New bridge pup for metal

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nyk03x2

New member
So far I've used the JB, Invader, DD and Custom and would like to try something new. I'm looking for a bridge pickup for metal, it has to stay focused, tight and never thin. I was looking at the Custom 5 and Jazz Bridge and wondering,

1. Which pickup is tighter? I was very satisfied with the tightness of the Custom but not so with the others.

2. Which pickup has more mids? I really liked the mid voicing of the Duncan Distortion, very thick in high gain, but didn't like its tightness, was not quite near the Custom - it always had this sag when playing really fast palm muted stuff that I could never dial out.


Any suggestions?
 
Re: New bridge pup for metal

IDk, but i'm in your boat, I've gone from JB to DD, and now I'm thinking about the Custom, but what are your metal thoughts on the invader? I'm curious. I guess FWIK, I have a Jazzb in my neck and its extremely bassy in a good way (sounds brutal) and cleans up really nice. Not sure about strong mids, but it goes good with anything I've had in the bridge so far.
 
Re: New bridge pup for metal

nothing beats the blackout bridge for me. tight, bright, focused, doesn't get muddy, and always ripping heads off :D
 
Re: New bridge pup for metal

Depends on the guitar and tuning for the FS. I found it could get quite thin on leads and also had so much top end sizzle that it was actually NOT tight enough in standard tuning. That goes away in many ways if you tune down but in my guitar at least (mahogany schecter) it just had too much top end crunch- would sometimes turn the tone off all the way just to get rid of it for thrash riffing and needless to say that didn't sound great either. That said, it's a very cool pup and I've kept it around to eventually pop in a darker guitar.
 
Re: New bridge pup for metal

Hmm I'm really not looking for the Full Shred, I want something with at least as much bass as the Distortion, and a very tight one at that.
 
Re: New bridge pup for metal

donahue1 said:
IDk, but i'm in your boat, I've gone from JB to DD, and now I'm thinking about the Custom, but what are your metal thoughts on the invader? I'm curious. I guess FWIK, I have a Jazzb in my neck and its extremely bassy in a good way (sounds brutal) and cleans up really nice. Not sure about strong mids, but it goes good with anything I've had in the bridge so far.
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The Invader is OK for general metal, but I play prog/power/shred a lot and it sucks for that. Too much fat low mids drowning out anything else. As far as low end goes, the DD and Custom can get as brutal as Invader (and punchier), just that the Invader sounds a little fatter.
 
Re: New bridge pup for metal

Get a Bill and Becky L500XL. A 59 is cool too! I hated the custom 5, as much as people love it, it sounded too bassy for me and kinda like it was trying to cover up my guitar... making it sound too fat! 59 is killer though if you want to stay duncan, it was tight for me and had plenty of lows, plus the cleans were good! The L500XL is a totally different beast! Clean it sounds crystally and pure (with a good clean channel!) but has character, and over driven it tightens up and chunks really really good on the low, but on the high strings it really rips through the mix... it responds to pick attack and tone and vol. controls. I always clean it up with vol and it is scary how good I can get it. I play blues to metal to country wierdness with it and I love it!
 
Re: New bridge pup for metal

xxxplorer said:
Get a Bill and Becky L500XL. A 59 is cool too! I hated the custom 5, as much as people love it, it sounded too bassy for me and kinda like it was trying to cover up my guitar... making it sound too fat! 59 is killer though if you want to stay duncan, it was tight for me and had plenty of lows, plus the cleans were good! The L500XL is a totally different beast! Clean it sounds crystally and pure (with a good clean channel!) but has character, and over driven it tightens up and chunks really really good on the low, but on the high strings it really rips through the mix... it responds to pick attack and tone and vol. controls. I always clean it up with vol and it is scary how good I can get it. I play blues to metal to country wierdness with it and I love it!
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I have a "lawrence usa" not bill and becky and what you say sounds dead on, but I'm wondering the real diff b/t the "lawrence usa" and the Bill and Becky?
 
Re: New bridge pup for metal

I have not played the BL USA yet, but Dime did say he got his from Stew Mac, which would be the BLUSA. His origional is a Bill and Becky, you can tell from the chrome housing. I want to try a BLUSA, just to compare. They also made the 500XXL that someone else here has and loves.
 
Re: New bridge pup for metal

I think a C5 would be worth you trying. I use them with 250K pots because they're kind of bright for the blues & classic rock I play, but with 500K's they'd slice through the mix for you. Good tight PU, nice low end, plenty of sizzle & bite on top. The A5 gives it more warmth than a ceramic.

If the C5 turned out to be not exactly what you want, at 14,000 ohms, it should work well in your application with a different combination of magnet or pots.
 
Re: New bridge pup for metal

blueman335 said:
I think a C5 would be worth you trying. I use them with 250K pots because they're kind of bright for the blues & classic rock I play, but with 500K's they'd slice through the mix for you. Good tight PU, nice low end, plenty of sizzle & bite on top. The A5 gives it more warmth than a ceramic.

If the C5 turned out to be not exactly what you want, at 14,000 ohms, it should work well in your application with a different combination of magnet or pots.
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The Custom 5 is HUGE sounding allright but with the mid scoop gets lost in the mix easly in high gain metal usage. I have a couple of guitars with Customs and a Alnico 8 Mag that I think would fit your needs. They are tight on the bottom end and smooth on the solo voicing and are well ballanced overall. These pickups love high gain have good definition and cut through the mix well.
 
Re: New bridge pup for metal

Last night I put hex screws in my DD that was a JbA8 that was a JB and it tightened it up even more! the screws were button head 6/32 thred 3/4" long and they went in a little difficult, mainly because the stock fillister screws were self-tap style and the thead on them has to be somewhere b/t 5-6/32. But I suggest it to anyone to do. Plus it makes the PU look more badass.
 
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