Choosing the right pickups

Shootmeagain

New member
Hey there! I recently bought a Gibson SG Faded, which is excellent for my hand and everything, however it lacks some power. I play hardcore punk in my band, and those 490R/T pickups just aren't doing it. I've tried a few amps that I have in my rehearsal room (Orange Rockerverb 100 MK2, Marshall JCM900, a "boutique" head, that's basically a peavey 6505 copy, and again a "boutique" preamp, which is a mesa rectifier copy, where I use the marshall to power it), running through either a marshall 1960A cab or orange v30 cab (in the orange head case, don't know the model of the cab but I'm sure it's with vintage 30 speakers). None of those gave me the desired distorted enough sound (the marshall by itself was even a little bit hotter than AC/DC sound, cranked up to max, and that's my amp that I use almost at all times, still saving up for a peavey 6505). I have a les paul, equipped with 70s dimarzio super distortion/PAF (even though I barely use the neck pickup), and if you exclude the loud noise from the super distortion since it's so old and hasn't been wax potted, the sound is crystal and amazing (of course I use a noise suppressor). However with my SG here I wanted to try seymour duncans, since I haven't had duncans and that will be my first set. I've watched a lot of videos and read a lot of posts, however I'm still not sure which pickups would be the best for me, since the music that I play with my band isn't that popular.

The pickups that I've stopped on currently are JB/Jazz set, however I'm not sure if the JB will be hot enough, and will they sound good in an SG (I liked the sound in youtube videos with this configuration, however most people disagree with that combo in forums). I don't want active pickups, and the music that I play is pretty much 99% power chords, and JB has a good tone for that, that's why I stopped on that set. I'll rarely use the neck pickup, mostly when I'm playing blues/jazz at home, but I have 4 guitars, so I don't mind sacrificing one of them for more metalish music if you have other pickups recommendations. Probably the lowest that I'd play anytime soon on that guitar will be in Standard D. Currently we play in E, but we were thinking of dropping a tone down for our new songs and album, however I've already dropped my les paul down to standard D and I like the sound of the dimarzios in there, but I may like the SG downtuned better (who knows).

TLDR: searching for good passive pickups set for gibson sg faded, playing hardcore punk.

If you want to get more of an idea of the music that we play, check out Cro-mags, bad brains, turnstile, trapped under ice (the band not metallica's song) or my band https://antifuture.bandcamp.com (no advertising intended), etc...

Thanks in advance!

Edit: in my bands case I recorded the EP with my les paul through the jcm900 head and a mesa boogie v30 cab, only used EHX small clone chorus for a few parts, rest is amp/cab
 
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Re: Choosing the right pickups

I had a JB in a Les Paul classic once and I was happy with it. The JB is high output, great for solos and is gonna' bury the 490T, if you want my opinion. My only issue with the JB is that I wish the mids were scooped just a little more.

If I was gonna' replace the 490T/R in a punk band I would give the Seymour Duncan Pegasus (bridge) and the Jason Becker Perpetual burn a hard look too.
 
Re: Choosing the right pickups

The 490 set are decent PU's, but kind of lackluster. You could call them 'adequate.' I don't know that anybody gets excited about them.

I'd recommend either a SH-15 (A5 magnet) or SH-5 (ceramic) in the bridge, with a '59N in the neck slot. For some players JB do weird things in mahogany.
 
Re: Choosing the right pickups

Thanks for the fast responces! I've considered the SH-5, SH-11 and SH-14, but there's something in that JB that makes me shiver (more umph I guess, no idea how to call it to be honest). I've checked the pegasus, and I didn't like it that much to be fair. I liked the omega or nazgul more than pegasus. The SH-15 I didn't like at all, not my type of pickup I guess. I'm not really much into scooping the mids, I like to have some here and there, even though I do scoop them just for fun and to get a different sound once in a while. I just like the aggressive sound that JB gives. We're not really doing metalcore or any kind of metal to be fair, however we do have some thrash elements here and there. I should probably correct myself and say that I'd rather have a set of pickups that would play great the music that I'm doing with my band, but can cover a bigger range of genres (that's why I'm a bit dodgy for omega/nazgul/pegasus etc.). I know that my question is a bit absurd, since you can't cover everything with just one "thing", but there may be just something that I'm looking for that I don't know about. For reference, the best video of pickup comparisons that I watched was this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbRlcdNHYDM . I know it's metal, but it's the closest one that I could find. The 490 set is good, I like the sound, it just doesn't fit my current needs. In the future I might just get another gibson and have it stock for playing softer music, but for now I need this one to blow brains out while maintaining the ability to play some classic rock stuff. As I said, 99% of the music that I do is power chords, I barely play any solos or any weird chords and stuff, so I'm looking more for a "riff monster", rather than a "shredder" (hence why I got a gibson sg and not a jackson/ibanez etc.). If I'd try to explain the sound that I'm looking for, I would say something like late 80s-90s metal, but not new kind of metal for sure.

