Hey all,

So recently I've been playing my guitar and recording and it sounds good ya know, but I wanna learn more about how to get a nice sexy tone.

So my quesiton is basically - I use a BlackStar ID30 for playing at home and I'm not sure if investing in a decent combination of pickups is actually going to help make my guitar sound any better? Like will I notice the difference, or does the sound mostly come out when recording? I'm really not sure about any of this, all I know is that I wanna get a sweet tone!

=D

There are many, many variables when it comes to Tone chasing!! The woods of your body, neck and fingerboard all have an impact as do all the electronics but 90% of 'your' tone is in your fingers!
What guitar are you using and does it still have the original P/Ups fitted?

+1

As well as...

What style(s) of music are you playing?

Do you need a pickup that can cover a wide range of styles while sounding great, or something more specific (like a vintage strat set, or something for high gain, and distortion)

Pickups can help sure But I gotta say I manage to get some pretty sexy tone out of my stock ibanez pickups so I can tell you it's not crucial. When you say "sexy" tone, can you be a bit more specific?

Also, what pups are you using now?


Todd

heehe we bombarded you with questions but really there isn't a better way to help

As an alternative way of thought, what would you wish more from the pickups? like it can drive the amp more, sustain more, more highs for low freq.s (if you amp eq's can't nail them), tightness...its really a balance issue so be careful as were you place that balance, like too much output usually means harder to get vintage tones etc.

Along with telling us the guitar and pickups you're currently using, direct us towards an example of a tone or tones you wish to emulate.

Yes, 90% of 'tone' is in the hands but if you're using humbuckers in an LP style axe and you want to sound like Mark Knopfler on 'sultans of swing' or 70s era Clapton - well yes, a change of pickups (and guitar) will help.

Hi guys,

I have a PRS Custom 24 SE... Still have the stock pickups (which do sound great!), however I'm looking for something different. I like a sorta.. ''watery' tone. Like this tone here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRhVx610GeE

Also I like a really nice crunchy tone. My cousin has a Tone Zone in his guitar, and it really sounds amazing.

I'm not familiar with the stock PU you have but I do have a tonezone and judging from the music you shared its not what you're looking for the tonezone is a bassy pickup on cleans and has a wah-wah'ish vibe when distorted.

On the video (I think) it uses either a fat single or a bright paf like humbucker, the tone is what we call "growling" when hitting chords with lower chords. Seems also there are some nices pedals going on there.

These are pretty new but might be what you're looking for, checkout the demo Paul is playing but as said there are a lot of fx going on there; http://www.dimarzio.com/pickups/humbuckers/paf-master-bridge

The 'lead' tone (melody) sounds to me like a single coil (fender type) of pick up as well as Fender type of guitar. It sounds like a Strat on the neck pickup to me. It's possible I'm being fooled by heavy EQ or modeling but I don't think so.

As awesome as PRS guitars as well as their pickups are, you won't get that sound out of them. Or at least out of the 'custom 24'. Even when you split the coils on that axe it doesn't sound like a Strat.

I agree with Ken on this one, as I have tried a lot of PRSs in the last few years - it's definitely a single coil here and if there would be a PRS that could come close to it, I am thinking maybe the PRS 305 or something equipped with single coils anyway. But I am a bit unsure about the possibilities of getting such pickups on a C24 - that has 2 humbuckers and a single coil, but you would definitely need a single coil guitar in order to get this sort of tone that Marco has. You know, you can find Marco Sfogli on Facebook and ask him directly what sort of guitar he used. He is a VERY kind guy and he will answer

Sorry guys but I disagree - the lead tone does have some single coil qualities but it sounds a bit too fat/quiet to be a true single. I reckon he's using something like The Cruiser rail pickups, same as Andy Timmons.

Yeah, it could be a 'noiseless' something. It is quiet for sure. Whatever it is, it's trying to sound like a Strat neck pkup ... and succeeding pretty well.
I have a set of mid 90s Fralin 'vintage hot' single coils in an ash body/rosewood fb Strat and it sounds that fat and with modern processing any noise can be pretty much alleviated. But these days I can be fooled with good modeling and software.

There's this option from PRS as well:



These pickups are called 'Narrowfield' and they get pretty close to traditional single coil pickups - now, I have no clue if you can fit one of these babies into a humbucker slot, but it's worth the watch

Marco's current white Ibby is fitted with a Dimarzio Cruiser in the neck, as can be seen here:-


His other Ibby's, mainly Premium RG-870QMZ are fitted with Dimarzio's Air Norton in the bridge, a True Velvet single coil in the middle, and a PAF 36th Anniversary in the neck.


Hope this helps!!

Well that certainly narrows the odds but to me those two vids, as far as the lead/melody tone, sound different. There's enough gain on the second video (Sensible's) to obscure the single coil v. double coil differences.

Somebody should just ask him.
*I just did via YT comments for the track.

I agree with Ken and as I said, Marco is a friendly guy and he will most likely tell what's what without too much fuss