Best warm humbucker with a tight sound?

[MarshMesa]

Greetings all,

I've been doing research on pickups but could use some help. I want to find a pickup that must be passive, and must sound tight when palm muting. I don't want a thick, muddy sound. I don't need high output - I just want a warm, smooth, rock tone with a tight sound. I like the sound of the EMG 81 with my Mesa and Marshall, but I need a passive pickup that sounds similar.

Any suggestions? Duncan JB? DiMarzio Super Distortion? Others?

 

[zodiac272]

What if you unplug the battery of the EMG81... will that make it passive?

scott

 

[MarshMesa]

What if you unplug the battery of the EMG81... will that make it passive?

scott

No. EMG's are totally dependent on a 9v battery. The pickups won't work without the 9v.

 

[RR]

What if you unplug the battery of the EMG81... will that make it passive?

scott

Although a cashier at Guitar Center may make this claim. :lol:

Hmmmm ... you know the best fidelity pickups are PAF type, the coils are matched, they are not overwound and perfect balance for great fidelity.

... but then you say palm muting which I preceive as higher gain pickups like a Seymour Duncan SH-5, -11, -14.

Not sure what's Dimarzio's counter models of these SD models.

 

[MarshMesa]

Well, high gain isn't the most important thing for me. I have plenty of gain on my amps and additional overdrive pedals if I need extra. I'm just looking for something that doesn't sound muddy to start. Sometimes the muddy sound can be good, but I like my bridge pickup to be night and tight sounding. So, I guess I'll just have to drive to the shop out of town and compare what they have with the guitars available.

 

[fluff191]

Bare Knuckle Painkillers are amazing sounding pups. Very tight and articulate with ample low end and warmth.

 

[YellowJacket]

Here's a second vote for Bareknuckle pickups. Painkillers are pretty dang high output so maybe investigate some of the vintage offerings as well. Basically, these pups have an extremely even and articulate output. They sound GREAT!

 

[MarshMesa]

Thanks for the recommendations. I heard some demos of that on youtube and it sounds pretty focused.

I recently tried the Duncan Pearly Gates and I liked it a lot. I want to try out the Don Grosh 327 humbucker, but it's hard to find a guitar with those in it.

 

[screamingdaisy]

Any PAF style pickup with the tone knob backed off to 7 or 8.

 

[xxFIXXEDxx]

Guitarforce Rockdriver. Google the website, Kevin winds some killer pups.

 

[K-Roll]

here is my 2 cents-

it all depends on guitar wood and tuning..
I have a custom made 7 string made of honduran mahogany, wenge top, rosewood plated ebony neck, ebony board - mounted with BKP painkillers - I myself have never heard a tighter sound on any other guitar.

my other guitar - 6 string walnut caparison horus with maple FB in B standard. I use a DiMarzio D-Sonic and again, it's tight as hell.

I even have a friend with a telly who's got a BKP piledriver in it and it sounds tight like hell.

Another friend of mine's got BKP cold sweat set and it sounds tight.. a bit on the edgier side, but still warm and tight..

PAF pickups are anything but not tight sounding. To me they sound open, cause they lack this compression, which usually ceramics with higher output do. I love PAFs for their singing nature, it's an awesome pickup, but I would not recommend these when searching for a tight sound.

At the end of the day, it's usually about sitting down and trying what suits you and your ears best. there is nothing like a general truth, but only personal preference.

my suggestions: DM D-Sonic, BKP warpig (when tuned extremely down), BKP Painkiller, DM Tone Zone

 

[fishyfishfish]

The lower the output, the better string response and clarity. Personally I like mid output pups with high gain amps and use a pedal for solos so it cuts a little better, but you can get a million opinions about pickups now days especially since the market is booming with shops offering a better mouse trap. I would use a hot rodded PAF style as a starting point and work your way up. Duncan makes a PAF Alnico II that is pretty cool, as well as the Blues Sarasceno humbucker is cool as well.

 

[giantstepjoe]

I'll always say Lollar Imperials

 

[xxFIXXEDxx]

I'll say again the Guitarforce Rockdriver. Alnico II magnet, which gives the warmth. Wound to 14.5K to hit the preamp nicely and is clear as a bell. It really is amazing.

 

[volatileNoise]

With everything you have asked, I would say whatever is fitted to late 50's VOS Les Paul Customs!

 

[Steve@Russo]

my tone zone warmed up my strat a bunch, I also took out the tone pots and put a 500K cts pot in for volume

 

[KH Guitar Freak]

Dimarzio Evo2/Dimarzio Evo neck setup. If you want something even warmer sounding, go for the Dimarzio Breed set...

 

[xxFIXXEDxx]

I boycott Dimarzio based on the fact that Larry Dimarzio trademarks things he had nothing to do with inventing. Double creams, anyone? Geez. :x