Huh, interesting... I went the whole video preferring the sound of the isolated Crunch Lab by a long shot, then it got to the demos at the end, and the Illuminator blows the Crunch Lab away when in a mix (IMHO). I suppose it's that whole midrange thing. Scooped vs. Unscooped. Scooped is very pleasing for bedroom jamming when you're playing all by yourself. But you really want that midrange when in a mix, to force the guitar to occupy it's own frequency. Helps the guitar "take it's place", so to speak, amongst the other instruments. In that light, I'd probably take the Illuminator. Anyway, excellent video. This is exactly how pickup comparisons should be done. I've got Evolutions and Gravity Storms in two of my guitars, but it seems like everyone always talks about the Petrucci pickups when it comes to DiMarzio, so I've been doing some investigating. Your video was incredibly helpful, thank you!
Kind of depends on the sound you want to go for. The Evolutions are high output and scream like an 80's metal singer, where as the Gravity Storms are smooth and fat and refined like an Opera singer. 😝
Before I change my pickup from D sonic to illuminator, this video helped me a lot. and now I am changing it to crunch lab, and also this video helps me a lot.
Now that's how a sound comparison of anything (pickups, guitars, amplifiers,..) should be done. Btw, your crunchlab was installed with the metal bar coil towards the neck, right?
+Andrew Pack I plug the guitar directly (direct injection = DI) into my audio interface, and that raw signal is the DI track. With a DI, you can then run it through virtual guitar amps in software, or even run it back out into a real guitar amp via a re-amp box. The advantage is you can then tweak your sound later instead of committing at the time of recording. Also, editing a DI track and then running through an amp gives less artifacts than recording through a real amp and then editing it.
I hear that. I fell in love with the dimebucker in my ml and thought I'd put one in my charvel. Went the cheap route and put a bill and becky l500 xl in it and they're not even close. The bill lawrence is a shit pickup and i have no idea how the pantera sound came out of it. Noisy and thin. I thought I'd accidentally split the coils when i installed it so i took it to a tech and said "Dude. Idk what you need me to do. It looks fine to me." It's just a shitty pickup.
Tom, thanks so much for the variations. This was really helpful to me. I love both pickups, but your video and audio helped me make the decision that is right for me.
Excellent comparison! For what I like to play, and the way I prefer to sound in a mix (not so in-your-face, appearing subtly, and just letting all the other instruments ring), I prefer the Crunch Lab. =)
Illuminator fot me. Much clearer and articulate to my ears. The higher the gain the muddier the Crunch Lab seemed to get, and the Illuminator stood out in the mix better. Good, fun comparison.
concise and to the point, not allowing time for your ears to adjust or forget the previous sound making it easier to hear any audible differences between the pickups, excellent video i will both like and sub
Killer demo. I ran to my guitar tech and asked him to put the Illuminator instead of the Crunch Lab. Both pickups are great though. Thanks for posting this.
Well done. I haven't come across a comparison featuring the Crunch Lab's mounting position. This was brilliant. The Illuminator had sparkle with the clean tones, but lacked articulation when overdriven chords were arpeggiated. The Crunch Lad had punch, and definition when overdriven.
Id pick according to the guitar I was putting them in. Crunch lab for a brighter sounding guitar. And illuminators for something like all mahogany without a maple cap. Awesome video. I like them both!
Very similar. Illuminator has the top end rolled off a touch. I hear less sizzle, which I like on the high gain stuff. It sounds tighter. It's also a bigger sound. Fills more of the mix, which is probably what JP wanted on the self titled album.
Awesome comparison. I think crunch lab was best stand alone but Illuminators best in the mix. Now do neck pickup comparison! (Liquifire vs Illuminators)
That would be fun, but at the moment I own neither the Liquifire nor Illuminator neck pickups. Currently I have the stock Duncan '59 in one guitar, and Dimarzio EJ Custom in the other. I like them both enough that I can't imagine switching them out. But if I did, I would definitely do another comparison vid.
Have you ever installed a liquifire/crunch lab combination into a semi hollow body? I’ve never Used the crunch lab pick up before, but I do have a Strat style solid body with a liquifire in the neck and an evo 2 pick up in the Bridge, Which turned out to be a perfectly lethal combination, What I did not realize at the time until one day I played this guitar clean and realized that the liquefier pick up was an amazingly warm but articulate clean sounding pick up. Now one of my favorites.
The Illuminator sounds brighter and with more middle mid focus. Also much more open in comparison to the Crunch Lab. Also it has an odd high end sizzle that makes me uncomfortable since the rest of the high end is so open. It may sit better in a mix due to the loss of closed off high end fuzziness, but I'm still not too big a fan.
However glad i am that some one does these comparisons, they are relative. Unless you have this side by side immediate comparison, the average person could never tell the difference.
Just played a Ernie Ball Majesty. Most impressed with the sound. Had to check out the Illuminator pups. Listening here to the clean, the Illuminator is a bit subdued, but more musical. Very pleasant. Hearing it in the mix, the mids really pop. Might have to pick up a set for my Explorer. Cause ain't no way I can afford a Majesty.
Hell of a job, great comparison. The Illuminator gets my vote. It's much tighter and more percussive than the Crunch Lab. Might have to pick one up and throw it in my Strat...
