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THE best metal pup/pup config.

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  • #31
    Re: THE best metal pup/pup config.

    Played through a Mesa Rectoverb with almost full gain:-
    Zakk Wylde Les Paul with the ZW active EMGs - high output, drives the amp nicely, but retains definition.
    Flying V with a calibrated set of BareKnuckle Nailbombs - not as high output as the EMGs, but dirty & retaining the V's growl.
    Jackson SL2H with standard Seymour Duncans (JB & 59) - not as high output as the EMGs, but a good, dirty sound, bright & well defined.
    Les Paul with Burstbuckers - good high output, flabby arse, bright top.
    PRS Custom 24 with HFS in bridge position - rounded, more bassy than the others, but high output. Good clean, but from what I've heard the tone when dirty might get lost in a band mix.
    It's horses for courses really, but I quite fancy some BareKnuckle "Miracle Man"s - designed to mimic the Zakk EMG sound, but aren't active. Was going to put some in the V, but was playing through a JCM800 at the time & Tim from Bareknuckle said the V with MMs would be too bright through it. I haven't tried swapping round guitars & pickups at all - different wood + different shape + different bridge (hard tail or whammy - the springs resonate & change the tonal quality too)+ different pickups = different sounds, I'd guess. The EMGs are good, high output, screamers though & I'd think that they'd retain all those characteristics whatever you put them in.
    Wal - Good from far, but far from good

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    • #32
      Re: THE best metal pup/pup config.

      I've found it's really a combination of things of which the pickup is just one of. Amps make a huge difference. The type of guitar make a difference, and what you are trying to play makes a difference.

      That said, for me with a Silver Jubilee Marshall Micro Stack (transistor - the only non-tube amp I own),

      Gibson 490R/498T in a '98 SG Std - perfect for Black Sabbath.
      Gibson Burstbucker 1 and 2 in a Les Paul Historic (not the same as the Burstbucker Pros) - Megadeth
      Gibson P90's in a 1963 SG Special - Metallica
      Screamin Demon in a frankenstrat - Geaorge Lynch, Armored Saint
      DK2 with stock DD pickups - Iron Maiden, Queensryche, Accept

      Now if I plug into my Marshall DSL100, this changes because of the way the amp sounds different.

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      • #33
        Re: THE best metal pup/pup config.

        [ QUOTE ]
        The EMGs are good, high output, screamers

        [/ QUOTE ]
        Actually, they're not high output. They've got a battery to make them that way. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]
        I feel my soul go cold... only the dead are smiling.

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        • #34
          Re: THE best metal pup/pup config.

          The best thing about EMGs are the ultra-tight bottom freqs.

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          • #35
            Re: THE best metal pup/pup config.

            I don't think I saw anybody mention the Tom Anderson H3 pickup.

            One of my favorites....a lot of clarity & cutting for leads with a crushing tight articulate bottom end as well. I use Mesa Mark III & Mark IV heads with the older half back cabs.

            IF you haven't tried one...you should.
            Kahler...Killing guitar values DEAD since 1981.

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            • #36
              Re: THE best metal pup/pup config.

              [ QUOTE ]
              another pickup i like a lot is the gibson tony iommi-recently put one in my flying v to experiment...heavy,dark,powerful,good high end.
              another point,though...some guitars sound better with certain pickups than others.it seems you almost have to match the pickup with that particular guitar...almost like a trial and error kind of a thing...
              ...and a note on emg's...they sound good,but it seems that you loose some of the tonal qualities of the guitar...take three completely different guitars,put the same type emg pickups in them,they will all practically sound the same...at least that is what i have found...

              [/ QUOTE ]

              I have to disagree on the Iommi and still not. Sounds great in regular tuning E-E but sounds really crappy when downtuned B-B. My experience in that area is that if you tune as low as B-B, EMG is the only way to go.

              I also totally agree that pickups sounds different in different guitars. Trial and error is the way...

