IM A PICKUP NOOB HELP!

[MoonxShade]

So i been want to get a wilde l500xl i heard its as tight and aggresive as pickups can get i just dont know anything about neck pickups and how to match pickups and when to even use neck pickups in metal

 

[MkIII Renegade]

Nuno and Dime both had this figured out:

L500XL + '59N. I did that in my ash Charvel and couldn't be happier.

 

[MoonxShade]

Thanks for responding bud! But i dont think i want to use a 59 i really want to come up with something really different from everyone else thats why i choose the 500xl because literally everyones using emgs i want a all original sound so i prolly dont want a 59

 

[CoG]

Hey man, can I make a suggestion since it sounds like you're kinda starting out? Honestly, if you're playing more modern (like, after 1985) heavy stuff, start with a set of EMGs. Really.

For high gain (as opposed to blues or jazz or classic rock where you never get past "crunchy"), pickups are not the most important part of your "sound" as long as they're pretty high-output humbuckers. I'm not saying they don't matter, but speaker changes, a different boost pedal, dialing the amp differently, or even just a different tube in V1 will almost always make a bigger difference. Pickups are also pretty cheap to change later compared to cab/speakers or amp or guitar, or even a decent boost.

EMGs will give you a really good 'baseline' because, like you said, everybody uses them. That's because they generally play well with any high gain amp, they're balanced between being meaty enough for riffing but not woofy or loose in the lows, they have enough highs for shredding, and they also do cleans well enough. I'm not saying "they're the best", because that's an individual thing, but they're a standard in metal because they're really good for metal.

Then once you've got a feel for EMGs you'll always be able to ask 'what does that sound like compared to an EMG81' because, again, it's kinda the standard, and you'll know how that EMG sounds and feels to play. Then you can try other pickups and actually know what people are talking about

Same reason that you should always try to get your hands on a Recto or a 5150/6505, even just for a good test drive - they're common amps in metal for really good reasons.

 

[lookslikemeband]

To keep up with the "heat" of the 500XL.. I'd go with a super thick neck with strong output (Black Winter, Sentient; etc).. You don't need to worry about the fonts matching up between the pickups.. so the Old English font of the Black Winter could be cool.

Another great option is the Alt8 neck. (if you're staying Seymour Duncan)

 

[allbutromeo]

Idk if you found something yet, but I'm going to recommend using a "lower" output bridge pickup in the neck. For instance Dime used a 59b instead of a 59n in slot of his guitars, I also know of a couple of guys who used a Screamin' Demon with good results.

 

[woodbutcher65]

You say that you want tight and aggressive and then you say that you don't want to sound like anybody else. Then you say you don't want to use a 59 even though some of the players with a super tight and aggressive sound use a 59.

I think that you don't really know what you want. So you should start out by picking SOMETHING and trying it. If it's not to your liking, try something else.

Many of us have played the pickup swap game. Probably most of us. Until you find your happy sound, you'll keep playing it.

I wanted my LP to sound more "classic" so I took out the JB in the bridge and put in a 59 instead. Three days later the JB was back in,
it's right for that guitar. The 59 bridge pickup will be fine for a different guitar.

I suggest that you start out by copying the pickup choice of someone whose tone is like what you want for yourself.

 

[WytLytnyn]

While these are not the most aggressive pickups on the planet, I loaded a Sentient/Pegasus set from Seymour Duncan into a 2000 Gibson Gothic Les Paul (real ebony fretboard, no richlite nonsense). They are medium output alnico V pickups that cut pretty hard but really keep the clarity very nice even an extremely high volumes. I'm really in love with the Sentient neck pickup as it has incredible clarity for neck humbucker but can still do dirty work when going through a cranked amp. It even works for jazz!

I know that a lot of people do like EMG's and other Active Solutions, but as a personal choice only, I've always stuck with passive pickups.

One key thing that I think a lot of people overlook, especially younger players that are swapping new pickups in for the first time is that they over look the wiring within the guitar. This is especially true those that are modifying the Gibson USA guitar in my experience. A lot of Gibson's had the "ashtray" wiring set up which is a piece of garbage IMHO.

You can sometimes make a standard set of pickups sound 20 to 30% better just by replacing your pots and caps within the guitar. That being said, in the Les Paul with the Sentient/Pegasus set up, I bought a wiring harness from Jackson Electronic Luthier with 585k pots and Vitamin Q capacitors. This completely changed the way the volume and tone pots sweep and taper and added even more clarity to the sound of the guitar. You can really dial in a very precise tone no matter what kind of pickups you use when you have high-quality pots and caps.

My point is is that you should not overlook a good wiring harness from a quality manufacturer.

Good luck with your search and I hope you find a set of pickups that work really well and that specific guitar.

 

[Markedman]

Great advice here with opposing opinions, now that's how it should be.

Pick-ups are like tubes. Sometimes a pick-up will have more output/volume but less distortion ie; a SD '59, while the pick-up I like, the Tom Anderson H3+, has distortion but is low volume/output. I have this pick-up in my 3 world-class guitars and it sounds different in each one but it is consistant when I switch guitars while playing shows.

What made me choose that pick-up in the first place? It was the pick-up that James used for Master of Puppets, the tone that twisted my head around the first time I heard it, I had to have it. I've tried other pick-ups over the years but I've always had at least one guitar with this pick-up and thought it was superior to anything else and would want to play only the guitar that had the H3+ in it.

I would not recommend the H3+ unless you play heavy metal only as it's clean tone is, "what clean tone" and most guitar players want a decent clean tone. I'm like Ola when he does a demo for an amp. "Clean tone? O.K., there you go", (2 seconds later) "It chugs!!", yeah, I'm a metal only guy and if I have to play Tom Petty songs at a gig, my clean tone is not even close, but the other bands will fill that void.