I'm thinking it'll be pretty nice for my preferences. I'm mostly into metal and progressive, and I'm a massive fan of the Evolution. This seems like a bit tighter, more biting version of that with a touch more output. If for some reason it doesn't fit my Strat tone wise, I'll put it in my old RG and it'll be good to go.
Illuminator seems to be a little more uncompress and sensitive to the playing, specially more open in the lower mids... while the crutch lab tend to cut a little better in the mix in a higain situation, with it's compressed bump in the higher mids while the lows remains deep but under control. The cruch lab is colder, glassy, skinny and narrow in a clean situation, but in a high gain situation it is super focus, less muddy, very precise when you play fast. For a lower gain overdrive or clean I would choose the illuminator for sure.. it's all about compromise. The Best would be to have both in a recording situation. But i can see why J P choose to have the illuminator on stage... it's a little more versatile.
great comparo. honestly need to give details go as they are so close. both pickups are identical on the paper and the difference is minimal but i will give it another detail go.
Please, purty please upload a comparison vid of Liquifire and Illuminator neck! Though it would've been better if you used a proper amp, I like how you used the same setting except the pickups to compare. Illuminator bridge seems to have more depth while Crunch Lab seems to have more power/presence.
Wow, after reading the comments, I really feel lonely. I preferred the Illuminator in all of the cleans (more shimmer), no preference on the low gain and most of the heavier things. The Illuminator would stand out much better in a crowded mix.
Have you ever try the X2N??? I'm so curious cause i want to change my bridge pickups... would you do some review of them (neck and bridge X2N)??? Thanx
Everything was in C# standard, except the very final strings example which was B standard, and this on a 25.5 scale guitar. Btw, 11-52 in B standard doesn't keep tuning too well (pitch wanders when picked) so I had to run a sine wave at 247 Hz to tune to by ear, works better than a tuner meter.
The illuminator has less focused and less present bass/mid-bass attack than the crunch lab who seem to be a little 'less bright on mid-high, but the disadvantage is less than the benefit which has than the Illuminator.
Very good comparison n clarity. Which one is better for a basswood guitar? My amp is having bit trebly,so which one you recommend? Thank you for answering.
Excellent comparison! Just wanted to ask something. Do you think one could use these pickups with a full mahogany body guitar? You wrote you had mahogany wings and I don't know if that makes a difference. Read different things about crunch lab on a mahogany body being bad and I want to buy either crunch lab or illuminator. Do you think they both can be used in a full mahogany body without any problems? Thank you and sorry for the long question :D
All-mahogany tends to be thicker and darker sounding. For that, definitely would choose the Illuminator over the Crunch Lab since the latter has more low mid and bass that could make it a bit boomy and muddy. The Illuminator would balance things out better. Two others I think could work in mahogany would be the Evo 2 and Duncan Custom.
@@TomMontalk what you say crashes with the fact that on 2020 sterling Majesty which are 100% mahogany with ebony fretboard they're mounting crunchlab / liquifire combo instead of illuminators. So do you think there is another reason why they opted for that solution? I own a sterling Majesty 6 string 2018 which is 100% mahogany as well with rosewood fingerboard and I have to choose if replace stock pickups with CL/LF or illuminators. Which one would you suggest to me? Thank you in advance. Andrea
Agreed, for cleans the CL is superior. I really enjoyed the cleans on it. One reason is that the solid bar faces the neck, and thus the signal focus is further away from the bridge and slightly more toward a neck sound. But on high gain, that very same trait makes for mushy low end distortion and more fizz on top; some people like that sound but I needed an articulate chunky well defined tone and amps / sims need the mids for that. Though to be honest I could have used an EQ plugin to correct it, but I don't have an EQ pedal so practicing/jamming with a real rig needed the pickup change.
I was using an amp sim for this, the LE456 by LePou Plugins. It's free. That went into Valhalla Room reverb. But also I was using a .60mm tortex pick which is half the tone right there especially on cleans.
The Illuminator sounds a bit thin and trebly compared to the CL. It's almost like a CL installed with the bar facing the bridge. But the Illuminator sounds better in the mix. It almost sounds like the drums and bass made the pickup grow some balls.
hey man. thanks for the video. i liked the distortion a lot. BUt... what are the real differences between these two pickups? with distortion, for high gain stuff. Thanks in advance JP
WithFullDistortion Practically speaking, the Crunch Lab is slight bit more scooped, so more bass, less mids, and more highs. When you run this into a hi-gain amp, what you get is a bit more low end woof which borders on flabbiness or sponginess, a smoother mid range crunch, and hairier/fizzier highs. The Illuminator goes the opposite way -- it has less lows, so in hi-gain it sounds even tighter. It has more mids, so through the amp there is a more aggressive and defined mid-range crunch. And it has less highs, so the top end isn't as hairy/fizzy. But you see, this all depends on your particular guitar and amp. If my guitar were lacking bottom end, too dull on top, and too middy, then I would use the Crunch Lab to even that out. If I were playing cleans with the bridge, I would use the Crunch Lab for sure. Overall the Crunch Lab is more versatile. But for me, I want my bridge to be optimized for high gain distortion only, since I'm using the neck for cleans. And so to reduce fizz, tighten the lows, and have more aggressive mids I prefer the Illuminator in my guitar. The differences between the two aren't as drastic as my description is making it sound.You can hear in the video the sonic differences, which are slight. Also, if I felt inclined, I could have kept the Crunch Lab and just put an EQ plugin before the amp sim and compensated for any felt imbalances. The reason I keep the Illuminator is because it's one less thing to do, and I don't have a physical EQ pedal so when I'm just practicing through my real amp the Illuminator is already where I need it to be.
