Pickups for metal?

[weepingminotaur]

Getting in here like a dirty shirt to do my typical cultist plug for the Black Winters. They'll give you everything you need -- grind, clarity under gain, massive sound, snarl. And despite the name, they do a variety of other styles and genres remarkably well. They split like champs, particularly with each other in the middle position.

 

[Securb]

For the record, metal has nothing to do with the pickups, guitar, or amp. If you are truly metal you can chug on a banjo.

 

[alex1fly]

For the record, metal has nothing to do with the pickups, guitar, or amp. If you are truly metal you can chug on a banjo.

I can chug on a beer. Does that count?

 

[gsammo79]

I can chug on a beer. Does that count?

Post of the Day winner.

 

[Demanic]

For the record, metal has nothing to do with the pickups, guitar, or amp. If you are truly metal you can chug on a banjo.

Or bagpipes

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[Securb]

Or bagpipes

 

[alex1fly]

Post of the Day winner.

Thanks for the cred, Tulsa! I grew up in Stilly.

Thinking pretty seriously about a Dimebucker or Jupiter. Tone vids sound great, Dime is a monster. I just want to experience a gold standard pickup for metal so I know what it's like and learn how to backwards engineer it with other setups, like the banjo.

 

[gsammo79]

Thanks for the cred, Tulsa! I grew up in Stilly.

Thinking pretty seriously about a Dimebucker or Jupiter. Tone vids sound great, Dime is a monster. I just want to experience a gold standard pickup for metal so I know what it's like and learn how to backwards engineer it with other setups, like the banjo.

Oklahoma is being represented. I always have a good time in Stilly

 

[AdrianSD]

Or bagpipes

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What's wrong with a guitar?

 

[dave74]

Yeah the Jupiter would be great also. The rail design adds some clarity to the more compressed high-dcr traits of a scorcher, same with the Dime.

 

[Demanic]

What's wrong with a guitar?

If it can be done with cellos, then an acoustic guitar should be a given.

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[dave74]

Thanks for the cred, Tulsa! I grew up in Stilly.

Thinking pretty seriously about a Dimebucker or Jupiter. Tone vids sound great, Dime is a monster. I just want to experience a gold standard pickup for metal so I know what it's like and learn how to backwards engineer it with other setups, like the banjo.

Do you know yet which guitar this will be loaded in?
I've had my Dime in a few different guitars just to try new things. It sounded very good in a full-mahogany neck-thru Carvin, but eventually found it's true home in my rg1570 with the basic maple/rosewood/basswood combo. Duncan's old site even correctly said it was a great match for basswood bodies.

The Jupiter was voiced for WH's Ibanez which is probably the same standard Ibby woods.

 

[risingforce]

I am still using my Distortion or Custom, depending on which amp. But I am dying to get a set of Black Winters and try them out.

I have Black Winter set on my Fender Stratocaster and this set is crazy.

 

[alex1fly]

Do you know yet which guitar this will be loaded in?
I've had my Dime in a few different guitars just to try new things. It sounded very good in a full-mahogany neck-thru Carvin, but eventually found it's true home in my rg1570 with the basic maple/rosewood/basswood combo. Duncan's old site even correctly said it was a great match for basswood bodies.

The Jupiter was voiced for WH's Ibanez which is probably the same standard Ibby woods.

The destination guitar is a set neck mahogany/maple/rosewood axe with punchy mids and snappy highs. It's less mid heavy than my Gibson SG for comparison. From the various comparison clips, the Jupiter has less high end fizz and the mids are a little more prominent than the Dimebucker. Both sound absolutely fantastic though. Heck, all of Duncan's metal pickups sound great in the clips/vids. There's just something about the Dimebucker and Jupiter that makes me go "yeah!"

 

[alex1fly]

I have Black Winter set on my Fender Stratocaster and this set is crazy.

Crazy how? Crazy good? Makes you play exactly like Ola?

 

[Benjy_26]

The destination guitar is a set neck mahogany/maple/rosewood axe with punchy mids and snappy highs. It's less mid heavy than my Gibson SG for comparison. From the various comparison clips, the Jupiter has less high end fizz and the mids are a little more prominent than the Dimebucker. Both sound absolutely fantastic though. Heck, all of Duncan's metal pickups sound great in the clips/vids. There's just something about the Dimebucker and Jupiter that makes me go "yeah!"

Keep in mind that the Dime is HELLA scooped. I love it, especially the cleans, but it's very bright and scooped.

 

[dave74]

The destination guitar is a set neck mahogany/maple/rosewood axe with punchy mids and snappy highs. It's less mid heavy than my Gibson SG for comparison. From the various comparison clips, the Jupiter has less high end fizz and the mids are a little more prominent than the Dimebucker. Both sound absolutely fantastic though. Heck, all of Duncan's metal pickups sound great in the clips/vids. There's just something about the Dimebucker and Jupiter that makes me go "yeah!"

I would guess the Jupiter is the better fit. Probably a great fit.
The Dime is just a hair too bright for some guitars IMO. It does it's thing best in a darker-toned guitar with softer highs.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

FWIW, I had a phase where I was using vintage-output pickups for metal thinking they were better.

Honestly, they aren't. They are just different.

Right now, I dig higher output pickups a lot better. They're EQ curve tends to lend itself more to high-gain riffing. They tend to be less twangy, and more chunky. The feel is also better, and they tend to lend themselves to super aggressive more machine-like fast palm-mutes.

Each to his own. I can make both the '59B or the Black Winter work for me for high gain. But I honestly don't see the "objective" benefit of a '59B. What you gain in clarity and dynamics is usually negated to an extent by having to raise the gain on your amp which compresses and muddies things up.

Then again, I'm the kind of guy that likes 90's and early 2000's metal tones better.

 

[Masta' C]

The OP listed prog-metal styles almost exclusively. 80% of the bands/players he mentioned don't rely on "high output" pickups. They get their aggression from their amps and their clarity from being technically skilled.

Do high output pickups have a place? Certainly.
Do they feel and respond differently than lower output pickups? Absolutely.
Do I own some of the hottest pickups ever made and love them? Yes, I do.

The thing is, the "heaviest" sounding songs, riffs, and solos that most of us know are rarely done with true fire-breathing, high-output monsters. Medium to medium-hot pickups are the sweet spot between dynamics, clarity, and punch. Still, the amp, signal chain, and precision fingering are the most important elements in achieving these styles.

 

[alex1fly]

Do high output pickups have a place? Certainly.
Do they feel and respond differently than lower output pickups? Absolutely.
Do I own some of the hottest pickups ever made and love them? Yes, I do.

I'd love to hear more about these ideas. This perspective is what I'm so darn curious about. How do you use them in a way that makes you love them? Things like that.