Help with pickups.

[Soloist-USA]

I need your guy's help. I know a lot of you have Duncan SH-4s in your axes. Do you truly like them?

What I'm looking for is a tone like "old" Holdsworth when he was with Bill Bruford. Very deep, extremely harmonic (almost dark) Or, I could go the opposite direction with a biting, scooped "Randy"-type tone (but I know he used an MXR 10-band eq, so - since nobody knows what his settings were).
i'm thinking maybe JB PAF?

This is for a "Franken-Strat" thing that's been in the making since '95, so I'm willing to wait.

Clueless in PA

[Soloist-USA]

I think Randy's Sandoval and Jackson V, had original PAFs that were canabalized from older guitars. I don't have the cake for a real PAF.

[Hellbat]

http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/faq/frequently-asked/artists-and-the/do_you_still_ma/

Nope, while a JB is a great baseline pickup the SH-5 Custom is my current favorite. Paf style sound but hotter. Or you could drop the extra cake and get the actual Holdsworth pickup.

[Soloist-USA]

Nah, I think your recommendation works. SH-5. I was looking for a dark sound like mid-'70s Holdsworth. I don't like anyting after "Metal Fatigue" '88? (after "Road Games"). It's that stupid "Synth Axe" after. (I hated it! .)

My '79 LP has a great super dark sound, but a little too dark. Much like a Cantrell's "Check My Brain" sound. Holdsworth used an SG during the '70s, that's why I'm looking for a cool PAF RI. or anything you guys say is top-notch.

[Soloist-USA]

Anyone want an EMG -HZ4? It's brand new. I just hate Ebay for guitars and guitar parts and you guys know why.

[Nightbat]

Dark sound?
SD Custom Custom, Super3
DiM Tone Zone(?)

Randy
SD Distortion

[Soloist-USA]

Dark sound?
SD Custom Custom, Super3
DiM Tone Zone(?)

Randy
SD Distortion

That's it !!! I heard really good things about the SD. But now I want an SH-5 and an SD. But I heard Seymour wound some (over-wound PAFs) called the same name as Gibbon's '59 (Pearly Gates). Love to check them out.

P/Us are such a hassle, 'cause you can't try them out at the shop. At least not in my past circumstances. You realize p/us are a lot like tires, you gotta ride them on your own vessel.

[charvel750]

Carvin makes a Holdsworth endorsed pickup, not sure if it replicates his tones from the time you're referring to. But a Duncan Custom is killer, the JB is too. Depends on the guitar, really.

[Hellbat]

I have a good relationship with a music store. They will let me return a pickup as long as it has most of the original lead left on it, so when I first throw a new model in I've never tried before I try to install them using the least amount of lead as possible. If I like the pickup and want to keep it, I'll go back in and re-trim the wiring.

The pearly gates is a good pick up but you have to remember it's designed for nailing the ZZ Top tone. While Billy Gibbons is great in his own right I wouldn't compare his tone to Holdsworth's.

[Sephiroth]

They're OK but I am personally stuck on my preference of Dimarzio X2N's in everything

For your project, how about a burstbucker pro with nickel cover to soften it up a bit for that classic sound while still driving through a bit of bite?

[DonP]

I love the JB, but I haven't got a clue what tone you are after. Never heard that stuff.

My BB Pro's have an edge on them. Similar to a JB's edge.

[charvelguy]

That in itself is about as much of a quest as seeking the VH1 tone, which really comes down to how they're actually approaching their playing and execution. Going back to Soft Machine and GO days, here he is using a phaser at times which he sometimes leaves on during his solos much like Ed did. (and a number of others of the day) but really, his sound did not have much gain at all. That was stock PAF style along with the SG's of the day, which typically had this rather more nasal tone and quick neck.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZSSQ1q3HiY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frhOmiyifp0&feature=related

[charvelguy]

Holdsworth was/is a tweaker. He was experimenting and expanding, tailoring his tone to compliment his playing style and voice with the available equipment at the time. Needless to say, this goes beyond just a pickup swap, but its not a bad place to start at all. All these suggestions on pickups are fine. For emulating his tone I think you want a med hot output style of pup but as mentioned in others posts, it depends on the guitar, as well as the amp and what you might use to further shape the signal chain. His tone was evolving from GO to Ponty to UK/Bruford, and I agree, the UK - Bruford era had some great tones. I coveted that tone as well. I somewhat lost interest moreso after Road Games but here he was going forward with a more split chorused sound for his chordal work and tweaking delay to sustain the swells.

If you are seeking the 'essence' of his tone from those days, you might want to consider a Furman PQ-3 as well. I think something like that as well as the amp used and how its dialed - tweaked will have just as much of an influence on the final outcome of achieving his tones from that era. Not to mention, killer chops.