any suggestions for pickups

[R]

im currently building a would be prs type of guitar since i cant afford the real thing im tring to go for the prs custom sound do any of you guys recommend a pickup that would help me get that sound since the real dragon II pu cost about 120 each im thinking some seymour duncans but i dont know which one it would be awsome if i could even get a santana III sound if possible but those run about 125 each any suggestions

[UnklMickey]

it's really disappointing to see mfgrs charging those kind of prices for their pups. for a whole lot less money you can get decent pups from GFS. $25~40 each. maybe the fat pafs, dream 180s, or if you want something hotter, the bigmouth or loudmouths.

i recently bought some pups from their clearance section, but haven't put them in yet. i think runewalker and some of the other nuts have had some experience with the gfs stuff.

[R]

man alive those are some purdy pickups im considering them for my new guitar project but for this one im looking to recreat the prs sound and look i found some prs pu at guitar heaven for about 80 bucks even the santana III 's

[wolf]

I know that some time back, one of the Guitar Nuts recommended Might Mite pickups.
www.mightymite.com/
They are probably the least expensive but some people think they are darned good. I have never ordered from the company nor have I even heard Mighty Mite pickups.
Personally, I have used DiMarzio pickups and have been happy with them but they are in a more expensive range - but nowhere near the prices of Mr Paul Reed $mith.

[jester700]

Also look at Kent Armstrongs and the Duncan Designed (import copies of Duncan designs) line.

[bam]

santana tone ? get a PAF (anything will do), add a 400ms delay, some reverb, little presence, and put your wah on 3/4 open. There you go.

[UnklMickey]

bam said:

santana tone ? get a PAF (anything will do), add a 400ms delay, some reverb, little presence, and put your wah on 3/4 open. There you go.

who you tryin' to kid here, Bam! that stuff yer talkin' 'bout, is as common as water. how ya gonna get the mojo with common stuff? i mean geez, there ain't even nuthin' you mentioned there that is out-of-production.


the nerve of some people! XD

[R]

well the reason i say santana tone is because the santana II pu sound (and i might be crazy) like a classical guitar in the neck position and thats the sound im going for i tried adjusting the tone and all the other settiings on my amp but the sound is the pu i know it is

[bam]

ehm, uncle, that is as common as water , but I think opening the wah by 3/4 is rather uncommon. Pardon me for my lack of knowledge, but as far as I know, only Zappa and Clapton who ever does such thing.. And that's a long while ago.

Just say, I'm just a poor boy, far far away from tubes, hi-tech modeling, and vintage thingies. What can anyone expect from my lineup :
a Marshall Jackhammer
a Behringer Bass EQ
and a Korg ax100G fed into a Fender 1x10 SS combo (FM25R)..?
My Strat pu's are stock, and my Ibanez pu's are Dimarzio hb's (stock too).
In my gigplace, the amp is a Peavey 2x12 SS combo (Classic Chorus 212).

And in these words, I'm not kidding. Santana tone could probably made by the Santana II/III pu's, but in od/ds most of the audiences won't even try to think "is it a real santana tone ?" Opening the wah by 3/4 DOES make the tone go near Santana's. (lately, I found that adjusting my EQ does better).

I think this is the easiest analogue : Steve Vai uses DiMarzio Evolutions, but can you get Vai's tone by only using those ? Okay then, what you'll buy next ? A Carvin Legacy, a Morley wah, a Boss stompbox, a few other rack effects.. Okay, you got 'em all, but by the next month (I guarantee) you'll be thinking of something like "I think I'm tired with Vai.. I'm going to play Hendrix for a bit.."

.. in the end, somehow, the mojo actually lies in our hands, I believe. Even if you're playing Santana with YOUR own personal tone, you can still ROCK !

good luck everyone !

(btw, um, R, a sound like a classical git in the neck .. ? I must admit, that's a hard one..)

[R]

i know i know it seems hard to belive it could be just me but i tend to be able to get a spanish classical guitar sound from the neck pu from the santana II but i havent been able to get it from any other guitar ive ever played

i figured it out i must be crazy ;D thats it the only solution must be yep

[bam]

hey bro, I believe ! then u just get the Santana II's pu, right ? ;D

[Runewalker]

Maybe a time for a little myth busting here.

Santana got his 'tone' when he was playing P90s on an SG (Woodstock), stock -humms on his Les Pauls, then all of that PRS worship period (oh, thats now isn't it?)

