What pickup are you running in your Dinky?

[coffeeandbonghits]

I was thinking of getting an X2N or some other (bridge) pickup upgrade.

I'm curious what you have used in a Dinky that you liked the most?

I used to have a Made in India Dinky I got off Craigslist for $40 with no bridge; I bought a cheap standard tremolo bridge off of dragonfire guitars for about $16, found an Xn2 for $55 on CL, slapped that puppy in there and honestly I think its my favorite of all the axes I've owned besides maybe the Ibanez CN100 (1978 MIJ). It still would be a close tie with that guitar even!

[DonP]

I just got a MIJ SoCal that came with an X2N and I am really liking it so much so I've been asking others opinions about it. Never thought I'd like the X2N.

FWIW, my X2N is like a mile (1/2") from the strings. There is something F'd up so that when I try to get it closer to the strings it strips and fall back into the body. Even still it sounds really good.

In others I have a JB, JB2, J90C, J80C, etc. No issues getting a good tone.

Lots of people like the Duncan Distortion and Duncan Custom.

[kmanick]

I have a custom Custom in my San dimas dinky. It's really mid heavy so for rock/classic rock and shred it works great.
It's way too loose for a metal pickup though.
I just put a dimarzio AT-1 in my soloist and I have to say , I like it a lot better than the Custom Custom or the custom -5

[DonP]

I guess it depends. I get my best Judas Priest tone with a Custom Custom in a 1980s ESP Horizon. I thought Priest was metal?

[Customguitars87]

I have a custom Custom in my San dimas dinky. It's really mid heavy so for rock/classic rock and shred it works great.
It's way too loose for a metal pickup though.
I just put a dimarzio AT-1 in my soloist and I have to say , I like it a lot better than the Custom Custom or the custom -5

I don't have a Dinky anymore but I have a Dimarzio AT-1 in my 1990 Fusion Professional Pro (similar-ish to the Dinky I suppose) and it's staying in there for life. Just an absolutely perfect pickup with a TON of tonal versatility.

My experience with the X2N has unfortunately not been as good as DonP's was...I tried it in this guitar and it was so harsh and shrill that I ended up pulling it out a few days later for the AT-1.

[catzodellamarina]

I once had an India made Dinky. I installed the EMG KH kit (HSS + electronics). It turned it into a chainsaw, rippin' metal machine. In fact, no matter what I played through, it sounded like I was using a Boss MT-2.

I own a Charvel Fusion as well (similar Dinky size). It has my oldest pickup: SD SH-8 Invader from 1987 or 8. It is great for chugging, palm mutes, and overall thick tone. Sounds really smooth and clear when selector is in the middle - Charvel Single coil and the SH-8.

[xenophobe]

Bridge... generally 85b, Super Distortion, J50BC, SH-5... sort of in that order. They all get good old-school thrash / death metal tones but aren't super high gain, so you would need some sort of imput or fx loop eq boost for a bit more gain. I personally hate the JB, Invader, Custom Custom, XL500, etc... so if you don't like my choices, you might like the ones I hate.

[catzodellamarina]

I did not care for the EMG 81 in my KH set. It was a one trick pony and only good for searing metal. I own an EMG 89 (similar to the 85) from the early 90's and it is my favorite EMG. If I ever bought EMG's again, I would either go with 85 or 89.