I Prefer Gibson Pick-Ups - Equipment To Enhance Your Personal Musical Style

For several years I've played guitar in bands at night clubs, educational institutions, live shows and recording sessions, yet I couldn't explain what pick-ups (p/u's) were about. I mean, I did not have a clue as to what a pick-up did to my sound. I spent my youth in a Gibson family.

I mean that my family members, when they didn't poke fun at me for my participation as a rock and roll musician, said if I played a guitar, it had to be a Gibson. So, I only had a clue about Humbucker type pick-ups Gibson used. Oh yeah, it's little brother, the P-90.

My very first electric was a Tiesco Del Ray I got for Christmas in 1967. I did receive a Mattel Tiger guitar that was made of plastic and utilized a contact type pick-up. My brother and I both got one that Christmas so frequently we'd use one of the pick-ups as a vocal microphone.

With the limited info as to how the stars were getting "that sound" we just kept trying to learn guitar without having "how to" magazines and poor sounding phonograph players playing 45's on a small speaker. You could say there was clearly no reason to discern between p/u's.

As I began to record in big recording studios I'd learn to discern my sound. I listened to hard rock artists on the radio. Now I listen to rock radio stations online and even surf through yutube.com occasionally. I did not have those how to magazines to hip me to that elusive vintage "sound".

However, I could hear my Gibson Explorer as well as my Les Paul Junior distorting at all volume levels in addition to the attack approach. It just wouldn't smooth out. I was perplexed. Still trying to connect the look with the sound, I stumbled through the maze for years.

Not having the patience, or the funds to buy and compare p/u's, I just tried to create a sound with what I had. I had all of the appropriate expert equipment. Yet I was looking back, "wagging the dog".

A good sound starts from the fingers, to the guitar to the p/u's. If you don't begin there, you're spinning in circles and you will wind up having a transparent (fuzzy) sound without having body and response.

"Your fingers are your tone generators". Not the amps or pedals. Those are tools to augment your expression. And if you learn anything about trouble shooting on the fly, you go down the line to locate the problem with your sound or rig. The same goes for obtaining your sound.

When building your sound you start off with you, through the pick-up then down to the amp. With trouble shooting on stage, you should start with the amp and go down the line back to you. Which makes sense given that you've established your rig set up, and you are attempting to fix what was working, you back track. If not, you are spinning in circles, once again!

Which brings us full circle, "I use Gibson Pick-ups and I'm sure that the other brands quality Alnico pick-ups are a great sounding product. I do know what sounds great to me and what I know from "my" practical knowledge. I'm a guitarist who's been around the block and my ears possess a sense as to what a pick-up ought to sound like, that is what I go for all of the time.

Make yourself happy and keep the communication open!

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