Seamus McFlanery
New member
I currently have three guitars which I would like to try some new pickups in but I don't really know which pickups would suit what I am trying to achieve. I'll go through each guitar and some pickups I am interested in one at a time:
PRS SE Fredrik Akesson (Mahogany body/neck; maple top, ebony fretboard): The stock PRS SE pickups (PRS SE 245 I believe) are not that bad but they are pretty hot. They do sound very metallic, like I can hear/feel the tinging of the strings through the amp. It's almost a nasally-like quality. I want to put in a set that is versatile but will give me a more modern sound (Modern Progressive Metal/Rock and I would really like to nail those Alter Bridge tones while not being restricted to being able to only do said tones). I would like a neck pickup that is warmer than my current one and an overall fuller sound. These are the pickups that I am eyeing for this guitar:
DiMarzio Dominions; EMG 57/66; DiMarzio PAFs; DiMarzio Air Classics; DiMarzio Norton/Air Norton; Seymour Duncan 59s; Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates; Seymour Duncan Slash set; Gibson 57s; Gibson Burstbuckers; DiMarzio Transitions; Seymour Duncan Seth Lovers. I plan to get nickel covers for the sets that offer it, I've heard that those can affect the tone but I personally can't say.
Edwards LP-110QM (Mahogany body/neck; maple top, ebony fretboard): This guitar came stock with a JB/59 combo and while I like them, they are not what I am looking for with this guitar. I want a set that will give me that classic late 60s to early 80s classic and hard rock sound. So I guess a PAF style set would be what I'm after. These are the pickups I have looked at so far for this one:
DiMarzio PAFs; DiMarzio Air Classics; Gibson 57s; Gibson Burstbuckers; DiMarzio Norton/Air Norton; DiMarzio Transitions; Seymour Duncan 59s; Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates; Seymour Duncan Seth Lovers; Suhr Aldrich. I would also be getting gold covers for these where available.
ESP LTD JH-600 (Maple neck thru, alder wings, ebony fretboard; Kahler 2315 trem): I currently have a DiMarzio Crunch Lab/Liquifire set on this guitar and while I like this set alright I want to try something else since I have the same set in a Music Man JP BFR and the mahogany/koa on the BFR is more suited to the pickups than the Maple/Alder in the ESP. My main problem with this set is the lack of bottom end. It cuts like a knife but the tone has no balls, even when I slam the bottom end on my amp. The lead tones are greats and the neck is solid. I also dig the clean tones i get out of it, its just my rhythm tones that I find lacking. I was thinking one of these combinations might do the trick:
Seymour Duncan Custom 5/59; DiMarzio Illuminators; DiMarzio Super 3/Liquifire; DiMarzio Tone Zone/Air Norton; DiMarzio AT-1/Air Norton; DiMarzio D-Activators.
Now for some general information. I play through a Mesa Boogie Mark IV (which due is very bottom heavy which is why I find my lack of bottom end through certain guitars surprising) which runs through a 2x12 cab (soon to be 4x12) equiped with Celestion Vintage 30s. I do use a THD Hotplate to attenuate the power (soon to be replaced with a Rivera Rockcrusher) other than that my signal chain at its most basic tends to only have a tuner, ISP decimator and a Keeley modded TS-808 to push the low mids. Please let me know if you need any other information and I appreciate all help!
Also I don't want to spend more than $200-250 a set per guitar. So no Bareknuckles or WCR or anything that expensive and I am open to any pickup suggestions.
PRS SE Fredrik Akesson (Mahogany body/neck; maple top, ebony fretboard): The stock PRS SE pickups (PRS SE 245 I believe) are not that bad but they are pretty hot. They do sound very metallic, like I can hear/feel the tinging of the strings through the amp. It's almost a nasally-like quality. I want to put in a set that is versatile but will give me a more modern sound (Modern Progressive Metal/Rock and I would really like to nail those Alter Bridge tones while not being restricted to being able to only do said tones). I would like a neck pickup that is warmer than my current one and an overall fuller sound. These are the pickups that I am eyeing for this guitar:
DiMarzio Dominions; EMG 57/66; DiMarzio PAFs; DiMarzio Air Classics; DiMarzio Norton/Air Norton; Seymour Duncan 59s; Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates; Seymour Duncan Slash set; Gibson 57s; Gibson Burstbuckers; DiMarzio Transitions; Seymour Duncan Seth Lovers. I plan to get nickel covers for the sets that offer it, I've heard that those can affect the tone but I personally can't say.
Edwards LP-110QM (Mahogany body/neck; maple top, ebony fretboard): This guitar came stock with a JB/59 combo and while I like them, they are not what I am looking for with this guitar. I want a set that will give me that classic late 60s to early 80s classic and hard rock sound. So I guess a PAF style set would be what I'm after. These are the pickups I have looked at so far for this one:
DiMarzio PAFs; DiMarzio Air Classics; Gibson 57s; Gibson Burstbuckers; DiMarzio Norton/Air Norton; DiMarzio Transitions; Seymour Duncan 59s; Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates; Seymour Duncan Seth Lovers; Suhr Aldrich. I would also be getting gold covers for these where available.
ESP LTD JH-600 (Maple neck thru, alder wings, ebony fretboard; Kahler 2315 trem): I currently have a DiMarzio Crunch Lab/Liquifire set on this guitar and while I like this set alright I want to try something else since I have the same set in a Music Man JP BFR and the mahogany/koa on the BFR is more suited to the pickups than the Maple/Alder in the ESP. My main problem with this set is the lack of bottom end. It cuts like a knife but the tone has no balls, even when I slam the bottom end on my amp. The lead tones are greats and the neck is solid. I also dig the clean tones i get out of it, its just my rhythm tones that I find lacking. I was thinking one of these combinations might do the trick:
Seymour Duncan Custom 5/59; DiMarzio Illuminators; DiMarzio Super 3/Liquifire; DiMarzio Tone Zone/Air Norton; DiMarzio AT-1/Air Norton; DiMarzio D-Activators.
Now for some general information. I play through a Mesa Boogie Mark IV (which due is very bottom heavy which is why I find my lack of bottom end through certain guitars surprising) which runs through a 2x12 cab (soon to be 4x12) equiped with Celestion Vintage 30s. I do use a THD Hotplate to attenuate the power (soon to be replaced with a Rivera Rockcrusher) other than that my signal chain at its most basic tends to only have a tuner, ISP decimator and a Keeley modded TS-808 to push the low mids. Please let me know if you need any other information and I appreciate all help!
Also I don't want to spend more than $200-250 a set per guitar. So no Bareknuckles or WCR or anything that expensive and I am open to any pickup suggestions.
