Pickups reviews from Reddit
Summary
We analyzed 176 Reddit reviews across 15 subreddits and 42 posts to rank the best Pickups brands recommended by redditors, including communities like r/telecaster, r/guitars, r/offset, r/Guitar, r/BassGuitar. Top-rated brands include Seymour Duncan (4.5/5), Fender (4.6/5), Duncan (4.7/5).
Stats
Reviews176
Subreddits15
Posts42
Brands37
Products85
176 reviews from
and
By Brand
/By Product
#1
Seymour Duncan
4.5
(46)
"I’ve got quarter pounders in my tele and it keeps up with my humbucker guitars while still sounding like a tele."
"I have the Little ‘59 T in one of mine and really like it."
"Andy Hull uses a lil 59 in his Tele bridge."
"I just got a Solar with a Duncan Nazgul Trembucker in the bridge and it sounds great."
"Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound PJ set."
"Seymour Duncan Antiquity Tele ‘55 2-piece Pickup Set - Chrome."
"I put SD antiquities in mine couldn’t be happier."
"I dropped Seymour Duncan quarter pounders and my tele and man oh man I haven't regretted it since."
"I love them."
"I've got Duncan quarter pounders in my Jazz. They have a fat sound."
#2
Fender
4.6
(28)
"I have some fender n3 noiseless single coils in my strat. Sounds great."
"I’m loving the ‘51 Nocasters. They worked out better for me than sets of Texas specials and Curtis Novak vintage series."
"I love my twisted tele pickups."
"I put Pure Vintage 64s in mine and was very happy With the result."
"Texas special."
"I got my hands on some Texas Specials for $200 brand new."
"I really like the Fender Pure Vintage '51s."
"I put Texas Specials in mine as well."
"Really like my nocasters."
"I upgraded my Fender player with a set of VMod 2s."
#3
Duncan
4.7
(9)
"Duncan 59s. Maybe jb if you want a bit more output."
"JB in the bridge, Jazz or 59 in the neck."
"JB in the bridge, Jazz or 59 in the neck."
"JB in the bridge, Jazz or 59 in the neck."
"Duncan JB in the bridge."
"‘59 in the neck."
"I put a JB in the bridge and a Jazz in the neck and it sounds fantastic."
"I put a JB in the bridge and a Jazz in the neck and it sounds fantastic."
"I’ve had the JB in a few guitars and really hated the midrange bump in the pickup."
#4
Lollar
5.0
(8)
"Lollar Special T and Lollar Vintage T are an awesome combination."
"Lollar special T."
"Big fan of Lollar pickups, I've got a P90 jazzmaster in my Jazzmaster and it sounds great."
"If you want to really get some sweet tone, Lollars."
"Phenomenal pickups."
"Lollar. They’re amazing."
"If you want to spend a fortune, get the Lollar Special Ts."
"I’d go with a Lollar special t in the bridge and vintage t in the neck."
#5
Bare Knuckle
4.8
(8)
"I'm going to put a Bare Knuckle Flat 50 in the bridge and Fender Twisted Tele in the neck of my Tele."
"These are the only brand I go to if I need pickups. So amazing and no major wallet violation like the other brands"
"I've tried quite a few. I really love Bare Knuckle."
"The mid range is stellar and really cuts through."
"I absolutely love them"
"They sound awesome."
"I’ve been thinking about the bare knuckles nomads or the Seymour Duncan little 59 vintage stack."
"Check out the bare knuckle the cheaper sets like brute force really worked for me atleast"
#6
Fralin
4.7
(7)
"I'd go with Fralins, Lindy Fralin will sit on the phone and talk to you to try and get what you want."
"Fralins if you can swing it. Love them in mine."
"Bartolini or Fralin"
"Fralins are great pickups for strats."
"Fralin blues specials imo."
"I played one of his tele style guitars and the Gemini pickups were amazing, and to me sounded better than the Fralins on the other one there."
"Fralin Blues Pecials"
#7
DiMarzio
4.4
(7)
"Dimarzios noiseless pups are great. Vintage heavy blues ii is like SRV tone in a pickup, especially in the middle or neck."
"I like my DiMarzio Twang King pickups very much."
"He used DiMarzio Area T's. Sounded phenomenal."
"For the neck a Dimarzio Area T Neck and either the Dimarzio True Velvet T Bridge or Area Hot T Bridge."
"I once had DiMarzio chopper in bridge position and liked it a lot."
"Dimarzio Area T are not so loud but they do cancel the hum and sound more like real Tele pickups."
"Used Duncans and Dimarzios"
#8
Texas Specials
4.7
(6)
"I put Texas Specials in my AMII Tele and they are never coming out"
"Texas Specials are good, personally I like Bare Knuckle Flat 50’s which are hot but still very vintage sounding."
"TX specials! Roll the tone back, turn up the gain and it rocks like a P90 or a mini humbucker."
"Texas specials are pretty much always the best choice"
"I had Texas Specials for years and they’re great for some amps and horrendous for others."
"TX Specials are REALLY hot and can probably do what you need/want."
#9
Bootstrap
4.4
(5)
"Bootstrap Pickups. Affordable (very) and high quality."
"Bootstrap. Can’t go wrong. Hand wound for a cheap price, don’t own them personally, but I have only heard great things. $50 bucks a set."
"Bootstrap palo duro."
"I heard Bootstrap pickups are amazing, and they're really cheap."
"Check out Bootstrap pickups, they're made in America and cheap."
#10
Lindy Fralin
5.0
(4)
"Came here to recommend Lindy fralin. Have them in my tele and LP. Tone is subjective but to me they are fantastic."
