Looking for a pickup recommendation for a Seven String! (Wall of Text incoming!)

[rjg10000]

Hello! Long time lurker and now official user of the forums looking for some help. I'm so sorry for the wall of text.

I was hoping to get a recommendation for a set of pickups to replace my current set of Seymour Duncan 7's. I've always been impressed with the immense knowledge and expertise this forum has so if anyone can help me, it's you guys!

The SD's in question are a Custom SH-5 in the bridge and a Jazz SH-2 in the neck. The guitar is a Carvin DC700, relevant specs are as follows:

Seven String
25.5 Inch Scale Length
Mahogany body wings with maple/walnut five piece neck with through neck construction.
Ebony Fingerboard
The music I play on this guitar spans progressive metal/rock, jazz/fusion, and ambient music.

I'm finding that the Custom is much too vintage minded. I love the wide vowel like single notes of solos, but the low end isn't as percussive as I'd like and the neutral midrange leads to a lack of aggression for modern tones. Tight rhythm tracking is important but I don't want to lose out on thickness to achieve that.

The Jazz in the neck is undoubtedly bright and articulate, which I like a lot, but is rather sterile. I'm looking for a neck humbucker that is expressive and soulful, with lots of personality. The cleans are also a bit flat sounding to me. I love lush, three dimensional clean sounds for my ambient music, with lots of top end sparkle. Single coils are my number one choice for cleans but I'm not looking to put singles in this guitar and I'd also like to avoid having to split the coils to get that sparkle either. The less knobs and switches to worry about when playing live, the better.

I find that I solo with both the neck and the bridge, so I'd like both pickups to do solos well, with the neck being very articulate for complicated runs and the bridge having a big, wide, vowel like tone for those "money notes". I also enjoy riffing on the neck pickup, so having it be clear and defined with gain would be great as well.

And finally, these are the pickups I've already tried and they didn't work for me:

Pegasus and Sentient:

These sounded great but the Pegasus lacked the tight, percussive low end I was looking for. The Sentient was sort of odd, it was great sounding, but it was just too polite for my ears. I need a neck pickup with some scream for when I dig in for solos. The cleans were also rather dark and not my style.

Dimarzio D-Activator Set:

The bridge was tight and percussive, no doubt about that, but just too sharp in the top end and I felt it lacked soul and expressiveness when soloing. The neck was also rather bland sounding. The cleans definitely benefited from the strong top end response though, so it wasn't all bad.

Seymour Full Shred Bridge:

This was a great sounding pickup that was very tight and didn't have the ear piercing top end like the D-Activator (And the BKP aftermath a friend had). It lacked punch though and didn't seem to have much in the way of body. I noticed it especially with single note riffing. Just didn't have the girth to pull it off right. I also wasn't too fond of the solo tones, since I usually do my complicated playing on the neck and the bridge is for my "Money notes", this pickup just didn't have that crying tone like the Duncan Custom did.

Full disclosure: I'm not just looking for Seymour Duncans as a replacement. I'm open to any and all brands and I don't dislike any brands outright. I do have the cash for boutique pickups like Lundgren, Fralin, BKP, etc, but if I don't have to go that route to get what I want I'd prefer not to.

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Looking for a pickup recommendation for a Seven String! (Wall of Text incoming!)

Rewire the Jazz for Parallel operation to get those sparkly tones. Another option you might consider is a JB in the neck, with a push/push knob to switch between series for rhythm/lead and parallel for cleans.

Your amp has to be set correctly to use the neck pickup for riffing, to compensate for the naturally heavier low-end and lack of mids/highs associated with the neck position. However, the bridge pickup would also have to be substantially dark to keep from being screechy with the same settings, unless you had a 3-channel amp where you could dial in a different EQ setting for both pickups. For this type of amp setup, I'd suggest the JB in the neck with the switching option above and the Custom or Custom5 in the bridge.

 

[Demanic]

Re: Looking for a pickup recommendation for a Seven String! (Wall of Text incoming!)

Black Winter set.

 

[Gibson 1964]

Re: Looking for a pickup recommendation for a Seven String! (Wall of Text incoming!)

Black Winter set.

