Looking to swap all the EMG's in my guitars for new pickups. Looking for suggestions.

[Ahamay]

Looking to lose the emgs out of a couple guitars and replace the bridge of another.

Ill start by telling you what axes i own that I love the tone in.

Sterling Ax40d with the Dimarzio axis pups and basswood body
Diamond Halcyon ZB Sig. with Duncan pegasus/sentient pups with mahogany body and maple top


Now for the axes with the emgs that will be leaving

Jackson MG DK Dinky with alder body
ESP mh-350fr with Mahogany body and maple top.

I also recently got one of the new ibanez rg premium's with a basswood body with Dimarzio Tone Zone, True Velvet, and Air Norton.
I dont like the TZ. Too bassy in this axe. I replaced it with a Illuminator and it helped alot but still not what i want to settle on. Looking at the AT-1.

The dimarzio Titans look appealing and also the duncan custom 5. I am finding i like more conservative output pickups these days.
I play prog/power metal if that helps, so note clarity is a must.

 

[Ahamay]

Re: Looking to swap all the EMG's in my guitars for new pickups. Looking for suggesti

Nobody?

 

[stratguy23]

Re: Looking to swap all the EMG's in my guitars for new pickups. Looking for suggesti

Assuming your stock EMG installs were of the 3-prong connector type, I'd first look to swap in other active pickups with those connectors. That's faster and less expensive/time-consuming than switching from active to passive.

So you'd have the entire EMG and Duncan active catalogue to try. Maybe try the 57/66 set or the lower output X series. The Duncan Blackouts are nice, though they are extremely high output. I have found note clarity much more likely with active pickups than passives.

If you must go active, and want medium output pickups with clarity, then the Custom 5 and Perpetual Burn come to mind for bridge position. If you want something different from the Sentient, the Jazz neck would be a natural candidate. In the Dimarzio catalogue, well, there's a whole bunch of stuff. Maybe try something like a Fred or Transition in the bridge and one of the PAF models (36th anniversary, Master) in the neck.

 

[gregory]

Re: Looking to swap all the EMG's in my guitars for new pickups. Looking for suggesti

If the TZ isn't working for you, I'd be leery of the AT-1.

The Pegasus might be worth looking at unless someone with hands-on experience is conerned that it has too much bottom end. I had an A5-loaded 43AWG symmetrically-wound 13k in basswood that tends to be a little honky and it worked out quite well for medium and high gain stuff. I'm a hard-rock lead player. I don't know that I would take it over my 81 for aggressive right hand metal riffing (not that it is my forte). I like my 81, but it's from the mid-'80s and feels like it has an A5. Maybe that's why I have a hard time understanding all the EMG hate that I read.

 

[Ahamay]

Re: Looking to swap all the EMG's in my guitars for new pickups. Looking for suggesti

Yea, I want to go passive. I like to be to able to have some nice cleans. Rewiring is not a problem. I just like the characteristics of passives. The 57/66 are my favorite active. The alder guitar I have low tuned to c standard and I need something that would keep the bass tight

 

[Ahamay]

Re: Looking to swap all the EMG's in my guitars for new pickups. Looking for suggesti

Damn. I'm really looking at the at1 too. I like it, it's just too boomy in the basswood. If it was less bassy and less gain. It would be great. Which is what the at1 seemed like it would fix.

 

[gregory]

Re: Looking to swap all the EMG's in my guitars for new pickups. Looking for suggesti

I have not heard any demos suggesting that the Peagasus has anything but nice cleans for what it is.

EDIT: I missed that you have a Pegasus already. D'oh!!!

Regarding my skepticism over EMG/Active hate, both my 81 and 85 are gathering dust. Read into it anyway you wish.

 

[Ahamay]

Re: Looking to swap all the EMG's in my guitars for new pickups. Looking for suggesti

I have no hate for emgs. Just not my preference anymore.

 

[gregory]

Re: Looking to swap all the EMG's in my guitars for new pickups. Looking for suggesti

It's cool man. I respect that!

It was a general rant, which I should have kept to myself.

 

[Ahamay]

Re: Looking to swap all the EMG's in my guitars for new pickups. Looking for suggesti

I used to play only death metal. And all my axes had emgs. But as I've moved to more power/prog and tasted some crunchy passives. My taste in tone has changed

 

[Despair]

Re: Looking to swap all the EMG's in my guitars for new pickups. Looking for suggesti

I'd consider keeping one active around... Though I could certainly understand swapping to some of the newer, more vintage tone capable actives.

