Recommend some pickups Jackson stealth

J

jonsick

New member
Jackson Stealth HSS currently with an EMG 81 and two S pickups. OFR, maple/rosewood neck bolted onto a swamp ash body.
Amp is JVM410h or Pod HD500 depending on live or home use. E-E tuning on this one.
Music is metal, mainly soloing. Think Eruption era EVH, Slave to the Grind skid row, etc. But I do still like a chunky rhythm. sound. I use a Maxon OD808 for solo tones and off for rhythm

I'm looking for an increase in dynamics, nice and easy pinch harmonics, a metal soloists dream. I'm probably looking at more medium type output, more likely the hot EMGs + amp are compressing everything down too much.

The 81 I find a little too compressed with either the pod or Marshall. The S pickups are a little low output, wouldn't mind slightly hotter but still being clear and not too muddy.

I'm currently thinking a JB and a pair of Hot rails for middle and neck positions.

Edited for extra clarity.

NB - I'm not fussy on brand. Would prefer to stick to SD or DiMarzio simply due to availability.
 
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Re: Recommend some pickups Jackson stealth

You are definitely in the market for a Duncan JB or DiMarzio Super Distortion for the bridge position. The Super Distortion achieves a more realistic Eruption tone and has more punch down low if you want those heavy rhythms (think: Motley Crue, Iron Maiden, etc.). Both have great lead tones with tons of harmonics and the right amount of punch without being overly compressed.
 
Re: Recommend some pickups Jackson stealth

I think I'll give the JB a swing first in that case. I may fit up a Liberator too for some easy switches. I'm a little uneasy with the JB as I had a Jackson Korina KV2 with it before and hated it. But from what I read, alder or ash bodies are a different matter. So who knows, I may love it in that.

Out of interest, what would you say to the PATB-1? Also, are the hot rails good choices to match up to the JB?
 
Re: Recommend some pickups Jackson stealth

I'm not a fan of the Hot Rails in the neck myself, but the Iron Maiden guys make it work, so what can I say? Give it a shot! If you want more clarity and chime, check out some of the Duncan "Stack" models.

The PATB-1 is a great pickup, but it's a little too "balanced" in my opinion. For EVH, the punchy bottom and sizzling, open top end of the Super D is hard to beat. For Skid Row, you want the vocal high-mid emphasis and sweet harmonics of the JB.

Also, if the stock JB doesn't do it for you, a simple and affordable mag-swap might help. Skid-Row era JBs were the same wind as modern JBs, but used "Rough Cast" A5 magnets, which I prefer myself. You can also go with a UOA5 (Un-Oriented A5) to smooth out a JB that's overly strident or even an A2, which is a very popular mod among SD fans and pros alike.
 
Re: Recommend some pickups Jackson stealth

How 'bout an STK-S6 or STK-S7 in the neck? Not many people soloed with the neck pickup in the 80s, and those who do use humbuckers anyway, so why not try something different.
 
Re: Recommend some pickups Jackson stealth

How about a Black Winter bridge, Quarter Pound middle and 5/2 neck? Lots of variation there.
 
Re: Recommend some pickups Jackson stealth

jonsick said:
Sorry for the noob question... but what is a 5/2 neck?
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Hes speaking about the SSL-52... which is a bad idea... the QP In the middle will be insanely louder than it. Maybe a QP in the neck with 52 in the middle would work but the other way not so much. Your neck tone would lack balls compared to the middle and notch tones.

Even then are you after real single coil tones? Use the JB and put a lil 59 in the middle and a little screamin demon in the neck if you want more power and arent worried about classic strat sound.
 
Re: Recommend some pickups Jackson stealth

It just occured to me back in the day tons of these wound up with EMG S's and EMG Selects because of the routing. Unless your cool with routing the guitar normal single coils wont fit. The flat work at the bottom of the pickup gets in the way. The EMGs didnt have it which is why they were popular with them. Now for more bad news. When SD redesigned the little humbuckers series with the plastic covers now the wires exit from the front of the bobbin and wont fit in the cavity without at minimum removing some material. They dont need to be routed but you do have to do some gouging. That way you can run the wires into the body channels. When I did it I used a die grinder with a carbide burr thats for aluminum. Using a regulator to go slow was able to just carve out a bit of material so the pickups would fit.

Now real SD singles can be ordered without the flat work (I think Quarter pounders come this way already but not sure) and the wires exit the bottom. Also Dimarzios line of Fast Track 1 and 2 and Chopper pickups can be ordered without the flat work the wires from the bottom. Just make sure whatever pickups get either dont have flat work and wires from the bottom or be prepared to use a bit of elbow grease to get them in the guitar.
 
