Everything you need to know before purchasing aftermarket guitar pickups

After having spoken to hundreds of customers about their confusions of guitar pickups, I've compiled most of their questions into a slightly-less-brief-than-intended pickups 101 video to advise anyone even slightly confused about if/which pickups to purchase.

I debunk some widely believed myths, explain what really goes into making a pickup sound the way it does, and give you some back to back comparisons of some of the various factors that form the tone of your pickups. I take on some controversial issues about the economy around pickups and give you my own view on it.

All soundclips are played straight through a Marshall DSL15C. The same riffs played throughout the video so you can compare over the various factors.

A breakdown of the video -
0:05 - Introduction
0:45 - What actually is a pickup?
2:05 - The humbucker
4:17 - Why would you bother changing pickups at all?
5:52 - The inconvenient truth of 'Which pickup is best?'
6:36 - What factors go into the tone shaping of a pickup?
8:54 - Pickup myths
9:02 - Resistance = output?
12:39 - Should I buy my idol's pickups?
13:59 - Should I just stick to a single manufacturer after I've found a pickup I like?
15:34 - Are expensive pickups a false economy?
18:06 - Should I avoid pickups that all have a certain factor if I've not liked pickups with it before?
19:40 - How wire gauge and resistance affects a pickup
22:56 - 9.5k of 42.5 AWG vs 9.5k of 44 AWG comparison
24:21 - How the magnet(s) affect a pickup
27:10 - Magnet comparison
29:41 - How covers and baseplates affect a pickup
30:45 - Humbucker cover comparison
31:33 - Alternative ways to wire a humbucker
33:05 - Series vs split vs parallel
34:33 - The importance of pole spacing
36:37 - A few thoughts on a newbie considering installing pickups
38:50 - A brief summary of the entire video
40:08 - What's coming next time