Black Winter or SH-6

[dominus]

Re: Black Winter or SH-6

The stocks ones are horribly muddy/lifeless. The opening post explains what I have/what I'm trying to achieve. My RG came with INF2/1 set up and it was okay, but very thin. Changed out the bridge for a DP100 and it sounds amazing. Now, I'm just trying to find a complimentary tone to replace the mudbuckers in the LTD.

Much better.. your first post said the stock ones are horrible, but didn't say how, and then you gave the sound that you wanted to achieve. It's easy to recommend pickups that can achieve that sound through our guitars and amps but we had no idea how your guitar sounded.

I actually put a pair of stock LTD pickups into a Viper 400 and they sounded great, they cut through just fine. I'm guessing you have one of the darker sounding MH100s then. (Agathis usually sounds like mahogany.) Distortion and Black Winter will work fine, as well as the TB-5 Duncan Custom. You may even want to check out the Full Shred and Dimarzio Evolutions. I would *not* recommend 250k pots at all, especially if you're looking to cut through.

 

[Iron1]

Re: Black Winter or SH-6

Much better.. your first post said the stock ones are horrible, but didn't say how, and then you gave the sound that you wanted to achieve. It's easy to recommend pickups that can achieve that sound through our guitars and amps but we had no idea how your guitar sounded.

I actually put a pair of stock LTD pickups into a Viper 400 and they sounded great, they cut through just fine. I'm guessing you have one of the darker sounding MH100s then. (Agathis usually sounds like mahogany.) Distortion and Black Winter will work fine, as well as the TB-5 Duncan Custom. You may even want to check out the Full Shred and Dimarzio Evolutions. I would *not* recommend 250k pots at all, especially if you're looking to cut through.

Thanks and sorry I was so 'muddy' in my initial explanation (insert hi hat - then >groan< from the crowd). It's a basswood body, if that helps. The pup I'm replacing is an ESP Designed LH-150B. The guitar was cheap, but it plays very, very well, the body sings when you strum and it just has that x-factor that inspires me to play more. I was looking at pricier guitars before I got it, and figured after playing several back to back I'd be better off just upgrading this one, than spending a few hundred more on one I didn't like as much.

 

[meldon]

Re: Black Winter or SH-6

That clearly shows the neck pickup but not the bridge one.. and the switch shows that he's using the bridge pickup.

Well, I hate you... :crying:

 

[dominus]

Re: Black Winter or SH-6

Thanks and sorry I was so 'muddy' in my initial explanation (insert hi hat - then >groan< from the crowd). It's a basswood body, if that helps. The pup I'm replacing is an ESP Designed LH-150B. The guitar was cheap, but it plays very, very well, the body sings when you strum and it just has that x-factor that inspires me to play more. I was looking at pricier guitars before I got it, and figured after playing several back to back I'd be better off just upgrading this one, than spending a few hundred more on one I didn't like as much.

Are you sure it's basswood? (I ask because some sites say agathis, others say basswood. Could depend on the year it's from.) In either case, I stand with my recommendations above (post #21), as you're looking to cut through.

 

[dominus]

Re: Black Winter or SH-6

Well, I hate you... :crying:

OT:

This pic shows the bridge pickup as stock. (Another picture showed him playing a NJ Series guitar with the stock licensed Floyd.) Sometimes the stock pickups just work. I don't think manufacturers would just put things out where they were all horrible. It's just that they may work in some guitars and not in others.. hence changing out stock pickups to fit the guitar's natural sound.

 

[Iron1]

Re: Black Winter or SH-6

Are you sure it's basswood? (I ask because some sites say agathis, others say basswood. Could depend on the year it's from.) In either case, I stand with my recommendations above (post #21), as you're looking to cut through.

All the info I found before buying it said it was basswood. And, when I play it without plugging it in, it sounds very similar to my RG, which is basswood as well - not that I think that's necessarily proof...

 

[Iron1]

Re: Black Winter or SH-6

Gonna go pull the trigger on an SH-6 today at lunch. Thanks for all the help!

