Deciding on pickups is tough

[buller]

My 2 cents worth..........

I have a single humbucker/single volume strat that has had tons of pups. It is my test guitar since it is easy to swap. Right now, my favorite for those tones is the modern production Mighty Mite 16k Motherbucker. I honestly think its perfection for 80's tones. Packaging says designed by Seymour Duncan.........but I've yet to try a Duncan in the same guitar that is as satisfying as the Motherbucker.

As reference, some notable pups I've had in there to compare:

Custom Shop Frankenstein
JB (with both A2 and A2 mag)
Custom Shop RTM
Alex Skolnick sig
Thrash Factor
Tonenerd Roxy
Tonenerd Sunset Strip
Pariah Destruction 70's
Wolfetone Fenris
Wagner Murkat
Manlius A2 Hot Rod 59'
Gibson/Kramer Eruption..........also REALLY good

I'm a bit late seeing this but wow you've tried a lot of the pickups I'm interested in, particularly the Mighty Mite, Pariah, and Tonenerds. Maybe too much time passed between trying each of these pickups for you to have a really clear sense of how they compare to each other, but is there one or two you'd point me to for an alder body, maple neck, ebony board bolt-on super strat in C standard? Mostly playing 90s NY death metal like Suffo, Incantation, Immolation. Looking for something kinda old school sounding that's chewy and forgiving and saturated without being totally undefined and flubby in the low tuning. Kind of a challenging middle ground to achieve, but I'd appreciate any guidance

 

[PiggySmallz]

Ceramics tend to have a lot of hair on them. Alnico V's (Pegasus) don't

I've got a pegasus waiting to into a prs custom 24 to replace the 59/09 that i absolutely hate. It sounds and feels awful to me. Once the guitar gets back to me from PRS, it will go through some swaps

 

[EyesOfTheSouth!]

I'm a bit late seeing this but wow you've tried a lot of the pickups I'm interested in, particularly the Mighty Mite, Pariah, and Tonenerds. Maybe too much time passed between trying each of these pickups for you to have a really clear sense of how they compare to each other, but is there one or two you'd point me to for an alder body, maple neck, ebony board bolt-on super strat in C standard? Mostly playing 90s NY death metal like Suffo, Incantation, Immolation. Looking for something kinda old school sounding that's chewy and forgiving and saturated without being totally undefined and flubby in the low tuning. Kind of a challenging middle ground to achieve, but I'd appreciate any guidance

I would say Mighty Mite for sure. It has plenty of push to be forgiving, yet somehow remains tight. The Pariah is also forgiving, but it has less high mid cut and could be a problem in lower tunings. But it’s killer for old NWOBHM stuff.

 

[BlueParfait]

Im obviously an 80’s fan but im wondering about Dimarzio At1 and a cruiser in neck. I like melodic and ambient stuff also so Im not sure what to do lol

I've used the AT-1

I think it lacks the cut that a JB, Super Distortion or even a Tone Zone has.

It's kinda like a Breed with a slight midge of kerrang

 

[anomaly]

For a while there I was going back and forth on the JB and Distortion in one of my guitars. I then settled on the sh-6. It just has a tighter sound, better attack too...

 

[BABMusic]

Think I'm going to buy a Pegasus.

 

[buller]

Has anyone tried Monty's Bill Steer set? Seems like a good choice for a Les Paul in low tuning but don't see many impressions of them online

 

[Maguchi]

Yeah I know. Lots of new stuff coming out. Some of it no doubt good. But I don't want to be a guinea pig. So I stick with the big boys, the tried and true and the ones what been around awhile.

 

[GreatRedDragon]

I'm of two minds.

Sometimes I buy a guitar knowing what pickups I want in it, typically if I'm aiming at a specific theme - my newest acquisition, a black 70s Greco LP Standard was bought with the EMG 81/85 set in mind, because with the maple neck I was looking to nail a vintage Zakk vibe.

In other cases, I have a guitar and I want to swap pickups and I'm undecided of what to get. My MIJ Strat's stock pickups ended up being too noisy, and while my first thought was a set of EMG SAs, I eventually landed on a set of Lace Sensor Hot Golds (with onboard EMG mid and gain boosts, which pair amazingly with the Laces).