TomMontalk Hey Man. thank you for taking the time to answer me. I have two distinctive guitars, well, 3, out of 10. ahahahah One jackson dxmg that has the classic maple neck, bolt on, rosewood fretboard, compound radius and 25,5 scale length, and i have also the same guitar, but i got a custom mahogany 2 piece body for it. I want a tight and deep bass and mid bass, crunchy and grinding Mids. HOt and singing leads. and a OK clean sound. for the bridge position. ah, and also articulation under high gain and for the basswood jackson, it needs to dark/tame the guitars excess of brightness. i have a peavey 5150 III 50w head. and a custom 2x12 with 2 wgs liberator speakers. 80 w each one. . the third guitar is also a basswood body ibanez rg550 but the fretboard and neck are a 1 piece bolt on neck/fretboard made of maple. so even more brighter im boycotting seymour duncan, so im looking at dimarzio and emgs now. I wrote dimarzio and they replied me with the TITAN bridge, that was already in my list, and he also suggested the illuminator. from the petrucci demo, i wasnt impressed at all. so thats why i asked. when you here it, and you perceive the differences, its GOOD. but when the differences can only PHYSICALLY be felt or heard, then you need to also play the pickup. thats also why i asked you about the differences. Thank you very much once again JP
I wonder how many people are just passing by watching a video about guitar pickups, completely unaware of the deep esoteric truths presented on this channel.
Crunch Lab seemed juicer and brighter for all....until it got to the mix. And the only parts of it you could actually hear well enough were vastly inferior to the Illuminator. A grown up pickup, if you ask me.
To me the Illuminator has more focus on low mids. In the mix with distortion it sounds alot thicker and less fuzzy than CL. Listen to DT's new album where the fat tone of Illuminator is quiet prominent. But still, which one is better is still a personal preference thing.
Agreed, the Crunch Lab sounds fuzzy because it has more lows. In a mix, the lows get lost due to the bass and drums, but the fuzz effect remains audible. Long time ago I tried the Breed pickup in the bridge, and took it out an hour later because it was so bassy that it seriously fuzzed up my distortion. I'm keeping the Illuminator for now.
I just did a google image search for hi-res pics of the crunch lab and illuminator. I made a new 1280x720 @72dpi blank file in Photoshop, used gradient tool to make a subtle background, imported the pickup pics, used the magic wand tool to select and delete the white background from the pics, resized and positioned the pickups, and added text.
Illuminator sounds like.. it attracts my attention because it sounds more serious or something, but it is like it deletes high frecquencies or something and makes everything sound just "homegeneous", so it feels like it limits the sound, so you dont make your attacks with your pick on the string make a riff uneven. honestly I dont know, if I put crunch lab to my korean gargabe generic pickups, would I say WOW!! What a change!! ??? or probably I wouldnt even notice an improved quality that much? I am not sure, I was told that if I just wanted to make a standard change and notice quality, the most standard thing is seymour duncan jb (for neck) y 59 (for bridge).
Depends on what kind of music you play. JB neck and 59 bridge seems like a good combo for blues, alternative, country, and classic rock. The Crunch Lab would be more versatile for various styles as it sounds pretty good on clean and mild distortion. The Illuminator is better for heavy distortion as the tighter bass and rounder highs on it will make for a more mid-focused sound which a lot of high distortion amps respond well to. Too much treble from a pickup will sound fizzy and hairy through distortion, and too much bass will sound spongey and flabby, hence Illuminator in my opinion is better for the heavy stuff. But anything non-metal, I think the Crunch Lab would do better. If someone gave me a garbage guitar with crappy pickups, for metal my safest pick for bridge is the DiMarzio Evo 2, maybe a 59 for the neck.
@@TomMontalk I dont play metal, actually I am not quite a big player, I only grab my guitar sometimes, now I am playing some songs like winds of change, some cranberries songs, alanis morissette, and I am playing with some presets in my gt10. I mostly like clean sounds though I must say that my gt10 and my fender amp dont get along quite well, I dont know why it just doesnt sound quite good and needs a lot of work to get something sound quite good.. I think I entered the input of the gt10 and left it to 0 or -5, some people leave it at -10 and that works. So anyway probably the best solution is leaving the crappy pickups.. somebody else said that it is better to get a keyboard amp or any amp that is for digital sound.. it will never work with a guitar amp.. and somebody said that gt100 is better than gt10 because it has more compatibility with guitar amps..
@@capsuleboy You can plug the phones output from the GT-10 into a good pair of computer speakers. Should be similar to playing it through a keyboard amp. The GT-10 should work with guitar amp though, if you're strictly using it as an FX pedal like distortion or overdrive. Sometimes it works to play a distortion or overdrive pedal into the crunch channel of an amp instead of the clean. Your best bet overall, though, would be switching to a better amp that has really good sounds built-in.
