Since you say you play a variety of things, it's probably a good idea to start looking into the types of pickups that your favourite guitarists use. That'll be a good starting point, I think. Les Paul guitars usually come equipped with P90 pickups, so if you like that standard LP tone, you might want to look into those. Gibson, Seymour Duncan, DiMarzio and GFS all make P90-style pickups in a standard humbucker size. Fyi, standard P90 pickups aren't humbucker-sized. They're longer and skinnier and are usually in what they call a "dog ear" pickup cover.
As for modern-sounding pickups, you should probably stay away from pickups with a low output... any humbucker rated around 12k or more should do you fine. Any single coil rated at 8k or higher would be more modern-sounding as well.
blacktarprophecy wrote:I'd like something leaning towards neutral and hi-fi; yeah, I know, I should probably go with EMG, Lace, etc. but I don't really want to spend that kind of money right now.
Remember -
You get what you pay for. Although companies like GFS make great pups at a reasonable price, you won't get the same quality of sound as a high-end pickup. As I mentioned before, I hear a distinct glassiness in the high frequencies of the GFS pickups that use AlNiCo 5 magnets and I find it unpleasant. I only use GFS pickups that are made with A2 magnets. But I don't find that to be the case with Seymour Duncan's A5 pickups... I don't know what the differences might be in the quality of the magnets, the type of wire each company uses, etc. All I know is what I like and what I don't like. I've spoken to many guitarists that love the A5 GFS pups but they're just not for me.
Speaking of magnet types, you should consider doing some reading into the differences between ceramic magnets and alnico. They are quite different in sound... again, it all depends on your tastes and the sound you hear in your head.
Ultimately, the most sought-after and classic rock guitar tones were created not by the guitarist's gear but rather by his/her playing style. Hendrix, Frampton, Clapton, Satriani, Santana and many others, plugged directly into their amps (or maybe a couple really basic stompboxes first)... their "tones" came from their fingers. Get something that sounds good to you, that you can work with and run with it.
) and while I was initially set on the Blacktop Jag that you guys kept mentioning, I decided against blowing my holiday earnings on a relatively expensive instrument.
Shit would drive me crazy while DIing with studio-grade headphones on.
