ShinobiKama
Member
- Messages
- 354
a major alternative to Dimarzio and Duncan that falls in their price range. I'm tired of Seymour Duncan pickups, and Dimarzio has gone wild with the high-gain ceramic stuff lately, but the other pickup brands I like cost twice as much. I have tried some of the Golden Age, GFS, Tone Rider, etc... Their pickups are actually pretty good, but I haven't really been struck by them as having enough individual character or the right feel. Sometimes they feel flat or sound a bit generic, just don't really grab you the way the major brands do.
David Allens are really good and his pickups aren't as expensive as Bareknuckle (my favorite), WCR, Motor City, etc..., but you can't beat the tone and character Dimarzio offers at the price they offer it. Freaking replica PAF's and stuff are great and all, but I ain't one of those guys who buys Gibson R(x) $$$$$ whatever.
So it seems basically there are the budget pickups which almost get you there, Dimarzio and Duncan's regular line (although Duncan seems to be kind of relegating the smaller spenders to their crusty line these days), then there are the expensive pickups like Rio Grande, David Allen, etc.., then the real expensive stuff.... Oh yeah, then there is that $1000+ Seymour Duncan Zephyr deal that only a person with the hearing ability to distinguish bird species from the sounds of their farts can figure out why they're worth spending $900+ more to buy. I won't get into discussing EMG's, actives etc...; and though EMG makes some passive pickups, they're not really anything to write home about.
Therefore, what options are there in the right price range? Perhaps none, and perhaps that's why Dimarzio and Duncan are so successful. Some of the promising players that pop up, if they offer some variety, seem to die off.
Moreover, Dimarzio is king of the single-size humbuckers, but aside from the ones Duncan makes, no one else makes them. Why is that? Are they difficult to manufacture or something?
David Allens are really good and his pickups aren't as expensive as Bareknuckle (my favorite), WCR, Motor City, etc..., but you can't beat the tone and character Dimarzio offers at the price they offer it. Freaking replica PAF's and stuff are great and all, but I ain't one of those guys who buys Gibson R(x) $$$$$ whatever.
So it seems basically there are the budget pickups which almost get you there, Dimarzio and Duncan's regular line (although Duncan seems to be kind of relegating the smaller spenders to their crusty line these days), then there are the expensive pickups like Rio Grande, David Allen, etc.., then the real expensive stuff.... Oh yeah, then there is that $1000+ Seymour Duncan Zephyr deal that only a person with the hearing ability to distinguish bird species from the sounds of their farts can figure out why they're worth spending $900+ more to buy. I won't get into discussing EMG's, actives etc...; and though EMG makes some passive pickups, they're not really anything to write home about.
Therefore, what options are there in the right price range? Perhaps none, and perhaps that's why Dimarzio and Duncan are so successful. Some of the promising players that pop up, if they offer some variety, seem to die off.
Moreover, Dimarzio is king of the single-size humbuckers, but aside from the ones Duncan makes, no one else makes them. Why is that? Are they difficult to manufacture or something?
