Dragonfire Pickups..

[FireBall]

Well.. my Warmoth guitar has been the ginnypig the last couple of years..

My latest Pickup swap was to a Dragonfire 81C and a S-Series single coil.

I have only had the pickups in for a couple of days, but I am very impressed with them. The only complaint I have is the volume difference in the clean channel between the humbucker and the single.. the humbucker has some power.. the single is a great sounding pickup... has the glassy cleans like you would expect from a single.. but in distortion.. it is very smooth with some good sustain and picks up harmonics well.

The humbucker really cranks and has some great harmonics and overtones.. I don't like the humbucker in cleans that well, but to be honest.. I don't like any humbucker in a bridge position on a clean channel.. but that is just me.

Anyway.. I give them a two thumbs up for the price!!

Next project will probably be pulling the active pickups out and putting in the Bill Lawrence L500XL that I bought several months ago.. I have always wondered what that thing would sound like.

To date, these are the pickups I have..

Dimarzio Superdistortion
Dimarzio ToneZone
Dimarzio Megadrive
Dimarzio PAF Pro
Dimarzio Super 3
Dragonfire 81C
Dragonfire S-Series
Dimarzio Fasttrack 1
GFS "Crunchy PAT" Humbucker
Dimarzio SDS-1
Semour Duncan Hotrails
Some offbrand Humbucker with dual rails.. mids out the butt
Jackson J-85 Bridge Pickup
Bill Lawrence L500XL

Thats all I can think of.. LOL I need to sell some of these things!

[cynical1]

Looks like you've got enough to sell on eBay and buy another guitar...that'll make the wife happy...

HTC1

[FireBall]

I thought about that.. but what if I get another guitar first? Either way.. wife won't be happy!

[1150lefty]

Your results may be different and I'd like to hear them, but my 500XL and even the 500R sound better than the EMG 81 and 85. They have more "heart" instead of a dead tone. It's like comparing solid-state to tubes, digital to analogue, a rice burner to a classic muscle car...

I'd still like to try the DF actives in one of my "dead-wood" guitars, or maybe when I do have money to waste on one of those cool-looking acrylic guitars..

[FireBall]

I haven't tried the L500XL yet.. it is still new in the box. I went on a craze and bought about 5 sets of pickups at about the same time. I have only heard good things about the L500XL and nothing ever bad. I need to get that bad boy put in the guitar. I have several guitars.. but my Warmoth is always the guinea pig. It won't be long I will be pulling out the active DF pickups and trying out the Bill Lawrence humbucker.

On a side note. I think the DF active single might be a good fit for a SSS in a strat. I really like the sound of it so far in the neck position on the Warmoth. I am curious of how it would perform in the bridge position. I have the stratkitguitar and the Fender Bullet I could try it in...

[thetragichero]

i have the 'whitebucker' bridge in my H-P90-S strat
it sounds good on its own for heavier stuff, and my favourite combination is the slug coil tapped with either (or both) of the other pickups
for 30$ (including a two-wire bridge humbucker that i will never use), you can't beat it
xoxo


--chris

[mrpeabody]

I just purchased a Washburn flying v from ebay and the thing has great action fantastic neck, but these randall pick ups seem weak. My everyday player is a Lespaul special, and it has a much stronger sound. Those Dragon fires caught my eye, cuz of the price, and I'm wondering if they would help .

[newey]

What up, Dog?

If the stock pups seem weak to you, can I assume this rig is for slash/thrash/shred metal-ish playing?

Swapping pickups can make a huge difference in a guitar. The problem is, everyone has their own idea of the sound they want, and others recommendations may mean little. And the soundclips one finds on the web aren't much help, either- different axes, amps, etc. all make direct comparison virtually impossible.

We've had folks talk of 3 or 4 swaps before finding something they like. This gets decidedly expen$ive . . .

While Fireball liked his Dragonfires, someone else recently dissed them- again, all a matter of personal preference. I use GFS pickups in most of the guitars I've built, and I like them a lot for the price. They are apparently made by Artec, and marketed as GFS through Guitarfetish.com. Others here speak highly of these, too, so it's not just me. Although, I haven't used any of the high-output HBs, not my style. YMMV, in other words.

[lpf3]

I'll second newey's good review of GFS pups.

I've used the Vintage '59 in the bridge position & it had a good PAF-like tone.
I currently have a guitar with their Overwound Alnico Strat set & really like them. Really like 'em.
Last but not least I have a Dream 90 which is a p-90 in a HB sized housing, again I really that that one.

FWIW I play mostly Blues & Southern/Country Rock-ish stuff.
Depending on what you're looking for the GFS pups are great (for the price) for experimenting.

-lpf3

[chuck]

i have a set of GFS Neovin pickups in my Strat , and i love em.
they are exactly what GFS says they are.
i also have the Neovin preamp installed .. i dig it

5 gold stars for GFS

[newey]

Chuck-

Thanks for the review of the NeoVins, I've had my eye on a set of those for a while, but I wondered whether they lived up. The Fender Noiseless were a thought as well, but the NeoVins are fewer dollars!

And, of course, that implies another Strat to put them into . . .

[chuck]

keep in mind that i am not a Strat guy , and vintage single coils are not my be all end alls .

i am sure the Neovins can be picked apart by the vintage crowd , but they work just fine for me.