Best Pickups for my Schecter

[theodie]

Re: Best Pickups for my Schecter

To me the JB sucks for palm mutes and such in "most" guitars. All I hear from it on the low end is flab and 2 tons of it! Its a good pickup in the right guitar but, I think it might be a potential disaster in this case.

In the neck the PG has more percived brightness to me. If you want to play mostly cleans out of the neck pickup, I would go with a 59. If you like to play with a bit of dirt in the neck position, I would go with the PG.

 

[JohnnyGuitar]

Re: Best Pickups for my Schecter

When I read your post I thought C5 in the bridge... if you want good bridge pickup bluesy and classic rock tones go with a C5...
I used a JB only in an alder body (pretty sure it was alder) and hated it..but some people here really like it and some others really like it in mahgony bodies (never tried it myself).
If you don't like the way the SD designed pickups sound in your guitar- don't go with the same pickup design again... I say +1 for the C5 in the bridge... I don't know if anyone tried it with a Jazz neck, but it might be an interesting combination...

 

[Push to Shuv]

Re: Best Pickups for my Schecter

In mine i have tried the 59, pg, aIIpro, c5, and custom/PG hybrid in the bridge. The hybrid is my favorite by far. 59 and aIIpro sounded plain in this guitar, the pg seemed to lack bottom end, and c5 seemed to lack the clarity i desired. The hybrid seems perfect for me in this guitar. All are great pickups, its all a matter of personal taste.

As for the neck, I like the PG the best. I have a 59/aIIpro hybrid in it now but i havent soldered it up yet so i cant comment on that one.

 

[101011]

Re: Best Pickups for my Schecter

so, what gets a better grundge / modern metal tone, the Custom, the JB, or the Custom 5...

also, which would work best with the coil tap on my guitar?

I think I will go with the 59 over the PG because the PG is a little brighter than I wanted for my guitar, plus it is listed as

For brighter toned instruments. Works especially well with maple and ebony fingerboards. Also works great with hollow and semi-hollow body guitars.

while the 59 says

For balanced and warm instruments. Works especially well with mahogany bodies and rosewood fingerboards.

which is exactly what I have

 

[JohnnyGuitar]

Re: Best Pickups for my Schecter

For your style I agree that A5's are better... although I love A2 humbuckers and they will also work great...

Modern metal and grunge are a wide definition for tone... no such thing as a pickup for both of them, or one of them... Pearl Jam never sounded like Alice in Chains...

 

[101011]

Re: Best Pickups for my Schecter

For your style I agree that A5's are better... although I love A2 humbuckers and they will also work great...

Modern metal and grunge are a wide definition for tone... no such thing as a pickup for both of them, or one of them... Pearl Jam never sounded like Alice in Chains...

I don't want to sound like any one band, I have no intentions of trying to copying anyones tone to sound just like that guitar player, I just want a tone that works for that kind of music.

I don't want to sound like Jimmy Page, just be able to cover some Zeppelin songs and make it sound awesome

 

[stangme01]

Re: Best Pickups for my Schecter

To me the JB sucks for palm mutes and such in "most" guitars. All I hear from it on the low end is flab and 2 tons of it! Its a good pickup in the right guitar but, I think it might be a potential disaster in this case.

In the neck the PG has more percived brightness to me. If you want to play mostly cleans out of the neck pickup, I would go with a 59. If you like to play with a bit of dirt in the neck position, I would go with the PG.

considering i also own this guitar and have a jb in it, and its really tight i doubt there is any chance of a disaster. Its a really tight sounding guitar, not to mention a 25.5" scale.

 

[daemon barbeque]

Re: Best Pickups for my Schecter

The Best PU i ever heard on a MAH/FMT guitar is The original Parallel Axis PATB-1.Great nice bottom ,very nice midds.Singing/screaming Harmonics.And super tonal chontrol.Very nice reactions to tone/volume knob.
I have a darker sounding guitra ,thats why i use the PATB-2
I know it is a little expensive ,but no PU is Compared to a Parallel axis.The power and the dynamics are awesome.
For the Neck ,i can't really tell you what ,since i don't use neck Pu's frequently.
But from what i hear ,the PearlyGates is the best sounding SD neck Pu for my ears.I like the Mojo it has.Great Character.
Or you mach it wit PATB-3.

 

[101011]

Re: Best Pickups for my Schecter

considering i also own this guitar and have a jb in it, and its really tight i doubt there is any chance of a disaster. Its a really tight sounding guitar, not to mention a 25.5" scale.

no, it is a 24.75 scale neck, which I like better than the 25.5 necks

 

[theodie]

Re: Best Pickups for my Schecter

considering i also own this guitar and have a jb in it, and its really tight i doubt there is any chance of a disaster. Its a really tight sounding guitar, not to mention a 25.5" scale.

