Pickup recommendations (Please!)

[Carl Mustaine]

Hi everyone.

I bought a jackson ps-4 this month. I have just had it set up and it now plays really well.

However, the stock jackson pickup sounds very muddy - no bass punch and very trebly. I like a guitar pickup to sound well balanced, but obviously leaning towards use for Rock/Metal.


My favourite pickup is the Duncan Pearly Gates. Very natural sounding pickup - it needs a good sounding guitar though. You simply have a great tone to start processing with! However these are selling for more than I paid for the guitar!

I would be interested to hear what pickups everyone is using, and their thoughts.

Any advice appreciated (as usual!)

Carl

[DonP]

I have many guitars, and prefer to have different pickups in each. I don't like having all of my guitars sounding the same.

That said, I don't have a PS-4 and I don't have a Pearly Gates

You should be able to score a used Pearly Gates for around $50 shipped, so you paid less than this for your guitar?

[Spivonious]

I'd have to say that right now my favorites are the JB and the Distortion. The JB has great clarity if it's not in a bassy guitar, and the Distortion has lots of punch which makes it good for leads.

[Jacksonguy666]

Two emg 85s! I will stand by that until I die!

[sully]

here's a few custom sound clips for ya:

custom in an alder bodied/maple neck + ebony board, dropped D:

http://www.sullyville.net/music/custom_demo.mp3

custom in an alder/maple topped body/rosewood fretboard with the volume rolled off, with a jcm800 tone:

http://www.sullyville.net/music/regrets.mp3

custom in a alder/maple topped body/rosewood fretboard:
http://www.sullyville.net/music/shockme_cut.mp3

custom in an alder bodied/ebony fretboard:

http://www.sullyville.net/music/BATM.mp3

The custom will get you JB styled stuff, but with a fuller tone, better harmonics, a bit more output, and a lot more clarity.

sully

[Newc]

Custom 5 or Custom Custom.

[MartinBarre]

I already told you about the BLUSA500XL, but I also love the Duncan Distortion and JB. You can get either of those cheap enough on ebay UK, compared to something like the PG.

[VitaminG]

mmmmm Custom!

Although I am liking the JB at the moment. Either I got a good one, or it's just working in this guitar. Didn't like it in basswood but do in alder. Whatever. The right one in the right guitar is goood

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

JB's are great in the right guitar.

+1 on the used Duncan from Ebay. Lots of people have a few old pickups laying around (I know I have at least 6 or 8 pickups in a box somewhere) and some of them sell them on Ebay, for like $40 - $50, sometimes even cheaper if they're common (like JB's, which are... Common.)