More chug

[Bogner]

Super tight, aggressive with plenty of pick attack, for sure.

OMEGA

I mentioned the others and stand by them 1000% but after reading your quote above I got a compelling urge to re-suggest the Omega for some reason.

[skelt101]

The answer to your question may have a lot to do with the guitar/amp relationship. Does the amp do the "heavy lifting" as far as distortion, or do you drive the amp with the guitar? If the former, you might not want a high output pickup (i.e. "too much of a good thing" where the tone turns to mush), but something like a set of '59s might do the trick. The same philosophy could be applied to eq. It's a balancing act.

[UnderTheFlame83]

You want chug? Look no further than the Nazgul or Black Winter

[CaptainWhizz]

I'll second this! The perpetual burn is a good all-around pickup, usable in any style

What kind of chug are you going for, solspirit? Are you a super tight, aggressive, lots of pick attack, fast trem-picking cha-cha-chugger, or a slower, heavy, brooding, "sshug sshug" kind of chugger?
__PRESENT

Definitely worth thinking about. To me, there’s a difference between chugs that sound like a sledgehammer, and chugs that sound like a chisel shearing off chunks of slate. Which I think basically comes down to the bass EQ. I went with the Custom for the former, and I would start with a JB or Distortion if I was going for the latter.

[Rex_Rocker]

The answer to your question may have a lot to do with the guitar/amp relationship. Does the amp do the "heavy lifting" as far as distortion, or do you drive the amp with the guitar? If the former, you might not want a high output pickup (i.e. "too much of a good thing" where the tone turns to mush), but something like a set of '59s might do the trick. The same philosophy could be applied to eq. It's a balancing act.

I disagree. I have an EVH 5150III which has TONS of gain, and I used to have a Peavey XXX (too much gain as well) on the high-gain channel, and I personally still like how high-output pickups feel and sound.

[Demanic]

Hell, Bill Steer from Carcass uses a set of '59's, and he definitely has some chug going on.

This.

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[skelt101]

I disagree. I have an EVH 5150III which has TONS of gain, and I used to have a Peavey XXX (too much gain as well) on the high-gain channel, and I personally still like how high-output pickups feel and sound.

That's cool. There are no hard 'n' fast rules to tone!

[Clint 55]

[Demanic]

I've got a few guitars, mostly with higher output pickups in them. I would love to try a 59 set in some sort of either LP, Explorer or vintage style V, with a high gain signal chain.

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[Masta' C]

What is Duncan's best humbucker for chugging that still retains clarity and definition?

There really is no "best".

I had a Screamin' Demon in an Ibanez RG that was on the brighter side, but chugged for days in that guitar. The Dimebucker is a crunchy beast, just like the L500XL it's modeled after.

The dual-rail El Diablo is percussive and thick at the same time, really great for chunky, tight rhythms with good clarity from top to bottom.

Most of the PATB pickups hold up well to heavy palm mutes under gain.

The newer generation of Duncans (Black Winter, Nazgul, Omega) are pretty much born to chug handsomely. Just gotta figure out which flavor suits your tastebuds

[El Dunco]

How you chug is definitely a factor. I'm going to use one of my band's songs as an example here because I know exactly what I did, what I used and I'm pretty sure you've heard this one. These are EMTY Blackouts, straight into a split between JVM and Dual Rec (mostly JVM) No boosts/overdrives

I have the guitar only stems if you want a closer listen to what I'm about to mention.

The main riff at 00:17 and throughout I tilted the pick slightly perpendicular to the strings and raked it hard, slowly against the strings for a "scrunchier" chug (you can even hear me loosen up gradually on each of those opening guitar jabs). Then at 1:00, the dirty version of the clean riff has incredible definition even with such an atonal riff. But listen to when I go into standard issue metal gallops at 2:11, it's plenty tight and the trem picked stuff before that doesn't run together.

That's a lot of timbre differences through the same guitar, pickups and amps. I'm probably not telling you much of what you don't already know but I don't think there's a pickup out there you can't get to do what you want. I would suggest ceramic mag for more clean tightness, a5 for more attitude. I haven't messed with A8s or Ceramic 8s yet but I hear great things about them. What are you running through these days?