They're both rated 410mV output, and volume wise they did sound about equal. However since the Crunch Lab devotes a portion of that to lows the Illuminator doesn't have, the Illuminator therefore has more slightly gain in the mids. If there is a difference in mV output, I think a single turn of the pickup screw can make up for it.
I'm not a blues or classic rock guy, but wanted to demonstrate something of that style. So I made that up right before recording it. Here is the guitar tab for it: lunahelia.com/LunaBox/youtube_riff.pdf -- it uses hammer-ons, slides, and a couple kinds of mutes. Comments in red explain what I mean.
My impression is that both work well enough for John Petrucci in dream theater's context but as all around pickups they are not versatile and leave a lot to be desired.
The audio I recorded and edited in Logic Pro X. Then I made the images in Photoshop, and imported all that into Final Cut Pro X and matched the image sequence and timing to the audio. That's all for Mac.
Later this year maybe. I'm working on revising / updating / writing new articles on my website. Those three fringe videos took six months to put together for 15 minutes of content. I could have written several articles or a book in that same time frame. So now I gotta catch up on the website content, then swing back to videos. Those three fringe vids were the foundation though, complete in themselves. Anything that comes after this would just be bonus material honing in on more specific points or be like an appendix. So I will make more, just have to prioritize what I do right now.
TomMontalk Thanks for responding! Yeah I understand what you mean. I'll be subscribed and await the day you finally get to upload lol. Anyways good luck with the website and everything, Ill check the new stuff you post there too! I find this stuff to be fascinating!
this was EASILY the BEST Pick up comparison I have ever seen (and heard). seriously I am that impressed. KUDOS!!
Huh, interesting... I went the whole video preferring the sound of the isolated Crunch Lab by a long shot, then it got to the demos at the end, and the Illuminator blows the Crunch Lab away when in a mix (IMHO). I suppose it's that whole midrange thing. Scooped vs. Unscooped. Scooped is very pleasing for bedroom jamming when you're playing all by yourself. But you really want that midrange when in a mix, to force the guitar to occupy it's own frequency. Helps the guitar "take it's place", so to speak, amongst the other instruments. In that light, I'd probably take the Illuminator.
Anyway, excellent video. This is exactly how pickup comparisons should be done. I've got Evolutions and Gravity Storms in two of my guitars, but it seems like everyone always talks about the Petrucci pickups when it comes to DiMarzio, so I've been doing some investigating. Your video was incredibly helpful, thank you!
flips220 what do you prefer? evos or gravity storm?, i have an ibanez rg350 with a basswood body and a rosewood fretboard, what do you recomend me?
Kind of depends on the sound you want to go for. The Evolutions are high output and scream like an 80's metal singer, where as the Gravity Storms are smooth and fat and refined like an Opera singer. 😝
I want a lead sound, the evolutions are the better choice?
@@efrainmeza9872 Illuminator
Illuminator was actually quite louder in the comparison, kinda hard to tell in this situation
Before I change my pickup from D sonic to illuminator, this video helped me a lot. and now I am changing it to crunch lab, and also this video helps me a lot.
김평수 do you prefer crunch Lab overdrive the illuminator now?
Now that's how a sound comparison of anything (pickups, guitars, amplifiers,..) should be done. Btw, your crunchlab was installed with the metal bar coil towards the neck, right?
Yes, bar towards the neck. I never tried it reversed, but that might work in a dark sounding guitar.
TomMontalk Crunch lab in reverse position is a little bit brighter, but it doesn't make a huge difference.
Crunch Lab in every aspect, it's the most articulate beautiful sounding pickup I've played and I've played dozens
You like it over the D Activator? I want a bit less treble bite than the D ac
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR INCLUDING DIs
+Andrew Pack It's the unprocessed signal exactly how it comes from a guitar with no post amplification or effects.
+Andrew Pack I plug the guitar directly (direct injection = DI) into my audio interface, and that raw signal is the DI track. With a DI, you can then run it through virtual guitar amps in software, or even run it back out into a real guitar amp via a re-amp box. The advantage is you can then tweak your sound later instead of committing at the time of recording. Also, editing a DI track and then running through an amp gives less artifacts than recording through a real amp and then editing it.
+TomMontalk I really think you should do a comparison of Seymour Duncan Invader and DiMarzio Illuminator.
finding a suitable pickups is the most annoying thing in the world!!!! it could be the no 1 cause for baldness
I hear that. I fell in love with the dimebucker in my ml and thought I'd put one in my charvel. Went the cheap route and put a bill and becky l500 xl in it and they're not even close. The bill lawrence is a shit pickup and i have no idea how the pantera sound came out of it. Noisy and thin. I thought I'd accidentally split the coils when i installed it so i took it to a tech and said "Dude. Idk what you need me to do. It looks fine to me." It's just a shitty pickup.
Sweet now I know why my hair lines gone back 6 inches
Just get the Seymour Duncan TB-6 Distortion, you'll never get wrong with that.
🖖😁☮🍺🍕
The Crunch Lab sounded better for everything except for high gain. So Illuminator wins for me.
Totally agree with that. Crunch lab cleans had more body
Yep, better note separation and more dynamics on the CL. The Illuminator sounded muddy, it’s clearly a hot pickup made for high gain.
