In some ways, it’s surprising that so many players reach for new pickups when it’s time for a tone upgrade. For example, it’s tricky to audition different pickups to see which you like best before you buy, and this can make buying pickups a bit of a stab in the dark – good ones ain’t cheap and you aren’t guaranteed to like the end result if you do ‘upgrade’.
So, is there anything you can do to ensure that all-important upgrade is a success? Who better to ask than Tim Mills, founder of highly respected British pickup maker Bare Knuckle Pickups. Tim has decades of experience voicing pickups to suit everyone from old-time blues guitarists to bleeding-edge metal artists, so he’s perfectly placed to offer good advice on this score.
“When is the time to change pickups? Well, the simple answer is ‘when you want to’,” Tim says, with a chuckle. “But it’s not something that