[solspirit]

How you chug is definitely a factor. I'm going to use one of my band's songs as an example here because I know exactly what I did, what I used and I'm pretty sure you've heard this one. These are EMTY Blackouts, straight into a split between JVM and Dual Rec (mostly JVM) No boosts/overdrives

I have the guitar only stems if you want a closer listen to what I'm about to mention.

The main riff at 00:17 and throughout I tilted the pick slightly perpendicular to the strings and raked it hard, slowly against the strings for a "scrunchier" chug (you can even hear me loosen up gradually on each of those opening guitar jabs). Then at 1:00, the dirty version of the clean riff has incredible definition even with such an atonal riff. But listen to when I go into standard issue metal gallops at 2:11, it's plenty tight and the trem picked stuff before that doesn't run together.

That's a lot of timbre differences through the same guitar, pickups and amps. I'm probably not telling you much of what you don't already know but I don't think there's a pickup out there you can't get to do what you want. I would suggest ceramic mag for more clean tightness, a5 for more attitude. I haven't messed with A8s or Ceramic 8s yet but I hear great things about them. What are you running through these days?

Thanks Beer$, I'm going to listen in a little while, I'm sure I've heard it but I don't know what you did where, dissected like is great.

[El Dunco]

Thanks Beer$, I'm going to listen in a little while, I'm sure I've heard it but I don't know what you did where, dissected like is great.

You're welcome. I'm not suggesting at all that pickup choices don't make a difference as different pickups will all give different permutations of the "chug," but I felt it was important to demonstrate just how much of a difference you can make just by how you play and the importance of matching your hands to the strings, then the pickup to the guitar. I'm sure all of us have guitars that have had many, many pickup swaps before we found the right set that vibed.

The guitar I used in that song originally had EMG 707s and the first song I recorded with it, the sound wasn't there and I ran into the problem of brittle treble and hollow mids on a song which was based around a single note riff that has to be very big and full sounding. The EMTY Blackouts immediately gave me that juicy, searing sound I wanted. I had everything else in order, literally swapped the pickups out and recorded the song immediately and there it was. Nothing else was changed, the entire recording chain was exactly as I left it for all the other songs. That's why I reached for it again for the song above because it can do so much more with nothing more than a great amp, great speakers, great space and great mics.

With that in mind, how we can settle this is the question, what do you want that you're not getting from your current pickups in that guitar? Apologies if that's a redundant question.

[solspirit]

You're welcome. I'm not suggesting at all that pickup choices don't make a difference as different pickups will all give different permutations of the "chug," but I felt it was important to demonstrate just how much of a difference you can make just by how you play and the importance of matching your hands to the strings, then the pickup to the guitar. I'm sure all of us have guitars that have had many, many pickup swaps before we found the right set that vibed.

The guitar I used in that song originally had EMG 707s and the first song I recorded with it, the sound wasn't there and I ran into the problem of brittle treble and hollow mids on a song which was based around a single note riff that has to be very big and full sounding. The EMTY Blackouts immediately gave me that juicy, searing sound I wanted. I had everything else in order, literally swapped the pickups out and recorded the song immediately and there it was. Nothing else was changed, the entire recording chain was exactly as I left it for all the other songs. That's why I reached for it again for the song above because it can do so much more with nothing more than a great amp, great speakers, great space and great mics.

With that in mind, how we can settle this is the question, what do you want that you're not getting from your current pickups in that guitar? Apologies if that's a redundant question.

I'm looking for a dark and ominous, percussive, biting attack, that still retains clarity. Does this make sense? I have a real hard time describing sounds.

[El Dunco]

I'm looking for a dark and ominous, percussive, biting attack, that still retains clarity. Does this make sense? I have a real hard time describing sounds.

Makes sense to me. How I would decide based on that, is to go by which of those criteria the pickup you currently have isn't doing. Is it too bright or is it too muddy? Is it heavy sounding but just not clear enough? Is it almost there but too soft and not percussive enough? That kind of thing. It's like an equation. The specs of the current pickup, factor in what you do like about it, minus what you don't like about it equals the most likely candidate you should drop in there instead.