Pickup Suggestions for my Schecter Omen Elite 6

[George456565]

Last year, I bought a Schecter Omen Elite 6. It has a Mahogany body and a Poplar burl top. I am not happy with the sound of the guitar. Stock pickups are not very dynamic and sound weak through my Peavey Solo Transtube 12 watt amp. I like old school thrash/death metal and modern death metal. What pickups would you suggest for my guitar?

 

[Hsb]

Welcome aboard

For what you are looking for, Duncan Distortion, Black Winter, JB or Invader.

Guys in Metallica started with Distortions and Invaders, Dave Mustaine for years played a JB.

The Black Winter is kind of a modern take on the Distortion

 

[George456565]

I forgot to mention that my guitar is tuned to drop A# tuning with d'addario 12-60 strings so the pickups need to be able to handle low tunings.

 

[pskorz]

Hello. Are you going straight into the amp, or do you have any pedals? I don’t have experience with that particular guitar, but it looks like the stock pickups are the Schecter Heretics. My experience with schecter stock import pickups is they’re pretty decent. I have an omen extreme-not the same pickups but they’re pretty hot output and clear sounding.

so I’m not trying to talk you out of a pickup swap. But I don’t know if it’ll have as dramatic of a change as getting a distortion pedal or multi effects unit. That might be the bigger key to getting the sounds you’re after.

 

[weepingminotaur]

If you're not concerned with versatility, the Nazgul is also an excellent choice. It chugs like a monster and handles low tunings really well. I have it in a Schecter Omen Extreme S-II tuned to D standard and it sounds great.

 

[Mincer]

Yes, if you never use a clean channel and use a ton of gain, the Nazgul will be a huge improvement. But I'd also start saving for an amp worthy of such destruction.

 

[George456565]

Thanks guys for your suggestions. I am leaning more towards the Nazgul because it suits low tunings better. Now for neck pickup it is either a 59 or a Jazz since the store I go to does not have the Sentient in stock.

 

[George456565]

Hello. Are you going straight into the amp, or do you have any pedals? I don’t have experience with that particular guitar, but it looks like the stock pickups are the Schecter Heretics. My experience with schecter stock import pickups is they’re pretty decent. I have an omen extreme-not the same pickups but they’re pretty hot output and clear sounding.

so I’m not trying to talk you out of a pickup swap. But I don’t know if it’ll have as dramatic of a change as getting a distortion pedal or multi effects unit. That might be the bigger key to getting the sounds you’re after.

I usually prefer to run the guitar straight into the amp. I have a Zoom G3XN Multi-effects processor which I use once in a while for experimenting. The Peavey Transtube has an 8 inch Blue Marvel Speaker. I wonder if this is causing the problems.

 

[pskorz]

I usually prefer to run the guitar straight into the amp. I have a Zoom G3XN Multi-effects processor which I use once in a while for experimenting. The Peavey Transtube has an 8 inch Blue Marvel Speaker. I wonder if this is causing the problems.

straight into the amp on its own might not be the ideal sound for what you’re after, but it’s a good amp. You might find that for a more metal tone you might prefer the Marshall or Mesa models in the zoom. If you run it into the amp on the clean channel set the mid on 10 and the bass and treble on 0. It sounds weird but that’s the amp’s “neutral” sound that’ll let the pedal take over without additional eq color from the amp.
That Peavey amp and zoom pedal should get you where you need to go.
good suggestions above for pickups- Nazgûl would be a good bridge choice. For the neck between the 59 and Jazz, the 59 will be slightly darker or more bassy, the Jazz being a bit brighter. Either would be a fine choice depending on which sound and vibe you’re after.

 

[George456565]

straight into the amp on its own might not be the ideal sound for what you’re after, but it’s a good amp. You might find that for a more metal tone you might prefer the Marshall or Mesa models in the zoom. If you run it into the amp on the clean channel set the mid on 10 and the bass and treble on 0. It sounds weird but that’s the amp’s “neutral” sound that’ll let the pedal take over without additional eq color from the amp.
That Peavey amp and zoom pedal should get you where you need to go.
good suggestions above for pickups- Nazgûl would be a good bridge choice. For the neck between the 59 and Jazz, the 59 will be slightly darker or more bassy, the Jazz being a bit brighter. Either would be a fine choice depending on which sound and vibe you’re after.

The Godin SD 24 that I had before I got the Schecter had a humbucker that was rated at 14k which sounded louder and crunchier than the stock Heretic pickups in the Schecter. That guitar had a Silver Leaf Maple Body with Poplar wings.

 

[pskorz]

The Godin SD 24 that I had before I got the Schecter had a humbucker that was rated at 14k which sounded louder and crunchier than the stock Heretic pickups in the Schecter. That guitar had a Silver Leaf Maple Body with Poplar wings.

I don’t have any experience with the heretic pickups. I have an omen with diamond plus pickups. I like those because they’re loud and clear, and they split really nicely. However, that’s not my main guitar, just kind of a niche one that I use occasionally. If it were my main or only guitar, I’d likely switch them out.

however, a lot of the promo material I’m seeing on your guitar and those pickups leads me to believe that they should be pretty loud and aggressive. so it’s a bit surprising that your problem is that they are not loud enough. Have you experimented with raising them closer to the strings? If they’re sitting too low, raising them up would give a pretty immediate improvement. When you press the string at the highest fret, are they more than 3 mm below the strings?

 

[weepingminotaur]

If you're worried about the guitar sounding weak, you might try the old trick of using a Tubescreamer or similar pedal to drive the amp. And I'd say mix pedal dirt with amp dirt. I've found that trying to run pedal dirt into a clean channel results in a weak overall sound when you crank the volume. That's just my experience, of course. If your amp does it well, then do it. But IMO mixing dirt is the way to go.

 

[George456565]

I am actually considering the Seymour Duncan Custom sh-5 in the bridge and either Jazz or 59 in the neck. The custom has similar output to the stock humbucker in my Godin SD24 which had a thick crunchier sound through my amp with the gain at 1-2 0'clock. WIth the Stock Heretic pickups, I have to have the gain on full. I also like classic rock and blues and yes I do use the clean channel.