What pickups are in Your SG? looking for opinions.

[MR D]

The A5 magnet Burstbucker Pro is in the new Modern.
They sound good in a LP.

You got that right DD, the BB Pros in my '17 Lester Standard are the best pickups I've had in a guitar, period !

 

[MR D]

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P90s are in my SGs, of course!

May I ask, what bridge/Stop-tail is on the SG on the right ? That is BAD-A$$-ery !

 

[skelt101]

May I ask, what bridge/Stop-tail is on the SG on the right ? That is BAD-A$$-ery !

Thanks, @MR D ! The bridge on the right is a Schaller 456. It is featured on Mr. Iommi's JD Old Boy guitars. Unfortunately, they are no longer made...

 

[TDA1966]

BB1 and BB3 stock from Gibson on a 2012 standard gc edition. sound great overall.

 

[MR D]

Thanks, @MR D ! The bridge on the right is a Schaller 456. It is featured on Mr. Iommi's JD Old Boy guitars. Unfortunately, they are no longer made...

HHHMM, interesting.....maybe I should just take a look, but do you know what bridge Jay-Dee Guitars is putting on their newest versions of 'The OLD BOY' that they are currently selling (IIRC, $3500 per?) ? A knock off ? 'The OLD BOY' SG Iommi has just may be the heaviest sounding guitar I have ever heard played live...its actually not even close really. That guitar, WOWO.....looks like it went thru a War, and sounds like a Howitzer type cannon.

 

[skelt101]

HHHMM, interesting.....maybe I should just take a look, but do you know what bridge Jay-Dee Guitars is putting on their newest versions of 'The OLD BOY' that they are currently selling (IIRC, $3500 per?) ? A knock off ? 'The OLD BOY' SG Iommi has just may be the heaviest sounding guitar I have ever heard played live...its actually not even close really. That guitar, WOWO.....looks like it went thru a War, and sounds like a Howitzer type cannon.

Unless the customer supplies/specifies something different, the default on new Old Boy SGs is: "Gibson style bridge / tailpiece"

Definitely not as cool looking as the Schaller 456, IMHO. However, one can't lay blame with Jaydee...

 

[GrumpyOldDBA]

What pickups do you love most, that work the best in your SG for you? i’m trying to see what people like the most, I was thinking most likely 57 classics for me they seem to be a popular choice.

And how many tries did it take to get you there?

I have never switched out any gibson pickups i have 57 classic plus systems in my 2017 gibson sg hp … same as my two les pauls.

Theres really no reason ha ha!

 

[MR D]

Unless the customer supplies/specifies something different, the default on new Old Boy SGs is: "Gibson style bridge / tailpiece"

Definitely not as cool looking as the Schaller 456, IMHO. However, one can't lay blame with Jaydee...

TNX 4 that, I was too lazy to look......WOWO, JD calls it 'The OLD BOY' and use a different bridge(T-O-M & Stop-Tail)..HA !
I was thinkin of gettin one of the JD 'TOB's, kinda steep price-wise and a 2 year wait is a drag.......Maybe I'll just go w/Gibson 'Monkey'.

 

[Usablefiber]

Do you have an SG now? If so, is there anything wrong with the pickups it came with?

I have a new 61 standard which i love to death in every way except the bridge pickups… a little too prickly thin and metalic kinda soundly but might be cause i use mainly marshall amps. Wanted something a little more full and balanced a little beefier, was considering swapping the treble with a classic 57 but haven’t played one so not sure.

 

[Sootio]

The only SG I've replaced pickups in is my 2013 Standard. I took out the 57's and gave them to a friend who needed a set for a jazz box, and put in a SD 59 in the neck and a SD Perpetual Burn in the bridge. It's my favorite guitar. It can do anything.

 

[TheDixiePig]

I haven't seen them mentioned so I'll chime in: Really digging the T-type pickups in the '21 CME SG I got last year. Slightly underwound from the current standard pickups in most SG standards I've been lead to believe. Nice and thick when going for the all out rock action, but it's the cleans that really impressed me. Rolling off the volume off the neck pup slightly, and rolling a little treble off the bridge pup produces this really pleasant "woody" almost acoustic clean sound that I didn't expect from an SG.

 

[An Abiding Dude]

Pick ups are like neck feel, everyone has an opinion or preference. That being said I put a set of Seymour Duncan Seth Lovers in both my '61 Standards and am very happy with the result.

 

[Knucklehead71]

I have a set of SD Seth Lovers in one of my main guitars. The other one has a set of Tonerider Alnico IIs. The Toneriders are very close to the Seth Lovers. Both sound fantastic. Very full and thick sounding, but also articulate.

 

[davesultra]

Wolfetone “Mean” dogear P90 in my ‘21 Junior.

 

[KelvinS1965]

I played about 6 SGs in the shop when I chose mine...I liked the feel of it best and also thought it sounded the best too. So what did I do within a few weeks of buying it? Swapped the pickups (and PCB wiring) for standard CTS pots and a pair of DiMarzio 36th Anniversary pickups. After another few weeks I realised something was missing, so I swapped back the standard pickups, but left the PCB out as I prefered the feel of the CTS pots over the 'loose' feel of the PCB ones.

Those pickups that it came with? 61T and 61R.