You say its really tight, what other Duncan buckers have you owned and played for a bit of time and what are you comparing it to, to call it tight???? Seriously, the JB is looser on the bottom than most of them. Not a bad thing for some players, I personally cant stand it though and its a disaster for some people. Seriously bro, what other Duncans have you owned....not played at Guitar Center????

Seriously, I get the distinct impression you are throwing out pickup advice based on what you currently use and works for you and your style. When I give advice, I pay close attention to what the author of the thread is looking for in tone, not what I have in my current axes. For that matter, none of my suggestions in this thread that I have given to the author are currently in ANY of my guitars. I have owned nearly every standard production Duncan made so, I know my way around their lineup and what may work for what someone is looking for. The suggestions I have also given are more "benchmark" kind of pickups. To me a Benchmark pickup covers alot of ground and works for almost all users and styles and the pickup is not "too much of this but not enough of that kind of pickup" It is safely in the middle of a range. Aside of me considering them benchmark pickups, I think they will get the job done the BEST for the user based on my knowledge (I am a luthier, a player, and I know my way around Duncans) which is quite a bit more than noob's offer to the table around here.

 

[theodie]

Re: Best Pickups for my Schecter

no, it is a 24.75 scale neck, which I like better than the 25.5 necks

The credability of stangme01's argument is now slipping. :laugh2: :laugh2: :laugh2: :laugh2:

IIRC, C1 Plus=24.75 scale and the standard C1=25.5 scale. Its been a while since I messed with a Schecter though.

 

[JohnnyGuitar]

Re: Best Pickups for my Schecter

I don't want to sound like any one band, I have no intentions of trying to copying anyones tone to sound just like that guitar player, I just want a tone that works for that kind of music.

I don't want to sound like Jimmy Page, just be able to cover some Zeppelin songs and make it sound awesome

So you can play... anything... If you want to be more specific we can help you... but you can get great tone with most Duncan pickups... it depends how you play them and how do you want to sound...

I do think that the pretty bright JB is not the best option for the styles you have described... but again, I can imagine players sound different yet still great in any style by using equipment that noone uses...

So, you can go with a Full Shred, Active pups, APH like Slash, a C5, Screamin Demon and get great tone while playing Jimmy Page and sounding nothing like him... but you're really not helpping yourself by not trying to define your desired tone...

 

[101011]

Re: Best Pickups for my Schecter

I want the tone off of Rock n Roll by Led Zeppelin and Show me how to Live by Audioslave... is that specific enough? look the songs up and that is what im looking for mostly, but being able to play all of the styles I listed before without it sounding like a "remix" of the song. I want to sound like them (not like an emo version of Walk This Way or something) but getting there exact tone isn't immportant to me.

I don't know what else to tell you, if you want to ask me something or you want me to list some more songs or something, just say

and to theodie, I understand you know more about these pickups, so you don't realy have to try to prove that, the thing is, just listing a bunch of stuff like how tight and lose they highs and mid highs or whatever is means next to nothing to me... I have a hard time getting an idea of what the tone is based off of that kind of description. so if at all possible, could you explain the difference between the JB, Custom, and Custom 5 in simple english that someone who is just starting to explore the area of guitar tone and pickups would understand...

this whole thing has gone totaly over my head, you have to remember, I have never even bought pickups for any of my guitars before... I havn't even been playing electrice guitar for that long, I used to be mainly an acoustic guy untill recently...


I think I have this thing narrowed down to

59
Jazz
Pearly Gates

for the neck, probly going for the 59 because the PG is brighter and made for brighter guitars, and I am not looking for bright, and the Jazz just doesn't have the vintageness im looking for (if that is even a word...)

and for the Neck I have

JB
Custom
Custom 5

and that is where im totaly lost. Im not sure about the Custom because the whole ceramic thing... but I realy don't know. I have played all 3, but in 3 guitars that couldn't be more different when it comes to the wood and the overall tone, even the strings...

 

[JohnnyGuitar]

Re: Best Pickups for my Schecter

I want the tone off of Rock n Roll by Led Zeppelin and Show me how to Live by Audioslave... is that specific enough? look the songs up and that is what im looking for mostly, but being able to play all of the styles I listed before without it sounding like a "remix" of the song. I want to sound like them (not like an emo version of Walk This Way or something) but getting there exact tone isn't immportant to me.

