What kind of electric guitar pickups are best for me?

Favorite Answer

You don't know much about guitars do you?

1) The Warbeast is a piece of junk. I wouldn't buy one at all if I were you. Low end BC Rich guitars are marketed toward people that don't know much about guitars and get them because they look cool. Getting better pickups will not help that guitar much.

Keep in mind that since it is marketed to people who don't know much about guitars, it is reviewed by people who don't know much about guitars. The reports you're reading about the pickups being bad are most likely being caused by the fact that the reviewers are playing through a little 15 watt practice amp and blame the thin, tinny sound on the guitar instead of the amp. Those same people probably have several guitars that have "terrible pickups" and it never dawns on them that maybe the amp they are playing through is the problem.

And in most cases, the people doing the review are comparing them to their first guitar, which was likely a Squier or a First Act or something similar. Naturally, it will be awesome compared to those guitars. If you can find even one professional musician who plays a Warbeast, I will be very surprised.

2) If you're getting a $1300 guitar soon, why are you bothering with this one? For the record, Floyd Rose is the name of the type of bridge the guitar has, most likely NOT the name of the company that made the guitar.

3 If you're dead set on buying the Warbeast despite my warning, look into the following brands and models of pickup:

Seymour Duncan: Duncan Distortion, Invader, Dimebucker, JB. The Invader and Dimebucker are a little thin sounding for my taste, but you might like them.

DiMarzio: Dominion, Crunch Lab, X2N, D-Activator, Super Distortion, Breed, Evolution. Of that group, I like the Dominion and D-Activator the best.

Bare Knuckle: Warpig, Aftermath, Painkiller, Cold Sweat (these are very expensive, I'm just including them for completeness)

All of those pickups are humbuckers, which is 2 pickups placed side by side so the magnetic fields cancel each other out and eliminate unwanted noise from the pickups.

4) You really should wait until you actually have the guitar and know what it sounds like before you plan to change the pickups. Doing it the way you are is like buying a car and getting a new engine for it before you've ever driven it.

EDIT:

I'd opt for something like this over the Warbeast: http://www.guitarcenter.com/In-Store-Used-USED-LTD-MH1000-DELUXE-TRANS-BLACK-QUILT-108832711-i3123533.gc

Goes for $800 new, Guitar Center has a used one for $549. And it already has an EMG 81/85 pickup set, so no changing of pickups will be necessary. So, you could buy the Warbeast for $500 and spend an additional $200 changing the pickups, or you could just buy the ESP for $549 and be set.

I actually kind of like the Synyster Gates signature model. It's not a bad guitar. I think it looks a little goofy, but it's a quality axe underneath the gaudiness. I have a Schecter Avenger myself, which is the body style his signature model is. It's surprisingly comfortable to play, even with the upper horn sticking out like that.

String swapping on a Floyd Rose isn't hard, but I can see how string tension would be a pain in the butt.

If you got one of these you wouldn't have to worry about that anymore, basically turns a Floyd Rose into a fixed bridge, and you can unlock it if you want to use the tremolo again: http://www.guitarcenter.com/Allparts-Tremol-No-Tremolo-Locking-Device---Pin-Type-H71947-i1820306.gc

Here's a video that might help: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzBLysvmPy0

I change my strings one at a time so I don't have to block anything off, but the way he's doing it works just fine.

Note: If your friend is selling his Schecter cheap because he doesn't understand how to adjust the bridge on it.....JUMP ON IT NOW BEFORE HE FINDS ONE OF THESE VIDEOS!

You can drop tune just fine with a Floyd, you just have to make sure you adjust your spring tension to counteract the change in string tension and gauge.

Watch the video I linked you to, and when your friends are idiots and buy expensive guitars they don't know how to work on, you can get them cheap because you'll know what they don't :P

If you have questions about how to change tunings with a Floyd, ask here and either I'll try and walk you through it or someone else who knows about them will (Ask in Performing Arts, that's where the serious musicians hang out)

(I wasn't trying to be a jerk about my answer, I was just having a bad day so I was a little more sarcastic than usual)...Show more

1...Show more

If you simply start to perform the guitar you then require the very best courses on the market to discover ways to play that hard instrument and the most effective is Jamorama website, here https://tr.im/uOiju
In the event that you are going to learn the guitar for initially (Or perhaps you tried before and only couldn't obtain the "hang" of it), then Jamorama is the proper class for you personally because every session includes a video to accompany the maxims, and when you've removed through a week of classes, you can get and print an exercise page related to these lessons.
The video instructions demonstrate how exactly to enjoy notes – the fundamentals of enjoying guitar. You'll figure out how to play major, minor, 7th, and bare chords. If you never understand what any of meaning, don't allow it scare you. It's all discussed in detail in the videos.
A very important thing about that is once you obtain these principles down, the names and the technicality only float to the back ground and that you do not genuinely have to consider it far more – you are able to only play!...Show more

If you only start to enjoy the guitar then you need the most effective programs in the marketplace to learn to play that hard instrument and the best is Jamorama website, here https://tr.im/blgM6 .
In the event that you are likely to learn the guitar for the first time (Or maybe you tried before and just could not get the "hang" of it), then Jamorama is the proper course for you personally since every training includes a video to accompany the concepts, and after you've gone by way of a week of classes, you are able to obtain and print a fitness sheet associated with these lessons.
The video instructions demonstrate how to enjoy notes – the fundamentals of playing guitar. You'll figure out how to enjoy important, small, 7th, and bare chords. If that you don't know what any one of which means, do not allow it to scare you. It's all discussed at length in the videos.
A very important thing about this is when you receive these fundamentals down, the names and the technicality only move to the backdrop and that you don't genuinely have to think about it far more – you are able to only play!...Show more

It all depends on what kind of music you want to play. Rock? Metal? Probably some kind of humbuckers. Lots of people say EMG. The issue with that is that they are active pickups. So you need a spot in the guitar for a 9 volt battery plus the wiring necessary to hook them up. Passive humbuckers are much easier to put into a guitar. But again it depends on the guitar. Is there room for them or does the body need modification? Lots of variables. What ind of guitar? For blues?Maybe a strat with vintage noiseless. Much more info is needed to make an intelligent choice. However, if you are looking to buy a guitar, then buy it with the pickups you want installed. Makes life way easier....Show more