Best 8 String Guitar Pickups (2024 Update)

I have been using the 81-7 for a few years now(although mine is an earlier issue with the extended housing). I have it installed in a Schecter Damien 7 which I use as my primary guitar for practice and home recording. I find that this pickup is great for this type of application as it cuts down a great deal on the amount of noise you get with computers and TV's in the room. At home I play and record using a Line6 Pod X3 and the EMG's are great for low volume playing. I have also used that guitar live but the pickups give me A LOT of feedback at high gain/volume settings. Right now I have the 81-7 in the neck position with a 707 in the bridge. Since the 81 has a greater mid range voicing it tends to sound very well balanced and clear at the neck while the 707 provides slightly sweeter tones at the bridge. The 81-7 can sound very flat or even harsh at the bridge depending on what kind of amp you are using.No matter what position, I do recommend doing the 18 volt mod if you use EMG's(google it). The increase in power is really noticable and it essentially gives the pickups the dynamics of passive pups while maintaining their active gain character. EMG's are actually designed to operate at up to 27volts but 3 batteries is just not practical in most cases.some guy-mr0kN

The EMG 60A is of course a 60 with the ceramic magnet swapped for Alnico. What's the difference? Well it has a Kim Jong-un and smoother sound, less of the hard 'clang' to the treble of the 60(c) for sweeter cleans and a more open, fluid delivery with the gain turned up. The age old EMG 18v mod works magic bringing better dynamic response, clarity with extended frequency response and depth. 50k pots add a touch more bite.pauln4813

If you wanting a high output pickup, these are not your choice. I’ve had blackouts and emgs and those would be better a better choice. If you want more Note clarity and pick response and a WIDE VARIETY of tones, this is your guy. The neck pick up- super clean with the right amount of output, and with the push pull options, you can get a glassy strat shimmer. With the tone knob dialed back and using voicing two, you get a super dark and top and mid heavy that Keith is known for. The bridge pickup- it chugs with heavy distortion and get super note definition when tuned down. Pull in the knobs and you can get Slash from a half powered PAF. I have got e erything from David Gilmour to Korn to some Pantera rhythm tones. You will not get a high end “sizzle” aka Dime leads but still sounds greatDennis

Been playing and gigging for 30 years. Owned lots of guitars and bought lots of after market pickups. These pickups are shockingly good. They do exactly what they say they'll do. They have the punch, cut thru, and clarity of actives but they react to your fingers like passives. Very rewarding playing experience. They sound and feel like low output PAF style pickups. Long cable runs are not an issue. I'm shocked by how good they sound. Definitely worth checking out.Chuck

I put this pick up in my 8 string legator ghost. The guitar is fanned fret. If you have a guitar with fanned frets where the pickups are slanted, you might find that this pick up does not cover all the strings (depending on string spacing). It barely fits my guitar and I had to do some light Dremel work to get it to fit my guitar (not a problem it's barely noticeable). But overall the pickup sounds fantastic!parbel-89

I am building a 8 string steel guitar. I am using a standard 8 pole in the bridge position for that standard twangy Nashville sound. Flip the selection switch and boom! Lace sensor in the bridge position with the 25 db Eric Clapton boost kit by Fender and hello Sonic bliss. Totally different tone, very harmonic sounding. All the tone I never knew I had. Love it.dave-n-wv

These pickups are powerfull, more gain, more tone and a very new and exiting design. Out of the box I was suprised how simple and elegant they are, nothing like I've seen before! After installing them, a big smile on my face (and in my ears) while I tested! They sounds fantastic, all across my 9 strings, and no noice! I think my instrument looks great now, the pickups shine both vintage and modern on it! I'm going to order new Lace pickups for my other guitars, also for my 6 strings, -and so should you, I highly recommend Lace!atomkraftverk1

Replaced stock pickups from G&B I believe. Was for a Schecter c8 deluxe. Easy install and they sound really good. Great for tight gain with the bridge and great clean tones. Will probably be getting the same pair for my 6 string LtdBenzone