So much of his tone was his fingers and his amp/boxes. You can hardly think of Santana's tone over the last decade and a half without considering the contribution of the Boogies.

Sure you can go guitar to amp with maybe 1 or two boxes and then try to nail one trick pony sounds. but today, with all of the amp modeling and boxes attenuating sound, and giving vast landscapes of tone shaping options, a new view of the role of the pup is to treat it almost like the controller in a synthesizer string of circuits.

What I mean there is that if you can determine your base sound from which then to extend into different tonal paths, then select a pup that establishes that base. For, example, Santana dominant sound tends toward fairly intense saturation with an emphasis on mid tones. (I don't know about this Spanish classical guitar thing... for that sound I have seen him use.... a Spanish classical guitar with nylon strings....). So for saturated mid emphasis tone you would want a "hotter" wound pup. But not metal hot. Somewhere in the 10K to 14K range. He also has none of that ceramic magnet crackiliness. So you would choose an Alnico magnet pup.

Certainly the Dimarzios and Duncans have overwound alnicos that would fit the bill.

In the GFS line, your candidates would be the H09-H14, which are overwound but not over the top. They make a blister hot alnico in the 16K range, but in spite of Santana penchant for saturation and infinite sustain, he also achieves expanded tonal variety, and the super hot might be too muddy. No experience there.

But I have had excellent luck with the H09-H10s which are the uncovered versions. These pups are powerfully, but articulate, and have a singing, almost compressed output in the overdriven environment. The covered versions are likely to be a little more buttery, which may be preferred in the tone you are trying to achieve.

The real question is after you have selected an effective driver, what comes after .... in your emulators, boxes and amps. Those will in the end contribute heavily to shaping the sound.

Jay at GFS is trying to build a more premium brand, and with that comes more margin and price. He has stopped his loss leaders "no reserve" auctions. he used to put one version per week of each pup style at no reserve. I and many others picked up H09-10s etc at bargain prices of $11 to $16. No more, he now has reserve price bidding, although he carefully does not call it that. Basically you can buy any of his pups in the "buy it now" price, and the auction prices are usually started at $10 below the BINow price. So the good ol days of getting on the super cheap are gone. He lusts, I am sure, after the kind of margin that Duncan gets. After all it is just bobbins, magnets, poles and wire wrapped a set number of times (unless you are going for the random wounds). People carp because GFS is getting the pups manufactured in Asia, as though everything you play, drive and wear isn't.

The other myth to bust is that computerized mfg is horrible. Having grown up with cheap guits that were unplayable, the world is so much better for the hobbyist builder now. Computer aided mfg produces incredible clones of superb instruments. I picked up a Chinese strat clone chassis that plays as well as $1500 strats for $67. Replace the pups for $40-$60, maybe a hardware or two upgrade, and put in some of the custom wiring schemes on this board, and I end up with $150 invested (because, as I am reminded repeatedly, my time spent building is worth nothing), and I have an axe that exceeds the best the majors are putting out for 10x the price.

So to summarize, buy a set of Alnicos that are hotter than vintage, preferably full frequency voiced with an emphasis on mid tones, and get a Boogie with a full rack of custom tone attenuators, and a staff sound technician. You will make Santana run home to Shri Chinmoy, after you learn to play.




RW

[bam]

(quoting myself)

get a PAF (anything will do), add a 400ms delay, some reverb, little presence, and put your wah on 3/4 open.

Opening the wah by 3/4 DOES make the tone go near Santana's. (lately, I found that adjusting my EQ does better).

Just try this as a starting point. For my ears, it's the nearest to Santana's, even with my ultra-low-end amp and effects. even the guitar is a stock MIM Strat - no humbuckers.

This is a sample; the equipments are arranged as such :
guitar > DS > delay > Bass EQ > amp > computer (via the headphones out jack)
the EQ is set into low mid boost (400Hz-4.5KHz).
sorry for the noise/rings/clips, my computer isn't grounded, and I don't have any DI box..

blake.prohosting.com/apt2k2/the_santana_strat.mp3

Good luck !

[mlrpa]

Ok, I'm a little biased here, but I think that EMG's (89's) are some og the nicest pickups out there. And tapable! And check out the Kramer Quad Rails. Super hot, and warm. Maybe a bit muddy for some taste, but definately will give you the Carlos tone when in the neck.