Pickup help in basswood!!

[ESPKH 8181]

hey guys, i think i defintiely need a pickup change (im lookin for humbuckers), but im havin some trouble with a decision.

heres the thing, i am *pretty* sure my ESP m-252 is made of basswood. ESP changed their wood production this year, and this guitar is older (and discontinued) they dont even make the 252 series anymore i dont think. Anyway, becuase this guitar is older, im pretty sure it is not agathis, and i believe its the wood used before the change, which is basswood.

so the stock pickups on the m252 are duncan designed hb-102?? i think. its been a while since i checked...whatever. they are crap, they give a high squeely feeback, they are noisy, weak, not enough balls. etc. whats a good suggestion for a very heavy, suitable for metal pickup. i hear great things about EMGs but they are more appropiate for heavy woods like mahog. what type of wood is basswood similar to and what are some good pickups for it?

thanks alot for the help guys.

p.s. also if anyone else has conformation on my guitars wood that would be great, but im 85% sure its basswood.

[Rowan]

Re: Pickup help in basswood!!

Well seems we're in the same boat my friend. I have an ESP m255 and I also "think" its basswood

As for pickups I put a 59b into mine when I first bought it from a friend. The 59 had some great tones but depending on your setup, might have too much bass. When played thru a distortion pedal full of highs it balanced out somewhat nicely and could actually sound pretty brutal. But for most setups I found it to have way too much bass and was always having to keep the bass setting on the amp at 3 or so. I actually just bought a JB yesterday and am going to have it installed tomorrow so I'll let you know it sounds in the basswood.


-Rowan

[GuitarGuy503]

Re: Pickup help in basswood!!

I hear that the Duncan Distortion is the answer for metal. The Custom has also proven to be worthy of metal. Keep in mind that Seymour Duncan has a 21 day exchange policy where If you have a pickup installed in your guitar and decide that you don't like it for any reason, they allow you to ship it back to them and exchange it for a different pickup. Id give the Duncan Distortion or the Custom a try. Perhaps even the JB, however, I think the Distortion or Custom would be more of what you are looking for in a metal pickup. Hopefully this helps goodluck on the pickup search.

[Neeradj]

Re: Pickup help in basswood!!

Who ever said EMG pick ups sound best in Mahogany is totally wrong! I've had an EMG81 in my Gibson for a year, and I've heard it in an Alder bodied and even a Maple bodied guitar several times, it always sounded the same! That's my main complaint about this pick up too!

Anyway, although basswood normally doesn't have too much character, I'd still tell you to try passive pick ups. The most brutal heavy metal pick up seems to be the DiMarzio X2N, this thing is fat and some say it has gain of it's own and when played it'll boost your amp's gain. I know a lot of ENGL Powerball users who couldn't be happier with it. If you want to go with a more singing high output pick up get the Duncan Distortion or Custom. The Distortion is Trash Metal heaven, very transparent to harmonics with nice picking attack. The Custom has less output, but sounds incredibly agressive, I personally think this will be your best choice. It sounds fatter than the Distortion, with pretty much the same harmonics, and singing leads

[ESPKH 8181]

Re: Pickup help in basswood!!

thanks lot for the help guys. the 21 day exchange policy is very reassuring. ill look into some of the suggestions.