Help with Pickups

nhlstar

New member
Hey guys,
I have a Jackson Randy Rhoads 3 and I wanted to install some Seymour Duncan pickups. Currently it has the stock Duncan Designed pickups. I want the guitar to have a versatile sound and also a fairly fat sound in the neck. I was wondering if any of you could suggest a pair of pickups for me and also describe what kind of sound these would give me.
Thanks for the help.
 
Re: Help with Pickups

welcome to the forum!

my suggestion is to put a duncan distortion in the bridge and either a jb or jazz at the neck. i used to have an old rhodes v and i had the jb neck/distortion bridge setup and it was great. crunchy in the bridge and big and warm in the neck. the jazz is a brighter, cleaner alternative for the neck.
what type of amp do you use?
 
Re: Help with Pickups

hey Jeremy,
Thanks for the advice. Right now I use a Peavey Bandit 112, one of their transtube models. I am interested in maybe trying some sound samples for the pickups you recommended. Do you know much about the Alnico IIs? What kind of sound would that provide? Would they be something worth looking into according to the sound i wanted?
 
Re: Help with Pickups

The alnico 2 is a like a modern take on a PAF. They are warm and very bluesy sounding. I like them in LPs but lots of guys like them in other guitars.

I was going to make a similiar suggestion to Jeremy's. Distortion or JB bridge and a jazz or 59 neck.\. The 59 will be fatter than the JB. That's what I use in my PRS' neck slot.

Here's my generic pickup breakdown.

The 59---The 59 is the quintessential A5 PAF (patent applied for) pup. Imagine getting in a time machine and going back to 1959 and swiping a brand new A5 pup from the Gibson factory in Kalamazoo and bringing it forward to today. They have found most homes in many neck slots. It has symetrical coils and lots of quack. It has thumping bass, a scooped mid, and cutting highs. Vintage 2 Conductor Wire

The Seth Lover---This pup is as true to the original as can be. This pup is unpotted and comes standard with a gold, or nickel pup cover. It has an A2 magnet and has good quack and fair mids. For this pup imagine going back in time to 1955 and grabbing one of the very first PAF's before they debuted in the LP's. This pup is warm and creamy, but can also get bright with the tone knob on 10. Vintage 2 Conductor Wire

The Alnico 2 Pro---The warmest of the Duncan PAF line. It has symetrical coils and is a modern take on the A2 PAFs. It has round bass and smooth treble, it also has lots of mids to make the guitar really sing. It will warm up the coldest or shrillest of guitars. The most well known Alnico 2 Pro user is Slash of Velvet Revolver and GNR. Standard 4 Conductor Wire

Pearly Gates---The PG is the hottest of the Duncan PAF line. It has asymetrical (mismatched) coils and an A2 magnet. The mismatched coils give this particular pup its rude personality. It has a frequency push in the Presence/Cut knob frequency band. This is the "Sizzle" PG owner talk about. It has the most mids of the Ducan PAF line and is also the hottest. Its patron is Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top. Standard 4 conductor Wire

The Jazz---The jazz is the pup that bridges the gap between Vintage and Modern pups. Its output is at or around the vintage level. Don't let the name fool you this pup is very versatile and smooth. It has an A5 magnet and is very widely used in the neck slot. It is articulate regardless of the tuning as well. This pup negociates cleans or overdrive very well. Standard 4 Conductor Wire

The Custom Series---The Custom Series is all on pup configuration but with different magnets. The coils are symmetrical and the pups come with Standard 4 Conductor wire

Custom---The Custom is a PAF kicked up a few notches. This pup gets its aggressive edge from its Ceramic magnet. This pup has lots of grind with good treble and midrange. It also has ample bass for palm mute playing.

Custom Custom---The Custom Custom is a midrange heavy pup that lends itself to leads and warming bright guitars. This pup gets its huge midrange from the Alnico 2 magnet. I has smooth bass and treble. Essentially it is an overwound A2 PAF.

Custom 5---The Custom 5 is a pup with an EQ very identical to The 59. It has thumping bass, scooped mids, and cutting treble. Like the 59 it is a bright pup that will liven up dark guitar, but the bass can be overwhelming in a bassy guitar, or the the treble overwhelming in a trebly guitar.

<to be continued>
 
Re: Help with Pickups

Continued....

JB---The JB is in a class of its own. There is really no other pup like it. It has fair bass and lots of treble. This particular pup has a large upper mids spike that allow it to cut through the mix like no other. It can be heard on countless recording especially throughout the 80's. Lots of people like to pair it with a Jazz or 59 in the neck. In bright guitars it is usually soldered to a 250k pot just like the original Seymour made 30 years ago.

Distortion---The same coil configuration as the JB, but instead of an Alnico 5 magnet SD uses an oversized ceramic magnet. This pup has lots of natural harmonics, and pinch harmonics are a breeze just like on the JB. Also it has a good amount of grind to it that makes it work very well for palm mute riffing as well. The distortion can sound bright in some guitars like the JB so get used to using your tone pot, or EQing your amp.

If you are replacing pups already let me also suggest replacing the switch, pots and wiring as well. Lots of companies have cheesy pots and switches in their guitars, I'm also a big fan of push back cloth wire because it somehow takes the muffle out of a guitars tone....it's very strange.

Hope that helps, and welcome to the forum!

Luke
 
Re: Help with Pickups

I'll mirror the others. Jazz neck works for me. I've had the Alnico II in the neck, and it was very pretty sounding, but when I think of a RR, I think of something a little more, like a Jazz.

The Jazz is my favorite Duncan pickup.

For your bridge, I think if you're into all-out metal mayhem, you might go Distortion. If you want a little more versatility but still want some mayhem, you might go JB - it has a more musical sound but not as tight and aggressive. The Duncan Custom is also a worthy consideration . The nice thing about all those pups is that if you don't like them, you can re-sell them quite easily as they're very popular.
 
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