What PUPs are you loving?

[MartinBarre]

Really? That's interesting. I thought it had the same exact specs as the regular.

Nope, he's right, they're slightly hotter. Not sure why, but I believe they were based on the pickups he had in that old Derringer or whatever that LP copy he used on Appetite was. For some reason those were hotter than the stock A2Pros. FWIW I had some A2Ps and thought they nailed that Slash tone. No reason to blow extra cash on the Slash ones if you can find regular A2Ps IMO.

[MartinBarre]

I have never played a Blackstar but I thought they were pretty high gain?

I had a Blackstar HT20 and was never happy with the gain. Hottest it went without a pedal was about AC/DC kinda tones, even using pickups like EMGs or Duncan Distortions. It didn't last long, especially since all their stuff has a bad rep for reliability.

[metalhobo]

1. Original vintage Dean DiMarzio Super Distortions(they are different)

1. Seymour Duncan JB, the worlds most overated piece of shit pickup. Lifeless, inconsistent, and horribly balanced. The JB's made over the past 20 years share absolutely nothing in common with the JB's made in the 80's that actually sounded pretty good.

Agree 100%. I've got a super old three conductor SD. I dunno if it's the same one as Dean used to use but the thing is bananas. It's the only bridge pickup I've owned other than the EMG 81 that I can stand behind. This guy I knew also had a '70s LPC with an equally old JB in the bridge position that was equally bananas.

[toejam]

Nope, he's right, they're slightly hotter. Not sure why, but I believe they were based on the pickups he had in that old Derringer or whatever that LP copy he used on Appetite was. For some reason those were hotter than the stock A2Pros. FWIW I had some A2Ps and thought they nailed that Slash tone. No reason to blow extra cash on the Slash ones if you can find regular A2Ps IMO.

Cool. I never really checked into the Slash models, just figured they'd be the same. I liked the neck pup I had, never tried one in the bridge. I've never even considered an A2P in the bridge, but I do enjoy the '59 set in my Morton Dominion.

[jgcable]

My favorite humbucker for about 6 years now is the Gibson 500T. My favorite single coil sized humbucker is the Screamin Demon and the Dimarzio HS3 and for true single coil the 1/4 pounder.
My favorite pickup if I had to only chose 1 is the Gibson P90.
For metal... the 500T or the Bill Lawrence L500
Of course... you really can't go wrong with the EMG 81/85 combo. Its bullet proof.

[MartinBarre]

Cool. I never really checked into the Slash models, just figured they'd be the same. I liked the neck pup I had, never tried one in the bridge. I've never even considered an A2P in the bridge, but I do enjoy the '59 set in my Morton Dominion.

I'd say the A2Pro is a bit thinner than the 59 in the bridge.

[eaeolian]

Wolfetone, for off-the-shelf 6 string pickups (the Timbre Wolf is what I've been using, several friends have Marshallheads, Dr. Vintage and P90s in their Gibsons and they all sound fantastic) and 7 string rewinds.

Also, the Duncan Alnico II neck pickup. Creamy.

[toejam]

I'd say the A2Pro is a bit thinner than the 59 in the bridge.

Well, then I don't think I'll want one of those.

[FunkyApocalypse]

I've had the EMG 81 in 4 different guitars (RR24, Kelly XLR, Soloist Pro, now EC-1000T), and it's a great pickup but not a stellar pickup. I have the Blackouts 2 set in my Agile and those muthafuckas are HOT. It pushes the hell out of my Blackstar, which I like, and which the 81 does not do without the boost on.

When I put it in my old RR3, the Parallel Axis Distortion was incredible and did that thing wonders. I hated the JB tho. So of all the pickups I've tried so far, the best one has been the 81 and and Blackouts. I still have yet to try my Screamin' Demon however, cuz I haven't found an appropriate guitar to put it in.

[nickyboy]

WCR Iron Man.

[metalhobo]

I've had the EMG 81 in 4 different guitars (RR24, Kelly XLR, Soloist Pro, now EC-1000T), and it's a great pickup but not a stellar pickup. I have the Blackouts 2 set in my Agile and those muthafuckas are HOT. It pushes the hell out of my Blackstar, which I like, and which the 81 does not do without the boost on.

When I put it in my old RR3, the Parallel Axis Distortion was incredible and did that thing wonders. I hated the JB tho. So of all the pickups I've tried so far, the best one has been the 81 and and Blackouts. I still have yet to try my Screamin' Demon however, cuz I haven't found an appropriate guitar to put it in.

I dunno about HOT pickups. My vintage Super D, while not as "hot sounding" as my EMG 81, will still make hotter peaks when you slam the strings. It'll regularly overdrive the input of my Rotovibe (damn buffered byapss), which sounds fuggin' terrible. I can't imagine playing anything hotter than that unless you're plugging straight in.

[FunkyApocalypse]

I dunno about HOT pickups. My vintage Super D, while not as "hot sounding" as my EMG 81, will still make hotter peaks when you slam the strings. It'll regularly overdrive the input of my Rotovibe (damn buffered byapss), which sounds fuggin' terrible. I can't imagine playing anything hotter than that unless you're plugging straight in.

For a long time I was straight guitar-to-amp; only a year ago did I add the 805 to my arsenal, as for a long time I didn't find an overdrive pedal that I liked. So I've always liked pickups that pushed the amp, but not to the point of an X2N (or from what I hear; still haven't tried it).

[Snow007]

I've tried tons of pickups and I think they have their own specific uses but if I had to name a few...

JB/Jazz set - My favourite and most versatile set for any style of music. Jazz neck is by far my favourite pickup for anything.
Blackwinter set - I couldn't imagine a more perfect passive set for metal. I've tried almost every high output humbucker from SD and many other brands and this one exceeded all the hype.
Antiquity II Surfer set - I'm not much of a single coil person but I had an idea in my head for the perfect set of single coils and this was it for me.

Honorable mentions to EMG 81/85.

[mantis]

I love the Screaming Demon from George Lynch. It's awesome for what I do.
I also love the combo of a Seymour Duncan JB and a 59. This combo can play any kind of music. I'm a full on Metal 80's guy but my tone is more modern then 80's. I have a very heavy deep tone and 2 of my guitars have JB's in the bridge and they both rip.
I also really like the Hot rail. It's awesome and dark in the neck position with a very fat full tone.

[Anders]

For what I do in our band, the EMG 81-X is absolutely perfect for me. I think the X-series pickups are stellar!