Re: Recommend some pickups Jackson stealth

BTW have you ran your EMG's at 18v's? If you havent you really should try it. Might do exactly what you want it to. Worth a try being you only need a new battery clip and another 9 volt.
 
Re: Recommend some pickups Jackson stealth

Edgecrusher said:
It just occured to me back in the day tons of these wound up with EMG S's and EMG Selects because of the routing. Unless your cool with routing the guitar normal single coils wont fit. The flat work at the bottom of the pickup gets in the way. The EMGs didnt have it which is why they were popular with them. Now for more bad news. When SD redesigned the little humbuckers series with the plastic covers now the wires exit from the front of the bobbin and wont fit in the cavity without at minimum removing some material. They dont need to be routed but you do have to do some gouging. That way you can run the wires into the body channels. When I did it I used a die grinder with a carbide burr thats for aluminum. Using a regulator to go slow was able to just carve out a bit of material so the pickups would fit.

Now real SD singles can be ordered without the flat work (I think Quarter pounders come this way already but not sure) and the wires exit the bottom. Also Dimarzios line of Fast Track 1 and 2 and Chopper pickups can be ordered without the flat work the wires from the bottom. Just make sure whatever pickups get either dont have flat work and wires from the bottom or be prepared to use a bit of elbow grease to get them in the guitar.
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Ouch! I didn't know this. The body is quite thin, hmm, there may be an issue there in that case! I may have to do some measuring. Do you know off hand what sort of clearance I'll need? Or do you have something like a Hot Rails around to throw me a height measurement?

I haven't run them with 18v yet... I may give this a go too!

Thanks for the tip! I'll give this a check out before ordering!
 
Re: Recommend some pickups Jackson stealth

jonsick said:
Ouch! I didn't know this. The body is quite thin, hmm, there may be an issue there in that case! I may have to do some measuring. Do you know off hand what sort of clearance I'll need? Or do you have something like a Hot Rails around to throw me a height measurement?

I haven't run them with 18v yet... I may give this a go too!

Thanks for the tip! I'll give this a check out before ordering!
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Sorry I dont have the measurements but i do know that it can be done. Ive seen these guitars routed for normal single coils before (just usually that means a refinish) or as I did i used the die grinder to make clearance for the cables. You dont have to go any deeper just a bit wider.

I did find this pic for you hopefully it helps its by schaller but strat pickup dimensons are the same.
SingelCoilPickup_S6VC.jpg
 
Re: Recommend some pickups Jackson stealth

jonsick said:
Perfect!

Thank you for the assist. I'll break out the steel ruler!
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Well I had a check. If the dimensions are anything to go by, it looks like fitting these will be a whole lot of chopping and definitely doing a spot refinish... And frankly as this guitar is a bit special to me, I don't think I'm willing to do it! I don't hate the sound enough to want to get into that territory, I think I'll just play with the pup heights, wire up a couple of battery clips and try this 18v thing.

Thanks for the recommendations anyway. I think I'll change out the pups in the ESP MII instead :)
 
Re: Recommend some pickups Jackson stealth

jonsick said:
Well I had a check. If the dimensions are anything to go by, it looks like fitting these will be a whole lot of chopping and definitely doing a spot refinish... And frankly as this guitar is a bit special to me, I don't think I'm willing to do it! I don't hate the sound enough to want to get into that territory, I think I'll just play with the pup heights, wire up a couple of battery clips and try this 18v thing.

Thanks for the recommendations anyway. I think I'll change out the pups in the ESP MII instead :)
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Sorry I didnt mean to discourage you, I just wanted you to know what you were up against. Its definitely not impossible to swap the pups you just need to make sure which ever you use dont have flat work and the wires come from the bottom.

I definitely understand not wanting to hack it up though. you dont see many stealths anymore.
 
Re: Recommend some pickups Jackson stealth

Edgecrusher said:
Sorry I didnt mean to discourage you, I just wanted you to know what you were up against. Its definitely not impossible to swap the pups you just need to make sure which ever you use dont have flat work and the wires come from the bottom.

I definitely understand not wanting to hack it up though. you dont see many stealths anymore.
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No, don't apologize! I'm glad I found out before I got pickups ordered and stripping the guitar down so you've saved me a lot of effort and annoyance! so thanks! :)

To be honest, I would have bailed out when I would have realized drastic action would be needed. And, like you say, you don't see many Stealths. This has been with me since 1994 so it's a bit of a precious lol!

It was also the height as well. Comparing with the old EMG S, the sc sized pickup would have been proud of where the S would usually be. Using a couple of straight edges, that would have meant the bridge would have had to come up too and most likely a neck shim to bring everything upwards. So, nope, the EMGs can stay!
 
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