I need a suggestion for new pickups

gtrgrl

gtrgrl

New member
First post here. I've lurked here for a little while, but it's time to just ask - I need some new pickups, and I think you can help.

I was interested in buying a Les Paul type guitar, and bought an ESP LTD EC1000. It came with a Seymour Duncan 59 in the neck position, and a JB in the bridge. All I have to say is WOW! I have been bitten by the pickup bug. This thing rocks!!!! I love 80's glam metal and this guitar totally nails that sound.

The pickups are going to go into a Dean Hardtail. This guitar just doesn't cut it anymore after playing the Duncan pickups. It needs a sonic makeover!!!

I'm trying to set it up so it could play rock, pop, blues, metal, shred, or anything. I might also like to be able to split the pickups for a single coil Strat sound too. It was my main guitar until the ESP showed up.

What do you suggest? Oh yes, almost forgot, I'm playing through a Marshall DSL 401

Thanks!
 
Re: I need a suggestion for new pickups

What kind of wood is the Dean and is the neck set or bolt on?

If you like the 59 a pearly gates or jazz neck are good choices, while for the bridge a custom 5 or alt 8 are good choices.
 
Re: I need a suggestion for new pickups

allstarrme said:
What kind of wood is the Dean and is the neck set or bolt on?

If you like the 59 a pearly gates or jazz neck are good choices, while for the bridge a custom 5 or alt 8 are good choices.
Click to expand...

The Hardtail is a mahogany body with a maple top, and a set neck. It's like a Les Paul, but Strat shaped. And blue : )

I already have a 59, so I was looking for something different. I like a lot of variety. I listened to the soundclips, but I can't tell anything from those except that some have a lot of treble and some don't. The 59 in the neck of my EC1000 just sounds like every old rock song from 70's I have ever heard. I was thinking something more modern sounding, whatever modern sounding means. I guess something that doesn't sound like Led Zepplin.

I read the description of the Custom, and it sounds interesting. How different is it from the Custom 5? The Custom sounds like it might be too much of a metal pickup from the description.
 
Re: I need a suggestion for new pickups

Hardtails appear to be a mahogany shortscale, ebony fretboard, set neck, body thickness same as a PRS from what google tells me.

Should work with a fairly wide variety of pickups. Standard pickups are DMT's Equalizer (16.2K) and Nostalgia neck.

Given you already have the JB/59 in the EC1000, I'd do something different with the Hardtail. Custom and Pearly Gates neck, maybe. Could also do a Jazz or Full Shred neck.

String spacing appears to be 51.5mm, so I'd go with a TB spaced instead of SH for the bridge. So that'd be a TB-5 Custom and SHPG-1n Pearly Gates neck. (Neck pickups are always SH spaced.)

The Custom is great for anything from heavy blues to extreme metal, great punchy and biting tone, very open (uncompressed feeling) for a ceramic pickup.

Pearly Gates is Billy Gibbons (of ZZ Top) signature pickup. Great cleans, fat yet biting with distortion.

EDIT:
For a more modern tone, consider the Full Shred neck. It's kinda like the jazz, but a bit more biting.

As far as the Custom being too metal, it can go there, but it's very comfortable for rock and even heavy blues. A little too aggressive for really smooth tones, but a lot of people prefer to do that sort of lead on the neck pickup anyways.

The Custom 5 is a bit hit and miss, it can be quite shy on midrange in a lot of guitars. In that wood, unless you really like midrange and nothing else, I'd shy away from the Custom Custom as well. If you want to try your [or your tech's] hand at pickup modding, the Custom 8 might be a really good choice, though. [Take any Custom series pickup and swap it's magnet out for an A8].
 
Last edited:
Re: I need a suggestion for new pickups

in that guitar, i'd seriously consider a screamin demon for the bridge.
it's capable of decent clean sounds and can handle from pop to metal, as per your post.
loves marshalls too.
 
Re: I need a suggestion for new pickups

The Custom series are all the same wind, just different magnets. Ceramic for the original TB-5 Custom, AlNiCo 2 [A2] for the TB-11 Custom Custom and A5 for the TB-14 Custom Five.

Custom Custom in a strat is pure mid-80s Eddie Van Halen.

