Bridge pickup for Jackson SL2H

[guitarjunkie986]

Hey all,

A while back I replaced the stock JB in my Soloist (Maple neck through, Ebony fretboard, Alder body) with a Custom. The JB had an annoying mid-range honk that I couldn't dial out, and lacked clarity, while not being as tight as I would like. I also switched from a Vol/Tone layout to a Vol/Vol with no tone. I like the Custom better than the JB, but it is still not exactly what I'm looking for. The custom is borderline harsh and has a lot of fizz on the top end and lacks clarity. Clean tones with the Custom are not very good either (they are worse than with the JB).

I'm happy with the stock '59 in the neck, so I'd like the replacement bridge pickup to be a good fit with it.

I play primarily metal through a Peavey 6505+. I like the tones of In Flames, Arch Enemy, Chimaira, Gojira, Lamb of God, DevilDriver, etc. I play in C Standard or Drop C, so it will need to be able to maintain clarity at those tunings.

Pickups I'm considering:

1. Black Winter
2. PATB-2b Distortion Parallel Axis Trembucker
3. Full Shred TB-10
4. Distortion TB-6 (I have this pickup in another guitar and love the way it sounds. The other guitar is Maple set Neck/Mahogany Body/Rosewood fretboard though)
5. Invader

[Jeff5]

Re: Bridge pickup for Jackson SL2H

I have an SL2H, albiet mahogany with maple, and I have used the BW and PATB-2. Currently the BW resides in that guitar and it may not come out for awhile. The PATB-2 was a great pick up too though. Both are great for metal which I play a lot of as well.

The PATB-2 is like a combo of the JB/Distortion/Custom. It almost has qualities from all three. Great for lead or rhtyhm. Solos cut, the high end is just enough and has a good singing quality to it. The low end is nice and tight for palm mutes. If I had to give this pick up a quality, I'd say big and round. Not flabby, not undefined, just...big. It is a great pick up and is often overlooked.

The BW is great. I'm absolutely loving this pick up. It's like someone took a JB, jacked up the output a bit, made the low end tighter and backed off a bit on the high mids and high end. Or you could say it is like a Distortion with more low end, less mids and not as much sizzle. It sings, it growls, it cleans up nice, it does low gain, mid gain, high gain, whatever you want. I know they're kind of marketed towards the metal/death metal crowd, but I can't think of a style of rock this pick up can't do.

If I had to compare the two, I'd say the BW has a bit more bite, and is more boxy or square sound in some ways. (Its so hard to describe sound) It is also a bit more versitile imo. The PATB-2 sounds thicker. That's not to say the BW is thin at all though, because it's not. The PATB-2 is just a REALLY thick pick up, yet it still cuts and retains clarity. The BW has more pick attack than the PATB-2.

You really can't got wrong with either.

[jimzucco]

Re: Bridge pickup for Jackson SL2H

I highly recommend the Distortion or if you want something different, try an Invader. Two of my favorites for metal.

Let us know what you choose buddy!

[MkIII Renegade]

Re: Bridge pickup for Jackson SL2H

I have noticed the PATB-2b seems a little more scorching than the standard Distortion, and indeed, it does has slightly different specs (I used to assume they were identical other than the pole pieces) and the novel pole piece design does have slightly different characteristics. The fact that is looks super cool is the icing on the cake. I would definitely choose it going forward for guitars where I think the DD is needed. The Full Shred won't sound quite as thick, but will have slightly more clarity. Haven't tried the BWs yet, but other than them, I'd choose the PATB-2b from this list, although then I might be tempted to get the PATB-1n also to match the looks....

[guitarjunkie986]

Re: Bridge pickup for Jackson SL2H

Went ahead and ordered a Black Winter. I'll be sure to post a review and do some clips once I get it installed. Thanks for the insight.