hottest pups for metal tone

[JacksonMIA]

Re: hottest pups for metal tone

I like the suggestion of Custom in the bridge and a Jazz bridge in the neck. It'll give you a lot of versatility, but it will still sound great for high gain playing.

 

[Archer_of_Fish]

Re: hottest pups for metal tone

I have always gotten fatter high gain tones from low output pickups into a hot amp.


If you have a lower gain amp then a hot pickup will punch it up a notch.

Have to agree with the EMG guys....they are not sterile sounding at all. THey just sound different than a passive. I like both.

 

[emilio]

Re: hottest pups for metal tone

the guitar im getting already has a 59 in the neck. do u think thatll do good w/ the JB. i heard they do great together.

 

[TattooedCarrot]

Re: hottest pups for metal tone

IMO, still sterile as hell!!!!!!! Kirk Hammet, Zakk Wylde both play EMG's and I dont like their tone! So what, Vai and satch play Dimarzios, does that mean we all should think they are golden sounding pickups becasue they play them?????

Got a question, you play through a 5150 dont you? Also, do you down tune?

I hate Kirk and Zakk's tone too, but I dig EMG's and do not consider them sterile. I'd say they are a bit compressed and hi=fi, but not sterile.

I also don't like Vai or Satch's tone, playing is cool, tone sucks IMO.

Have you heard Jeff's 5150 EMG combo? Through a POD no less? Very clean and brutal metal tone, and tuning down has nothing to do with it. In fact, I love old Iommi tone and he used to tune down to C#, so what?

and finally, here's Lukather's emotive soloing clip with EMG's and IMO the tone is pure heaven (compressed, but I like it). oh, and it's niether metal nor sterile IMO.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtVsJmCz3NU&search=lukather

 

[frehley]

Re: hottest pups for metal tone

So Archer, did you find a EMG that sounded pretty good to you. I thought you felt they were pretty mediocre? By the way, I just heard a 9k Fralin humbucker set that just killed. I wouldn't use them for metal but I'd use them for anything else, very impressive. I'll also need to pick up a set of their '54 style single-coils as well to try. Have you used these singles before?
I want the most quack out of notches 2 & 4. What do you think?

 

[WaR HeaD]

Re: hottest pups for metal tone

the guitar im getting already has a 59 in the neck. do u think thatll do good w/ the JB. i heard they do great together....ok check this out. i want it hot enough for metallica tones. i kno they use EMGs but im still a newbie and my fingers still suck. but i also want some nice clean ones.

if you already have a duncan on the neck just put another duncan there... the jb and 59 set is the one "metal" brands like jackson or ESP use more on his top notch guitars... the custom is a good option also...these won´t be a bad choice

btw if your fingers "suck" and you want to go better as soon as possible i would recommend you to try actives better...they will just show you how much your fingers suck or not... i mean, if you start playing with emgs or duncan actives your technique will become clinical, because you will try not to produce noise out of your fingers, and for this porpouse the actives beeing cleaner pups will reproduce that noise better than pasives...

and about the dynamics....who cares about them if you are plugin the axe in a hi gain monster with the gain at 8... dynamics goes off with the compression that the hi gain amps produces, also the dynamics goes off with long cable situations or wireless systems...
there is a lot of people with passives that can´t sound good enough with all of his articulation and response, and a lot of active users sounding like heaven. i don´t think im going to discover america with this but, the pups won´t play for us.

yesterday i bought a guitar with emgs and now i want my other axe to have emgs, the tone the emgs produces is awesome for metal...

btw, the great thing about this forum is that i can say this without beeing flamed

 

[emilio]

Re: hottest pups for metal tone

then i guess im getting emgs

 

[emilio]

Re: hottest pups for metal tone

thanx guys

 

[emilio]

Re: hottest pups for metal tone

wait.... which emgs should i get. i did some research and james hetfield uses emg 60s while kirk uses 81s.should i get one of each? or choose between one set?

 

[D-EJ915]

Re: hottest pups for metal tone

Well hetfield uses a 60 and an 81, I don't remember the positions but probably 81 bridge 60 neck. As for me, I love dual 81s but DSS hates that setup, lol. It's all personal preference.

 

[JerardoHead]

Re: hottest pups for metal tone

That's what I have in my Ibanez, a Custom/Bridge and a Jazz/Neck. Great sound with all kinds of amp settings.

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: hottest pups for metal tone

When I listen to somebody playing with EMGs it feels like someone is stabbing my brain with a fork.

And not the good kind man. the bad kinda fork.

-X

 

[emilio]

Re: hottest pups for metal tone

y?

 

[Zepp3lin]

Re: hottest pups for metal tone

Hey Emilio, I've tried both EMGs and JB both works great for hard rock to metal. Dimarzio works great too, if you know howto control your tone.

 

[emilio]

Re: hottest pups for metal tone

im pretty sure that im goin to get emgs but im not sure which ones. im thinking a 60 and an 81 but i dont kno where to place them.

 

[sufferinrewind]

Re: hottest pups for metal tone

James Hetfield uses the 81 in the bridge with the 60 in the neck, while Kirk uses 81s in the neck and bridge.

The DiMarzio X2N is supposed to be insanely hot. I haven't heard anyone mention it, so I guess it either sucks or no one here has any experience with it. I personally don't, so I can't really say anything about it except for what I've read on DiMarzio's website.

 

[AmirH]

Re: hottest pups for metal tone

What type of guitar is it? That matters a lot. The 81 sounded pretty bad in the bridge of my sg. Way too thin. It sounds totally different in the neck position of that guitar. I'm a big fan of the 85- very tight and very versatile. More organic sounding than the 81 but not quite as clinical. I'm not sure I'd put it in an lp though. No experience with the 60 though sorry.

 

[daemon barbeque]

Re: hottest pups for metal tone

i use duncan distortion and it ripps vereything off that i heard.Still very clear and sounds good at low gain/clear settings.
for emgs ,i played quite a while and i found them very thin.maybe the 60 is good ,harmony central is a good source to read about it!!!!

 

[daemon barbeque]

Re: hottest pups for metal tone

And , don't forget.the wattage of your amp does not mean how much gain it has.Gain is always made by the preamp.Onyl headroom will be defined with wattage.

 

[emilio]

Re: hottest pups for metal tone

What type of guitar is it? That matters a lot. The 81 sounded pretty bad in the bridge of my sg. Way too thin. It sounds totally different in the neck position of that guitar. I'm a big fan of the 85- very tight and very versatile. More organic sounding than the 81 but not quite as clinical. I'm not sure I'd put it in an lp though. No experience with the 60 though sorry.

im going to put them in a Fender Showmaster. do u think thats a good combo? 60/81 in a Showmaster/