              I tried EMG's in my -78 Les Paul DeLuxe and it sounded really dark and muddy, not at all like they sound in my RR's. Didn't like it at all. EMG's are affected by wood, fretboard, set neck or bolt on but not as much as passive pickups imo.

              666
              JT

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              • #37
                Re: THE best metal pup/pup config.

                Toejam - Ok, maybe granted that the pups aren't high output in themselves, & the batteries make 'em that way, but the end result is the same for the installation as a whole, eh? [img]/images/graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]
                Wal - Good from far, but far from good

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                • #38
                  Re: THE best metal pup/pup config.

                  [ QUOTE ]
                  [ QUOTE ]
                  The EMGs are good, high output, screamers

                  [/ QUOTE ]
                  Actually, they're not high output. They've got a battery to make them that way. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

                  [/ QUOTE ]

                  What Toey's not tellin' ya is that his opinion is skewed by the fact that he's too cheap to change the battery in his EMG-equipped guitar and therefore hasn't heard a high-output one in quite some time. [img]/images/graemlins/poke.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/poke.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]
                  My future band shall be known as "One Samich Short Of A Picnic"!

                  Comment


                  • #39
                    Re: THE best metal pup/pup config.

                    [ QUOTE ]
                    My experience in that area is that if you tune as low as B-B, EMG is the only way to go.

                    [/ QUOTE ]

                    I beg to differ. I have an '87 Soloist set up B-B, with a Duncan Distortion in the bridge, and it sounds tight and chunky. The JB farted, by the Distortion just screamed. I also have a Model 5 with Joe Barden's, and it also sounds amazing.

                    Comment


                    • #40
                      Re: THE best metal pup/pup config.

                      In bridge JB or Custom or even Invader from Duncan.
                      Also I like Dimarzio's Tone Zone
                      "There is nothing more fearful than imagination without taste" - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

                      "To be stupid, selfish and have good health are three requirements for happiness, though if stupidity is lacking, all is lost" - Gustave Flaubert

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                      • #41
                        Re: THE best metal pup/pup config.

                        [ QUOTE ]
                        Dual Duncan Distortions. [img]/images/graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]

                        I think the JB doesn't work well in basswood Dinky's, I have one in the bridge of my DKMGT and am thinking about swapping it for a Distortion as well.

                        [/ QUOTE ]

                        The JB and the Distortion is pretty much the same thing except the distortion has more, eh well distortion. Right now my problem with the JB in that guitar is that it has too much distortion, the glas is pouring over. It can't hold the tone together, so I'm thinking that pickup wouldn't help much.

                        I also feel that there is no 'chunk' in that guitar it's more like 'Dzzzz' whereas the Kelly is more like 'Drang' [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

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                        • #42
                          Re: THE best metal pup/pup config.

                          [ QUOTE ]
                          [ QUOTE ]
                          [ QUOTE ]
                          The EMGs are good, high output, screamers

                          [/ QUOTE ]
                          Actually, they're not high output. They've got a battery to make them that way. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

                          [/ QUOTE ]

                          What Toey's not tellin' ya is that his opinion is skewed by the fact that he's too cheap to change the battery in his EMG-equipped guitar and therefore hasn't heard a high-output one in quite some time. [img]/images/graemlins/poke.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/poke.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

                          [/ QUOTE ]
                          Shhh, don't give away my secret for playing fuzzy stoner rock! [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]
                          I feel my soul go cold... only the dead are smiling.

                          Comment


                          • #43
                            Re: THE best metal pup/pup config.

                            I really like my tone zone and the steve's special (really different pickups, but both work well for metal)

                            for the EMG's, I really hate them, unlike others. I have a couple of 85's and they only suit me for clean sounds. I ripped them out last week.

                            Harrald

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                            • #44
                              Re: THE best metal pup/pup config.

                              For me the best pickup for metal is the EMG85, the damn thing is devastating

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                              • #45
                                Re: THE best metal pup/pup config.

                                I like EMG 81 & 85 for metal. Killer combo.

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