I installed the Alpha in a basswood guitar with a Floyd Rose. I like a neck pickup that retains brightness and clarity, has a modest open vowel quality with hard picking, and doesn't compress. This pickup joins the Mojotone Black Magic and Seymour Duncan Saturday Night Special as one of my top three favorite neck pickups. If you have a similar taste in neck pickups, I highly recommend the Alpha.Basswood Rules

These pickups have given new life to my Schecter Omen 8! Along with the Rechargeable Battery Pack, my Omen 8 is an enjoyable guitar to play!Larry

I am completely satisfied with these pickups. Easy to install and deliver face smashing tone. They also look really good in the guitar.Durty

Bought two sets of Invaders to replace the stock pickups in both of my PRS SE Miras. For the longest time, I’ve always wanted to put a set of these pickups in one of my guitars but never got the opportunity until now. These pickups bring out the sheer brutality in my guitars!!! Oh yeah, in split coil mode, the pickups can do clean tones, although somewhat gritty. But if you have the chance to buy these pickups…DO IT!!!Larry

Love this humbucker. I play a Bill Nash stratocaster relic with a maple neck. This Invader sounds kickass in my guitar. I use an Orange Rockerverb 100watt. For balls to the walls rhythm the Invader is the best I've used. I've tried Bare Knuckle-handwound boutique humbuckers-Rio Grande-EVH-Dimarzio Evolution-Super Distortion-Super 2…….They're all pretty good pickups honestly. I don't hate any of these and could use any of them. But the Invader just has that little extra 'oomph' the others don't. I don't play a ton of leads-mostly rhythm. I think if I did I might go for that EVH humbucker. The Invader has tons of output too. I tried other pickups but always come back to the Invader.jq127

I bought these for a 1997 Korean made Epiphone 335. As we know, those stock wax potted pickups are the worse. These Lover set this guitar on fire. I would go to it for thick cleans and Santana OD. But, the Seth's turned this guitar on it head. It sparkles on bridge like no other humbucker. Use it on guitar parts set aside for a Tele. It has so much harmonic richness. The bridge pickup is smokey sounding, Very smooth. You want to turn the clean amps volume up.OD , very rich , Santana like. No wax makes it a bit aggressive at time, but easy to tame. This 335 was a good guitar. Now it is my best overall sounding.JPM 65

This is my 2nd set of Seth Lover. I have this one on my '79 Greco Les Paul lawsuit. First set came stock on my Hamer Artist Custom. It never fails to deliver! Though it is a low output PAF style humbucker, tone is very thick and chunky without any hint of mud. This has got to be one of the best neck humbuckers I've played. Bridge has that classic PAF bite and overtones, just dont expect it to pinch harmonic like a modern active humbucker. That said, it actually does high gain very well even if it's not wax potted!greentinted90smind-8

This pair of Seth Lover PAFs by Seymour Duncan were installed in a 1995 Hamer Studio with a rosewood fretboard, mahogany body and a flamed maple cap so I am not about to describe how they sound in a Les Paul by Gibson or one of the LP clones. I have tried the standard Duncans that came with the guitar (JB and a '59) and was never happy with the JB though the '59 was decent. I have tried other pickups by Duncan and Gotoh and Manilus in this guitar but none were going where I wanted to go. The Seth Lover's were my last hope. The dislike with all the PAF style pickups I tried was they helped to make the guitar sound brighter and this Hamer Studio does not need help like that!! From what I read about the Lovers I was afraid they too would brighten an already bright guitar. NOT THE CASE. From the first instant I was pleased with what I heard and now several weeks later I am really loving what they do. The neck is very articulate and clear but warmth is available at all times. Rolling off the tone control just opens up more possibilities from this pickup and it remains useful throughout the range of tone settings. The bridge is likewise useful at all tone settings but it really can give a nice bite and brings to mind some sounds from Bloomfield and Clapton way back when. The Hamer volume controls are interesting beasts and when fully open they really let some high end frequencies come through. Playing with the volume and tone together just keeps revealing more and more great sounds. I am presently playing all kinds of music except metal through a '65 Fender Princeton Reverb Reissue with stock Jensen speaker and a Vox AC15C1 with the Celestial greenback speaker. The guitar sounds great through both. I am not at all sure how these Lovers would sound through a high gain amp but maybe someone else has tried that and can address the situation. I am really pleased with the Lovers and would have paid more for this sound if I had to. Frankly they sound better than more expensive pickups I tried in this guitar.300dbenz