Tom, thanks so much for the variations. This was really helpful to me. I love both pickups, but your video and audio helped me make the decision that is right for me.
I like the crunchlab better, it has better resonance and overall better sound IMO.
Excellent comparison!
For what I like to play, and the way I prefer to sound in a mix (not so in-your-face, appearing subtly, and just letting all the other instruments ring), I prefer the Crunch Lab. =)
The illuminators are brighter, and in some areas louder, not by much. I also think they are fuller overall over the Crunch lab. I appreciate the test.
Illuminator fot me. Much clearer and articulate to my ears. The higher the gain the muddier the Crunch Lab seemed to get, and the Illuminator stood out in the mix better. Good, fun comparison.
Agreed
To my ears the Crunch Lab is packed with lot of 80's tone goodness, while Illuminator is more 00's modern metal sounding.
Very well done! Tasty playing, appropriate snippets, wide range of clean and rock sounds, plus DI and full mix. Much appreciated!
Thanks for doin it right and using the SAME GUITAR! :)
I like the high tones that saturate with the lows for the crunch lab. to me it has more character and juiciness.
crunchlabs sound more organic to me,the illuminators is cleaner but it lacks body
Totally agreed
concise and to the point, not allowing time for your ears to adjust or forget the previous sound making it easier to hear any audible differences between the pickups, excellent video i will both like and sub
I prefer Illuminator.
I like the sound of the Illuminator a lot for the down tuned bits, it has way more definition especially in the mix with the strings
Thank you for this video comparison it really helps people to choose what fits into their playing style.
Killer demo.
I ran to my guitar tech and asked him to put the Illuminator instead of the Crunch Lab. Both pickups are great though. Thanks for posting this.
Well done. I haven't come across a comparison featuring the Crunch Lab's mounting position. This was brilliant. The Illuminator had sparkle with the clean tones, but lacked articulation when overdriven chords were arpeggiated. The Crunch Lad had punch, and definition when overdriven.
Id pick according to the guitar I was putting them in. Crunch lab for a brighter sounding guitar. And illuminators for something like all mahogany without a maple cap. Awesome video. I like them both!
This is an incredible demo. Thank you so much.
The "With Strings" parts at the end sounded like it could actually be a Dream Theater studio recording LoL...great work! BTW - Crunch Lab rules!
Crunch Lab, for sure!!!
Very similar. Illuminator has the top end rolled off a touch. I hear less sizzle, which I like on the high gain stuff. It sounds tighter. It's also a bigger sound. Fills more of the mix, which is probably what JP wanted on the self titled album.
this is the best pickup demoing video ive ever seen. no bs. great sound. ALL the sound is actually demoed. thanks for this video. its helped a lot.
Illuminator it is for me, thanks!
Now thats called good comparing
Awesome comparison. I think crunch lab was best stand alone but Illuminators best in the mix.
Now do neck pickup comparison! (Liquifire vs Illuminators)
That would be fun, but at the moment I own neither the Liquifire nor Illuminator neck pickups. Currently I have the stock Duncan '59 in one guitar, and Dimarzio EJ Custom in the other. I like them both enough that I can't imagine switching them out. But if I did, I would definitely do another comparison vid.
It kills emg's and sd's in my opinion, sounds so fucking amazing, soo much headroom and killer distortion.
Which one?
@@jaychen2000metal both haha
@@hellskreamer I got the D Activators. Only thing i might want is a tad more bass but they're a good 9/10
Your comparisons videos are great! I hope you'll do more.
I think The Crunch Lab is more versatile. :)
Illuminator a fraction lil bit towards being Djenty imo.
Hey Tom that's a nice sounding guitar. Thanks for putting your music out there forus to enjoy.
Good job on the comparison! Finally no talking, just play and compare, perfect!!
Well said Sep,
Finally a real comparison vid, Thanks Tom!
Have you ever installed a liquifire/crunch lab combination into a semi hollow body? I’ve never Used the crunch lab pick up before, but I do have a Strat style solid body with a liquifire in the neck and an evo 2 pick up in the Bridge, Which turned out to be a perfectly lethal combination, What I did not realize at the time until one day I played this guitar clean and realized that the liquefier pick up was an amazingly warm but articulate clean sounding pick up. Now one of my favorites.
thanks for this test crunch pickups DIMARZIO VERY BETTER FOR ME !
The Illuminator sounds brighter and with more middle mid focus. Also much more open in comparison to the Crunch Lab. Also it has an odd high end sizzle that makes me uncomfortable since the rest of the high end is so open. It may sit better in a mix due to the loss of closed off high end fuzziness, but I'm still not too big a fan.
Daggerpaw1 make up your mind
Crunch Lab for everything here, for me
However glad i am that some one does these comparisons, they are relative. Unless you have this side by side immediate comparison, the average person could never tell the difference.
Thank you, very useful for those who are in doubt between them, like me!
Just played a Ernie Ball Majesty. Most impressed with the sound. Had to check out the Illuminator pups. Listening here to the clean, the Illuminator is a bit subdued, but more musical. Very pleasant. Hearing it in the mix, the mids really pop. Might have to pick up a set for my Explorer. Cause ain't no way I can afford a Majesty.
