Peavey Vypyr 60 Watt Tube Amp: Do Pickups Matter?

[Trussrod]

Has anyone tried one of these hybrid tube power amp/modeling pre-amp combos? I spent about an hour playing an LTD MW HSS signature model through one of these today. The guitar had Duncan Designed pups installed and the tone was great--really responsive, too. It didn't make sense to me that this should sound so good considering the pups.

So my question is: Do pickups make much difference in tone when playing through a modeling amp?

[PowerTube]

I have a Vetta II HD, a Flextone 2, and a POD 2.0. I haven't seen any more difference across them with different pup's than with my tube Marshall.

Also keep in mind that the "Duncan Designed" models aren't bad at all because they're just an import version of the regular Duncans. I had those in a DX10X years ago. The guitar was junk but the pickups were excellent.

[Twitch]

Some amps are picky as are their owners. Ive had amps that didnt care what you plugged into it on either end and even more that you do notice subtle to great differences. Its a little annoying to have 4 guitars that all used to sound the same and sound great and move to an amp that shows you the tonal differences of each, but at the same time, you know you have a very transparent amp, which is how its supposed to be. The ENGL I just parted with, showed the differences in everything I plugged into either end of it, guitars and cabs. It sounded good, but I found myself playing one guitar through one cab, when I had 4 guitars and too many cabs. The 6505+ is shaping up to be that way, but not quite as picky with the tone of the guitar so much as the output of the pup. The 6505 favors its cab out of my various cabs though. ALL the Marshalls Ive had have only varied slightly in which cab I used and not much. Every guitar I plugged in sounded the same short of feedback. So, bottom line, it depends on the amp how your particular guitar setup will sound. And I agree with PT on the DD pups, I have them in my Kelly and other than being a little more prone to feedback than my other guitars, the tone and output is killer.

[Brozz]

I bought a Vyper 30 for my Nephew, and heres the kicker .....

My USA RR1 doesnt sound noticeably different than his Asian import Ibanez. The Vyper (like ALL modeling amps, IMO) has its tones set, and thats that. What you plug into them really doesnt matter. In my experience at least.

Oh, and I should add, I despise modeling amps. For that very reason.

[jgcable]

All the Duncan Designed pickups I have ever had were all fine pickups.
My favorite pickups are Ibanez INF's. Pickups are very overrated IMHO.
There isn't a heck of alot of difference between Dimarzio and Ibanez and Seymour Duncan and Duncan Designed. I even think the EMG HZ non active pickups are pretty nice.