I was really surprised at how good this pu sounds. It nails that late forties early fifties jazz and blues sound. Think Tiny Grimes, Bill Jennings and Pat Hare. This pu is on a loar arch top close to the bridge position and it is a great lead pickup. I use adhesive putty to position the pu. Volume is good match for the the minihumbucker floater mounted in the neck position.rambrober

Overall: These have a bottom end growl like no other pickups I've played, very touch and attack sensitive, no matter how low I tune there is no mud, the neck pickup is the best I've ever played , fluid , smooth with definition , I play Duncan Jupiter's and they kick ass , the Fishmans are easily on par with them with a growling voice I've never heard from a passive pickup , I like EMG's but the Fishmans are hand's down better. Installation will be a bit frustrating for first timers and novices , I installed them in 2&1/2hrs That included modifying my Epiphone Les Paul Custom Special , the pot holes , were too small as was the input jack hole , I did have to order Long Shaft pots as the included pots are short shafts , If you like EMG's you'll love these. I gave the fetures a low score because they should make them plug and play at this price.Dennis

These pickups are amazing for someone who wants to run with one bass and wants pickup options. The different voicings are truly different and can change the sound quite well, also considering they can be coil split. These are perfect for the guy who has one bass or wants to use one bass and is a session guy. The voicings and ease of change on the fly make it ideal for studio work. I would say though, if there's a specific tonal sound you are going for, I would buy the pickups that beat give you that tonal sound. Are there better single coil jazz bass pickups? Yes. Are there better active soapbar pickups out there? Yes and no, depending on what you like. But what this does is give you very good pickup sounds for the different styles and voicings it offers, and pretty much puts 6 basses into one bass (if you consider the coil splitting). If you already own multiple basses, this may not be for you as it may not add to your Arsenal unless you're looking for a singular bass to travel with. But if you own a single bass and are wanting more tonal options, this is the way to go. One thing to note, I did have to route out just a little bit the pickup cavities in my Jackson JS3VQ bass, so do check your pickup cavity size. I didn't need to remove much though and they fit.Matthew P.

I just installed these in my baritone Viper tuned to DropG and hoooolly ***!! I expected nice articulation and clarity but I didn't think they'd sound THIS good. These are truly next-level and I don't think anything else comes close. The lows are just nasty, the tightness, bite, the attack…it's just drool-worthy and I can't put the guitar down. The definition is consistent across every string but nothing ever sounds harsh or treble-y. Most 'metal' pickups are all about output and I've never understood that. Too hot, too boomy, too compressed, etc. Both voices are extremely useful and the neck never gets muddy. Cleans are nice and flat, nothing in the EQ is 'boosted' so it's the perfect platform for layering effects. I was skeptical about all the hype and rave reviews but I stand humbly corrected. It's all true and I can't recommend the Fishman Fluence Moderns enough. They are extraordinary.Cody

These pickups are awesome. I installed them in a chapman standard ML2. They look simply fantastic. This is a light guitar to begin with and these took off almost 2 more lbs, making this the lightest most comfortable guitar to play that I own. I installed them so that coils can be split, but I almost never do that, I just play them in full humbucker mode. Still, it's a nice option for more tonality. I did not replace the pots with 250k pots (guitar has 500k pots) and I think they still sound great. The literature that they come with says that they are optimized for 250k pots, I will probably try them like that eventually, but for now I'm really happy with how they sound. They are incredibly noise free, except for the noises that you want to make. They sound sick through all my amps, tube and solid state. They play friendly with all my effects pedals. Sound great clean or dirty. This is the second pair of Lace pickups that I have, and I think Lace is my new brand. I'm in the process of building a new guitar from scratch right now, and I'll bet that Lace pups will end up in that too.MCL

