Low and medium output pickups for metal

[metalmachine1983]

I've switched to lower and medium output pickups in my guitars. I play in a death doom band. The amp I'm using is a engl fireball 100.

I have some pickups I love very much and others not so much.

I'm really just curious about bridge pickups
On 6 string the custom 59 hybrid is wonderful. On 7 string I really like a dimarzio blaze neck in the bridge position or air Norton in bridge.

I have a dimarzio 36th anniversary in a all koa carvin and I'm not digging it. Mainly the bass feels weak. Ive considered an alnico 8 swap.

That said I dont want the same pickup in all my guitars.
So I'm looking for some opinions and direction from those better versed in these types of pickups.

Here are some ve considered

Slash 2.0 and 3.0
High voltage
Hades and pearly gates
Wolftone Marshall head
Manlius hot rod59
Duncan 59
Dimarzio evolution or breed neck in bridge

so where do you guys think I should start looking for other pickups I may dig

 

[80's_Metal]

Pearly Gates does a pretty sweet bit of metal, and that's the only lower gain pup I ever kind of liked for Metal
The ENGL will surely make up for all the gAinZ.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I had my phase where I dug low output pickups for Metal too. The ones that stood out for me were.

Duncan '59 - Lots of agression up top and a firm bottom-end
Whole Lotta Humbucker - Like a '59 tweaked to take gain "better"
Fishman Fluence Classic Voice 1 - Like a '59 with more clarity
DiMarzio PAF Pro - Unique PAF-like output with a very emphatic and aggressive attack

As far as medium output pickups, but more towards the lower end of the spectrum, I also really dig the Gibson 498T.

 

[metalmachine1983]

I had my phase where I dug low output pickups for Metal too. The ones that stood out for me were.

Duncan '59 - Lots of agression up top and a firm bottom-end
Whole Lotta Humbucker - Like a '59 tweaked to take gain "better"
Fishman Fluence Classic Voice 1 - Like a '59 with more clarity
DiMarzio PAF Pro - Unique PAF-like output with a very emphatic and aggressive attack

As far as medium output pickups, but more towards the lower end of the spectrum, I also really dig the Gibson 498T.

Do you find the 59 overly scooped? Or is it more subtle? Does the park pro have a good amount of lows?

 

[Securb]

I had my phase where I dug low output pickups for Metal too. The ones that stood out for me were.

Whole Lotta Humbucker - Like a '59 tweaked to take gain "better"

I used the WLH with my post-hardcore band, it had plenty of grind for the gig

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Do you find the 59 overly scooped? Or is it more subtle? Does the park pro have a good amount of lows?

Depends on what you're comparing them to.

I didn't find the '59 overly scooped, but it is by no means a JB either. A thing about it is that I find it's scooped in the right frequencies to make it clear, shimerry, and aggressive, but still controlled. Have you tried the Custom? For me, the Custom is kinda scoopy with a super deep bottom-end. The '59 is scoopy too, but rather than being super deep, it leans more to having an open and shimmery high-end.

The PAF Pro is by no means an Invader, but in context of lower winds, is not thin either. The thing about the PAF Pro that stands out to me is that it's really attacky, but it's still very Alnico 5 in its low end's voicing.

However... if you want very mid-forward or very low-end focused, I don't think lower winds in general are what you should be looking at. IMO, the thing that lower winds do best is open and airy. They are clear and dynamic. If you want thick mids and lows, you're better off with something hotter, IMO.

 

[xxxplorer]

I liked the 59 with an A2, Pearly was cool. Motor City Black Belts (didn't like the 2nd degree tho)

 

[Binnerscot]

I consider the Full Shred to be medium output, maybe on the upper end of medium. That has always been a go to for me. Great for metal, punctual clarity. It certainly deviates from vintage voicing, but in a great way. One of my favorites over the years.

 

[metalmachine1983]

Depends on what you're comparing them to.

