Help me out.

[Snowblind]

Hi this is my first post.

I have a peavey raptor plus exp guitar(strat). I dont want to spend my money in buying a new guitar so I want to put in new pickups. I play all music styles so I need pickups to suit that. So, the best way to go is to have 1 humbucker for high distortion and have a single coil for blues and cleans and tahts it? Or is it more complicated then that?

Thanks.

[ZoSo65]

Well I would suggest checking out Rio Grande Pickups, they kick ***,,,period!
And have a few good options of the combination your looking for. Talk to one of there reps, they know what would be best for your style.

Also check out EMG Pickups, they don't only make active, they have passive also, and make a few good sets basically ready to bolt in.

DiMarzio is another really good option, it was one of the first I was going to use for "Black Betty"

Pickup options can get real frustrating at times, it took me almost 2 months of research to finally make my decision, but remember I was building an axe from the ground up with materials not used before for a guitar. I changed my mind several times during the build according to the sounds I heard while machining the materials and what I knew, combined.
ANyhoo, I'm sure the rest of the crew here will add to this and hopefully be very helpful.

[tot_Ou_tard]

Well I would suggest checking out Rio Grande Pickups, they kick ***,,,period!
And have a few good options of the combination your looking for. Talk to one of there reps, they know what would be best for your style.

Also check out EMG Pickups, they don't only make active, they have passive also, and make a few good sets basically ready to bolt in.

DiMarzio is another really good option, it was one of the first I was going to use for "Black Betty"

Pickup options can get real frustrating at times, it took me almost 2 months of research to finally make my decision, but remember I was building an axe from the ground up with materials not used before for a guitar. I changed my mind several times during the build according to the sounds I heard while machining the materials and what I knew, combined.
ANyhoo, I'm sure the rest of the crew here will add to this and hopefully be very helpful.

Yeah you can't really email Seymour Duncan & say, I've got a guitar built out of a kitchen counter...so what'd'ya think a Jazz or a 59?

[warren0728]

Yeah you can't really email Seymour Duncan & say, I've got a guitar built out of a kitchen counter...so what'd'ya think a Jazz or a 59?

i wonder if moen makes pickups

[ZoSo65]

LOL,,you guys crack me up!!!!

I wish this kind of talk happened while I was building it,,,I would have put a sink drain in it for the hell of it!!!,,,,,hmm that gives me an idea!!!

[tot_Ou_tard]

LOL,,you guys crack me up!!!!

I wish this kind of talk happened while I was building it,,,I would have put a sink drain in it for the hell of it!!!,,,,,hmm that gives me an idea!!!

I figured that you already had a guitar shaped sink in your kitchen. I'm sure it totally pissed your wife off when she caught you cutting the blank for your guitar out of the counter!

[Robert****]

Stock options? No, I'm still waiting for that wall of Vox AC30's to show up!

[Bloozcat]

Unless you know the pickups to be bad (as in, sound crappy in every amp you've tried), I'd look elsewhere first to improve your tone. If I were putting them in order of importance, I think I would list them like this (I'm basing this list on a tube amp in the equation):

1) Guitar set-up - A proper set-up can do wonders for a guitars tone and playability.

2) Amplifier - If the amplifier won't do the job, it won't matter what kind of pickups or effects you put in front of it.

3) Speaker - It's amazing how just changing a speaker can turn an amp you were ready to give up on into a great sounding amp.

4) Tubes - Tubes do make a difference. While I prefer NOS tubes, even newly manufactured tubes can change an amps tone dramatically. Pre-amp tubes on balance will do more to impact tone than output tubes will. This is not to say that you won't hear a difference between crappy stock Sovteks and JJ's, Ei's, etc. (let alone NOS types).

It took awhile (and considerable amounts of money) for me to get my tone priorities in order. I have tried so many different types and brands of pickups that it's ridiculous. Sometimes the guitar need better pickups, but many times not. I've heard marginal quality guitars sound pretty darn good through a great tube amp.

[Tone2TheBone]

Setup suggestion's a good point. Also if you can find one...look for an MRX Micro Amp pedal. Great for boosting your guitar signal. Even just a little teeny tiny bit might be good for you.

[r_a_smith3530]

Snowblind, first, welcome to The Fret. Now, what is it about the Raptor's pickups that make you want to swap them out? Tone's suggestion about a pre-amp (it's MXR by the way) is a good one if they sound a little weak to you. In addition to the MXR "Micro Amp,", there is the old DoD Bi-FET Pre-Amp. These can usually be found used for about $25.00. Either of these pre-amps will perk up the stock Peavey pickups.

BTW, you mention single coil for the blues. Why? You can do blues quite well with 'buckers. Just ask BB King! Or Freddie King. Or Albert King. I could go on, but I'm sure you get the idea.