need pickup recomendation for oldschool metal

Re: need pickup recomendation for oldschool metal

Take the A5 magnet out of the JB and swap in a standard size ceramic. It's tone is somewhat in between the JB and Distortion. It has a little less bass, more crunch and sizzle than the JB, but didn't seem to be as piercing or as stiff as the Distortion.

Have you tried different tubes or cables with your setup? Careful selection can change crunch/gain/touch sensitivity/etc etc blah blah blah.

For instance, in my Splawn QR, Tung-Sol tubes are crunchier and more aggressive than when I used JJs. Also, the Monster cables I have tend to shave off some crunch/harmonics for more mids as opposed to my Core One Bullet Cables, which have more high end crunch and harmonics.
 
Re: need pickup recomendation for oldschool metal

Varg said:
Jeff Waters had the Custom in his Ran signature guitars, I would call his tone crisp rather than round.
Jeff has also used the old Dirty Fingers, so they are a good shout.
And of course, the 500T is what Hetfield used for a while in the early days.

So I would say ANY of those would be a good starting point.
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I would also say the SH5 Custom is crisp, but has a big, warm bottom end. Not really all that round.
 
Re: need pickup recomendation for oldschool metal

Varg said:
Jeff Waters had the Custom in his Ran signature guitars, I would call his tone crisp rather than round.
Jeff has also used the old Dirty Fingers, so they are a good shout.
And of course, the 500T is what Hetfield used for a while in the early days.

So I would say ANY of those would be a good starting point.
Click to expand...

I heard the 500T was almost identical in sound to the distortion.
 
Re: need pickup recomendation for oldschool metal

I thought Gary Holt switched to the EMG 81s???

What's Andreas Kisser using these days?
 
Re: need pickup recomendation for oldschool metal

how would a UOA5 custom sound for metal? i dont really like the tone of ceramic and the A2 CC is too loose for metal.
 
Re: need pickup recomendation for oldschool metal

Either a Duncan custom or a Gibson 500T (for more highs). If it were me, I'd go with the custom...

B ;)
 
Re: need pickup recomendation for oldschool metal

thanks everybody.i definetly need more treble. im also a boosted mids ala kerry king kind of guy. i need to be able to hear myself and hate scooped mids. wish i knew what kerry used before switching to emgs.
Have you tried different tubes or cables with your setup? Careful selection can change crunch/gain/touch sensitivity/etc etc blah blah blah.
Click to expand...
i have the hi gain jj's in the pre wich sound better than the sovteks that came with it. sovtek 6550we's in the pa. new cables too.
the custom sounds good. ide also like to be able to drive my amp without using any distortion form the pedal. right now i set it a t level 10, tone 10, drive 2.
is there a tonal difference between the sh-5 and tb-5? like i said, looking for more attack and crunch. everything i play has some palm muting in it, so that is important. clarity is also a bonus. thanks again.
 
Re: need pickup recomendation for oldschool metal

Varg said:
???

Explain please.
Click to expand...

A lot of people describe this pickup as being too harsh, cold and overly hot. It's came stock in the Les Paul Classic with the 496R, Les Paul Studio Lite, as well as the Jimmy Page LP, Joe Perry LP and a few others. Most people think its heresy to put these pickups in a Les Paul at all, since they use ceramic magnets, and it's just not a "Vintage" tone (it isn't). As such, they tend to get ripped out and replaced with lower output, A2 or A5 mag pickups to get that "classic" Les Paul sound.

I hated the 496R - it lacked character. The 500T is a different story. If you don't think of it as a Les Paul pickup and think of it as a hard rock/metal pickup AND you actually take the time to adjust the tone controls on your rig/guitar to suit this pickup, it shreds. People also say it's a one trick pony. Well, that's probably true, but it's a hell of a trick and the pony has got balls and will kick your teeth in.

IMHO, of course.
 
Re: need pickup recomendation for oldschool metal

For MetallicA there's the Invader, Dirty Fingers, H3+, and EMG 81. Don't know about other bands but these are what MetallicA used. I don't know what Kirk used but he also isn't heard playing rhythm on the record so I guess it doesn't matter what he had.


BTW to whoever said 500T for MetallicA you're mistaken. For a while I thought that as well but recently found out it came out in like 92 or something. An 84 explorer has dirty fingers stock which is what was used on Ride The Lightning. Master of Puppets is an Anderson H3+.
 
Re: need pickup recomendation for oldschool metal

James and Kirk are big EMG fans. They have sets for each player available at EMG if this is what you are after.
 
Re: need pickup recomendation for oldschool metal

this is the sound im looking for. of course youtube compression makes it sound like a ****ty mp3, but if you have the cd youl know what i mean.
i went as far as friending the shop that works on spikes guitars and friending spike(casidy) on facebook, but the shop told me its top secret and spikes just blowing me off. he used a les paul in the earlyer days too, but the production is crap on the earlyer c.d.'s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mid1LPj4Y9M
 
Re: need pickup recomendation for oldschool metal

oldschool thrasher said:
this is the sound im looking for. of course youtube compression makes it sound like a ****ty mp3, but if you have the cd youl know what i mean.
i went as far as friending the shop that works on spikes guitars and friending spike(casidy) on facebook, but the shop told me its top secret and spikes just blowing me off. he used a les paul in the earlyer days too, but the production is crap on the earlyer c.d.'s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mid1LPj4Y9M
Click to expand...

A Gibson Dirty Fingers will get you there quite well.
 
Re: need pickup recomendation for oldschool metal

That DRI tone can be had with either DD or Invader. It's more to do with the amplifier and equalization. Invader will sound bigger and have more "old school" tone whereas the DD will be more bitey and tighter. I personally think that the invader is the greatest metal pickup in ever, though everyone else seems to think that they suck butts.
 
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