you notice a tone you like. However, I think some guitars (especially cheaper ones) might have cheaper pickups, I have two guitars that i'm thinking of getting new pickups for, but I think i'm going to get a better amp first and then go from there.]]> Guitar Players Discussion Steve-0 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/pickups-vs-amp/#post-147522 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/pickups-vs-amp/#post-147512 Thu, 29 Dec 2005 20:44:14 +0000 1 Try some distortion pedals with your guitar and the Roland cube.
2 Try a few different $500 and up amps.
I like the cube 30, but I bought a Blues Jr.
3 Try a couple of other Epis and a Gibson or two. Preferably a selection of models with various pickups. If you see a Godin LG with humbuckers, you might want to try that too. Make sure you still like your guitar, listen to what a Custom model with it's hotter pickups does, etc.

You may still want to change the pickups, but I think you'll be better off making sure you have the right amp-pedal-guitar combination first. Withou hearing what it sounds like, that the best advice I can give. New pick-ups may give and extra bit of clarity, more kick, but your better off making sure the other components are right first.]]> Guitar Players Discussion Primeta https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/pickups-vs-amp/#post-147512 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/pickups-vs-amp/#post-14108 Thu, 29 Dec 2005 19:48:37 +0000
I assumed that I wanted a new amp, but after giving it some thought and doing some reading, I'm thinking that maybe I should upgrade the pickups on the guitar. I've read a lot of reviews that said the stock pickups are terrible and that after upgrading, the guitar sounded a lot better.

So, my question is this: What plays the larger role, the pickups or the amp? Put another way, if you could do only one thing to improve tone, would you upgrade the pickups or upgrade the amp?

I'm not really on a quest for the perfect tone, but I'd like to approximate AC/DC. I will probably upgrade to a combo amp at some point, but I don't want to sink $500 - $600 into a new amp if the pickups are still going to sound bad.

Thanks,

Todd]]> Guitar Players Discussion todds https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/pickups-vs-amp/#post-14108