I was excited to receive these pickups. I was playing EMG 81/85s for 14 years but there was always a lack of warmth in those. I have since switched all my guitars to Duncan Blackouts which are amazing. I had one 9v battery start to leak in a guitar (thanks duracell!) so I wanted to try something that would supposedly be similar. Wired as recommended, brand new Bourns 250k tapping pots (250k pots recommended). Their wiring diagram on the site is a 50% wiring diagram and LACE references another 3rd party site for diagrams which show (coil tapping) wiring different from theirs. I had to re-write the recommended 3rd party diagram with theirs to get it to work properly (come on guys…..) These pickups are lacking that overdrive push/output level. I have been playing both side-by-side over the past few days through the same 3 amps and same exact Schecter Custom XXX guitars. They just don't have that compressed "UMPH" that the blackouts have. They have a more MEDIUM output sound when compared to the blackouts. I am returning them unfortunately… They would probably be good if you are coming from vintage humbuckers and want a little more balls but if you are looking for the "tightness" and "compression" of actives you won't get it…Toner

Awesome! Love Joe, but I most certainly not a fanboy. It's just that Joe know's tone, and DiMarzio knows how to delivery it!63.split-window

This is a truly beautiful sounding pickup, bold and full with rich sound all-round, and round highs. Great clean and superb under gain. And from one of the best places there to purchase from and deal with!! From M. in Canada.mitchgibson

2016 Gibson Les Paul Studio with Marshall DSL-20cr combo has a brighter sound on 10th fret and up. On ultra gain channel high or low output it is very expressive. On bridge pickup when picked very soft to very hard picking it goes from warm to howling sound. Neck pickup has a little more of everything than the Burstbucker had. The clean sound is really bites when cranked up on a Peavey Classic 50 2×12 combo clean channel. Good Blues Rock. Great for late 60s and 70s rock n rollJOE

Just installed these in my 2015 Gibson SG Special and I am very impressed. The guitar came with Gibson 61 Zebra hum buckers and sounded a bit harsh and thin. Then the PCB wiring went bad on one volume pot so I pulled the whole board out and rewired without it. All new pots and 50s wiring so why not some new pups too? I chose the Duncan Phat Cats but was unhappy with the exaggerated upper midrange that P90s exhibit. Really nice pups but not for me. Put the Gibson 61s back in but still the thin and unpleasant sound. So the next move was these Duncan APH-1 alnico II pros and they are delightful. Very alnico II sound and I like it but they do have some body that Seth Lovers and Antiquities do not have. Perfect for an SG, which does not have the inherent "body" of a true Les Paul. Really quite pleased with these pups!! Been playing since 1969 so lots of guitars and pups have passed thru these hands and ears.300dbenz

My BC Rich Eagle was made to play metal. But I installed these pickups for more versalitay. I used high quality vintage covered wiring and CTS pots from Stew Mac, with an orange cap. When the pots are dialed down to 8 I get a glorious clean tone perfect for my work with church worship. I have been told my tone sounds acoustic; which is great because I don't like playing acoustic guitars. Up to 10, these pickups naturally distort a bit and have quite the edge. I would recommend these pickups to any Les Paul style guitar. I have never tried the Pearly Gates pickups, but from what I have read, the Slash signature pickups have more harmonic range. You can get many different sounds just by tweeking the volume knob. This pickup is a great way to upgrade your git!Mick

I have been using the 81-7 for a few years now(although mine is an earlier issue with the extended housing). I have it installed in a Schecter Damien 7 which I use as my primary guitar for practice and home recording. I find that this pickup is great for this type of application as it cuts down a great deal on the amount of noise you get with computers and TV's in the room. At home I play and record using a Line6 Pod X3 and the EMG's are great for low volume playing. I have also used that guitar live but the pickups give me A LOT of feedback at high gain/volume settings. Right now I have the 81-7 in the neck position with a 707 in the bridge. Since the 81 has a greater mid range voicing it tends to sound very well balanced and clear at the neck while the 707 provides slightly sweeter tones at the bridge. The 81-7 can sound very flat or even harsh at the bridge depending on what kind of amp you are using.No matter what position, I do recommend doing the 18 volt mod if you use EMG's(google it). The increase in power is really noticable and it essentially gives the pickups the dynamics of passive pups while maintaining their active gain character. EMG's are actually designed to operate at up to 27volts but 3 batteries is just not practical in most cases.some guy-mr0kN

