Best Seymour Duncan Bridge pickup for a six string metal sound

Best Seymour Duncan Bridge pickup for a six string metal sound

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Re: Best Seymour Duncan Bridge pickup for a six string metal sound

KINGV02 said:
I just updated the description for all of you smart allecks!
Click to expand...

Not being smart, just stating the facts: there are as many different varieties of Metal as there are pickups to choose from, and each one makes use of any of the pickups you listed. DD, JB, Custom, 59, Dime (I mean, DUH!), Invader, PATB, not to mention the EMGs and DiMarzios out there. I'm sure there's not as much variety among Metal that uses 7-string (and up) guitars, but that's due more to the limitations of pickup choices than preference or tonal fit. Once more 7-string pickup options are readily available, I'm sure you'll see more of them in use.
 
Re: Best Seymour Duncan Bridge pickup for a six string metal sound

Also, I don't know if I would consider a JB a metal pickup- more 80s hard rock, although much of it was called metal at the time. The Pegasus should be on the list, too. It is more versatile than the Nazgul.
 
Re: Best Seymour Duncan Bridge pickup for a six string metal sound

Arch Enemy - Anthems of Rebellion = killer non-80's metal tone from the JB. lml
 
Re: Best Seymour Duncan Bridge pickup for a six string metal sound

Mincer said:
Also, I don't know if I would consider a JB a metal pickup- more 80s hard rock, although much of it was called metal at the time. The Pegasus should be on the list, too. It is more versatile than the Nazgul.
Click to expand...

I would consider megadeth metal. JB for most of it. The JB does metal very well. It just has a bit more of a history than most. the JB is a workhorse of metal, though frequently I doubt people associate it with its own sound.
 
Re: Best Seymour Duncan Bridge pickup for a six string metal sound

Mincer said:
Also, I don't know if I would consider a JB a metal pickup- more 80s hard rock, although much of it was called metal at the time.
Click to expand...
Testament
Megadeth
Anthrax
Metallica
Tool
Alice In Chains
 
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Re: Best Seymour Duncan Bridge pickup for a six string metal sound

Adam Jones: from what I've read, yes.

Kirk Hammett: Cliff Burton-era.

It's third-hand, however and people do say the craziest things...
https://forum.seymourduncan.com/sho...Famous-Guitarist-You-Can-Who-Used-A-JB-(SH-4)

I could have just left it at Testament without bothering with any of the others.

It's probably blasphemy on this forum, but post-pickup tone shaping plays a far larger role in high gain applications than pickups.
 
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Re: Best Seymour Duncan Bridge pickup for a six string metal sound

80's metal = DD

90's metal = dimebucker
 
Re: Best Seymour Duncan Bridge pickup for a six string metal sound

gregory said:
It's probably blasphemy on this forum, but post-pickup tone shaping plays a far larger role in high gain applications than pickups.
Click to expand...

Most people on here will wholeheartedly agree with that and not just for high gain applications. I would say it's just the opposite actually. Too many people come on here expecting a pickup to make all the difference in their set. There are numerous examples of people who come in asking for help picking new pickups and then when we find out they're still playing a Line 6 Spider, tell them to save the money for a new amp instead.
 
Re: Best Seymour Duncan Bridge pickup for a six string metal sound

Cool.

In its defense, the Spider gives at least a little diversity in order to help provide some direction as to which style of amp might work best for a given individual.

...and FWIW, on several occasions I've heard good sounds from a Spider when placed in the right hands, often better than the "real" amp on the other side of the stage. Yeah, I'm looking at you guys playing over-saturated mid-scooped Rectifiers.

I didn't have much luck with the first generation Spider Valve, myself.
 
Re: Best Seymour Duncan Bridge pickup for a six string metal sound

Well, modeling combos give you a nice approximation of how a given "real" amp will sound through that particular speaker and cabinet, unless they're using hi-res speaker and cab impulses. Even then if it's coming out of a real speaker and real cab, even the flattest monitors imaginable, then it's still not the same as the real head and real cab and real speakers. And speakers can have as much tonal influence as pickups, if not more.

I have a TripleRec. I run it through a Carvin 2x12 with Carvin's "British 12s" (Celestion copies, I'm assuming). I can roll the amp's mids completely off and it's still got tons of mids, similar to my JCM800 head with the mids on 5. Maybe it's the speakers, maybe it's Maybelline, so I dunno what all this "Rectifier with scooped mids" talk is.