I didn't find the '59 overly scooped, but it is by no means a JB either. A thing about it is that I find it's scooped in the right frequencies to make it clear, shimerry, and aggressive, but still controlled. Have you tried the Custom? For me, the Custom is kinda scoopy with a super deep bottom-end. The '59 is scoopy too, but rather than being super deep, it leans more to having an open and shimmery high-end.

The PAF Pro is by no means an Invader, but in context of lower winds, is not thin either. The thing about the PAF Pro that stands out to me is that it's really attacky, but it's still very Alnico 5 in its low end's voicing.

However... if you want very mid-forward or very low-end focused, I don't think lower winds in general are what you should be looking at. IMO, the thing that lower winds do best is open and airy. They are clear and dynamic. If you want thick mids and lows, you're better off with something hotter, IMO.

That makes sense. I mean in the context of other paf pickups. Is it over scooped for it's type ect. Great answer though. That helped a lot.

 

[Sam SG]

I dont generally play metal. But the WLH seems like it would be cool to try.
I started using them for my stuff and love umm. Like a paf with more balls more lowend and a smoother more balanced high end.
When I did classic type metal I allways liked DiMarzio Super D( priest maiden etc..)

 

[Mincer]

With the amount of gain available in amps and pedals these days, lower output pickups can do metal just fine these days. I'd pick the 59, due to the tight bass and clarity. Yes, it is scooped, but a lot of metal is. It won't sound mushy when pushed.

 

[weepingminotaur]

I consider the Full Shred to be medium output, maybe on the upper end of medium. That has always been a go to for me. Great for metal, punctual clarity. It certainly deviates from vintage voicing, but in a great way. One of my favorites over the years.

Seconding the Full Shred rec. As far as voicing goes, it is definitely not a pickup you'd associate with traditional metal, but it has the articulation you want for the genre. It does need some EQ love (amp or pedal or both) to get to where you need to be for rhythm chugs and so on.

 

[beaubrummels]

FWIW I found that sinking the adjustable poles below the cover scooped a 498T enough to do metal, and replacing the adjustable poles in a '59 with hex heads made it a scooped metal monster, but more for rhythm. For leads, still needed a mid-heavy neck or bridge to get liquid, singing notes out of it.

 

[STLMTLHD79]

in recent years, i have gravitated towards medium Alnico 5 based pickups for metal. I currently play in a thrash band. The guitars i use all have different medium output Duncans: Parallel Axis, Full Shred, Custom 5, Custom (the only Ceramic mag pickups I like anymore), Hyperion, and Thrash Factor. I also play a 2019 LP Studio with stock 498T that is fantastic. I find all to be very good to great, but i really dig the Parallel Axis and Full Shred.

 

[STLMTLHD79]

Also to add, the Slash 2.0 is a solid pickup set, a little on the dark side, but it can definitely pull off some good classic metal (Maiden and Priest for sure!). The 80s 59 set in my 78 LP Standard has great tone and can also handle some classic metal. Not quite enough punch or grind for thrash.

 

[metalmachine1983]

So.... EQ is a funny thing. I have a mxr 10 band in the loop. I turn it off and the 36th part sounds exactly like what I want. It makes since too. I have a spike in the highs and upper Mid and the deepest bass cut.... So I had the rest of my rig eq to sound like a paf lol. It never occurred to me for months to turn that off and hear the pickup into the amp

 

[weepingminotaur]

in recent years, i have gravitated towards medium Alnico 5 based pickups for metal. I currently play in a thrash band. The guitars i use all have different medium output Duncans: Parallel Axis, Full Shred, Custom 5, Custom (the only Ceramic mag pickups I like anymore), Hyperion, and Thrash Factor. I also play a 2019 LP Studio with stock 498T that is fantastic. I find all to be very good to great, but i really dig the Parallel Axis and Full Shred.

The Thrash Factor is 16k in DCR; not sure I would call it a "medium" pickup. (and it isn't listed as such on the SD site, unlike the Custom/C5 and so on)