Hell of a job, great comparison. The Illuminator gets my vote. It's much tighter and more percussive than the Crunch Lab. Might have to pick one up and throw it in my Strat...
+J Har I still have my Illuminator in the bridge. It's not going anywhere. If you get one, hope it's a good fit for your guitar and style.
I'm thinking it'll be pretty nice for my preferences. I'm mostly into metal and progressive, and I'm a massive fan of the Evolution. This seems like a bit tighter, more biting version of that with a touch more output. If for some reason it doesn't fit my Strat tone wise, I'll put it in my old RG and it'll be good to go.
+J Har i can tell you right now the spacing will be off it can be fitted and still sound about the same, but this is shit you have 2 know
hmm hard to decide..both sound great..but for me the CL has a bit more articulated punch...so it seems to be more versatile.
both good pickups id prefer crunch lab tho. little more clarity.
Dude, the new age and physics atuff is cool, but.. please do more of these. You're very good at it.
Thanks. I haven't bought new pickups but when I get new gear I'll make another comparison video.
Спасибо за DI! Так мало кто делает.
Crunch Lab may have more mids and body, but the Illuminator is tighter and more focused.
Crunch lab is more open clean and versatile..... Really happy with my cl
Awesome🎸《☆》🍺🍕The CrunchLab seems a bit more to my liking. It definitely looks cool🖖😎☮
Illuminator across the board. Fatter and darker. Really shined in the mix.
Definitely the Crunch Lab
Illuminator seems to be a little more uncompress and sensitive to the playing, specially more open in the lower mids... while the crutch lab tend to cut a little better in the mix in a higain situation, with it's compressed bump in the higher mids while the lows remains deep but under control. The cruch lab is colder, glassy, skinny and narrow in a clean situation, but in a high gain situation it is super focus, less muddy, very precise when you play fast. For a lower gain overdrive or clean I would choose the illuminator for sure.. it's all about compromise. The Best would be to have both in a recording situation. But i can see why J P choose to have the illuminator on stage... it's a little more versatile.
great comparo. honestly need to give details go as they are so close. both pickups are identical on the paper and the difference is minimal but i will give it another detail go.
Please, purty please upload a comparison vid of Liquifire and Illuminator neck!
Though it would've been better if you used a proper amp, I like how you used the same setting except the pickups to compare. Illuminator bridge seems to have more depth while Crunch Lab seems to have more power/presence.
Wow, after reading the comments, I really feel lonely. I preferred the Illuminator in all of the cleans (more shimmer), no preference on the low gain and most of the heavier things. The Illuminator would stand out much better in a crowded mix.
I agree with you on the Illuminator being better in a crowded mix. Evo 2 and Illuminator are my top 2 choices for rhythms.
Wow, great comparison video!! They both sound beautiful.. i want the D Sonic which i believe is very similar to the Crunch Lab.
Have you ever try the X2N??? I'm so curious cause i want to change my bridge pickups... would you do some review of them (neck and bridge X2N)??? Thanx
Very good comparison. Illuminator wins for me.
Illuminator stands out more, but I would boost the highs a bit more post in the effects chain to remedy this problem
Wow, really impressed with the Illuminator here. This is is standard E tuning?
Everything was in C# standard, except the very final strings example which was B standard, and this on a 25.5 scale guitar. Btw, 11-52 in B standard doesn't keep tuning too well (pitch wanders when picked) so I had to run a sine wave at 247 Hz to tune to by ear, works better than a tuner meter.
TomMontalk that sine wave idea to tune dropped-low strings is actually amazing. thanks man
Andrei x No problem, glad it helps!
Outstanding demo ! Thank you very much :)
The illuminator has less focused and less present bass/mid-bass attack than the crunch lab who seem to be a little 'less bright on mid-high, but the disadvantage is less than the benefit which has than the Illuminator.
can you illuminator vs sonic ecstasy?
been looking at those music man majesties
Very good comparison n clarity.
Which one is better for a basswood guitar?
My amp is having bit trebly,so which one you recommend?
Thank you for answering.
Guitar woods don't matter much as far as electric guitars go
Great job.Illuminator.
Excellent comparison! Just wanted to ask something. Do you think one could use these pickups with a full mahogany body guitar? You wrote you had mahogany wings and I don't know if that makes a difference. Read different things about crunch lab on a mahogany body being bad and I want to buy either crunch lab or illuminator. Do you think they both can be used in a full mahogany body without any problems? Thank you and sorry for the long question :D
All-mahogany tends to be thicker and darker sounding. For that, definitely would choose the Illuminator over the Crunch Lab since the latter has more low mid and bass that could make it a bit boomy and muddy. The Illuminator would balance things out better. Two others I think could work in mahogany would be the Evo 2 and Duncan Custom.
Thank you for the answer, definitely will look into them as well. :D
@@TomMontalk what you say crashes with the fact that on 2020 sterling Majesty which are 100% mahogany with ebony fretboard they're mounting crunchlab / liquifire combo instead of illuminators. So do you think there is another reason why they opted for that solution? I own a sterling Majesty 6 string 2018 which is 100% mahogany as well with rosewood fingerboard and I have to choose if replace stock pickups with CL/LF or illuminators. Which one would you suggest to me? Thank you in advance. Andrea
The CL has a fine, more balanced natural clean sound. The Illuminator sounds a little bit thinner to me.
