Pickups for progressive/math metal

[BrandonR]

I'm new to this forum, and an almost intermediate guitar player. I'm looking for which bridge pickup to buy to match how I play and what I want to play.

I'm looking for something that will maintain clear treble with highish gains, but another thing is that I nearly exclusively pick with my thumb, index and middle finger instead of a pick. My inspirations are stuff like chiodos, the fall of troy, saosin, stuff like that

I was looking at the Seymour Duncan website, but it's hard to tell which pickup to get when listening to those blues rock / country sound samples when I'm going for something completely different.

the guitar is a mini humbucker neck/ humbucker bridge telecaster that I believe requires a trembucker (2 1/8 inch spacing)

This is my first post here so if I screwed anything up please let me know but also please be nice about it.

 

[Mincer]

Welcome to the forum!

I might start by looking at the Nazgul or The Pegasus. Both are articulate and great at high levels of gain.

 

[soulforger]

+1 on the Pegasus or Nazgul and Sentient, also either of the Mark Holcomb sets should be right up your alley, Mark did a great video on YouTube recently comparing the two sets.

 

[Coryd]

My vote would be for the Mark Holcomb Alpha Omega set. If you are tuning down that set is excellent! One of my favs from the Duncan line. Duncan distortion is classic and I think you could get some good tones from that as well. I haven’t tried a Pegasus or Nazgul.

 

[GuitarDoc]

What is "math metal"?

 

[strat dude]

What is "math metal"?

Crazy odd meter time signature stuff that can sound like 2 or 3 songs at the same time. But there is some really good stuff. I was just listening to a band called The Dillinger Escape Plan and this was is a comment down below and it cracked me up.

“ metal comes in many different forms, Black Metal, Super Black Metal, Progressive Vegetarian Scandinavian Grindcore,”

 

[Securb]

Crazy odd meter time signature stuff that can sound like 2 or 3 songs at the same time. But there is some really good stuff. I was just listening to a band called The Dillinger Escape Plan and this was is a comment down below and it cracked me up.

“ metal comes in many different forms, Black Metal, Super Black Metal, Progressive Vegetarian Scandinavian Grindcore,”

Don't forget Post- Progressive Vegetarian Scandinavian Grindcore

 

[Rex_Rocker]

What is "bath metal"?

.



On a more serious note, I don't think Saosin or Chiodos play Metal at all? Never heard The Fall of Troy.



But yeah, to contribute to the thread, I would look at the Full Shred too, as that's what Mikael Akerfeldt plays... or played before his balls dropped off, LOL.

Honestly, plain old JB might just pull it off just fine too.

 

[strat dude]

Don't forget Post- Progressive Vegetarian Scandinavian Grindcore

:headbang: lol my bad

 

[BrandonR]

.



On a more serious note, I don't think Saosin or Chiodos play Metal at all? Never heard The Fall of Troy.



But yeah, to contribute to the thread, I would look at the Full Shred too, as that's what Mikael Akerfeldt plays... or played before his balls dropped off, LOL.

Honestly, plain old JB might just pull it off just fine too.

Yeah I guess chiodos are more emo/punk, but the same general vibe. The best fall of troy songs to listen to are f.c.p.r.e.m.i.x and mouths like sidewinder missiles.

Really I meant math-rock, but lately that's become synonymous with Midwest emo which is a bit more chill than what I'm going for.

Thank you for the suggestions everybody!

 

[dave74]

What Rex said, the full shred. Especially since you could use the extra treble while using your thumb and finger instead of a pick.
Maybe the Dimebucker could work well too, or even the Jupiter.

 

[El Dunco]

Crazy odd meter time signature stuff that can sound like 2 or 3 songs at the same time. But there is some really good stuff. I was just listening to a band called The Dillinger Escape Plan and this was is a comment down below and it cracked me up.

“ metal comes in many different forms, Black Metal, Super Black Metal, Progressive Vegetarian Scandinavian Grindcore,”

That’s from Fat Ed’s Furry Fkn Guide to Metal!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zvQAQKh4RIE&pp=ygURTWV0YWwgd2l0aCBmYXQgZWQ=

 

[GuitarDoc]

It's getting ridiculous when you invent a genre name/type for every song.