 

[Dahminator]

I got a "player grade" SG standard for a stupid low price and was never happy with the 490T/490R pick-ups. Just too dark for this guitar. I tried swapping in some seymour duncan 59's and it helped a lot but i still wasn't happy. It's strange because unplugged the guitar itself resonates very well and is quite bright and lively. Finally I made a big decision. Some might call it blasphemy, but I pulled out the router and notched out the cavity for P90's. I ordered the Mean (neck) and Meaner (bridge) pick-up set from Wolfetone Pick-ups and got myself a new pickguard. I have to say I was astonished at the difference! These pick-ups completely balanced out everything and this guitar came to life! Absolutely love it. I decided since I took the plunge to mod my Standard, I picked up the Towner Down Tension bar so I could throw on a Bigsby I had lying around from a previous guitar. I am so happy with this guitar and I think it's relatively unique. Kind of a Rat-Rod players guitar. A bar room brawler of sorts! Killer!

 

[Dahminator]

I always wanted a p90, but don’t wanna purchase another SG just for this purpose. I play my 2013 Standard with stock 57 classic, but decided zu split the Neck Pickup. So i soldered the additional 2 Wires and installed a Push Pull Tone Pot.

What i can tell so far: Since the Mod, I hardly ever change back to humbucker-mode since 7 months. I can not put my finger on it, but somehow, the guitar and Amp (especially clean stuff) interact in a way, i don‘t wan‘t to miss anymore. It has more clarity (???) and the extreme „woofyness“ while chord-playing is gone. For me this was an eye-opener!

As someone who did the unthinkable and routed out their standard for P90's, I completely agree with you! I took a gamble but it paid off! huge The dark woofy curtain was pulled back to reveal the guitars true beautiful singing voice (just my opinion).

 

[sazista]

The pickups in my Epi SG G-310 were real muddy. I tried adjusting pickup height, but wasn't hearing what I wanted, so I replaced them with Seymour Duncan Jazz Neck and SD 59/Custom and added coil splitting pots. I love the variety, clarity and jazz tones. Not exactly what people think an SG "should" sound like, but it's what I like and it makes me pick it up every day.

Got a 310 also with JB/Jazz. Sounds much better than before, THOUGH, in comparison to the 490s of my Gibson Faded, they are a bit dark. Maybe had I changed the caps, it may have brightened up.

 

[MR D]

I played about 6 SGs in the shop when I chose mine...I liked the feel of it best and also thought it sounded the best too. So what did I do within a few weeks of buying it? Swapped the pickups (and PCB wiring) for standard CTS pots and a pair of DiMarzio 36th Anniversary pickups. After another few weeks I realised something was missing, so I swapped back the standard pickups, but left the PCB out as I prefered the feel of the CTS pots over the 'loose' feel of the PCB ones.

Those pickups that it came with? 61T and 61R.

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View attachment 47319

the '61R&T are KILLER Pickup's, IMO, its the A5 Magnets.....at 1st I didn't get along w/them but after tweakin the pole pieces and getting the height levelled and dialed in right......imo THEY'RE AWESOME !

I got a "player grade" SG standard for a stupid low price and was never happy with the 490T/490R pick-ups. Just too dark for this guitar. I tried swapping in some seymour duncan 59's and it helped a lot but i still wasn't happy. It's strange because unplugged the guitar itself resonates very well and is quite bright and lively. Finally I made a big decision. Some might call it blasphemy, but I pulled out the router and notched out the cavity for P90's. I ordered the Mean (neck) and Meaner (bridge) pick-up set from Wolfetone Pick-ups and got myself a new pickguard. I have to say I was astonished at the difference! These pick-ups completely balanced out everything and this guitar came to life! Absolutely love it. I decided since I took the plunge to mod my Standard, I picked up the Towner Down Tension bar so I could throw on a Bigsby I had lying around from a previous guitar. I am so happy with this guitar and I think it's relatively unique. Kind of a Rat-Rod players guitar. A bar room brawler of sorts! Killer!

View attachment 47338

posting problems as usual on this site., ugh !..I wanted to upload a file, and of course i cant, FFS !
That is just KILLER ! The B3 is the shizzle w/Towner TB, I almost ruined that set-up w/Stew-Mac Roller-Bridge ...UGH Whatta POS that Golden Eagle RB is (its now a paperweight)......itz cool to hear that you knew what you wanted and kept at it til you got it right....frikkin AWESOME Dude.....
imma li'l leery of swappin out GIBSON's pickup's.......a former GIBSON employee friend of mine suggested that its not always necessary and that any Gibson pickup w/A5 magnet is good for the Neck position and an A2 magnet Gibson P-up for the bridge (or A3 Custom-Bucker if you can find one) really makes the guitar shine, middle toggle position being KILLER ! IMO...HE WAS RIGHT !. I've done that set-up on 2 SG Standard's now (one is actually an SG 'Original') and the result was exactly what I was lookin for...next time I see him its drinks on me !!!
KEEP ROCKIN' !

 

[El Marin]

El Marin, that is a beautiful example of a tastefully modded SG, and a really interesting pickup combination that I would love to try out and experience in person. I'm not sure I have ever seen that done before, but I could see it being very flexible and useful at times. What style(s) of music do you typically use it for? Not that there should really be any restrictions to a single genre or anything, just curious what the plan was and how it has worked out for you.

I use for several things in several bands

I play Rockabilly in some bands, I play classic Rock'n'roll and mostly Pub Rock... think Stones, Dr. Feelgood, George Thorogood, Fleshtones and Faces and that kind of rock.

Also use it in a covers band because I can get Tele sounds, gretschy sounds and also some gibsonesque too

I am really happy with this set of pickups.

The guitar started as a #2 replacement for my Tele that has same pickups configuration and Bigsby but it gained a own place in my bands... I use one day the tele, the next one the SG... and in the forecoming future is going to be refinished in... goldtop!!!