What is the hottest pickup known to man?

[Diego]

Re: What is the hottest pickup known to man?

The hottest I've ever played was a X2N and I totally got it, but didn't like it.

The hottest pickups I've heard someone play were some old Seymour Duncan Livewires. Can't remember the exact model but holy **** were they hot.
Too hot in fact, to the point where everything sounded really flat through the particular amp being used.

I remember being told that Michael Romeo from Symphony X used those exact actives for a good while, if that helps. Super mega hot pickups.

 

[blueman335]

Re: What is the hottest pickup known to man?

Stating you "won't play anything over 14K" makes it sound like you're of the DCR=output mindset. Regardless, since no true PAF-type is 14K, there's obviously a range of pickups you WILL accept. Therefore, picking an arbitrary number like 14K doesn't make much sense, especially given that there are plenty of "high output" designs at 14K and under and a handful of lower output designs with a DCR above 14K.

No, output's not a deciding factor for me like it is with some guys. I just like the tone and dynamics of lower wind PU's. For me, amp's provide the output; what PU's contribute to that isn't important, so a high-output PU just for the sake of being high-output is pointless. There's plenty for me to choose from at 14K and lower.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: What is the hottest pickup known to man?

The pickup with the highest DCR that I've ever owned would be the 19K Dragon bridge pickup that came stock in my '95 PRS Custom 22.

That pickup is highly sought after by PRS fans who like that sort of thing.

I didn't love it. Too dense. No transparency or sense of "space" in the tone.

I replaced it with a 12K Dragon II which I liked better but even that was to strong for me.

That guitar now has a set of Custom Shop Pearly Gates in it.

Much better.

 

[blueman335]

Re: What is the hottest pickup known to man?

The pickup with the highest DCR that I've ever owned would be the 19K Dragon bridge pickup that came stock in my '95 PRS Custom 22.

That pickup is highly sought after by PRS fans who like that sort of thing.

I didn't love it. Too dense. No transparency or sense of "space" in the tone.

+1. When one characteristic is the priority, then the others may suffer, as no PU does a great job at everything. I'd rather have certain tonal qualities from a PU and let the amp do the heavy lifting. I've never played any amp at '10' so I always have more output on tap there.

 

[Mincer]

Re: What is the hottest pickup known to man?

I would agree on the SLUG, but I'd bet you can build any kind of preamp and throw it in a guitar with active pickups to really boost the output more than anything available. My guess is that there is a reason why we don't see many super-high output pickups or preamps.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Re: What is the hottest pickup known to man?

The EMG Hets are pretty darn hot too. A tad hotter than the original Blackouts which are pretty darn hot as well.

The Duncan Dimebucker is pretty hot too.

Haven't tried the Blackout Metal, the X2N, or the Slug, TBH.

 

[darthphineas]

Re: What is the hottest pickup known to man?

I would agree on the SLUG, but I'd bet you can build any kind of preamp and throw it in a guitar with active pickups to really boost the output more than anything available. My guess is that there is a reason why we don't see many super-high output pickups or preamps.

Has the company released the outputs of "custom shop" pickups in mV? I understand it wouldn't be anything comparable to mV ratings from other companies, but it would be interesting to see a quantified verification of how the entire menu (custom and production) line up.

 

[BlueSkiesAndPaign]

Re: What is the hottest pickup known to man?

Rock Monkey Son of Beefbucker. Primarily known for destroying small amps, and the neodymium magnet with a barnload of wire under the bobbins..

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Re: What is the hottest pickup known to man?

PSA: Motherbuckers are on sale for $9.99 each right now if anybody's interested. Too hot for me but it's a screamin' deal. (Sorry, bad pun.) http://www.stewmac.com/Closeouts/Mighty_Mite_Motherbucker_Humbuckers.html

Lace Deathbuckers are pretty loud. I think the Dimebucker may be up there too, but high output pickups aren't my area of expertise.

I suspect that the 30K bass pickup mentioned upthread is an opposing-coil pickup so its DCR is even more divorced from output level than most.

I'd forgotten all about the Super V and had to look it up. Not much info available in the main SD pages but I found a thread on it over at TGP:
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/in...p-george-lynch-super-v-pickup-review.1287873/
This one interests me; it may be right in my wheelhouse and it's something I never thought to consider. Thanks for putting on my radar!

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: What is the hottest pickup known to man?

THE SLUG rules! http://customshop.seymourduncan.com/slug/

Must be wound with 46 or 47 AWG or something...

 

[backporchpicker]

Re: What is the hottest pickup known to man?

Seymour Duncan Gus G. FIRE Blackouts System Active Humbucker Pickups - 16K DCR with an ultra-hot active preamplifier. I think these might even blow the pants off a Slug.

