Hey Huey,
I agree that we guitarists (like golfers) can get hung up on gear, but
pickups do indeed make a difference, especially on some 'borderline' guitars,
where the wood and workmanship might be good, but money is saved on the pickups.
Especially on a primarily electric guitar, the pickups are the 'voice' of
the instrument, and good ones are crucial. Think about it, a Les Paul can get
a decent jazz sound, a 335 of course, and I've even played a Strat on jazz
gigs, but as I've posted here before, my Epi Howard Roberts (primarily a jazz
box) sounded barky and strident out of the box. I replaced the stock p/u with
a Kent Armstrong, and now the guitar is a completely different animal. It
sounds warm, round, and mellow, but still has nice crispness for solo lines
and no mud, especially on chords with close intervals (m2's, etc). I think
it's a terrific strategy to buy a solidly made reasonably-priced guitar, and
then make a few key tweaks to enhance sound. I have a MIM Tele that I bought
for a bit over $300, and then installed a Jason Lollar Charlie Christian p/u
($150) in it, and now I have a guitar that not only plays nicely & sounds
great, it's also kind of unique, another thing I really enjoy...
Cheers,
JV
Juan Vega