Agreed, for cleans the CL is superior. I really enjoyed the cleans on it. One reason is that the solid bar faces the neck, and thus the signal focus is further away from the bridge and slightly more toward a neck sound. But on high gain, that very same trait makes for mushy low end distortion and more fizz on top; some people like that sound but I needed an articulate chunky well defined tone and amps / sims need the mids for that. Though to be honest I could have used an EQ plugin to correct it, but I don't have an EQ pedal so practicing/jamming with a real rig needed the pickup change.
imo the illuminator sounds a little bit nasal, something around the 600-800hz is peaking, for me the crunch lab is the best of this 2.
About to install the illuminator bridge pickup on my JP6. The crunch lab is a good pickup, but too bright for my pedals.
@@somebody2409 Don't know what people have in their ears man..
I love crunch lab tone
crunch lab !!!!!!!!
Illuminator sounds beast!
I wish they had a 7 bass 6 mid 5 treble at 420 output. No big low mids...
Illuminator sounds warmer and rounder to me. Btw what amp are you using cause the cleans sound close to Tremonti's tone?
I was using an amp sim for this, the LE456 by LePou Plugins. It's free. That went into Valhalla Room reverb. But also I was using a .60mm tortex pick which is half the tone right there especially on cleans.
The Illuminator sounds a bit thin and trebly compared to the CL. It's almost like a CL installed with the bar facing the bridge. But the Illuminator sounds better in the mix. It almost sounds like the drums and bass made the pickup grow some balls.
hey man. thanks for the video. i liked the distortion a lot.
BUt... what are the real differences between these two pickups? with distortion, for high gain stuff.
Thanks in advance
JP
WithFullDistortion Practically speaking, the Crunch Lab is slight bit more scooped, so more bass, less mids, and more highs. When you run this into a hi-gain amp, what you get is a bit more low end woof which borders on flabbiness or sponginess, a smoother mid range crunch, and hairier/fizzier highs.
The Illuminator goes the opposite way -- it has less lows, so in hi-gain it sounds even tighter. It has more mids, so through the amp there is a more aggressive and defined mid-range crunch. And it has less highs, so the top end isn't as hairy/fizzy.
But you see, this all depends on your particular guitar and amp. If my guitar were lacking bottom end, too dull on top, and too middy, then I would use the Crunch Lab to even that out. If I were playing cleans with the bridge, I would use the Crunch Lab for sure.
Overall the Crunch Lab is more versatile. But for me, I want my bridge to be optimized for high gain distortion only, since I'm using the neck for cleans. And so to reduce fizz, tighten the lows, and have more aggressive mids I prefer the Illuminator in my guitar.
The differences between the two aren't as drastic as my description is making it sound.You can hear in the video the sonic differences, which are slight. Also, if I felt inclined, I could have kept the Crunch Lab and just put an EQ plugin before the amp sim and compensated for any felt imbalances. The reason I keep the Illuminator is because it's one less thing to do, and I don't have a physical EQ pedal so when I'm just practicing through my real amp the Illuminator is already where I need it to be.
TomMontalk Hey Man. thank you for taking the time to answer me. I have two distinctive guitars, well, 3, out of 10. ahahahah
One jackson dxmg that has the classic maple neck, bolt on, rosewood fretboard, compound radius and 25,5 scale length, and i have also the same guitar, but i got a custom mahogany 2 piece body for it.
I want a tight and deep bass and mid bass, crunchy and grinding Mids. HOt and singing leads. and a OK clean sound. for the bridge position. ah, and also articulation under high gain and for the basswood jackson, it needs to dark/tame the guitars excess of brightness.
i have a peavey 5150 III 50w head. and a custom 2x12 with 2 wgs liberator speakers. 80 w each one. .
the third guitar is also a basswood body ibanez rg550 but the fretboard and neck are a 1 piece bolt on neck/fretboard made of maple. so even more brighter
im boycotting seymour duncan, so im looking at dimarzio and emgs now. I wrote dimarzio and they replied me with the TITAN bridge, that was already in my list, and he also suggested the illuminator. from the petrucci demo, i wasnt impressed at all.
so thats why i asked.
when you here it, and you perceive the differences, its GOOD. but when the differences can only PHYSICALLY be felt or heard, then you need to also play the pickup. thats also why i asked you about the differences.
Thank you very much once again
JP
I wonder how many people are just passing by watching a video about guitar pickups, completely unaware of the deep esoteric truths presented on this channel.
Crunch Lab seemed juicer and brighter for all....until it got to the mix. And the only parts of it you could actually hear well enough were vastly inferior to the Illuminator. A grown up pickup, if you ask me.
To me the Illuminator has more focus on low mids. In the mix with distortion it sounds alot thicker and less fuzzy than CL. Listen to DT's new album where the fat tone of Illuminator is quiet prominent. But still, which one is better is still a personal preference thing.
Agreed, the Crunch Lab sounds fuzzy because it has more lows. In a mix, the lows get lost due to the bass and drums, but the fuzz effect remains audible. Long time ago I tried the Breed pickup in the bridge, and took it out an hour later because it was so bassy that it seriously fuzzed up my distortion. I'm keeping the Illuminator for now.
