Need pickup suggestions for a Charvel Star, mahogany body, rosewood board...

[LP82]

Just picked up a Charvel Star guitar on closeout. Need some suggestions for a bridge pickup. It's a mahogany body, maple neck with rosewood board. Also has a Floyd. We do hard rock, classic hard rock, and classic metal. I play through a high gain amp, a Blades Reaper. Thanks in advance.

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Need pickup suggestions for a Charvel Star, mahogany body, rosewood board...

Have you played it yet?

I would say play it first to see what you think of the pickup(s) to see what is lacking/needed.

That being said, I think a Dimebucker/Bill Lawrence 500XL should get some serious consideration A JB would easily cover those styles; however, some people don't like the way a JB sounds and responds to Mahogany.

 

[LP82]

Re: Need pickup suggestions for a Charvel Star, mahogany body, rosewood board...

It's a Chinese made Charvel, and the pickup is Chinese also. Not very "open" or "alive" sounding. Want something with more presence, high output, and good harmonics. I'm going to swap out all the hardware too (install an original Floyd instead of the Special it has on it now).

 

[iamthesuck]

Re: Need pickup suggestions for a Charvel Star, mahogany body, rosewood board...

Dimebucker is good if you want to go a more treble route. Duncan Distortion is VERY agressive by most accounts. I have a Duncan Alt-8 I'm trying to get rid of because I accidentally got trem spacing on it, but it has a good sound. Dimarzio has a few good pickups for hard rock and classic metal. I really liked my super distortion and still love my tone zone, but those are a lot more fat sounding. Something like the X2N or you could get some "made for djent" pickups from duncan or dimarzio as well.

 

[Demanic]

Re: Need pickup suggestions for a Charvel Star, mahogany body, rosewood board...

Another vote for the three abovementioned. I particularly like the Alt8.

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk

 

[Aceman]

Re: Need pickup suggestions for a Charvel Star, mahogany body, rosewood board...

Distortion

 

[elelpe]

Re: Need pickup suggestions for a Charvel Star, mahogany body, rosewood board...

PATB-1

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Need pickup suggestions for a Charvel Star, mahogany body, rosewood board...

It's a Chinese made Charvel, and the pickup is Chinese also. Not very "open" or "alive" sounding. Want something with more presence, high output, and good harmonics. I'm going to swap out all the hardware too (install an original Floyd instead of the Special it has on it now).

Dimebucker/Bill Lawrence 500XL:

More Presence? Check

High Output? Check

Best Harmonics? Triple Check (my opinion ofcourse )


The Distortion is a good suggestion as well. I haven't tried the Alt-8 so I will leave that to other forum bros.

The DiMarzio Crunch Lab would also work but I found it to be one-dimensional...didn't really like clean tones.

Another great pickup is the Gibson 500T–I love it in Mahogany (both Les Pauls and Strats)

 

[Mincer]

Re: Need pickup suggestions for a Charvel Star, mahogany body, rosewood board...

I like the Alternative 8 or the Custom. But any of the suggestions here might work. Do some research and hear some of the suggestions, and one would be perfect for you.