The EMG 60A is of course a 60 with the ceramic magnet swapped for Alnico. What's the difference? Well it has a Kim Jong-un and smoother sound, less of the hard 'clang' to the treble of the 60(c) for sweeter cleans and a more open, fluid delivery with the gain turned up. The age old EMG 18v mod works magic bringing better dynamic response, clarity with extended frequency response and depth. 50k pots add a touch more bite.pauln4813

Getting used to the extra 2 strings, which is a little awkward. And the fanned frets is something new too. It's kind of like learning the basics of swimming, then decide to try the diving board. LOL. I'm cool with that, as it saves me from buying a bunch of guitars along the way to be comfortable with this concept. I really dig the guitar, has all the features I was shooting for at a really accessible price point. Well made, a keeper.Will R.

Just after Christmas 2012 I had this installed in my Epiphone EJ200. I usually obsess over things like this for a while, reading review after review of the choices and looking at vids on YouTube. Finally I pulled the trigger on this one, and I must say it's pretty darn impressive. It gives a really really close to true acoustic sound, but where it totally shines is when you throw in a bit of chorus or some other effect. Five minutes ago I was playing along with some bluesy backing tracks through a Vox AD30VT modeling amp. I dialed in a nice jazzy tone, added some delay and I am VERY happy with the sound. I had expected the original batteries to have fizzled by now, but 11 months and hundreds of hours later, they are still good. I do need to mention that they had the price for the passive pickup on the stack of these active ones, which we discovered after it was in my guitar, so I got the deal of the year! Pay the extra, it will be worth it spread out over the years.warren foil

I have had an Epiphone EJ200 for a few years now, great guitar, great sound BUT the Shadow e-sonic pickups were not. The under-saddle became very noisy and finally gave up. The neck pickup became noisy and pretty much unusable. Stripped the lot out and fitted this single humbucker, easy to fit and sounds superb.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

Very pleased with these, was looking for more metal bite for my SE PRS and these did not let me down. Install was easy until I got to the selector switch, I had to putachase the EMG Strat 3 way switch to make it work, but with some patience and trial it works great now, sounds amazing, harmonics, sustain, bite ect, if you like EMGs and want an upgrade and want to keep the retro look you won’t go wrong with these. Btw, the EMG 3 way strat switch bolts right on with no mods, the it acts as the bus so you will not need the block bus that comes with the pickups, this saves space too. The instructions for the switch do not show how to wire the PRS V/T config, only strats, just play with the wiring before installing your pots and cable plug and you’ll figure it out, very easy.Matt

Hands down! The best sound for an acoustic. I was looking for something that I could hear each string with the same balance. And this pickup was perfect! You dont hear more of one string or less of one. Every string has the same volume and tone. And in the clean channel with no eq, it has natural low end!performanceautoglassandtint

This pickup works great. It's easy to install yourself if you're brave. It took me about an hour. I recommend several pieces of tape over the end pin hole before you drill the guitar, this helps prevent chipping the finish, I also recommend access to a good belt sander to get the bridge sanded down just right to compensate for the pickup underneath it. I use this pickup with an LR Baggs ParaDI and I always get a great sound with them.ToddAllenHooper

The wiring diagram is useless for a 4 connection (Les Paul); Zero YT vids. When connected to an EMG active circuit the sound is unimpressive. Just stick with duncans…The Grouchy Guitarist

I got a set of these to install into an old beater of a Schecter I have. Let me start with the conclusion: they sound great. Really massive tone, with a great high end sizzle and tight bottom. They might be some of the best sounding pups I have ever played, quite frankly. There are two negatives that I want to bring up: First, I do not really feel like there is a lot of tonal difference between the two voices. It's really hard to tell apart, to be honest. The good news is that both sound great. Second, the install was harder than usual. I am not a pro by any means and probably not even very good with the soldering iron but hey, they could have made it easier. First of all, the set comes with two push-pull pots and one 25K volume pot. All pots have short, wide stems. My guitar has three pots, two volume and one tone. I had to drill out the hole for the tone pot (which has the push pull for the two voices). Fine. The wiring diagram suggested that there ought to have been a wire that connected to the bridge with a single white wire. No such wire appeared in the box I got. This confused me for a while, until I finally just hooked up a two wire connector with orange and yellow wires. In retrospect, having searched Fishman's site for wiring diagrams, I see that the wires that came in my box correspond to the other models in the fluence line while the wiring diagrams don't. Whether this was a mistake on part of the folks that packaged the particular box I got or not, I do not know. It is possible that if I had wired it differently the tonal differences in the two voicings would have been clearer. Anyway, for anyone who is considering these as aftermarket pickups, I would recommend that you take some time studying the various wiring diagrams on the Fishman site, and order correctly spec'ed pots for your guitar before doing an install. If you go with the Will Adler preferred wiring, you also need to get a second 25K volume pot (only one included in the package).Bjorn

