Comments for Hack My Axe

Comment on How often do you have to replace batteries to EMG active 81 and 85 pickups on a guitar? by Steel And Bone

Steel And Bone — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:16:41 +0000

Get alkaline batteries, they’ll last 4 times longer.

Comment on Q&A: How much would it cost to install new guitar humbucker pickups? by philippohippo

philippohippo — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 18:14:36 +0000

depends. i bought emgs and i installed them myself and i didnt really know what i was doing. but the new emg pickups dont involve soldering and have detailed instructions so that helps.

Comment on What will a guitar technition charge to fit new pickups in my guitar ? by Stan

Stan — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 12:30:46 +0000

$ 35…where I live..(mid west) not including the cost of the pickups, also make sure you bring a new set of strings, or you will be charged for this.

I recommend going ahead and having a “set-up” done. This involves neck adjustment, (with possible truss rod adjustment) pickup height adjustment, bridge nut saddles, pots cleaned….strobe tuned etc… so your guitar stays in tune up and down the neck.

Usually, a good guitar tech will check and clean all wiring.

All of this together, could cost anywhere from $ 40-$ 75, again, not counting the cost of the pickups and the set of strings.

Now…if these EMG pickups do NOT fit perfectly in the pickup cavities, you’re talking possible routing out of the guitar body, and this is going to cost more. Try to find replacement pickups that already fit the openings.

If they’re asking for more than one hundred…go somewhere else.

Not always, but sometimes, they might give you an additional discount depending on whether you want to keep the original pickups?

If not…keep the original pickups…your guitar will be worth more if you ever sell it 30 years from now.

Best of luck, and keep practicing till those fingers bleed!

Comment on Q&A: What is the main difference between passive and active pickups for a guitar? by Evan

Evan — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 10:45:46 +0000

Passives dont require a battery, sound better, have more dynamics and feel to them, better clean tone, more open sounding… not as compressed.

Passives are often cold, sterile, lifeless, overly compressed… not very dynamic and too high of output.

Comment on Q&A: What is the main difference between passive and active pickups for a guitar? by KT in Austin

KT in Austin — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 10:10:14 +0000

Active pickups usually offer things like reduced noise, higher output, and more tone control ability, because they have actual circuitry to accomplish these things. The tradeoff is the need to use a battery which will need occasional replacement.

Comment on What will happen if I replace the pickups of my guitar of a les paul’s will it sound like one? by Aspailin

Aspailin — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:13:53 +0000

I don’t know what brand and model of guitar do you have, but if it has features like these. Replace the stock PUPs by Gibson’s PUPs and you would get LP’s sound.

1. Body must be a mahogany body. I don’t know do you similar to the wooden or not, but mahogany has their own smell. You can try with original LP. It would be great if your body is carved top and top with maple.

Gibson PUPs give alot of treble and mahogany delivers dull tone. They are the very good combination, but if your body is plywood or other woods. You will get lot of treble and its not LP sound any more.

2. Would be great if your guitar has a set in neck or neck thru construction. Original LP have set in neck. This will deliver great sustain.

3. Cables inside the guitar. If your guitar originall cost less than $ 800. I would recommend you to change all cables inside the guitar. Better quality of cable gives you great sound.

Hope this would help.

Comment on Is it possible to put jazz bass guitar pickups on backwards? by LucasMan

LucasMan — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 08:22:19 +0000

When you say “backwards”, do you mean that the two pickups are in the wrong places, or that they are physically flipped around?

Having them in the wrong places will definitely make a noticeable difference on the sound. Pickups are designed for a specific placement (neck, bridge, etc). If they are put in the wrong spot, they can end up sounding thin, muddy, distorted, and just plain ugly.

They can’t really get flipped around the other way though. Pickups don’t really have a treble side and a bass side. It’s the same magnet running across the whole length of the pickup, and the same coil of wire wrapping around the whole thing.

So they could definitely be in the wrong spots, but it’s also possible that they just respond in a unique way and you’ll have to get used to it.

Comment on What would the best guitar pickups for a Squire Strat? by Dana

Dana — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 07:15:12 +0000

Hi! Please see http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091022160024AANDA7Z for my suggestions. Best regards, Dana

Comment on What is the most number of pickups on a guitar? by Nonpartisan

Nonpartisan — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 03:28:10 +0000

I’ve seen an old rickenbaker guitar that had 4 pickups. They were slimmer looking humbuckers.

However I’m sure that its common to have 4 pickups, because a lot of people are getting “Ghost Pickups” for their bridge.

Comment on Anyone that knows about guitar pickups help? by ddrum

ddrum — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 03:19:17 +0000

I have Zakk Wylde EMG’s in my Gold Top Les Paul and they are just awesome for metal. Not familiar with the Invader although I do have Seymour Duncan SHPGP-1B Pearly Gates and SH-1N RP ’59 Reverse-Polarity pups in my FMT and they are my favorite pups out of all my guitars, but I wouldn’t really use them for metal. The combo you are talking about would give you a lot of diversity though.