 

[dominus]

Re: Black Winter or SH-6

Gonna go pull the trigger on an SH-6 today at lunch. Thanks for all the help!

Get the TB-6.

No manufacturer uses standard spacing anymore. Imports have been using wider spacing for years, even on fixed bridges.

 

[Iron1]

Re: Black Winter or SH-6

Get the TB-6.

No manufacturer uses standard spacing anymore. Imports have been using wider spacing for years, even on fixed bridges.

This one: http://www.guitarcenter.com/Seymour...tar-Bridge-Pickup-Black-100995059-i4055575.gc

 

[dominus]

Re: Black Winter or SH-6

This one: http://www.guitarcenter.com/Seymour...tar-Bridge-Pickup-Black-100995059-i4055575.gc

If you look closely at the bottom of the pickup it's actually a TB-6.

Make sure it says Trembucker spacing. They usually have a green label rather than red in the box.

 

[Iron1]

Re: Black Winter or SH-6

If you look closely at the bottom of the pickup it's actually a TB-6.

Make sure it says Trembucker spacing. They usually have a green label rather than red in the box.

Thanks!

Here's a close-up shot of the body (not my actual one, but same model/different color)

 

[Iron1]

Re: Black Winter or SH-6

@Dominus FYI, I showed the luthier the guitar and he said the SH-6 fit, so that's what I got. Now to get it in and set-up.

Thanks again for the advice.

 

[dominus]

Re: Black Winter or SH-6

@Dominus FYI, I showed the luthier the guitar and he said the SH-6 fit, so that's what I got. Now to get it in and set-up.

Thanks again for the advice.

Of course it *fits*. It's still wrong. The TB-6 will line up better. Like I said, NO one uses standard spacing anymore.

 

[Chazzy]

Re: Black Winter or SH-6

Im gonna be honest with you, it doesnt make a difference whether its trembucker or not with high output pups... with all the compression it comes through the same, my normal spaced sbg uses a trembucker in it... sounds just as good, infact better than my mockingbird which has a floyd and was using those same pups...

 

[dominus]

Re: Black Winter or SH-6

Im gonna be honest with you, it doesnt make a difference whether its trembucker or not with high output pups... with all the compression it comes through the same, my normal spaced sbg uses a trembucker in it... sounds just as good, infact better than my mockingbird which has a floyd and was using those same pups...

I had a volume drop on the E strings with an Invader. It matters.

Your "normal spaced" guitar probably had modern spacing. Even Gibson uses modern spacing now.

 

[Iron1]

Re: Black Winter or SH-6

I had a volume drop on the E strings with an Invader. It matters.

Your "normal spaced" guitar probably had modern spacing. Even Gibson uses modern spacing now.

Ouch. I'll double check the spacing when I get home tonight...

 

[Iron1]

Re: Black Winter or SH-6



52mm on both pole to pole. It fits.

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Black Winter or SH-6

well so much for the "no one uses standard spacing anymore" diatribe...

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Black Winter or SH-6

I had a volume drop on the E strings with an Invader. It matters.

Your "normal spaced" guitar probably had modern spacing. Even Gibson uses modern spacing now.

You know... You've posted this for years as proof and blasted how this confirms it... but really it doesnt. It proves that in THAT guitar THAT pickup had a volume drop. It certainly doesnt prove a universal rule. Ive had invaders under wide bridges and not had issues. Me not having issues doesnt make yours less true nor does it make it any more true. It only proves different guitars with different set ups are different. While issues are possible they are far from certain.

 

[jonsick]

Re: Black Winter or SH-6

My first recommendation would be a humble EMG81 in the LTD. A lot of the LTDs I have installed pickups on for people have usually been the EMG81 and in LTDs, especially the MH with its arched top, the EMG 81 has always just sounded perfect. Nice thick meaty and crunchy. Given your other gear, it would compliment the Super Distortion in your RG470 really well.

If you're definite against active, of the pickups I've tried I'd suggest giving the Alternative 8 a go. I just loaded one in my Explorer and I really like it.