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Why do people hate on Burstbuckers?


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I've had a love/hate thing with the BB3 in my BFG. I love the sound, but I have been trying new pickups for a while that are more quiet, but they all seem to lack something. I had a Screamin' Demon in for a bit, which was slightly hotter and more quiet, but it didn't sound right so I put the BB3 back in. I switched it out for a Dirty Fingers which was very hot and fairly quiet, but didn't seem right to me. So the BB3 is back in and I think it's staying in. I don't know what it is, but it just sounds right in my guitar, it sounds good when I play anything, sounds good distorted and cleans up pretty nice, it compliments the P90 very well, too.

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Because people are sheep and, after reading something one person posted on a message board, they take it as gospel without any first hand experience then regurgitate "their opinion" all over other message boards. In other words, their opinions matter no more than anyone else's; if you like those pickups and they work for you, who gives a crap what anyone else thinks of them.

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I just don't like them in comparison to my 498/490 in my LP. There are some people though that prefer Burstbuckers over them, some people that hate them both think only the 57's sound good. It's just a matter of preference, s srew what anyone's opinion is. You're using them ad the sound good to you =;

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Because people are sheep and' date=' after reading something one person posted on a message board, they take it as gospel without any first hand experience then regurgitate "their opinion" all over other message boards. In other words, their opinions matter no more than anyone else's; if you like those pickups and they work for you, who gives a crap what anyone else thinks of them.[/quote']

 

 

+1´000.000

 

 

I like my burstbucker pros... I like most gibson pickups...

 

I dont like seymour duncans (most of them)... I love some dimarzios and hate some too.

 

It's a matter of personal taste for me. Maybe it is for you too as it should be for everyone, not a matter of "whatevershisname that owns a large custom collection has "upgraded" them all with dimarzios, so they are better than gibson pickups".

 

Whatever fits your needs is good. No one can tell you a pickup is bad, really, not even those 3 dollar chinese pickups. They cost 3 bucks after all... one should be grateful they function.

 

 

 

I hate when people act like sheep!

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My guess is those BB haters hate them because they want pickups identical to the original '50s humbuckers...or, as close as possible. Keep in mind some of the aftermarket pickups can cost up to $400. So, comparing a $400 set to a $200 set may not be fair...and if a guy's accustomed to a vintage aftermarket set, how can he possibly like a stock pickup?

 

My R8 sounds great, my R9 is absolutely frick'n incredible. I know the wood has a lot to do with it, but I'm sure the pickups are also a factor...even though they're the same pups.

 

I won't get into the Burstbucker Pros...

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if there's anything i've learned from you fine gentleman on this forum, it's try the guitar out before you buy. BB's (which i have and love) or 490's...the debate could swell on and on. but, if you play the guitar in the shop for a good 20 minutes and feel like you can't let it go b/c it sounds amazing...it doesn't matter what kind of pickups are on it. a gibson is a gibson. though pickups have different sounds, different people will like different sounds.

 

find the sound you love and shutup about other people's choice in pickups if you're only going to dog them! (whew, got that out of my system).

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My guess is those BB haters hate them because they want pickups identical to the original '50s humbuckers...or' date=' as close as possible. Keep in mind some of the aftermarket pickups can cost up to $400. So, comparing a $400 set to a $200 set may not be fair...and if a guy's accustomed to a vintage aftermarket set, how can he possibly like a stock pickup?[/quote']

 

Just for the sake of argument...

 

"Vintage" pickup tone is a moving target and largely a pointless pursuit without knowing exactly what you want in the first place. Back in the 50's, manufacturing processes were not nearly as precise as they are today and various components, including pickups, do not age consistently. So, you could put several of the same model of original 195x guitars right next to each they'll all sound at least a little different from each other. In that light, it doesn't matter what you spend on a vintage/PAF style pickup as, even if all of the builders were able to replicate whatever PAF they used as a model with complete precision, the likelihood is that the originals sounded different from each other anyway.

 

And to throw another wrench into the works, it'd be hard to say what those PAFs sounded like originally anyway; one could listen to old recordings but there are a lot of variables in the chain including microphones, tape and copies made of the original tape (degradation), remastering (if applied) and so on. Today, you can add in modern guitar cables, newer model amplifiers and whatever else happens to be in the chain and what you end up with is something that isn't what was being used back-in-the-day anyway.

 

In the end, I think it's best to just select a pickup based solely on what the individual thinks sounds right to them and throw out all that "vintage" marketing language.

 

All that aside, here is a great article where several original 1959 Les Pauls and PAF pickups are evaluated side by side along with another that talks about putting early Patented pickups in an R9:

 

http://www.tonequest.com/pdf_pubs/TQRApr08_screen.pdf

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I personally like the Burstbuckers, but I have only extensively used Burstbuker Pro's (They come standard in the Vintage Mahogany)

 

And another thing...although the pickups do contibute to the sound of the guitar, the laquer and wood play a huge roll in the tone quality and sound. Otherwise, i could Burstbuckers OR 490's and put them in an epiphone and it would sound EXACTLY the same. But we all know that that is not true, so in order to be completely fair you would have to try both pickups in the exact same guitar on the exact same settings to mmake a fair judgment. And even then it would still be unfair because burstbuckers might sound better with a different finish and laquer versus the guitar you try them out in...

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Because people are sheep and' date=' after reading something one person posted on a message board, they take it as gospel without any first hand experience then regurgitate "their opinion" all over other message boards. In other words, their opinions matter no more than anyone else's; if you like those pickups and they work for you, who gives a crap what anyone else thinks of them.[/quote']

 

+1 =P~ I've heard some guys play a great guitar with great pickups and sound like s*it. Then I've heard other make a s*itty guitar sound like a millions bucks. If some guys can't get a good tone from Burstbuckers through a decent amp, then I say it's the player and not the guitar/pickups.

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Have you guys been over to MLP?

Everyone who owns a Historic doesn't like their BB 1s and 2s.

They call them "Worstbuckers"

 

Out of sheer morbid curiosity...why didn't you ask them your self...???

 

I would love to here their responses...

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Because people are sheep and' date=' after reading something one person posted on a message board, they take it as gospel without any first hand experience then regurgitate "their opinion" all over other message boards. In other words, their opinions matter no more than anyone else's; if you like those pickups and they work for you, who gives a crap what anyone else thinks of them.[/quote']

 

 

plus infinity

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