Help me find/design a pickup for my 7!

oneblackened

oneblackened

New member
I've got an ESP Horizon NT-7 (Alder Body/Maple Neck Thru/Ebony Fretboard/TOM+String Thru) and I'm looking for something a little different for it. Here's what I'm looking for.

A medium to high output pickup, with fairly strong low end while staying tight, enough midrange to have some body but not so much that it becomes spiky and honky a la the JB/DD, and a high end that has bite and presence, but not so much that it is shrill. Also looking for good string to string separation.

Only caveat? The pickup has to be active mount.
 
Re: Help me find/design a pickup for my 7!

Well, your options are limited by the active requirement. I'm not sure of SD's 7-string active offerings, but I'm sure they have at least one.

Then of course there's EMG, and if I'm not mistaken, they make a 7-string version of everything - 81, 85, 89, 60, etc.

Have you tried the JB-7? I'm not typically a fan of the JB (6-string) in the bridge, and I've tried it in everything from solid neckthrough mahogany to alder, basswood, and poplar bodies with ebony, maple, and rosewood fretboards, Strat-shapes, Dinky shapes, Warriors and King Vs.
I do like the JB-7 in my 7-string Jackson Warrior (bolt-on maple neck/ebony board with alder body, Floyded), even better than the DD-7 that it came with.
 
Re: Help me find/design a pickup for my 7!

I'm with you, I hate the JB in 6s.

They don't have to be active, just active sized by the way. The guitar is currently wired for passives.
 
Re: Help me find/design a pickup for my 7!

There's always the Custom/Jazz combo. I'm fairly certain you can get both in 7 string style.
 
Re: Help me find/design a pickup for my 7!

How close to the strings do you have the bridge 707?

I have a guitar with 808s and didn't like the bridge pickup. I moved it closer....Bingo! It pretty much sounds like what you're describing.
 
Re: Help me find/design a pickup for my 7!

LazNovak said:
How close to the strings do you have the bridge 707?

I have a guitar with 808s and didn't like the bridge pickup. I moved it closer....Bingo! It pretty much sounds like what you're describing.
Click to expand...

I already tore out the 707s and sold them. They were SUPER boomy on the low end.
 
Re: Help me find/design a pickup for my 7!

Then you probably won't care for the Custom 7. I ordered my 7-string WR with a Custom-7 and Distortion-7 so I could swap them around if I wanted. The Custom was just too dark, and I typically like it in a 6. The DD was nice, but not as controllable as I'd have liked. I broke down and bought a JB/Jazz-7 set and stopped looking.

As for fitting an active route, which as I understand it are indeed slightly different than a passive cavity, I think anything will work, but it's when you try to put an EMG into a passive direct-mount cavity that you find trouble due to the EMG having such square "shoulders".
 
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