Blacktop Strat pickup recommendation

J

Jimmy777

New member
Hi Everyone, I owned a Fender Strat Blacktop (alder body with maple fret), and looking for a pickup combo that will let me play a diverse style (rock, pop occasionally but mostly prog metal and death metal). I don't use any actual amp, instead i use my ipad with Bias FX(great app by the way) with my KRK Rokit 5 monitor at home. I want a pickup combo that will give me tight bottom for heavy chugging, and cutting leads. Great good clean tone, and clears up well when volume is rolled down. I am looking into Illuminator set ( I am a big Dream Theater/JP fan), but also wondering if there is any good option from Duncan's pickups(It seems like most metal band uses either duncan or EMG). I think generally dimarizo's pickup has more controlled distortion more note definition and duncan's has more upper mid and highs and aggressive (which i think a lots of metal bands sound like that). So I really would like to hear from you guy's recommendation on a workhorse pickup combo.
Cheers!
 
Re: Blacktop Strat pickup recommendation

Will your selector switch be a straightforward three-way neck/both/bridge or a five-way Superswitch for something more ambitious?
 
Re: Blacktop Strat pickup recommendation

I am not sure what kind of switch you have, but something like a Super Switch will do some fancy tricks which will lessen the output and clean up the sound for quieter passages. For the styles you like, my go-to pickup sets are the Pegasus/Sentient combo and the Black Winter. Both sets are actually more diverse than their descriptions might lead you to believe. They both respond to volume changes well, and they aren't so high output that they dynamics get compressed.
 
Re: Blacktop Strat pickup recommendation

In my mind, the 2 workhorse SD HH sets are JB/Jazz and Custom/59. JB-Jazz would work well in your Strat up to classic metal, but likely wouldn't be defined/chugging enough for prog/death metal. Custom/59 could get there, especially with the various flavors of the Custom (5, 8, CC, Hybrid, original). FWIW, Ola Englund spec'ed out Custom 5 bridge / 59 neck for his signature Washburn guitar. If you want good coil splits, original Custom and Custom/59 Hybrid would do well for bridge, and then you might go with WLH neck (like 59 with more mids).
 
Re: Blacktop Strat pickup recommendation

Thank you all for the recommendation! My blacktop strat has a 5 way switch, and the Custom/59 combo seems interesting. I will go give it a listen on youtube. Man, it's really hard to decide with so many option out there.
I will try to compare Custom/59 with Illuminator set.
 
Re: Blacktop Strat pickup recommendation

How is the 5 way switch wired, do you know? I'm curious.
 
Re: Blacktop Strat pickup recommendation

Hi Mincer,

Unfortunately I am a noob when it comes to pickups and guitar parts, so I wouldn't know how it was wired. All I know is when flip to first position is neck PU, 2nd position is neck PU split, 3rd position (middle) is both neck and bridge, 4th position is bridge PU split, and finally 5th position is all bridge PU. I typically use first position for lead, and 5th position for rhythm..4th position for clean arpeggio stuff.
 
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