Guitarist Guild: A Musical Community Beyond Strings

If you by a new or used guitar, do you always make sure it has specific pickups for your needs, or do you always change them for a different make and model?  What do you prefer, and why??

I'm going to revive this by commenting and hope to hear from others because I was about to ask the same thing.

I used to change the pickups in most guitars I bought because they were all cheap pawnshop guitars (quantity over quality).  One of the biggest sound changes you can make on a really cheap guitar is the pickups.   Plus I liked tinkering with them.

It is my understanding that part of buying a more expensive guitar is getting really good pickups already installed as part of the guitar's tone, or the ability to request specific ones.

In the guitars I build, I use good quality pickups that I think compliment the guitar, but I wouldn't be offended if someone asked me to swap them out to their preferential set if they had one.

I've done both. I've swapped out the pickups on two guitars to meet my own specific desires. I've also purchased guitars because of the pickups they had in them. Actually, with the last guitar, I designed it and chose the pickup combination myself. That has easily been the most rewarding option to-date.

I'd say I prefer to buy a guitar for every other reason and then swap the pickups. Experimenting is great fun.

I've done both as well.

I bought a special edition PRS Mira since it was a great guitar, though I hated the pickups. Conversely I bought a Schecter just for the EMGs.

Great pickups make a big difference in the overall quality of sound. They can bring lower end guitars up a few notches, while having a bad set can really limit an otherwise amazing guitar.