New Guitar, New Pickups

Jeffsmusic4919

Jeffsmusic4919

New member
Hello all, I have been a long time Mayhem Set player in a super strat. I will never remove those pickups from that guitar. I also have others as well in different style guitars as well. I bought a new Slash Les Paul Standard and those pickups aren't playing well with my setup. I can get the harsh bits out with some EQ but I believe the A2 magnets in the pickups aren't very tight sounding, please correct me if I am wrong. So the pickups must go. It will be difficult to explain what I am going for as I am not sure yet what this slab of wood sounds like yet. I have a Evo2 set in a Ibanez SZ320 and it is my number two but probably my favorite sounding. The SZ is mahogany body/neck, full 3/4' maple cap and and unknown fret board. It is a pretty heavy guitar too. This new one is pretty light for a solid body guitar. I would like to kinda get close to the sound of that Ibanez with Dimarzio pups but with Duncans. I do realize that there isn't a comparable set so, here are a few thoughts of where I am going with this. I play rock, metal, blues and some funky-groovy stuff. I am pretty sure only ceramics will do and I don't mind some quack. I measured the stock pots and they are in the 400 range. I play mostly Marshalls but love those Fender cleans. I have a JVM410HJS, 6100lm, 8100 Valvestate, JMD:1, modded TSL100, Egnater Tourmaster 4100, 1977 Fender Vibrolux, 2nd gen Fender Super Sonic and some rack gear and stereo amp. I have a full stack of each of Marshall 25 watt Greenbacks and 300 watt GT cabs. And a few other too, I think you get the idea. So something that will deliver the goods with gain, have a nice tight clear bottom for metal, clean up nice and can do mid/low gain stuff too. Oh, and nice harmonic over tones would be nice.

Sets I own;

Mayhem Set: Probably the set I should put in there. I never noticed that they never get super clean, till I did and I can't unhear it. Something cleaner I think.

Alt8/Distortion Neck: I have these in a Jackson performer Series Super strat. This is a awesome combo, no kidding, give it a try. Kinda concerned that the low mids of the Alt8 being to much.

Black Winter Set: I have them in a HH Tele in drop B. They sound pretty good in there. I wish the high-mids were a bit more present though, or less mids slightly, at least in that guitar. I am leaning to these though.

Nazgul/Sentient: I have a set in my other SZ maple cap in drop B though. Pretty brutal in there and to my ears, good cleans. Not looking for a chug machine in the new one though.

Custom/59 set: Sound good in a all mahoghany SZ. I needed to use a 250k pot in the bridge though. Not really looking for those sledgehammer lows in this guitar.

Possible to buy:

Alpha/Omega: A little concerned these will need 300k pots.

Screamin' Demon: I really do like the sound of A5 mags. Kinda concerned the lows won't be tight enough.

George Lynch Hunter: Kinda looking like a Distortion with a mag swap.

Dimarzio Transition: I have a in a super strat guitar. Kinda remind me of mini humbuckers. Maybe not good for metal?


The EVH pups in there seem promising as well as others in the custom shop. I was just assuming the ceramic is just a must for tight bass. I am open to other brands too I suppose. That SZ with Evo 2 in bridge delivers the goods though. I just don't want two guitars that have the same pickups in them, if that makes sense. Sorry for the long winded post here, any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
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FWIW the Duncan Slash set is tighter than anything Gibson ever put in a guitar, if you were leaning the Slash direction but just wanted it tighter. A2 isn't the only factor in slushy bottom end. Duncan has several A2 offerings that are pretty tight on the bottom end.

Otherwise, I'd side w/Black Winters or something from the Custom family with maybe a Jazz neck, if it were me.
 
Something completely out of the box:
A Distortion neck (SH-6N) in the bridge - same magnet as Distortion bridge but less winding means some lower output, less compression and a bit leaner and brighter.
Best companion in the neck: a Jazz Neck
 
How about a Sentient / Pegasus set. Tried a set in my LPC and really liked them. They might be worth your consideration.
Click to expand...

Even though I didn't write about them, I was considering them. A5 sound great for soling too, to bad I suck at lead guitar. I am trying to be cheap and use what I have on hand so I can take out the Nazgul/Sentiant set from the SZ and get some PAF style in there. Put that set in the HH tele and the Black winters in the LP. We'll see..
 
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beaubrummels said:
FWIW the Duncan Slash set is tighter than anything Gibson ever put in a guitar, if you were leaning the Slash direction but just wanted it tighter. A2 isn't the only factor in slushy bottom end. Duncan has several A2 offerings that are pretty tight on the bottom end.

Otherwise, I'd side w/Black Winters or something from the Custom family with maybe a Jazz neck, if it were me.
Click to expand...

I was thinking the same about pickup construction. Slashes tone was never loose to me. I like it a lot it just isn't me. Those EVH pups are calling to me and maybe the mismatched coil pups.
 
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hamerfan said:
Something completely out of the box:
A Distortion neck (SH-6N) in the bridge - same magnet as Distortion bridge but less winding means some lower output, less compression and a bit leaner and brighter.
Best companion in the neck: a Jazz Neck
Click to expand...

Good Idea, I really need more guitars.......and a bigger house. I am almost hoping my other ideas fail just so I can try this out. Thanks.
 

This a fairly good representation of what the SZ with Evo2 sounds like for heavier stuff. I added a second guitar buss to the mix with a steep high pass on it and mixed to much back into the mix in places making it a bit too clanky, still close on the other parts though.This a 300 watt B Marshall cab and a JVMHJS on the AFD channel boosted with a Jet Driver.


More of a rock sound here. Same setup as before without the boost. Just an idea of the sounds I hear when I play. The pups do a good low gain breakup too, as in a JTM sort of thing. No clip of that though.
 
While not an apples to apples in comparison as these were in different but similar guitars the Black Winter vs. EVO2 is to me different flavors of sort of the same thing. In comparison, the Black Winter is a bit more bass focused or doesn't have such a mid spike. And the highest of highs seem a little more extended. Some of the differences could be just to the metals in the bridge, wood and tail piece as well. I think the EVO2 is a bit more expressive too, you sort of need to mind your picking technique a bit, which I like. The Black Winter is a bit more forgiving in that sense. I would go with the Duncan for live playing and the EVO2 for studio work. I think this Duncan will sound best through greenbacks or V30, the EVO loaded guitar through 75 watt speakers. I will play this pickup through till I need new strings and consider the Distortion. I think the roll off of the Distortion in the highest highs and lows will bring this closer to the EVO2. It is kind of nice to have slightly different flavors of pickups though so, we'll see. Thanks everybody!
 
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I settled on a Blackened Black Winter. Hard to say what the differences between the two Black Winters are. The blackened has maybe more "slice", less low end and as a result of less bass the mids seem a bit more pronounced or defined. I need to break these strings in for about two weeks and it should be less bright and about perfect. If I had a complaint, I would want just a bit more low mids, maybe. It should fill in a bit with the highs mellowing with string age though.
 
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