Have you noticed any difference in the level of noise between these two pickups?
Sweet dude. I have all of that accept photoshop. Where did you get he pics? Subbing
I just did a google image search for hi-res pics of the crunch lab and illuminator. I made a new 1280x720 @72dpi blank file in Photoshop, used gradient tool to make a subtle background, imported the pickup pics, used the magic wand tool to select and delete the white background from the pics, resized and positioned the pickups, and added text.
Excellent, thanks for sharing
Crunchlab yess
What a great comparison! \w/
Illuminator sounds like.. it attracts my attention because it sounds more serious or something, but it is like it deletes high frecquencies or something and makes everything sound just "homegeneous", so it feels like it limits the sound, so you dont make your attacks with your pick on the string make a riff uneven.
honestly I dont know, if I put crunch lab to my korean gargabe generic pickups, would I say WOW!! What a change!! ??? or probably I wouldnt even notice an improved quality that much? I am not sure, I was told that if I just wanted to make a standard change and notice quality, the most standard thing is seymour duncan jb (for neck) y 59 (for bridge).
Depends on what kind of music you play. JB neck and 59 bridge seems like a good combo for blues, alternative, country, and classic rock. The Crunch Lab would be more versatile for various styles as it sounds pretty good on clean and mild distortion. The Illuminator is better for heavy distortion as the tighter bass and rounder highs on it will make for a more mid-focused sound which a lot of high distortion amps respond well to. Too much treble from a pickup will sound fizzy and hairy through distortion, and too much bass will sound spongey and flabby, hence Illuminator in my opinion is better for the heavy stuff. But anything non-metal, I think the Crunch Lab would do better. If someone gave me a garbage guitar with crappy pickups, for metal my safest pick for bridge is the DiMarzio Evo 2, maybe a 59 for the neck.
@@TomMontalk I dont play metal, actually I am not quite a big player, I only grab my guitar sometimes, now I am playing some songs like winds of change, some cranberries songs, alanis morissette, and I am playing with some presets in my gt10. I mostly like clean sounds though I must say that my gt10 and my fender amp dont get along quite well, I dont know why it just doesnt sound quite good and needs a lot of work to get something sound quite good.. I think I entered the input of the gt10 and left it to 0 or -5, some people leave it at -10 and that works.
So anyway probably the best solution is leaving the crappy pickups.. somebody else said that it is better to get a keyboard amp or any amp that is for digital sound.. it will never work with a guitar amp.. and somebody said that gt100 is better than gt10 because it has more compatibility with guitar amps..
@@capsuleboy You can plug the phones output from the GT-10 into a good pair of computer speakers. Should be similar to playing it through a keyboard amp. The GT-10 should work with guitar amp though, if you're strictly using it as an FX pedal like distortion or overdrive. Sometimes it works to play a distortion or overdrive pedal into the crunch channel of an amp instead of the clean. Your best bet overall, though, would be switching to a better amp that has really good sounds built-in.
Tough choice...they both sound very similar. Do they both give out the same amount of gain?
They're both rated 410mV output, and volume wise they did sound about equal. However since the Crunch Lab devotes a portion of that to lows the Illuminator doesn't have, the Illuminator therefore has more slightly gain in the mids. If there is a difference in mV output, I think a single turn of the pickup screw can make up for it.
great video !! very well-done. Illuminator is great for metal, no as tight as an active pickup but still good!!
The riff @1:39-1:55, it sounds amazing. Can you direct me to where you got it? I'd love to learn it.
I'm not a blues or classic rock guy, but wanted to demonstrate something of that style. So I made that up right before recording it. Here is the guitar tab for it: lunahelia.com/LunaBox/youtube_riff.pdf -- it uses hammer-ons, slides, and a couple kinds of mutes. Comments in red explain what I mean.
TomMontalk excellent! Thanks so much. I would love it if you could do a little tutorial at some point to show it if it`s not too much trouble.
My impression is that both work well enough for John Petrucci in dream theater's context but as all around pickups they are not versatile and leave a lot to be desired.
Crunchlab good for distortion .... I use it
I like this video your compare it with very details
Hey man. How did you make this video? What program? Thanks!
The audio I recorded and edited in Logic Pro X. Then I made the images in Photoshop, and imported all that into Final Cut Pro X and matched the image sequence and timing to the audio. That's all for Mac.
The Illuminator is so much clearer with high gain settings :o
Were either or both of these going through a buffer circuit in the guitar like the ones on the newer EBMM models?
No, neither were. All passive...
When are you going to make more videos on the fringe stuff?
Later this year maybe. I'm working on revising / updating / writing new articles on my website. Those three fringe videos took six months to put together for 15 minutes of content. I could have written several articles or a book in that same time frame. So now I gotta catch up on the website content, then swing back to videos. Those three fringe vids were the foundation though, complete in themselves. Anything that comes after this would just be bonus material honing in on more specific points or be like an appendix. So I will make more, just have to prioritize what I do right now.
TomMontalk
Thanks for responding! Yeah I understand what you mean. I'll be subscribed and await the day you finally get to upload lol. Anyways good luck with the website and everything, Ill check the new stuff you post there too! I find this stuff to be fascinating!
Para que parte son para la pastilla del puente o la pastilla cerca del trémolo