Love my Jackson King V but HATE the pickups please help?

[RickD67]

OK so I have a gloss black King V KVXT w/the EMG H4 passive pickups and I never play this guitar because I cant stand the pickups. I have a couple of other guitars my favorite being a gibson SG with classic 57 pickups and another guitar I really like has P90's. So I have tried active EMG's in other guitars and I don't like those either, so what are my options here? Just not an EMG guy I guess. I play blues, rock and some old school metal. Mostly hard rock I guess. SO how do I figure out what other humbuckers will fit this guitars string spacing and any pickup suggestions?

[Nightbat]

Duncan Custom
Dimarzio Super Distortion
These would be my first picks to go from, JB is another but that's not on my "Like" list
Basic all round p'ups that can go a lot of ways

[Number Of The Priest]

Because the bridge on your KVXT is a tunomatic bridge, it should have "standard" spacing. So for an aftermarket pickup brand like Seymour Duncan, you should look for their standard-spaced pickups, designated by the model names SH-xx. Avoid the ones that are labeled TB-xx because the TB denotes "trembucker" spacing, which is a bit wider and meant for guitars that have tremolo bridges. For a brand like DiMarzio, look for standard-spaced and avoid "F-spaced" which denotes "Fender" spacing (again, for a typical tremolo-equipped guitar like a Fender). You only need a trem-spaced pickup for the bridge position, and can use a standard-spaced pickup for the neck position.

That isn't to say that a trem-spaced pickup won't work in a guitar with a standard-spaced bridge (and vice versa). It looks odd to some people to not have the pickup polepieces aligned underneath all the strings but shouldn't affect the functionality.

[RickD67]

Because the bridge on your KVXT is a tunomatic bridge, it should have "standard" spacing. So for an aftermarket pickup brand like Seymour Duncan, you should look for their standard-spaced pickups, designated by the model names SH-xx. Avoid the ones that are labeled TB-xx because the TB denotes "trembucker" spacing, which is a bit wider and meant for guitars that have tremolo bridges. For a brand like DiMarzio, look for standard-spaced and avoid "F-spaced" which denotes "Fender" spacing (again, for a typical tremolo-equipped guitar like a Fender). You only need a trem-spaced pickup for the bridge position, and can use a standard-spaced pickup for the neck position.

That isn't to say that a trem-spaced pickup won't work in a guitar with a standard-spaced bridge (and vice versa). It looks odd to some people to not have the pickup polepieces aligned underneath all the strings but shouldn't affect the functionality.

OK I just measured the string spacing at the bridge and it is a hair over 2" which is identical to the spacing on my Fender. I think this guitar is F spaced? The strings on my gibson are less than 2" at the bridge

[Number Of The Priest]

Oh! It's quite possible Jackson uses a wider tunomatic bridge. No idea since I don't own any. According to the diagram below, "a hair over 2 inches" would be trem-spaced.

When in doubt, get a trem-spaced version. It will fit in the cavity, even if your strings are standard-spaced. At least you know the magnetic field will cover string spacing (and then some, if you have standard-spaced strings).

[toejam]

Jackson's TOM bridge is indeed F-spaced. I believe the newer Gibson Nashville TOMs are also F-spaced.

[Number Of The Priest]

Are there any standard-spaced Jacksons/Charvels? The J90C bridge humbucker on my Model 1 is standard-spaced so the aesthetics are misaligned. Silly of J/C not to make their in-house pickups trem-spaced.

[toejam]

I thought all the old-school Jacksons/Charvels were standard spacing in both pickups and bridges, from what I remember. My '94 Dinky HX had the original thinner JT370 TOM bridge, but I did eventually swap it for a newer one that came off a Kevin Bond Rhoads. Can't remember if the old bridge was standard or not.

When I took the JB out of my old RR1T, it was a trem-spaced/F-spaced model, and the Parallel Axis Trembucker (PATB-2) that I replaced it with lined up the string perfectly between the poles.
IMG_0137[1].jpg

[Newc]

It's not so much the width of the bridge that has changed as it is the angle. Gibson bridges used to be angled more, but some years ago they changed it, so much that trem-spaced pickups actually line up. These days you'd actually have to hunt around to find a guitar with a TOM that was "standard" spaced.


And the H4 isn't active. It's part of the passive HZ line. Since you stated a preference for more PAF-toned pickups, you might get some joy out of a pair of EMG HZ-3 pickups. They will just pop right in thanks to the quick-connect system. I'd also suggest adding an EMG Afterburner/Turbocharger boost-on-a-knob thingy (whichever one it goes by these days) as I've found that really helps the HZ-3s, especially when it's just barely kicked in. Full-on is a mess, but just at the point where you can detect it is great IMO.

[Number Of The Priest]

And the H4 isn't active. It's part of the passive HZ line.

OP knows the HZs are passive:

OK so I have a gloss black King V KVXT w/the EMG H4 passive pickups

[Metal Spawn]

Can't go wrong with a DiMarzio Tone Zone in a basswood bodied axe, IMO... I've got TZ's in my Yamaha RGX and WRXT and they're muy excellente!

[ecsong187]

I put the EMG HET set in my King V

[MartinBarre]

The EMG-HZ's are shit. I can't remember if they have the quick connectors or not, but if they do, you could try REAL EMGs, which are great.
Or, do as I did in my King V, and put in a DMZ Super Distortion and a Duncan 59 neck.

As for whether to get F spaced or not - Dave Murray and Adrian Smith originally used standard spaced pickups in their guitars even though the poles didn't line up. They didn't have bad tone did they?

[Matt_Krush]

The EMG-HZ's are shit. I can't remember if they have the quick connectors or not, but if they do, you could try REAL EMGs, which are great.
Or, do as I did in my King V, and put in a DMZ Super Distortion and a Duncan 59 neck.

As for whether to get F spaced or not - Dave Murray and Adrian Smith originally used standard spaced pickups in their guitars even though the poles didn't line up. They didn't have bad tone did they?

No they don't, besides, switching to the actives would still require battery and a different volume pot.

Pretty much all modern (last 20 years or so) will use and F-Space in the bridge and standard space in the neck.

There's a million pickups that would work and sound great...
What type of amp are you playing?
Are you in a band?
What tuning are you using?
What frequencies are you trying to accentuate?
What frequencies are you trying to tame down?

One man's favorite pickup can be another's turd.
all depends on the answers to the questions above and how your ears perceive the sound.

[Sunbane]

Get rid of them damn EMGs and go for Duncans or DiMarzios.

I would second the vote for Duncan Custom.
You might like the Duncan JB if you like lots of mids and don't mind mushier bass.

I don't know what pots EMG uses with their passive pickups. If the existing pots have weird values, you might want to replace those as well. With normal passives, you'll generally want to use 500k audio taper for the volume. The value of tone pots may vary, but both 250k and 500k linear are common.