There's a lot of fun options depending on what you want out of the guitars. One thing if you are running into a guitar that has problems with too much lower mids or bass is to try shorter screws under the wound strings. 5-40 0.5" hex screws are a great under bass strings, and pretty readily available on ebay. They emphasize attack as well, which is nice for the wound strings. [Can also clip the screws you have, but alloy differences do affect it, and since I'm happy with the sound I get, I don't care at all that the black hex screws look weird.]

If you've never tried a Parallel Axis pickup, I highly recommend them. Tony MacAlpine [PATB-1b and PATB-1n] and Blues Saraceno [PATB-3] have used them. PATB-2 is great for gonzo metal, my favorite ceramic full-sized humbucker [I generally don't get along with ceramic pickups at all]. I have an early nineties Ibanez RG570 that I hated the original pickups on. Wound up swapping for a JB which was terrible for anything but lead. Guitar exaggerated the midrange honk of the JB, and managed to have loose bass and excessive lower midrange. Useless for rhythm or cleans. Swapped for a PATB-1b, which is at least as good for leads and vastly more flexible. And cured the flubby lower mids problem. And has sweeter high end, rather than focused upper mids. Didn't lose anything in harmonics.

Custom series are a lot of fun, and if you start messing with magnet swaps, one pickup purchase can let you try out 3 different pickups. And several variations Seymour Duncan doesn't mass produce. A2 is a Custom Custom [probably too bassy/squishy for a prog rocker, but some do like them if only for leads], A5 is a Custom 5 [punchy, but slightly scooped mids. Great in a guitar with excessive mids, but inadequate midrange for my tastes], ceramic is the original Custom, which sounds like an incredibly punchy hot-rodded PAF. My 2nd favorite ceramic humbucker, though I sometimes have trouble with the ceramic bite in it...

Custom 8 is a popular mod, A8 magnet tames the high end of the ceramic Custom, rolls off the deep bass a hair but stays punchy, while giving a slightly more open feel. Surface54 [SurfaceX on youtube, IIRC] used to have some great demos, really showed off the open roar it gets. Strangely vintage modern metal tones.

Custom with Unoriented A5 [or even Roughcast Unoriented A5] is somewhere between the Custom Custom and the Custom 5. Slighly lower output and more mids, smoother high end than C5, compared to CC has more output and a bit less squishy, more & tighter deep bass and more high end.

P-Rails are another fun pickup option, especially with matching Triple Shot pickup rings. Sort of Tone Zone-ish in series, but in parallel drops to behave more like a bubbly PAF. Then there's the single coilish rail split tone, and the P-90 option. P-90s are ridiculously underutilized for metal tones [probably because they tend to be noisy...]. 4 pickups in one, and hardly a jack of all trades, master of none situation.

 

[Ahamay]

Re: Looking to swap all the EMG's in my guitars for new pickups. Looking for suggesti

Are there any medium output actives? I never heard about swapping screws. I've read a little about swapping magnets but never tried it. From the pickups I've tried I like the ones with alinco v magnets. I've heard some good clips from the custom 5. My amp is mid focused it seems. What is meant by Custom with Unoriented A5 [or even Roughcast Unoriented A5]. Your description sounds appealing

 

[Mincer]

Re: Looking to swap all the EMG's in my guitars for new pickups. Looking for suggesti

I like alder- I use a Alnico II Pro and a Custom Custom in mine, and it adds some nice mids. Go with a Jazz/Custom set if you want a more modern, cutting tone. What kind of music are you playing with these guitars? For the mahogany one, I'd look at either a Custom 5 if the natural tone of the body is mid-heavy, or a 59/Custom Hybrid if you want more of a traditional PAF-type EQ profile, but still want a little compression in there.

 

[Ahamay]

Re: Looking to swap all the EMG's in my guitars for new pickups. Looking for suggesti

The alder guitar I keep in c standard and play more melodic metal. And the mahogany one in drop d and power/prog metal. I think I like paf tone based on the description but never used one. How hot is the custom 5?

 

[gregory]

Re: Looking to swap all the EMG's in my guitars for new pickups. Looking for suggesti

Fairly hot. Problem is it doesn't have a lot of mids. I like a RUA5 but the bass begins to get loose. It's slightly weaker, too; but unless it results in a balance problem with the neck causing you to adjust pickup heights to the point that it compromises tone, I don't see that as an issue.

The 59/Custom is really an amazing pickup.

...so is the Screamin' Demon!

