best pickups to compliment the Roadster

[jhguitar1]

Hi. I am addicted to this website, lol. I bought a Roadster head and am wondering if there are any specific pickups that sound exceptional with this amp? I play in a cover band that plays a wide variety of music. Although I don't play screamo metal, I still want to be able to get a huge high gain tone as well as great leads. I am going for more of an overall great tone as opposed to just rip your head off metal. I hope this makes sense.
I have 2 main guitars I use. One has EMG's and the other has a Duncan Trembucker. Amp was newly retubed using Doug's recommendations: SED Winged C's, Tung Sol, Penta Labs, Shuguang, and JJ.
Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks

 

[jamme61]

this is up to the user, it's all about what you like. I think the roadster will handle any p/u out there, with great results.

 

[123thefirst]

Based on my experience with the Recto Pre, EMG's should suit you very, very well. You may not want anything hotter than that, unless you're after an extremely thick Metal lead only sound with little dynamics and little bite.

If you're using very high quality cables you might want a pickup that loses a lot of bass response. The Mesas seem to respond to and amplify the bassier part of the signal to a higher extent than mids and treble IMO.

Take a look at the Harmony Central reviews for the Gibson 57 Classic Plus pickups. Mostly very experienced players have submitted reviews there. Many say that that pickup wins by a long shot over the higher output stock 490's. Hotter definitely doesn't necessarily mean better.

 

[Rocky]

there is no best pickup to compliment any amp.

 

[Mr_You]

A pickup is only one element in the signal chain that makes up your tone.

Most single head/combo tube amp users prefer passive pickups. Active pickups seem to be more useful in rigs with lots of effects.

Last night I realized I'll probably end up with 3 different sets:

- Modern Humbuckers: SD Jazz/JB
- Vintage Single Coils: Harmonic Design Z-90s (or similar)
- Vintage Humbuckers: SD Seth Lover/Custom-Custom

Experience with guitar gear is the only way to find what works for you.

 

[cant play pool with a rop]

^^+ 1, its also critical to consider the type of wood of the body, fretboard and string gauge as to what pickups work well with the guitar before the amp.

 

[soundpurist]

Hi. I am addicted to this website, lol. I bought a Roadster head and am wondering if there are any specific pickups that sound exceptional with this amp? I play in a cover band that plays a wide variety of music. Although I don't play screamo metal, I still want to be able to get a huge high gain tone as well as great leads. I am going for more of an overall great tone as opposed to just rip your head off metal. I hope this makes sense.
I have 2 main guitars I use. One has EMG's and the other has a Duncan Trembucker. Amp was newly retubed using Doug's recommendations: SED Winged C's, Tung Sol, Penta Labs, Shuguang, and JJ.
Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks

I know there's no absolute truth for pups and everybody has different taste but i could say the Bill Lawrence L-600 enhance the capability of the rectifier to do a lead sound.

A friend of mine is crazy about the John petrucci's sound and didn't like the L-500L at first(BTW it got an incredible clean tone). He recently tried my guitar with(L-600XL) with his tri-axis (with a Q-filter to nail the sound of the 600R, L and XL) and he regret the purchase of the Dimarzio Dsonic...

...i use to play with the rectifier so i think that people who like the L-500 with the rectifier are going to love the L-600XL with the Q-filter (at full impedance for lead and half way for rhythm).

It gonna sound more clear with a bolted neck guitar and more draker and thick with a neck through body guitar (i got both kind of guitars with the 600's and a L-500R,XL combo too so i know what i'm talking about).

Check this out!:

http://www.billlawrence.com/Pages/Pickup_Window/Introduction.htm