bridge humbucker for Strat metal

[eddie nash]

I'm putting together a Warmoth Strat copy (top-routed) that has an alder body, maple neck & fretboard, and a Floyd. I'm having a custom mirror pickguard made for it that will have a single humbucker at the bridge and single volume knob.

what passive bridge humbucker would be good for old-school metal tones like King Diamond, Mercyful Fate, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Accept, etc.? looking to get rhythm crunch, lead, and (passable) clean tones from one pup, if remotely possible.

any of these be a good starting point?

SD Distortion
SD '59
SD Custom Custom

Dimarzio Super Distortion
Dimarzio Super 3

Bareknuckle Miracle Man
Bareknuckle Holy Diver

thanks

 

[TimmyPage]

Re: bridge humbucker for Strat metal

Seymour Duncan Custom 5 - It has all the heavy / slight buzz of all of those great 70's-80s metal, and it has a great clean tone (strange for a pickup with high output)

 

[agent007]

Re: bridge humbucker for Strat metal

I use a PATB-1 in my strat and it sounds great for metal, but is good for any kind of music.

 

[Rand-O-Monium]

Re: bridge humbucker for Strat metal

Emg 85

 

[Ascension]

Re: bridge humbucker for Strat metal

Fender used the Super III Dimarzio in the late 80's HM Strats. I have a loose cream and black F spaced Super 3 if you are interested PM me.

 

[baritone]

Re: bridge humbucker for Strat metal

Something with the word "custom" in the name.

 

[El Dorado]

Re: bridge humbucker for Strat metal

The C5 can do great metal if you have a good amp, which is pretty imperative no matter what pickup you have really. But it can also get good clean tones with the volume rolled back a little. It is the most versatile I have tried. If I were you I would also consider a DD with a push pull pot to split it. The DD would give you all the metal tones you need, but can get a pretty good stratty clean tone when split.

 

[arbiter]

Re: bridge humbucker for Strat metal

probably sd distortion.

 

[Dave Z]

Re: bridge humbucker for Strat metal

I use the CC in a strat... the CC bottom end is probably gonna be too loose & wooly for you. I love mine and while you can get old school tone out of it & has great harmonics and a great clean tone, the bottom just ain't tight.

So sure a C5 would work, so would a Dimarzio Tone Zone. It also does nice cleans, really good for rhythm, and strong & smooth for leads (tradeoff: more modern tighter flatter sound, harmonics are not as good as the Customs).

Never tried a (plain jane) Custom

 

[agent007]

Re: bridge humbucker for Strat metal

you can't go wrong with an emg 81. i got one in another strat and it's perfect. the funny thing is that i just got a roland dr-5 and made some floydish rhythms, set my amp/effects for a cool blues sound and i really got some impressive blues tone. so if you ever worry about getting stuck with a metal only pickup, you don't have to worry about that with an 81. at least to me, that was a sweet suprise.

 

[Farkus]

Re: bridge humbucker for Strat metal

The JB is the ultimate 80's metal pickup, IMO. Of course, it depends on the guitar you're using it in. The JB is great in some guitars and marginal in others, just like every other pickup in the world. But it would be a solid starting point. If clean tone is a problem, the JB sounds great when split.

 

[roadstar II]

Re: bridge humbucker for Strat metal

JB hands down

 

[dani]

Re: bridge humbucker for Strat metal

bill and becky lawrence l-500l or xl. you get amazing cleans and crunch from the same pickup. surprising versatile and cheap!

btw, i am using the shielded 500xl in conjunction with a q-filter (a turn of the knob emulates a single coil in the neck) in a mahogany hardtail strat with a wenge/ebony neck for metal. it ain't coming out from that guitar i assure you.