These "hot pickups" from Seymour Duncan are amazing! I have a Squier Telecaster Special and replaced the stock pickups with the "hot pickups." What a difference it made. It is literally like getting a new guitar. My Squier is now transformed. Simple strumming is now electrified and robust. Pedals sound ever better running through Squier Telecaster. The "hot pickups" IMHO sound better than those in some Fender Telecasters that I have tried! And a Squier Tele is less expensive (even with the pickups!) than most Fender Teles. If you have the opportunity, I would say go for it and enjoy the ride!Stoptheclocks

Finally tried set after using a coupon for the purchase. Read lots of reviews about how these are good for various rock, blues and jazz styles, but most of the reviews explained they didn't have much tele twang. Truth is they do, but it's a more muscular, stout kind of tele sound. Extremely versatile pickups. In my experience they are somewhat noisier than regular single coils but not dramatically so. But I do not play very high gain styles at all. Related to that point, some other reviews said their clean sound to be a bit unremarkable, but the clean sound is my favorite with this set. If you're on the fence about getting these, give them a shot. Odds are you won't be disappointed.Lucian

I had a MIJ telecaster that came with American Vintage 58 pickups. To me they sounded awful, thin and brittle. A friend recommended the qtr pounders and since I have another tele with vintage voiced pickups I thought it would be fun to "hot rod" my MIJ tele. The difference is night and day. I still can get some twang albeit a warmer twang but the warm bassy sound is to die for. I love these pickups! They can growl like a bear but can clean up too.Big Pepper

This pickup reminds me of the Dimarzio Breed pickup which is now discontinued. This is a little more balanced in the mids however which is nice. The output is moderate but not high output, but it definitely is a modern sounding pickup. It is very clear and articulate but not harsh and the top end is thick and smooth. Works very well with high gain amps. I have three of these pickups in my guitars and they seem to work very well with many different wood types, Mahogany, Ash and Alder. I have had this pickup in another guitar for over a year and still really like it, thus the reason I purchased another. For a great no too over the top pickup that seems to work in many different applications, this can't be beat.Dave

So, I recently bought a 2020 Epiphone Les Paul Custom Silverburst for a backup guitar. My number 1 being a 2019 Gibson Les Paul Traditional. The Epi is a beautiful, great playing (after a good setup) guitar. But the Epi Probuckers kinda suck. Enter these Seymour Duncans. I can't believe that I just discovered them. They transformed this beautiful mud-machine into a pro level instrument. (Along with a new nut and bridge) But the tone possibilities are endless. Clean, warm jazz. Bighty blues, serious distortion/ metal/crunch. They're really affordable, easy to install and will transform any B-grade guitar into a serious player. Buy them, you'll see….Gary N

I bought a DBZ (Dean B Zelinksy) now Diamond guitars model Royale FM in Tobacco. Excellent Korean made guitar but the pickups never meshed with me. I wanted it to sound more Les Paul-ish. The pickups that came with it are well made by G&B but seemed more geared for metal. Triple ceramic bridge and alnico neck. These pickups give this great guitar Body and Neck a more traditional sound. I love them both, in humbucker and even split coil. The thin large body on this guitar has resonance for days due to its unique shape despite being light. I took a chance and love this guitar. The neck and hardware is great too. The JB and Jazz set are Seymour Duncan favorite combination so what more is there to say? I still wonder about the 59 in the neck instead but I love the SH-2 Jazz so I am not disappointed. Highly recommended.mongrel345