Agreed.

 

[rjg10000]

Re: Looking for a pickup recommendation for a Seven String! (Wall of Text incoming!)

Thanks for the suggestions guys!

Rewire the Jazz for Parallel operation to get those sparkly tones. Another option you might consider is a JB in the neck, with a push/push knob to switch between series for rhythm/lead and parallel for cleans.

Your amp has to be set correctly to use the neck pickup for riffing, to compensate for the naturally heavier low-end and lack of mids/highs associated with the neck position. However, the bridge pickup would also have to be substantially dark to keep from being screechy with the same settings, unless you had a 3-channel amp where you could dial in a different EQ setting for both pickups. For this type of amp setup, I'd suggest the JB in the neck with the switching option above and the Custom or Custom5 in the bridge.

I definitely don't want to wire the neck in Parallel, it's way too thin and low output for my taste. I want that sparkle but I don't want to lose out on a nice deep bass response for it.
I've also noticed that the Jazz is more than capable of riffing out under heavy gain. It's an absurdly clear neck pickup, which I love. I just want something similar to it but with more expressiveness and a less sterile response while soloing.

Black Winter set.

I've had some experience with the set in the past when it was installed in a friend Ibanez 6 string tuned to drop C. It sounded great but I didn't feel the voicing of the pickup really suited my style. It was clear even with the amount of gain he uses, but I wasn't really impressed with the solo tones. I never really loved the Distortion to begin with though, and I've heard the Black Winter used that as a basis for design, so that might be why.

I did end up rewiring the Full Shred 7 I had sitting in my closet into this guitar again. It's really close to what I want, but lacks some punch and thickness. All of these pickups I've tried had some parts of them that I loved, but then had something else that didn't really match up to what I was looking for. I've been at this for over a month and I'm starting to wonder if Seymour's custom shop might do what I want but I've never used it. I'm not entirely sure how the process works and if they do full custom jobs.

 

[jtougas]

Re: Looking for a pickup recommendation for a Seven String! (Wall of Text incoming!)

I'd suggest the Parallel Axis p'ups, but I'm not sure whether they come in 7s?

 

[Ptolemaeus]

Re: Looking for a pickup recommendation for a Seven String! (Wall of Text incoming!)

Been doing this a lot lately, but I'm gonna throw out the Juggernauts from Bareknuckle. I haven't tried a better 7 string set, they cover all the bases very well.

 

[Demanic]

Re: Looking for a pickup recommendation for a Seven String! (Wall of Text incoming!)

Thanks for the suggestions guys!



I definitely don't want to wire the neck in Parallel, it's way too thin and low output for my taste. I want that sparkle but I don't want to lose out on a nice deep bass response for it.
I've also noticed that the Jazz is more than capable of riffing out under heavy gain. It's an absurdly clear neck pickup, which I love. I just want something similar to it but with more expressiveness and a less sterile response while soloing.



I've had some experience with the set in the past when it was installed in a friend Ibanez 6 string tuned to drop C. It sounded great but I didn't feel the voicing of the pickup really suited my style. It was clear even with the amount of gain he uses, but I wasn't really impressed with the solo tones. I never really loved the Distortion to begin with though, and I've heard the Black Winter used that as a basis for design, so that might be why.

I did end up rewiring the Full Shred 7 I had sitting in my closet into this guitar again. It's really close to what I want, but lacks some punch and thickness. All of these pickups I've tried had some parts of them that I loved, but then had something else that didn't really match up to what I was looking for. I've been at this for over a month and I'm starting to wonder if Seymour's custom shop might do what I want but I've never used it. I'm not entirely sure how the process works and if they do full custom jobs.

You could always try replacing one of the sets of Allen heads with fillister screws a la Screaming Demon. Probably the one's in the coil that would be the slug coil.

 

[Snake Aces]

Re: Looking for a pickup recommendation for a Seven String! (Wall of Text incoming!)

I just stopped by to catch the wall of text. I've seen worse.

 

[rjg10000]

Re: Looking for a pickup recommendation for a Seven String! (Wall of Text incoming!)

I just stopped by to catch the wall of text. I've seen worse.