 

[darthphineas]

Re: What is the hottest pickup known to man?

I'd forgotten all about the Super V and had to look it up. Not much info available in the main SD pages!

They pretty much scrubbed most references to that artist when he got booted off the roster a few years back. Literature from the time referred to it as a bit of a tweak on an early JB prototype.

MJ can still make those in her custom shop.

 

[Aceman]

Re: What is the hottest pickup known to man?

Dear Rick - Get out of this thread. You have no business being here. Not your thing, not your deal, no one cares. This is a thread about manly pickups with manly output for manly men. Go help the women folk with their PAF's.

I have always referred to the X2N as "Stupid" hot and capable of pimp slapping a preamp tube into next week. I stand by that statement. However, over time, there has arisen even more ridiculous things. The SLUG is definitely a contender for king. Dirty Fingers? Good call….but it is X2N class. Also that Might Mite monster….

The Distortion and Super Distortion WERE - for their time. That time has passed and the bar has been raised wayyyyy up.

 

[blueman335]

Re: What is the hottest pickup known to man?

Dear Rick - Get out of this thread. You have no business being here. Not your thing, not your deal, no one cares. This is a thread about manly pickups with manly output for manly men. Go help the women folk with their PAF's.

Bob, really? This from a guy who wears a woman's wig on stage. Dude, lighten up.

 

[MkIII Renegade]

Re: What is the hottest pickup known to man?

I don't see a real advantage for anything hotter than the hottest '80s era pickups personally. I don't think anything has surpassed the immortal EMG 81 for thrash, although I can tell there are some very "modern" passive pickups that do indeed sound more....hifi than the classics such as the Distortion for lack of a better word. An example would be Bare Knuckle Nail Bomb, which sounds fantastic under heavy saturation and is extremely defined. But I think anything beyond that is a parlor trick....you can get all the usable distortion imaginable from a good amp and/or pedal with a moderately hot pickup.

 

[EDX]

Re: What is the hottest pickup known to man?

the dirty fingers is hot but not that hot, even the invader is hotter and hotter than the invader is the dimebucker, which funny enough lacks almost all of the tonal attributes associated with high output pickups (mid heavy, mushy, compressed to hell, dark sound, bland high end, lack of high end, lack of clarity and bad tone for anything but flat metal), really only pickup able to ripp ears apart with all the gain and still let you hear the chords when you want

 

[Masta' C]

Re: What is the hottest pickup known to man?

Dimebucker hotter than an Invader? Hmmm....I've owned both of those pickups more than once, as well as the Lawrence L-500XL (both Bill n' Becky and B.L. USA versions) and I'm not sure I'd agree with your assessment that the Dimebucker is hotter. Yes, it's hot, but the Invader is a triple-ceramic beast and way more difficult to control. I'd put the Dime somewhere between a JB and a Distortion for output and the Invader past all of them, but that's just my opinion.

 

[EDX]

Re: What is the hottest pickup known to man?

well, i hear the dimebucker saturating the high end (which i like to crank) a lot, also duncan mv chart lists the invader at 813mv then the live wire classic at 936mv, the dimebucker is 1160mv rivalazing with the mustaine live wires at 1368 (thing that old duncan samples seems to back as the dimebucker and mustaines sound almost as saturated) over that there are the blackouts EMTY at 1419mv, standar blackouts at 1598mv, gus g coil pack with preamp at 1784mv, blackouts coil pack + preamp at 1870 and blackouts metal which almost doubles anything else at whopping 3648mv so...... probably the invader vs dimebucker is a percieved output vs actual output case

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Re: What is the hottest pickup known to man?

The Blackout Metal (AHB-2b) is sickeningly hot...I love that pup

As far as the hottest passives go, Lace Deathbuckers are definitely right up there, wide range but I would'nt say hi-fi sounding at all..they have a really warm organic open sounding tone & are really sensitive. I really like DMZ X2N's too..

The Tesla Plasma II is another sweet pup with an output of 23.5k or so...great for chunky rhythms/screaming leads..

 

[Falloffthebonetone]

Re: What is the hottest pickup known to man?

Dimebucker hotter than an Invader? Hmmm....I've owned both of those pickups more than once, as well as the Lawrence L-500XL (both Bill n' Becky and B.L. USA versions) and I'm not sure I'd agree with your assessment that the Dimebucker is hotter. Yes, it's hot, but the Invader is a triple-ceramic beast and way more difficult to control. I'd put the Dime somewhere between a JB and a Distortion for output and the Invader past all of them, but that's just my opinion.

SD themselves agrees that the Dimebucker is hotter, though I would've hands down agreed with you before I checked myself.