The Custom 5 is more like an exaggerated '59: more bass, more treble, more output, but less midrange. Good for balancing a midrange-heavy guitar like an SG.

The original Custom is one of the best ceramic pickups you'll find for classic rock. Doesn't behave at all like a lot of the hotter ceramic pickups. Not harsh, not overly thick, not too bright.

The Custom with an A8 magnet is like a cross between the Custom Custom and the TB-5. More midrange than the ceramic, with softer high end like an A2 pickup. Has a bit more upper midrange than an A2, and much higher output, about the same as the ceramic. Has bass more like the ceramic, but a slightly more open (less compressed) feel.
 
Re: I need a suggestion for new pickups

I have the Custom 5 in my Korean Dean Hardtail. (select)
Really versatile. Good clean tones. Sounds good split to singlecoil. Even has a really fat metal tone. Best for AC/DC tones, but works very well for Slayer too.

I have the Alnico 2 Pro in the neck. Great smooth lead pickup. Could use a touch more bite, though. So I would recommend the Pearly Gates.

Good luck.
 
Re: I need a suggestion for new pickups

astrozombie said:
Duncan custom, 59 neck.
Click to expand...

OP said something different doofus.

It's always tough when people want to play everything with one guitar, as there is no one pickup that makes "everything" sound good.

What types of music is it that you mean by "anything?" Rock, Pop, Shred is a pretty big range....can we have some names of bands as examples?

I don't know about the C5, not a pup I have played or own, but the Custom is a pretty fantastic pickup for all things rock, more or less. Don't know that I'd play blues on it. and the jazz is a pretty cool neck but and is "modern" sounding. It's definitely NOT a 59, A2P, or PG.

So a Jazz and something, perhaps the c5 would be my call. Any Jazz/C5 people out there?

Don't know about tapping those.
 
Re: I need a suggestion for new pickups

Ewww, C5. I say Custom and PG. I don't think the Custom will be too metal, it's not metal enough for me.
 
Re: I need a suggestion for new pickups

FOr that body style, try a set of A2Ps. Those things rock. The neck is one of my all time fav neck pickups. The bridge is good but the neck is where it shines.

You can always do what I did in my LP for your Dean. Screamin Demon (b) and a Pearly Gates (n)
 
Re: I need a suggestion for new pickups

Common guys - lots of new people out there, let's bring the A game for advice!
 
Re: I need a suggestion for new pickups

Well, I've been thinking about it a lot, doing more research, and reading what you have been posting. I think I have decided that I'm going to go with the Jazz neck and a Custom 5 in the bridge.

I was pretty certain that I was going to o for the Jazz neck. It was really a toss up between the Custom or the Custom 5. I finally settled on the Custom 5 because the Custom just seemed to be a bit much for this particulalr guitar. I think based on everything the Custom 5 will really give me that little extra something I'm looking for without being too much.

Plus - as I have read here, it is apparently really easy to swap a magnet and make it a Custom or a Custom Custom. Let's hope it doesn't come to that!

Thanks a lot for getting me through step one of my big pickup decision!
 
Re: I need a suggestion for new pickups

The jazz is going to have a really clear bell-like tone. Like a more refined 59.

I'm not a big fan of the custom or c5 but I do like the Custom Custom, especially in doublecuts. The Alnico 2 Pro might be another good option for the neck slot. So for something thicker and richer sounding I'd go with a Pearly Gates or A2p and a CC.

If you don't mind spending the cash a 78 is a GREAT pickup that covers a lot of sonic ground.
Luke
 
Re: I need a suggestion for new pickups

If that description of the Jazz is correct Luke, It will be great!

I don't mind spending the cash - But I haven't heard of the 78. What is that? I didn't see it in the Duncan product line?
 
Re: I need a suggestion for new pickups

I say go outside the box.

DiMarzio PAF and Super Distortion.
 
Re: I need a suggestion for new pickups

My 2 cents: for "modern" tones in a set neck/hardtail going thru a Marshall DSL
Jazz neck
Distortion bridge
 
Re: I need a suggestion for new pickups

If you want a guitar to play almost ANY style, I'd suggest the usual SH-4 at the bridge, it's the overall versatile pickup.

Jazz neck is the best combination to the SH-4 IMO
 
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