"I put a set of Lindy Fralin blues specials in mine and couldn’t be happier with them."
"Lindy Fralin Blues specials."
"Lindy’s mos def. arcane makes very good strat pickups as well. tried a hell of a lot and lindy’s are my favorite."
#11
Bartolini
4.8
(4)
"I’ve bought numerous basses just FOR these pickups! There’s something about them live that I always liked!"
"I upgraded my MK1 to the real Bartolinis and a good preamp, also by Bartolini. The sound is fantastic and the pickups just drop in. Definitely recommend it if you like the bass"
"Bartolini or Fralin"
"I’d throw a Bartolini in there."
#12
EMG
4.5
(4)
"I’m a big fan of EMG’s original T set if you want noiseless and pristine."
"My favorite Stratocaster pickups are the EMG DG-20 pickups."
"I have the EMG T-set in mine. They sound great."
"This set just sounds beautiful at every setting."
#13
GFS
4.0
(4)
"I love GFS pickups and I use them for most of my mod projects."
"I recently upgraded again with some 1962 spec single coils from Manlius Guitar in Syracase NY. They were a bit pricey, but they sound terrific."
"I am partial to GFS pickups. They’re relatively inexpensive and sound really, really good."
"I’d recommend GFS. I installed a few and while they weren’t anything spectacular they certainly didn’t suck and were surprisingly worka"
#14
Nordstrand
5.0
(3)
"Nordstrand Big Singles would fix you right up."
"My Ibanez 5 has Big Singles and I dropped a Big Blade in my American p bass. Happy with both."
"I have Nordstrands in several of my basses and love them! Big Singles area great choice if you want something somewhat traditional sounding, but, just, *more*. Big Blades are great, with the Warm and Wooly variant being a badass, hot pickup that is currently my favorite."
#15
Wilde Pickups
4.7
(3)
"Dollar for Dollar, I defy you to find a better set of pickups"
"I have 280s Neck and Middle (flat clean response, think Hendrix and SRV) and a 290 in the bridge, balances well, hot enough to rock, but still retains Strat character."
"Https://www.wildepickups.com/collections/stratocaster-pickups"
#16
Novak
5.0
(2)
"The JM-V just sounds so damn good."
"Totally brought that guitar to life and it’s my best sounding guitar."
#17
BKP
5.0
(2)
"I have a set of BKP Flat 50’s that are relatively hot for tele pickups (~11k) and they’re great for rock tones."
"I put BKP true grit tele set in mine and it is superb."
#18
Bootstrap Pickups
4.5
(2)
"Have bootstraps on my jazz master they are incredible!!!!! And usually a set runs around 60usd."
"I believe I put bootstrap pups in mine. Not too expensive, nice sound."
#19
EP Custom
4.5
(2)
"If you do go with a replacement I cannot recommend EP Custom enough. I've got a set in my Jaguar, Jazzmaster and Telecaster/Master."
"I have a set of EPs in my CV Jazzmaster… they sound great but a little too bright for me."
#20
Railhammer
4.5
(2)
"Seriously the best pickups I've ever played!"
"I’d consider Railhammer Humcutters."
#21
Nocasters
4.5
(2)
"I put 51 Nocasters in my Player Tele and haven’t looked back."
"I just ordered Nocasters, I watched a fuck ton of YouTube and they sound damn good to me."
#22
P90
4.0
(2)
"Hey, I recommend some P90 pickups for this SG."
"I would try P90’s."
#23
Lace
4.0
(2)
"I’m just going to be weird and unpopular and suggest a Lace Sensor for the bridge."
"I like lace sensors in my Mustang. Blue and silver, but might go for a red in the bridge."
#24
Lace Sensor
5.0
(1)
"Can't go wrong with Lace Sensors. I have the hot golds and they're excellent."
#25
Wilde
5.0
(1)
"I've used Wilde noisefree and Fender noiseless in the past - love them both. Wilde sounds more "single coil" to my ear."
#26
Custom Shop
5.0
(1)
"Can’t go wrong with Custom Shop Nocasters"
#27
G&L
5.0
(1)
"One of the best strat style guitars I've ever had, they were very quiet but you could still get the classic strat sounds with 'em."
#28
Fishman
5.0
(1)
"Fishman Greg Koch Gristletones. Active but no mods needed, easy install, dead quiet, whiteguard and blackguard modes."
#29
Hot Rails
5.0
(1)
"I put a single coil sized hot rails humbucker in my bridge slot and love the sound."
#30
JBE
5.0
(1)
"JBE Danny Gatton pickups are indisputably, hands down my favorite for that vintage Tele smack, but also for noiseless."
#31
Montys
5.0
(1)
"I have montys dp51 pickups in my telecasters and love them."
#32
Mojtone
5.0
(1)
"I got the Mojtone Brodcaster noisless pickups in my Tele and I couldn't be happier with the tone now."
#33
Mnlius
5.0
(1)
"I really love the Mnlius T90s, they still have a little of that tele sound but more p90 mid growl."
#34
Tex-Mex
5.0
(1)
"I love the Tex-Mex pickups I put in my partscaster. They're pretty hot and drive my BD-2 and AC15 beautifully."
#35
Black Bobbin
5.0
(1)
"I have the Black Bobbin wiring harness in mine and love it."
#36
Realist
5.0
(1)
"Get at least a realist or fishman."
#37
Guitar Madness
4.0
(1)
"Guitar madness on ebay. The 5-2s, the 62z, or the smooth velvets are all excellent and cheap"
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