Deciding on which pickup

[awjb]

Hi,

Im currently trying different pickups with one of my guitars.

Basically I am trying to strike a balance between having a tight aggressive metal tone with plenty of pick attack but still having a musical character. I would like the tone to be bright and punchy with alot of detail in the upper mids/highs.

My rig is a Mesa recto Standard Straight Cab with v30s and a 50W EVH 5150iii 6L6. The guitar that I would like to experiment with has a floyd rose, basswood body, maple neck and rosewood fingerboard.

And finally, I play thrashy death metal in B standard.

So far I have tried the SD Nazgul and Black Winter, and well as the EMG81 and 707. Out of these I find the Nazgul to be the closest but it's not quite what I'm looking for now.
In another experiment Ive also tried the SD Invader and Dimarzio X2N. Definitely not suitable for what I'm after now.

So far the pickups I have in mind is the Alternative 8 or JB. Does anyone have any experience with these pickups? Is there a better suggestion?

 

[Mincer]

Can you let us know what you didn't like about the Nazgul? That would help us determine what direction you'd like to go. The Nazgul has a ton of upper mids, and so does the JB.

 

[awjb]

Hi, thanks for the reply.
The nazgul was good in most ways (pick attack, chugging, aggressive tone etc). I don't know how to describe it other than the nazgul doesnt sound quite as musical as what Ive heard from any alnico pickups Ive tried. What Im trying to do is see is if theres a reasonable compromise between the qualities of the ceramic and alnico styles. Im looking for something that handles lower tuning, allows for good articulation, can chugg, but also has detail and sweetness when you strike an open chord. Looking on the SD website it seems that the alternative 8 could be something like that.

 

[Despair]

Alternative 8 can be worth a look, if you want high output without the harsh bite of ceramic.

My favorite ceramic pickup is the PATB-2 Parallel Axis Distortion, but while it rounds off the ugly bite of most ceramics, it also has a massive lower mid growl that doesn't seem like what you are looking for, though the screaming midrange and wailing harmonics probably are in the right ballpark. It's also such high output that it's a fight to get clean tones out of it with most amplifiers.

For a bright punchy pickup, one of the standard choices is the TB-6 Distortion. But it does have that ceramic presence, though it doesn't have that odd midrange character of the Nazgul (it just wants to djent).

TB-4 JB is all about screaming upper mids, but in most guitars isn't really all that bright, and can be hit or miss on tightness. Where it works, well, there's a reason it's such an exceedingly popular pickup. Laundry list of rock & metal players who use it. But my Ibanez RG570 with Floyd-style bridge & basswood body didn't like the JB in the bridge, at all, managed to be both thin & flubby, though it was fun for leads.

If you want an Alnico 5 pickup that can thrash, sing for leads, and has respectable cleans, you might look at the PATB-1b Original Parallel Axis, I have that in the RG570 currently, though I plan to transplant it to another guitar and convert the 570 into a metal machine with a PATB-2. Someday. But I like a lot more growl in my riffs, and am comfortable with using EQ & Tube Screamer to carve out bass for thrash rhythm parts.

 

[Clint 55]

Yes, I think the JB and Alt 8, or PA mentioned above actually would be the best options for you. They would be aggressive and chug and then be musical as well.

I think there are other options that might be ok such as the Jason Becker or Distortion. You can tune things more if you do mag swaps (or hybrids) but I don't know if you're considering that.

 

[AdrianSD]

Recently I went down the rabbit hole of magnet swapping and I'm currently enjoying:
- JB with a roughcast Alnico 5. Friendlier upper mids and highs, sounds rounder and smoother for leads.
- JB with an Alnico 8. Tighter bass, slightly more output than stock.
- Custom Custom with an Alnico 8. Much tighter bass compared to Alnico 2, flatter EQ overall. The most musical of the 3.
I've also played a Distortion SH6 in the bridge for a while. Great for heavy, speed or thrash rhythm but nothing more, too shrill, there wasn't anything musical about it. Just couldn't bond with it.
You can also look at using an overdrive pedal in front of the amp or an EQ pedal in the amp's FX loop to tighten the bass if it's too mushy.

 

[awjb]

Thanks for the replies. ill look further into the JB, Alt 8 and PA. Cheers

 

[alex1fly]

Wild idea - you've already tried several hot pickups, didn't like them, maybe try something low output. Your rig has enough gain to get you the chug you want. I'm not sure which ones to recommend, but it could be a good route to go. Maybe one of the PAFs. Super musical.

 

[AdrianSD]

Wild idea - you've already tried several hot pickups, didn't like them, maybe try something low output. Your rig has enough gain to get you the chug you want. I'm not sure which ones to recommend, but it could be a good route to go. Maybe one of the PAFs. Super musical.

^This! And was also thinking about the pickup height. Just checked my frankenpickups and this is the gap between the bridge pickup and the low E with the string fretted at the last fret:
- JB RCA5: 2.8-3mm
- JB A8: 3mm
- Custom Alnico 8: ~3.2mm
Looking at the OP's rig it feels like a fairly dark set up: down tuning, basswood body, rosewood fretboard, Floyd Rose that sucks some highs, all through a pretty scooped 5150 into a Mesa cab. I think the excessive output might actually compound the problem and using a lower output, brighter pickup should probably help. Even an off the shelf Duncan Custom might sound like an improvement.
I still believe using an overdrive as clean boost will tighten up the lows.

 

[awjb]

Thanks again for the replies. I think first off I'll try the Alt 8. However, if that is a fail I'll take your advice and try a lower output P.A.F style pickup. So how do you think the 59 Custom hybrid would go?

 

[Demanic]

When you try the Alternative 8 remember that it is very sensitive to height changes.

Sent from my SM-A115A using Tapatalk

 

[Mincer]

Thanks again for the replies. I think first off I'll try the Alt 8. However, if that is a fail I'll take your advice and try a lower output P.A.F style pickup. So how do you think the 59 Custom hybrid would go?

I love the Hybrid, but it is more of a boosted PAF-eq'd pickup, and certainly not a metal pickup. If you like slamming the amp with output, you might need a boost.

 

[Leon Of Late]

I think the PATB-1 is the pickup you should try. It is damn musical while still being tight, having plenty of smooth drive and I think it will have enough midrange for you too. It’s a damn fine, overlooked pickup (the whole line) that is specifically designed for Floyd Rose rigs. Can’t go wrong IMO.

 

[chadd]

^This! And was also thinking about the pickup height. Just checked my frankenpickups and this is the gap between the bridge pickup and the low E with the string fretted at the last fret:
- JB RCA5: 2.8-3mm
- JB A8: 3mm
- Custom Alnico 8: ~3.2mm
Looking at the OP's rig it feels like a fairly dark set up: down tuning, basswood body, rosewood fretboard, Floyd Rose that sucks some highs, all through a pretty scooped 5150 into a Mesa cab. I think the excessive output might actually compound the problem and using a lower output, brighter pickup should probably help. Even an off the shelf Duncan Custom might sound like an improvement.
I still believe using an overdrive as clean boost will tighten up the lows.

You make a great point about using a bright pickup and boosting if needed. Most modern high gain amps have plenty of drive available and boosting mainly helps make the amp feel tighter. A Screamin Demon has less output that most of the pickups under discussion but is tight, bright and remains articulate with immense amounts of drive, be it amp or boost. An outside the box solution, but one that should work.

 

[Aceman]

Screaming Demon.

 

[awjb]

Thanks again for the replies. So there are a few that have been repeatedly recommended now. Ill have a closer look at the patb1 and screaming demon. Thanks for the suggestions.