Looking for new Bridge PUP for SL2H

[Chad]

Interesting.

Chad, a typical SL-2H: is that a bright, balanced or dark guitar in your opinion?

Can vary quite a bit. I've played guitars that are all over the place. My SL1T is what I would call balanced. Not a dark instrument and not overly bright either.

[dimobag]

No no no, try Bare Knuckle Pickups: Rebell Yell!!!!!!

[shreddermon]

I've found the Duncan Distortion to be a little shrill and, more importantly, pretty much a one trick pony. It does a good heavy saturated distortion tone, but not much else. Not particularly flexible.

Like Sully, I prefer the Custom. IMHO, it's kind of like taking the best points of the JB and Distortion rolled into one, and leaving out the bad.

I really dig the Dimarzio Mo Joe, too. It's pretty harmonically rich, without going overboard. The EVH Wolfgangs are pretty cool, too. A nice open distorted tone, if that makes sense.

[MartinBarre]

I forgot about the Custom, that's a great shout. Had one in my RR5 and it rocked. I think it's always going to be trial and error because some guitars just have a sound of their own. I've been lucky to find I love the JB, Custom, Super Distortion, Duncan Distortion, BL USA 500XL and X2N in any guitar I've had any of them in. I even have a JB in my JDR-94, and that's tuned to C#, but still sounds tight.
Full Shred and Invader were the only ones that didn't appeal so much.

Have you tried raising your JB on the treble side and lowering on the bass? Sorry if it's a stupid question but it might help.

[xenophobe]

IMO, a Super D is not that bright, but I guess it could be in certain guitars. The Super 2 is pretty bright, and I usually like that one as a neck pup paired up with either an X2N or Super D. I've never tried a Super 3, but it is darker/warmer and supposed to be pretty thick sounding, and it's stock in the Phil Collen PC1.

A Super Distortion isn't that bright, but the mids aren't either... but compared to a JB with bright mids and flubbering lows, it will sound brighter... those mids on the JB really overpowers everything... awesome for soloing, horrible for more extreme music. It's also easier to dial in with a MXR-M108 than a JB. And if you're gonna do lower tunings, the Super Distortion shines, the JB sounds like ass.

I like the SH-5, but lately I've been really digging the D'Activators for normal and drop tunings. Also love EMGs.

Someone brought up harmonics... I assume they're talking about pinch/pluck/tap/whatever as opposed to nuance overtones. All of the pickups I've mentioned squeal so much better and easier than the JB... My ESP Strathead with an EMG 85 or my KV Custom with D'Activators are the easiest for me, leading me to believe that the individual guitar is as important as pickup selection.

[groverj3]

Cheaper solution. Try a 500k tone pot. I actually run my SL2H with no tone pot, and despite what people say about the JB being shrill this was the deciding factor in me sticking with the stock pickups instead of swapping them out. If you find things too bright your amp does have EQ controls, haha. I have a hard time believing that the JB won't get harmonics easily. That's one of its redeeming qualities. I guess I could see the frustration if you're used to actives though. EMGs and Blackouts will always be easier to get harmonics on than a passive, or at least that's been my experience.

If you're dead set against keeping the JB, how about the Duncan Full Shred set? Kind of unorthodox, but I like them. More medium gain, despite their name. Very articulate. The Custom or Distortion would be good choices for Duncans as well. The Distortion neck pickup is an underrated jem IMHO, as well.

For Dimarzio why not give the new Illumintors or the Titan a shot. The Dominion gets good reviews as well as a sort of more PAF-ish slightly higher output humbucker.

[Grim]

Bareknuckle Holy Diver or Nailbomb, I think.

(Maybe Juggernaut. Don't know much about it)

[Chad]

I've never tried Bareknuckle pickups, but have heard lots of good things. But they are PRICEY in the U.S. Thankfully, I'm generally able to find what I need from Seymour Duncan, EMG, or Dimarzio for a lot less money.