I'll be sure to up my game for next time!

You could always try replacing one of the sets of Allen heads with fillister screws a la Screaming Demon. Probably the one's in the coil that would be the slug coil.

Hmm. Now that's an interesting idea. Where could I get those specific fillister screws?

I'd suggest the Parallel Axis p'ups, but I'm not sure whether they come in 7s?

Seems if I want them for 7 I'd have to go custom shop to get them. I'm really hoping to avoid any major expenses.

Been doing this a lot lately, but I'm gonna throw out the Juggernauts from Bareknuckle. I haven't tried a better 7 string set, they cover all the bases very well.

I will definitely look into those. If I can't find what I want out of the more affordable brands, that will be my first stop.

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[El Dunco]

Re: Looking for a pickup recommendation for a Seven String! (Wall of Text incoming!)

Without trying to come across as a traitor to Seymour, how about a Lundgren M7 for the bridge? They have pretty awesome clarity and don't lose any definition no matter how low your bottom string is.

 

[rjg10000]

Re: Looking for a pickup recommendation for a Seven String! (Wall of Text incoming!)

Without trying to come across as a traitor to Seymour, how about a Lundgren M7 for the bridge? They have pretty awesome clarity and don't lose any definition no matter how low your bottom string is.

I have looked into them and played them on one occasion. I didn't get that percussive feel out of them but they were amazing articulate. I might think about revisiting them.

http://www.dimarzio.com/pickups/7-string/ionizer-7-bridge

http://www.dimarzio.com/pickups/7-string/ionizer-7-neck

I haven't really heard much about those. I'll look into them!

I'm waiting on a new switch for my 7 to wire in the full shreds properly and see what they sound like standard and with the fillister screws. I'll update this when that happens.

Thanks for the help so far!

 

[RustInPeace]

Re: Looking for a pickup recommendation for a Seven String! (Wall of Text incoming!)

I liked the full shred 7 as well. I aslo thought it lacked a little something. Just a little more oomph! Try a Nazgul with an alnico 5 magnet instead of the ceramic. The alnico reduces some of the nasty mids the nazgul pushes.

 

[El Supremo]

Re: Looking for a pickup recommendation for a Seven String! (Wall of Text incoming!)

Try some regular fillister screws in the Full Shred instead of the hex poles. Should give you a bit more body.

 

[Aasinsilta]

Re: Looking for a pickup recommendation for a Seven String! (Wall of Text incoming!)

Maybe use a pedal like a TubeScreamer to color the tone to your liking?

 

[rjg10000]

Re: Looking for a pickup recommendation for a Seven String! (Wall of Text incoming!)

I liked the full shred 7 as well. I aslo thought it lacked a little something. Just a little more oomph! Try a Nazgul with an alnico 5 magnet instead of the ceramic. The alnico reduces some of the nasty mids the nazgul pushes.

If I can find a used Nazgul really cheap, I might try that. I don't want to mod new pickups since I plan on using the return policy if I don't like it.

Try some regular fillister screws in the Full Shred instead of the hex poles. Should give you a bit more body.

I ended up trying that last night. I tried replacing the poles in each coil individually as well as replacing all the hex poles with fillisters. My favorite setup was with the slug coil side replaced with fillisters. It added body and thickness but it took away some of the percussiveness and the immediacy of the attack. I'm back to just hex poles now. I really need that tight response.

Maybe use a pedal like a TubeScreamer to color the tone to your liking?

This is running through an Axe FX II so I have complete control over my tone. I have tried lots in the amps and pedals side of things and I'm very close but it just needs something more that I can't seem to dial in. The Axe FX is much more transparent and susceptible to pickup changes than most people think so that's why I'm going the pickup route. The Full Shreds are close but I want a balance of thickness and articulation with a immediate and punchy response. It seems to lack punch and thickness.

As of now I'm going to check out Dimarzio Ionizers, BKP Juggernauts, a used Nazgul, and Lundgren M7s. My buddy has a set of Lundgrens in his Ibanez so I'll go over there in the next few days to check 'em out again and see if my thoughts have changed. Thanks so much for the responses guys! I'm really hoping to find something soon as this search is getting old.