mahogany RG pickups

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pierce34celtic

New member
Looking to upgrade the crap V7/V8 pickups in my Mahogany RG2020xtb w/ piezo.
My budget is around $100, so preferably $50-60 per pickup.

For the bridge, I'm looking for something that'll handle thrash and some shred. Something along the lines of an EMG, but less compressed. Tones I like are Testament, Metallica, Vai, Petrucci.

For the neck, I need something that'll handle leads with OD. I'd also like it to have good cleans, nothing spectacular, but good. I want an ultra smooth pickup that could get some of these tones here:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=zcu7BVG7JE4 intro type tone for bridge, and smooth lead tone beginning 2:05

This would be another example of what I'm looking for as well:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=hgdfHobqS

I assume that he's using Dimarzios, but I'm open to any passive pickup options.
 
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Re: mahogany RG pickups

Considering the tones you want and the guitar you have i'm totally with Pinto79.

The Evo2 is less compressed than the regular Evolution or any EMG. It's super tight and very clear, what works great for fast thrash rhythms and Thrash. Generally a great pup for mahogany since it never muds out.

The Air norton in the Neck is all you want. Killer leads under gain, superb, warm, clear cleans and super smooth. This pup really sings.
 
Re: mahogany RG pickups

Well it's pretty much identical with the Evolution in output. It's not EMG but more along the Lines of a Duncan Custom or Distortion.
 
Re: mahogany RG pickups

Hmm, sounds good, I heard the Duncan Distortion is good for chunky metal rhythm stuff, woudl the Evo2 be similar?
 
Re: mahogany RG pickups

A Distortion in the bridge would be great for those tones. Not sure about the neck though.
 
Re: mahogany RG pickups

What type of bridge? If it's not a Floyd, the Custom might be a nice bridge pickup, I really like mine in the Paul for chunky rhythm.
 
Re: mahogany RG pickups

I think the sound you're lookin' for is part pickup, part amp. One pickup, as far as I'm concerned is not gonna corner all those artists you mentoned. I'll say the DiMarzio D Sonic because I use one and it'll shred, it's clean sounding - like the EMG 81, and it'll cover Petrucci. The clean tone is BRIGHT!

As far as I'm concerned also, it will NOT do true Metallica tones, but if you imagine you're James Hetfield for a second, you'll be Metallica-bound in no time! As a matter of fact, on YouTube there is a performance of Dream Theater covering 'Masters Of Puppets' live, and I think John Petrucci using the D Sonic in this performance, and you can hear how clean it sounds under distortion.

You could probably just use a type of distortion to get those thrash and shred tones you want.
 
Re: mahogany RG pickups

pierce34celtic said:
How's the D-sonic in comparison to a Duncan Distortion?
Click to expand...

They're both ceramic? Hahaha, I mean, the Distortion is chunky on the low end with distortion, but the D Sonic is more clean on the low end with some dirt - but on the whole it sounds more specifically Heavy Metal than the Distortion. The Distortion has clarity, raw treble, and feels very powerful. The D Sonic is bright, has better-defined strings, and alot of treble for good Heavy Metal soloing.
 
Re: mahogany RG pickups

For the BL L-500XL, you can listen to Five Minutes Alone by Pantera for a taste.

I haven't used a Distortion, D-Sonic or EVO2 to compare, but it's quite similar to Evo1 without the ceramic highs. They have the same bite, similar tightness, clarity but the BL sounds more organic to me (smoother) and has a certain depth to its voice (you can hear it in the beginning of 5 mins alone too). The lows also leave no tail behind (again like the Evo1), very tight.
 
Re: mahogany RG pickups

The L-500L would be too hot for the neck I think. The L-500C or L-500R are better choices. I haven't tried any BL in neck so I can't help you with the AN comparison.....
 
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