Hello all,
A couple years ago, I got a really great deal on the guitar in question. It's an EC-1000T. It's a full thickness version of an Eclipse, binding front and back, etc. Pretty much ESP's version of an LP Custom for all intents & purposes. Specs are solid mahogany body, mahogany set-neck and ebony fretboard. Tonepros bridge & stop-tail. The guitar as per usual within this range of LTDs came with EMGs. 81/60. Now let me start off by saying I don't really have anything against EMG pickups, but I have simply grown out of them as I've gotten older. When I was younger and playing in bands, I "HAD TO HAVE" active pickups, but that's changed now. I'm primarily a metal player, whether it be progressive or your typical metal-core fare. The EMG 81 is just too shrill and thin in this guitar. At first I thought it would provide a decent balance to a guitar I thought would be rather dark sounding with the mahogany/mahogany and the full thickness body. I was wrong, the guitar is actually fairly bright sounding to my ears but that's not a bad thing in my eyes, I just don't think the 81 is the right pickup for this guitar. I personally prefer the EMG 85 for the bridge position, I think it's a better sounding pickup that's fuller sounding but that's merely personal opinion and YMMV.
So now, I'm trying to decide on what to replace them with. I am 100% on ditching all the active components and going with passives. My tastes have changed and I've been playing passives pretty much exclusively for the last few years but I'm just getting around to replacing this guitar's EMGs now. Anyway, I plan on gutting all of the electronics actually while I'm in there replacing the pickups. New pure-tone jack, CTS 500K pots, new capacitors to go with the two new tone pots, switchcraft 3-way toggle switch(also going to buy a pickup selector ring for a more classic look since the ECs don't have one). I may also go with push-pull pots so I can do some coil splitting. I haven't settled on that but in all likelihood that's the route I'm going to go.
For the bridge pickup: My main priorities are a very tight bass response that responds well to pick attack, a good growling mid-range that's not too honky and not too scooped and a smooth high end that doesn't get shrill or overwhelming. I like a good bit of presence in my tone, I like my overall tone to be pretty forward but I can't stand a shrill and thin treble response. It needs to be smooth and pleasing but up-front at the same time. I also need a pickup thats has good clarity and note definition under high gain with some saturation. If I play a chords, I want to be able to hear the high strings just as well as I hear the low strings and vice versa...so note articulation is very important for the style of music I play. I like a tone that is very tight, punchy and dare I say a little twangy on single note riffs. I want the notes to have some pop to them for that kind of single note stuff. I don't want to use the "Djent" word, but that is sort of the modern high-gain tone I shoot for.
For the neck pickup: My requirements for this aren't so nit-picky but I do like a brighter sounding neck pickup than most people I assume. I don't really like a dark and overly fat tone from the neck position. I'm looking for something that's glassy, and has some bite to it. Basically just a neck pickup with a little less bass and a little more highs than your traditional neck pickup tone. This is another reason why I'm strongly considering going the coil-split route because I really love the tone of single coils in the neck position. Single coils just have that glassy chime that just pops on the pick attack, yet it stays smooth and round and doesn't get too harsh.
Some final notes: I really don't want something that's super high output. I think moderate output pickups do a really good job for note definition and clarity, and you don't need a super hot pickup for modern high-gain tones, a misconception I had when I was growing up as a guitar player and a fan of metal. Something between 10K to 15K resistance is probably where I want to be, ideally. I'm not partial to either Ceramic or Alnico but for the kind of music I play, ceramic is probably better suited as far as a bridge pickup is concerned. A couple pickups I've had in mind for the bridge position are either A) The Duncan Custom or B) The Duncan Omega, Mark Holcomb's signature pickup. Mark is probably one of my favorite players right now and I love the tone he gets and the sort of player he is and his style. The Custom has always been one of my favorite pickups ever since I played one, but I don't currently have one and I've never tried one in a single cut LP style guitar, just in super strats. As far as neck pickups, I really don't have any ideas. If I wound up deciding on the Omega, I'd likely just buy the signature set and get the Alpha for the neck. If I don't, I'm really not sure. Any suggestions or tips would be appreciated. Thanks for checking out this thread.
