Help with Ideal Neck Pickup

[dyedrin]

After far too long with a stock neck pickup in my Ibanez I've decided to upgrade. I already upgraded my bridge pickup to an Invader and was wondering what a good neck pickup would be to go along with that.

The guitar is tuned half-step down and is used pretty much exclusively for metal. Specifically, melodic metal (e.g., Kamelot, Hammerfall) and power metal (e.g., Helloween). Currently I have it narrowed down to either the Full Shred or the Pearly Gates.

Which of the two would be the better option. I've heard that a warmer tone would be preferable given the style of music I tend to play on this guitar, but I'm open to suggestions.

Thanks a lot for the help.

 

[Thundermtn]

Re: Help with Ideal Neck Pickup

A PG in the neck is one of my favorites, way versatile. It rarely doesn't sound good, regardless of the guitar it goes into.

 

[dyedrin]

Re: Help with Ideal Neck Pickup

Awesome, thanks for the input!

 

[jhale667]

Re: Help with Ideal Neck Pickup

You almost can't go wrong with a PG in the neck, but discovered I looooove the Sentient as well.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Help with Ideal Neck Pickup

The Sentient is the one I'd recommend. It will be tighter than the PG in the neck, and give a good clean sound as well (if you need that). If course, you can go 'full metal' and get an Invader neck, as well.

 

[dxlxntxxlxr]

Re: Help with Ideal Neck Pickup

The invader has very little high end output I'd get a d activator neck for lead type stuff

 

[dyedrin]

Re: Help with Ideal Neck Pickup

Thanks for the input everyone.

Considering I have a really high bridge pickup in the Invader, would it be more beneficial to get something of a slightly lower output (e.g., vintage) for the neck? I'm just a little concerned about crispness if I were to get a Sentient or Invader neck seeing as most--if not all--of what I'll be doing with the neck is solo type stuff.

I'm leaning toward the PG, but I've heard that it has a bit of a bluesy tone, which I'm concerned might be too prevalent when I'm doing metal-type solos. Alternatively, I've also heard that it has a warmer tone than, say, the Full Shred, which makes it rather desirable for the kind of half-step down melodic metal stuff I tend to play with this guitar. Any opinions on that? Thanks again for all the advice.

 

[CB434]

Re: Help with Ideal Neck Pickup

Jazz bridge in the neck would probably work well for this situation. If you want both pickups to sound similar (matching EQ) than the Invader neck would probably be the best choice. If you want something with a bit more output and a slightly different voice, I'd look at PGb or Jazzb. It would also help to have that extra output, if you're using a 24 fret Ibanez as opposed to 22. The bridge models would be a bit warmer, and hotter (slightly) but still a lot of clarity. My guitars usually have 24 frets and 25.5 scale, if your guitar is LP scale, the choices are a bit different and the chance for a muddier neck is higher. SD doesn't really offer many high gain neck pickups. They are usually very vintage, or really high gain like the Distortion neck. There's not many 8-9k pickups for the neck, it's usually 7-8k. SD necks are very versatile but in this case you said you're focussed more on high gain solos.

You can always raise the height of the neck though to boost it's output a little. There's many choices for you, it's just a matter of what your preferences are. Do you want shreddy solos, that are bright, mid scooped, thick, etc etc. A good all rounder would probably be the 59/Jazzb hybrid but it's not sold as a production model (even though it really should be).

 

[Mincer]

Re: Help with Ideal Neck Pickup

The Sentient is pretty crisp, and I'd put it right under the Jazz as far as highs. It still has tight lows though, and does clean & distorted equally well. It also works well with drop tunings.

 

[dyedrin]

Re: Help with Ideal Neck Pickup

Awesome, thanks for the input everyone. After much listening I think I'm going with the recently discovered Sentient. I'm loving the sound I'm hearing. Thanks again!