 

[Ahamay]

Re: Looking to swap all the EMG's in my guitars for new pickups. Looking for suggesti

The 59/custom seems to have a lot of love. Might try that. It seem in general the custom line is highly recommended.

I had a screaming demon a long long time ago and was so disappointed....but I had an entry level bc rich and a ****ty solid state amp so can't go off that lol.......How little I knew back then

 

[gregory]

Re: Looking to swap all the EMG's in my guitars for new pickups. Looking for suggesti

Both are extremely expressive pickups.

I have a not-****ty solid state amp, and with it the Screamin' Demon is just amazing. I have it set to that you need to dig in a little to get it to be crunchy. When I push the amp with an OD, the result is heavenly. It is so dynamic and expressive, that even with a ton of gain I can back off and it cleans up beautifully; and by beautifully, the cleaned-up tone is beautiful. It works great with tube amps as well; with or without an OD.

Well worth another try considering your style has evolved and especially considering that your guitar already has a strong bottom. The Screamin' Demon will work very well with that tonality. It's just a matter of whether you like the voicing.

 

[Ahamay]

Re: Looking to swap all the EMG's in my guitars for new pickups. Looking for suggesti

It sounds like I might have to give another chance. A good bit of the time, I keep my od off and my vol. Rolled down just a hair. Just gives me a nice warm crunch

 

[gregory]

Re: Looking to swap all the EMG's in my guitars for new pickups. Looking for suggesti

These days I run two channels: clean and crunch. I treat the Screamin Demon like I would a single coil. So for warm crunch I'll leave the OD on and roll back the volume and maybe the tone ('50s vs. modern wiring can come into play). Otherwise I just use my OD mainly for leads and pushed cleans. With the Screamin' Demon I don't find myself using the clean channel that often because it cleans up so well. It's a great pickup if you like to stack ODs too.

It's better suited for playing loud; not particularly good for the bedroom warrior, I don't think. I don't know that it's all that adept at modern molten metal.

 

[Despair]

Re: Looking to swap all the EMG's in my guitars for new pickups. Looking for suggesti

Are there any medium output actives? I never heard about swapping screws. I've read a little about swapping magnets but never tried it. From the pickups I've tried I like the ones with alinco v magnets. I've heard some good clips from the custom 5. My amp is mid focused it seems. What is meant by Custom with Unoriented A5 [or even Roughcast Unoriented A5]. Your description sounds appealing

A2 is [as well as holding a weaker magnetic charge] unoriented. It means that the magnetic structure isn't perfectly focused in one direction. An Unoriented A5 has a stronger magnetic field than an A2, and stronger mids than a standard A5. It's somewhere half to two-thirds of the way between the A2 and A5.

When a magnet is cast, it has a rough finish. The most common magnets in guitar pickups have that polished to a smooth finish, which gives the most consistent contact with the polepieces, and a more biting treble. Roughcast darkens things a hair, some describe a slightly different texture to the tone.

Both of those features can be combined, thus Roughcast Unoriented.

I didn't mention A3 in that, which is even lower output than A2, and has less bass to low end, but more sweet treble chime. Brighter than A2, but in a well-mannered fashion. Also left out A4, which is particularly popular in neck pickups, as it has pretty balanced frequency response, but attack is like an A5, with stronger output than the lower numbered alnicos.

Neat thing about magnets is they are fairly cheap, so you can order a collection. I'd get a gamut, A2, A3, A4, Roughcast A4, Roughcast A5, UO A5, Roughcast UO A5, and A8. Gives a great toolbox for tweaking pickups, either to better match a guitar, or just to get an entirely new flavor.

In my Ibanez RG570, I have the SH-4 JB that didn't work in the bridge as the neck pickup, but with an A3 magnet, with the studs toward the neck, and 0.5" hex screws under the wound strings. It volume balances pretty well with a bridge A5 [the PATB-1b], is incredibly fat but doesn't fart out, and has a really sweet treble and mids like an A2 JB. I like the clean tones better than the other pickups in the guitar. Works for rock rhythm, but the girth is a bit unwieldly for speedmetal rhythm, though it isn't pure fail, it just feels and sounds odd for that task. But not many like neck pickups for speed metal rhythm anyways, so no loss there, it's still better than the original V1 neck pickup.

I didn't get into neck pickups, as tastes vary on those, but which is chosen often depends on the bridge pickup. The Screamin' Demon is a popular neck pickup for people who want a hotter, but not out of control neck pickup, for example. All-screw pickups tend to be great as neck pickups, because of the reduced lower mids and bass, and lowered output.