It used to be just "rock". Then soft rock and hard rock. Then surf was added. Then metal. Etc.
Now there are 352,587 types of metal!

I think it's because musicians tend to be very egotistical and want to feel that they have invented something new.

 

[Seashore]

It's getting ridiculous when you invent a genre name/type for every song.

It used to be just "rock". Then soft rock and hard rock. Then surf was added. Then metal. Etc.
Now there are 352,587 types of metal!

I think it's because musicians tend to be very egotistical and want to feel that they have invented something new.

The main reason for the proliferation of genre names is easily and understandably missed (in my view) by a lot of frustrated/annoyed people who aren't part of the churn. Most of it's coming from dedicated fans who are trying to figure out how to communicate about nuances in what they're hearing. If you don't spend time marinating in the deluge of new metal output - not that you have any reason to - those nuances won't be accessible to you and the whole conversation is gobbledeygook. And even if you do get into all of it it's easy to disagree about how to describe what you're hearing, because it's all based on subjective individual perceptions about the elements of a band's sound, how closely you think they relate to other more or less similar bands, and how you'd try to convey that. Even agreement about genre touchstones shifts over time. And then of course people inevitably get gatekeepy and pedantic about it and argue over the fine points, and that's easy to lampoon, and then some bands will either form to intentionally play some very hyper-specific style or just come up with a goofy name to describe what they do as a marketing gimmick. There is a strain of extreme individualism in metal, which to me is in tension with the massive amount of new music that just totally colors inside the lines and never deviates from preexisting convention, but by and large the genre-naming phenomenon isn't about bands trying to plant a flag on "new" territory, it's just a way of describing a sound.

 

[strat dude]

I glazed over, but if you hold the phone away from you a little I think you can see Nixon face in his post. The word gobbledygook stands out quite a bit too. :headbang:

 

[BrandonR]

I don't really understand what the confusion is about, I know that there's a lot of subdivisions of subdivisions in music but that's because there's a lot of different types of music.

It's like saying you want something green, vs you want something that's a matte lime green. It's not "inventing new words because you want to feel you discovered something" it's just using more words for something more specific.

 

[Securb]

I think it's because musicians tend to be very egotistical and want to feel that they have invented something new.

I think if you listened to some Math Metal you would quickly realize that these bands do not fit into traditional metal categories. They use a lot of odd timings but are not prog-rock or prog-metal by any stretch of the imagination. They also have a more hardcore punk influence than a lot of mainstream metal styles.

The OP was definitely giving a definitive description of what he was trying to achieve, seeing some Math Metal bands have a very eclectic range of guitar tones going from clear jazzy chords to extremely downturned rhythms. I think his description of his sonic goal was spot on and helped people understand the direction he desired to obtain with his sound and make accurate recommendations.

 

[strat dude]

I think if you listened to some Math Metal you would quickly realize that these bands do not fit into traditional metal categories. They use a lot of odd timings but are not prog-rock or prog-metal by any stretch of the imagination. They also have a more hardcore punk influence than a lot of mainstream metal styles.

The OP was definitely giving a definitive description of what he was trying to achieve, seeing some Math Metal bands have a very eclectic range of guitar tones going from clear jazzy chords to extremely downturned rhythms. I think his description of his sonic goal was spot on and helped people understand the direction he desired to obtain with his sound and make accurate recommendations.

I hear that, and (or but) metal and what is even considered “metal” has changed and evolved continuously ever since 1970. I mean Sammy Hagar sang the song Heavy Metal in the movie Heavy Metal and most of the music in that movie now might not even be considered rock much less metal. People can call what they do whatever they want, I’m just glad there is good guitar music being played today.

 

[Securb]

Most of the music in that movie now might not even be considered rock much less metal.

I still consider Don Felder heavy metal

 

[GuitarDoc]

And maybe the Eagles' "Witchy Woman" should be given a different genre name than their "Peaceful Easy Feeling" since they are so different!

Come on. We don't need to give some music a different genre just because it has more treble or bass or distortion or a different time signature than another piece of music. Some basic categories are fine, but let's not go overboard.