 

[BABMusic]

My Pegasus arrived, but now I have to wait for the moving company to deliver our stuff. All my guitars are in storage right now. I'm going put my Friedman Classic Plus up for sale soon.

 

[PiggySmallz]

My Pegasus arrived, but now I have to wait for the moving company to deliver our stuff. All my guitars are in storage right now. I'm going put my Friedman Classic Plus up for sale soon.

Interested to hear your thoughts on it. I have a pegasus waiting to go into a guitar whenever I get it back from PRS.

 

[BABMusic]

I compared some of my pickups tonight with my new V30 speakers (using both my BE50 and my Mark IV). The Duncan Pegasus is a very nice sounding humbucker, but man, it's very dark compared to my other pickups. The odd thing is, it's still tight and articulate -- not muddy in any way. But I still end up having to turn the presence knob way up high when using this pickup. It sounds very good though and I'll probably keep it. Just for example though, I turn the pres up to 8 when using the Pegasus on the BE. I usually set it at 6 with my other guitars.

 

[TONEISTKRIEG]

I’ve used the Aldrich in multiple guitars for years and get on well with them. Have a new build due later this year/early next that has only a single bridge humbucker. Was thinking maybe a Black Winter or even the Warren DeMartini RTM to change things up a little?

It’s great to have a wealth of options, but after a while paralysis sets in.

Doesn’t help either that nowadays everybody seems to have a buddy that winds in their basement who becomes the default recommendation for everything regardless of fit

 

[Detroit1973]

I’ve used the Aldrich in multiple guitars for years and get on well with them. Have a new build due later this year/early next that has only a single bridge humbucker. Was thinking maybe a Black Winter or even the Warren DeMartini RTM to change things up a little?

It’s great to have a wealth of options, but after a while paralysis sets in.

Doesn’t help either that nowadays everybody seems to have a buddy who winds in their basement who becomes the default recommendation for everything regardless of fit

for a single hum for what you are playing with Cattle....I would try the Seymour Duncan ALT-8 aka: SH-15 or the TB-15 Depending on the type of Bridge you will have.

 

[TONEISTKRIEG]

for a single hum for what you are playing with Cattle....I would try the Seymour Duncan ALT-8 aka: SH-15 or the TB-15 Depending on the type of Bridge you will have.

Actually had a friend recommend the Alt-8 as well so I might have to look closer at that one!

For a bridge I’m trying a Schaller 3D-6 this time

Overall I’m trying to make this guitar pretty minimalist; single hum, flatmount bridge, 22 fret, controls will solely be two toggles; one killswitch and the other a coil split.

Sam from Cardinal Instruments is introducing it as a new model and the body and headstock shapes will be a departure from his normal lineup.

 

[SonVolt]

I've used the AT-1

I think it lacks the cut that a JB, Super Distortion or even a Tone Zone has.

It's kinda like a Breed with a slight midge of kerrang

That is a good description. I have a Strat with an AT-1 bridge and a Cruiser in the neck ala Timmons. The AT-1 is very lower-mid focused, not a lot of cut or high-end. It can sound good, but it wouldn't be my overall pick. The find the Cruisers fine/boring. IMO true single coils sound a lot better.

 

[TheGreatGreen]

Full disclosure, I don't have a ton of experience with different pickups. However, I found this youtube channel with a ton of direct pickup comparisons.

Anybody have any thoughts about if this guy's comparisons are good?

 

[MetalGOD84]

Full disclosure, I don't have a ton of experience with different pickups. However, I found this youtube channel with a ton of direct pickup comparisons.

Anybody have any thoughts about if this guy's comparisons are good?

that guy is probably the benchmark on youtube. Although pickups depend very much on the guitar and amps.
The EMGs on that video sound horrible but in front of an amp they sound great.

 

[TheGreatGreen]

that guy is probably the benchmark on youtube. Although pickups depend very much on the guitar and amps.
The EMGs on that video sound horrible but in front of an amp they sound great.

Yeah I did notice how the EMG's sound particularly bad in these videos. They have this low mid thing going on that sounds cheap and plastic-like. I don't hear that in my 81 but maybe I've just learned to dial that out. Who knows.

Also funny enough I have yet to hear any bridge pickup on this channel beat his clips of the JB, at least to my ears.

 

[SonVolt]

That Super Distortion sounds great clean. For dirty tones they sounded very similar.