A couple years ago, I got a really great deal on the guitar in question. It's an EC-1000T. It's a full thickness version of an Eclipse, binding front and back, etc. Pretty much ESP's version of an LP Custom for all intents & purposes. Specs are solid mahogany body, mahogany set-neck and ebony fretboard. Tonepros bridge & stop-tail. The guitar as per usual within this range of LTDs came with EMGs. 81/60. Now let me start off by saying I don't really have anything against EMG pickups, but I have simply grown out of them as I've gotten older. When I was younger and playing in bands, I "HAD TO HAVE" active pickups, but that's changed now. I'm primarily a metal player, whether it be progressive or your typical metal-core fare. The EMG 81 is just too shrill and thin in this guitar. At first I thought it would provide a decent balance to a guitar I thought would be rather dark sounding with the mahogany/mahogany and the full thickness body. I was wrong, the guitar is actually fairly bright sounding to my ears but that's not a bad thing in my eyes, I just don't think the 81 is the right pickup for this guitar. I personally prefer the EMG 85 for the bridge position, I think it's a better sounding pickup that's fuller sounding but that's merely personal opinion and YMMV.
So now, I'm trying to decide on what to replace them with. I am 100% on ditching all the active components and going with passives. My tastes have changed and I've been playing passives pretty much exclusively for the last few years but I'm just getting around to replacing this guitar's EMGs now. Anyway, I plan on gutting all of the electronics actually while I'm in there replacing the pickups. New pure-tone jack, CTS 500K pots, new capacitors to go with the two new tone pots, switchcraft 3-way toggle switch(also going to buy a pickup selector ring for a more classic look since the ECs don't have one). I may also go with push-pull pots so I can do some coil splitting. I haven't settled on that but in all likelihood that's the route I'm going to go.
For the bridge pickup: My main priorities are a very tight bass response that responds well to pick attack, a good growling mid-range that's not too honky and not too scooped and a smooth high end that doesn't get shrill or overwhelming. I like a good bit of presence in my tone, I like my overall tone to be pretty forward but I can't stand a shrill and thin treble response. It needs to be smooth and pleasing but up-front at the same time. I also need a pickup thats has good clarity and note definition under high gain with some saturation. If I play a chords, I want to be able to hear the high strings just as well as I hear the low strings and vice versa...so note articulation is very important for the style of music I play. I like a tone that is very tight, punchy and dare I say a little twangy on single note riffs. I want the notes to have some pop to them for that kind of single note stuff. I don't want to use the "Djent" word, but that is sort of the modern high-gain tone I shoot for.
For the neck pickup: My requirements for this aren't so nit-picky but I do like a brighter sounding neck pickup than most people I assume. I don't really like a dark and overly fat tone from the neck position. I'm looking for something that's glassy, and has some bite to it. Basically just a neck pickup with a little less bass and a little more highs than your traditional neck pickup tone. This is another reason why I'm strongly considering going the coil-split route because I really love the tone of single coils in the neck position. Single coils just have that glassy chime that just pops on the pick attack, yet it stays smooth and round and doesn't get too harsh.
Some final notes: I really don't want something that's super high output. I think moderate output pickups do a really good job for note definition and clarity, and you don't need a super hot pickup for modern high-gain tones, a misconception I had when I was growing up as a guitar player and a fan of metal. Something between 10K to 15K resistance is probably where I want to be, ideally. I'm not partial to either Ceramic or Alnico but for the kind of music I play, ceramic is probably better suited as far as a bridge pickup is concerned. A couple pickups I've had in mind for the bridge position are either A) The Duncan Custom or B) The Duncan Omega, Mark Holcomb's signature pickup. Mark is probably one of my favorite players right now and I love the tone he gets and the sort of player he is and his style. The Custom has always been one of my favorite pickups ever since I played one, but I don't currently have one and I've never tried one in a single cut LP style guitar, just in super strats. As far as neck pickups, I really don't have any ideas. If I wound up deciding on the Omega, I'd likely just buy the signature set and get the Alpha for the neck. If I don't, I'm really not sure. Any suggestions or tips would be appreciated. Thanks for checking out this thread.
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