About the mahogany body and JB, that's what I'm mostly concerned about I guess, I didn't find good discussions on that.
 
Re: Choosing the right pickups

I'd recommend either a SH-15 (A5 magnet) or SH-5 (ceramic) in the bridge, with a '59N in the neck slot. For some players JB do weird things in mahogany.

I am with blueman335. I prefer the custom over the custom5.
 
Re: Choosing the right pickups

If you liked the jb, but want a safer bet, I would recommend the sh6 distortion model. It has a very similar wind to the JB, but with a double thick ceramic magnet like the super distortion in your other guitar, so it's a little bit more tailored in the low end which makes it better for what your trying to do.
 
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Re: Choosing the right pickups

Custom or Distortion,,,,,,,w/59n. hard to go wrong with either in an sg-type guitar.
 
Re: Choosing the right pickups

There's 3 official Custom variants (ceramic, A2, & A5), and members have also put in A8, UOA5, and A4. That's six viable choices. It's a very versatile wind, and if you're into overwound bridge PU's, odds are there's a magnet that will turn a Custom into something you really like.
 
Re: Choosing the right pickups

Almost everything you want/asked for in the bridge pickup,points away from the JB, except the output. It's quite high. But You put the JB in there and You're most probably gonna end up hating and regretting it. I have never used the JB for dropped turnings. But from what I have heard people who have done it don't like it. Also if a tight low end is needed the JB does not have it. You did mention about using the Bridge for chord work, many don't like the JB for that.
I second the Distortion or Duncan Custom. Both would work well for chord work.


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Re: Choosing the right pickups

Thanks to all of you for the help! I think that I've made my choice and decided to go for SH-5 and SH-1 (Custom/'59). Sadly they don't sell those two in a set, so I'll have to purchase them separately and that will add a lot to the cost, but I guess I can buy the SH-1 later on when I have enough money, or I can try and find one used. I've been wanting to find a japanese fender jaguar for a while, and I'll most likely equip it with JB/Jazz set when I get one.
 
Re: Choosing the right pickups

That's a good combo. J. Yuenger used those exact two pups on the Astro-Creep: 2000 album, if you want to hear them under super high gain ( TriRec's and Randalls ). Keep an eye out in the classifieds here, some will pop up at a good price and you usually don't have to wait long.

Just keep in mind the ceramic Custom will cut out a little of the open sounding harmonic nuance stuff, you'll have to run middle position a bunch if you're trying to get a more versatile/classic tone.
 
Re: Choosing the right pickups

Yeah I'd really like that, sadly I'm from a small unknown country (Bulgaria), and I doubt anybody would ship to here, especially from USA - it'll cost a fortune to get here. Also I'm a bit sceptical about trading cross country, so I'll try to get new ones or find ones here. Thanks again! :)

Still trying to sell my stock pups currently. Got a trade offer for emg 81/60 + some dimarzio ripoffs, but he didn't have the emg harness, and I already ordered CTS left handed pots (since I'm a lefty and big brands don't bother with that so they just stick whatever they have and my pots are currently reversed) that cost me a lot of money for what they are.
 
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Re: Choosing the right pickups

I'm sure you could buy from anywhere in Europe without issues through ebay or some similar site.
I have bought from the USA in the past, when dollar was lower, and sometimes even after shipment and taxes it was still cheaper than buying in Europe. It was 3 years ago, though. I know it has changed a bit since then.

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