And "Metal", like it or not, covers a very, very broad range of styles. Even if you separate Hard Rock from it, you still have:
-Heavy Metal (Priest, Maiden, Sabbath, Ozzy, etc)
-Speed Metal (Yngwie, Racer X, pretty much the entire Shrapnel catalog from the 80s)
-Thrash Metal (Slayer, Anthrax, Metallica, Megadeth, Testament, Nuclear Assault, etc)
-Glam Metal (also called Hair Metal) (Winger, Whitesnake, Crue, RATT, Poison, Warrant, Twisted Sister, L.A. Guns, etc)
-Prog Metal (Dream Theater, Tool, etc)
-Black Metal
-Death Metal
-Rap Metal (Body Count, Korn)

One could theoretically sit down with examples of each style and point out similar tones in each sub-genre (Mick Mars' tone not all that different from Tipton and Downing's or Murray and Smith's, for example). I say "theoretically" because frankly some of that would take considerable effort to sit through long enough to do a proper comparison.

Glenn Tipton used the same EMG 81 in his custom Hamer through his Marshalls that Kerry King used in his ESPee through his Marshalls, but got significantly different tones.

There's no wrong or right or best or worst pickup to use for any style of music. It's not the arrow, it's the Indian.
I'm sure a Benedetto floating jazz pickup could be used for Metal, as could a Charlie Christian, as could a Danelectro lipstick. One could certainly use a Dimebucker for C&W. It just might take a little more creativity on your part.


In the future, rather than asking "best pickup" questions, ask "which pickup takes less effort to achieve a tone most-applicable to x style, using x guitar through x amp".
 
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Re: Best Seymour Duncan Bridge pickup for a six string metal sound

DrNewcenstein said:
Well, modeling combos give you a nice approximation of how a given "real" amp will sound through that particular speaker and cabinet, unless they're using hi-res speaker and cab impulses. Even then if it's coming out of a real speaker and real cab, even the flattest monitors imaginable, then it's still not the same as the real head and real cab and real speakers. And speakers can have as much tonal influence as pickups, if not more.

I have a TripleRec. I run it through a Carvin 2x12 with Carvin's "British 12s" (Celestion copies, I'm assuming). I can roll the amp's mids completely off and it's still got tons of mids, similar to my JCM800 head with the mids on 5. Maybe it's the speakers, maybe it's Maybelline, so I dunno what all this "Rectifier with scooped mids" talk is.
Click to expand...
Former owner of a rectifier saying I agree with this. Mine had tons of mids. Pretty much the way I had it set up, tons of everything. Played mine with p90s mostly and very high gain. It was monstrously massive mids.

I find that pickups have a mighty big impact after you have a high quality rig that has tools you are used to, particularly if you lean towards a more hi-fi tone. I am playing mostly through a mako mak4 these days with a mesa 20/20 power amp. I don't think there is a step up from that rig.
 
Re: Best Seymour Duncan Bridge pickup for a six string metal sound

Different Flava's";

The DD is Pistachio..The Custom is Rocky Rhoad, and the JB is Dutch Chocolate.
We all know the JB is the greatest pickup of all time, but for my particualr scoop, I'm going Custom./
 
Re: Best Seymour Duncan Bridge pickup for a six string metal sound

Has the Alternative 8 been mentioned? If so, then that.

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk
 
Re: Best Seymour Duncan Bridge pickup for a six string metal sound

KINGV02 said:
UPDATE: Im talking about 80s Heavy metal, old school thrash, and old school death metal.
Click to expand...

Metallica used the Invader briefly early on. Mustaine made the JB famous and his signature LiveWire set is killer. The Duncan Distortion was popular with players from Rhoads toLynch. The Custom is great for early Motley Crue and the AHB-1 (original Blackouts) has a solid hard rock voice that slays for those styles.
 
Re: Best Seymour Duncan Bridge pickup for a six string metal sound

OK, but to be fair, I never liked MegaDave's tone. So I am still against the JB for metal. But hey, I am not a JB fan either. Get off my lawn!
 
Re: Best Seymour Duncan Bridge pickup for a six string metal sound

Mincer said:
OK, but to be fair, I never liked MegaDave's tone. So I am still against the JB for metal. But hey, I am not a JB fan either. Get off my lawn!
Click to expand...

Hey to each their own. I really liked peace sells but who's buying tone.
 
Re: Best Seymour Duncan Bridge pickup for a six string metal sound

Johnny the Kid said:
I prefer his Rust in Peace tone over Peace Sells.
Click to expand...

I have to agree but I prefer peace sells over rip over all, it has heavier songs like good mourning black friday, conjuring, bad omen, etc. But rip is more important to metal than peace sells both good albums though.
 
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