Re: Pickup reccomendations
Hi everybody. I'm thinking about building an Explorer via Warmoth and I can't decide what pickups to put in it.
For the bridge I want something that can handle high gain and has lots of midrange. For the neck I want a really clean sounding pickup.
I'm not set in what kind of pickup could be used since I haven't ordered the body yet, so if you want to recommend a weird pickup, like a telecaster pickup or something go ahead.
What sort of high gain lots of midrange tone are you looking for? A PATB-2 Parallel Axis Distortion is a monster for gonzo metal distortion, and my favorite ceramic pickup [But I can't stand ceramic pickups generally, so my tastes are abnormal for metal fans]. If you went with that, I'd probably go with a PATB-1n in the neck.
A Custom 8 is another great one, if you want tight bass and punchy attack (but not the bite of ceramic), but with a vintage warmth. Kind of the vintage metal pickup that never was. It's not a stock pickup, though, you have to replace the magnet with an A8 magnet on a Custom-series pickup...
Mincer's recommendation of the A2 Custom Custom is a great one for a warm, buttery pickup with smooth attack. And it's a magnet swap away from several other great options, like the Custom 8 I mentioned above, or the more biting [but the other ceramic my ears find most tolerable] standard ceramic Custom. Custom Custom doesn't tend to be the first choice for speed metal, having a looser bottom end. But I have heard people make it work. It's fantastic for Van Halen tones.
His recommendation of the Jazz in the neck is a good one for cleans, it's very popular in general, but particularly in metal and rock. If you want matching attack/feel for an A2 bridge pickup, Christopher's recommendations of A2 Pro & Pearly Gates are excellent choices as well.