You should get a Tele! I'm pretty sure both songs were played on them... but in any case Teles are good for that tone...

Asuming that you won't go and buy a new guitar right away, I think that vintage sounding pups would be best for your style... you don't even have to get high output pups... two 59s with 4 conductor wires (because you want to split them) might be a right choice...

 

[theodie]

Re: Best Pickups for my Schecter

Simple english comparing the C5, Custom, JB

The Custom and the C5 are both the same coils and almost the same pickup except, they have different magents. The Custom has a bit more output and more mids than the C5 and is also not as bright. The C5 is on the bright side of things and works best in dark sounding guitars. To me the Custom is a bit more versatile (unless you guitar is really dark or muddly sounding) and the Custom sounds like what you are looking for. Though, they both can cover the same kind of ground. Rule of thumb IMO, Neutral or slightly bright to slightly dark guitar=Custom. Dark guitar=C5. VERY bright guitar=CC. They are other minor subtle differences but, this is what I usually go by.

The JB, in most guitars the JB is not pleasing to my ears. It has alot of perviced brightness due to a crazy upper-mid spike that makes it sound bright yet, has this nasal sound at the same rate. The Low end of the JB is not tight, when you strike a power chord on the E and A string the sound dosent come out of the speakers with authority. It sounds like it just falls out of the speakers. Its hard to explain but, it is not pleasing. BTW, my previous rant was not ment twords you, it was ment twords the person that was giving you advice based solely on what he had in his guitar and from his limited expereince, what sound good to him.

 

[101011]

Re: Best Pickups for my Schecter

You should get a Tele! I'm pretty sure both songs were played on them... but in any case Teles are good for that tone...

Asuming that you won't go and buy a new guitar right away, I think that vintage sounding pups would be best for your style... you don't even have to get high output pups... two 59s with 4 conductor wires (because you want to split them) might be a right choice...

I don't like Teles at all, I want the vintage sound on a guitar that actualy feels good when you are playing it, Teles are just akward and far from what I am looking for.

I know I want to go with one 59, but I don't know if I want to stick one in the bridge too though

I still want to get that Coheed and Cambria sound as well...

 

[101011]

Re: Best Pickups for my Schecter

What would be a better heavy metal combination, JB/59 or Custom/59?

 

[M J]

Re: Best Pickups for my Schecter

I highly recomend the JB/59 combo for your guitar.

I agree - the Jeff Beck is a good high output pickup, but has better mids, which gives it a more versatile sound. The 59 is great, my personal favorite, though the Jazz model is also a good neck solution.

 

[101011]

Re: Best Pickups for my Schecter

I agree - the Jeff Beck is a good high output pickup, but has better mids, which gives it a more versatile sound. The 59 is great, my personal favorite, though the Jazz model is also a good neck solution.

I like the Jazz... well, I have yet to find a Seymour Duncan pickup that I didn't like... but it isn't realy my style, the 59 caught my ear more, just gave my guitar that extra bit of something that it needed...

now I just need to figure out weather to go JB or Custom...

when I played the JB on one of the Schecters at guitar center it sounded a bit harsh and bright, but I think it might have just been the amp that I was playing it on... or would a Custom give me more of a warm and smoth tone without sacraficeing good metal tone?

with my Carvin MTS and a Custom/59 combo, could I get a good Metalica or Coheed and Cambria sound? my band covers both a lot, I mainly play rythem on those songs (we don't have a lead or rythem guitarist, just depends on who is better at the particular song, and im mainly the blues guy while the other guy is a shreder)

 

[stuperman]

Re: Best Pickups for my Schecter

I have a schecter omen 6, i replaced both pups and put new push/pull pots. I would go for the Jazz pup in the bridge. It sounds so great, compared to all the others i've played. Also, with the coil tap, you can get some crazy sounds/tone with it. You're not really into the METAL pups, so, unlike me, you want to stay as far away from Invaders and basically anything that sounds like that. A pickup that s-d recommends is the distortion and also the custom.

Cleans on the Jazz blow me away, and distortion, either for rhythm or shred, is phenomenal. You can get that classic rock/blues sound out of it.

The Distortion I dont know about at all, im only suggesting it because s-d does. And they sell the SH-2 and SH-6 together, right? I would look at the c-1 classic. That pickup set up looks great. Also, thats a beautiful guitar.

My Invaders DO have that muddy clean sound but, thats useful sometimes. That's why I got the Jazz to even it out. With the push/pull pots I can do different things to get rid of that muddy clean sound. The distortion on the Invader is amazing though. Thats all. But for sure, I'm always going for a Jazz pickup in the neck.:banana: