Guitar Pickups

[HugoDisasters]

Hello! I'm an aspiring guitar player (played for about a year now) and i own three guitars as of one of them is a Deryck Whibley Squier (which I'm thinking about customizing? :o)

I have several questions;
- How much does the guitar pickup affect the general sound of a guitar?
- What guitar pickups does Deryck use live
- What guitar pickups do you prefer/what genre do you use them for
- If you would recommend a pickup that works especially well for Sum 41 stuff which one would it be?
- Do you think it would be a comprehensible thing to do to replace the pickups of a telecaster lying around to something similar to what the sums may use live to get closer to their type of sound? Would it be different for a fender telecaster, the deryck whibley squier, another squier? And why?

I.e if i would have exact the same guitar as Deryck but a different amplifier (let's say it's a Marshall MG30X combo)
how much would the sound come from the actual guitar in relation to the amplifier?

My purpose is not to emulate the sound of the sums live, i just want to know how i can get the same vibe with my own sound cause i really like their type of setup and I'd like to use it as an inspiration or at least a starting point for similar sounding tracks and maybe work out my own setup based on it.

I'm grateful for any answers which can answer the questions above, feel free to write your thoughts open minded!
Thanks.

[182sins]

Hey ! Sorry I don't have much time right now so my answer will be quite short:
If I remember well, Deryck uses a lot of different gear, but I'd suggest you looking at Seymour Duncan's SH4 pickups, I remember he used them live, at least for a moment.
I'd say you can't really tell if a guitar pickup is good or bad at low volume. I changed the pickup from my squier '51 with a SH4, and I don't really hear the difference, I never played live with it so I couldn't say how it sounds at high volumes. If you want to sound closer to the Sums, you'd better be looking at the amps you're using, as well as the quality of your guitar, because the wood of your guitar plays an important part in the final sound. Deryck likes to use Marshall amps, especially a plexi he modded, and he likes Orange amps too.
My advise would be this: don't change your pickup for now, try to tweak your amp. Don't be too rude on the Gain knob, having an over-distorted sound won't help. Just try to play with as much energy as you can, because the secret of the Sums sound, to my opinion, resides in the amount of energy they put in their playing.

Hope it's not too confused, I'm a little tired :)

[HugoDisasters]

Thanks for the tips! I'd certainly look at the amp more from now on. I can't say i have the top quality guitars but they do me well when it comes to sound, and they are all made in pretty much only maple so i should be good.

I'd love to get more information like this!

Just another question though; does Deryck take especial interest in that "fender" sound everybody is talking about?

[Jeremy Kill]

I managed to get a pretty decent "Sum 41" sound with my gear when I first started playing by just tweaking my amp settings and using an effects pedal/amp modeler.

As far as I know Deryck still uses the Seymour Duncan SH4 (aka Jeff Beck/JB) pickup live. It's the same one that I use (well, I use the replica I made a lot so...) and it sounds really good, especially when I'm jamming with my friends. I haven't really used a wide range of pickups, so I don't have a preference. The SH4 is pretty well rounded though and can meet the needs of guitarists from different genres. It wouldn't be the first choice for heavy metal or anything though.

If I could recommend a pickup? The Seymour Duncan SH4. Only makes sense to use the same pickup Deryck uses live.

All that being said, Cyril is right and there are many factors that affect the quality of sound coming from your amp. I know that the Deryck Squier has an agathis body, which is pretty much the lowest grade wood used to make guitars compared the alder body of the Fender Telecaster Deluxe. Your strings make a difference too, depending on the gauge and brand.