Looking for bridge pickup for my US Charvel San Dimas

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Dragoneti

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Hello everybody!

I'm looking a suggestion about a bridge pickup for my US Charvel San Dimas (alder/maple neck/blocked floyd rose). I play mostly 80s hard rock (& hair metal) as well as some shred guitar like satriani/vai type etc through a Marshall JVM410H & 1960A cab which, in this week's flavor, has a quad of greenbacks.

I'm mostly interested in two options, the Dimarzio Crunchlab and the Tom Anderson H2+. I have used many pickups in the bridge position in my charvel and now it has an evo2 which so far is my favorite of the bunch but i'm looking for a change in sound (maybe just for the fun of it).

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Below are my findings on the various pickups i have used:

JB: Came as standard in charvel (and all my other guitars, i have about 7 JBs... :P), a classic option especially for the kind of music i play, its problem its a bit flubby in the bass and little piercing in treble, its main advantage the fluid trackin and singing quality when soloing.

Distortion: More ballanced eq wise than the JB, better for rhythm play but on the other hand solos are not as fluid as from JB and that's a deal breaker for 80s rock. Seems like you fighting the guitar to get the solo across.

Dimarzio Super Distortion: Another classic option, Even better eq than the duncan distortion but again solos are not fluid. It is installed at the moment in my strat's bridge.

Dimarzio tonezone: A little bassy and modern sounding but with a fluid tracking in solos just like the JB. Overall a good pickup which is now installed in my Jackson RR3 which was always a bit thin sounding even with an original floyd rose (unblocked).

Bkp Black Dog: Pafish sound with extra mids, a bit bright on the high notes and not enough output like the others.

Bkp Holy Diver: Very good eq wise, fluid solo tracking, singing quality, tight rhythm BUT no saturation from the pickup... altough its has enough output (about 16ohms) it does not produce any distortion on its own... in comparison with the above pickups i had to boost the amp more to get equivalent gain from it.

Dimarzio Evo2: So far my favorite pickup, it has a similar eq with the holy diver, with far more saturation in the sound, fluid solo tracking, tight rhythm sound, only drawback sometimes i can be a little bit twangy in higher notes. all in all it will definately be in one of my guitars.

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So i'm looking for a pickup which has a tight rhythm sound, fluid solos and not too much treble to sound twangy on high notes and enough gain to sound proper in 80s hard rock. I don't usually like scooped tone so enough mids in the eq are a must.

As i said above i'm mostly focused in crunch lab and anderson h2+, and i have also considered the Suhr aldrich altough i hear that it is a bit bright in strat like guitars.

So any suggestions and experiences about those two in a charvel guitar?

Thanks in advance.
Stelios
 
I have a similar guitar and i really like the Duncan Custom 5. BUT it is kinda bright. Not harsh at all anyway.

Maybe a Custom or Custom Custom?
 
Thank you for your answer!

I have them both, tested both on my strat (before i got my charvel), the custom 5 is way to scooped, and the custom a bit bright, the custom is now installed on my washburn les paul type guitar (sb80).

The custom custom seems like a nice option or the evh frankenpickup which is based on it but i haven't used them ever.
 
You also have the RTM (DeMartini signature) that it seems its similar to JB but with an alnico 2 magnet.
 
I use a Suhr Aldrich in my Alder Charvel. It can be a little bright in low gain settings, but works really well with high gain amps. I also have a MCP Angel Dust (A5) in my Alder Carvin Bolt-T+ and that is far my favorite pickup. I tried the BKP HDs and did not like them very much.
 
metalmaniac93":u2yltoi1 said:
I use a Suhr Aldrich in my Alder Charvel. It can be a little bright in low gain settings, but works really well with high gain amps. I also have a MCP Angel Dust (A5) in my Alder Carvin Bolt-T+ and that is far my favorite pickup. I tried the BKP HDs and did not like them very much.
Click to expand...
How would you describe the MCP Angel Dust as far as "fluidity" and EQ?
I've been seriously considering grabbing a couple of them for my superstrats. Also, has anyone tried one of the 4 conductor Angel Dusts? If so, how well do they split?
 
I might can help. I have a Super Distortion in my Charvel and love it. Here are the pickups that I tried (in order) before I found what I wanted with the Super Distortion....

Crunch Lab.....really sterile and somewhat scooped in the mids. Flat EQ and hi-fi sounding

Dimarzio AT-1 Timmons.....greatest lead pickup I tried. It somehow manages to be focused and fluid at the same time. Tons of mids across full Q. Too dark, thick for crunchy 80's rhythms

Aldrich.....bright and twangy (hated it)

Suhr DSH+.....2nd favorite but a tad "muddy/smeared". sounds like a really beefed up JB with the mid Q shifted lower

Duncan Custom.....way to bright. Little difference from Aldrich (hated it)

Duncan Custom Custom.....Full and lots of mids. Has a slight "cocked" wah sound which might not work with certain amps

Dimarzio Norton (not Air Norton)......3rd favorite. Nice balanced and crunchy pickup. To me it sounds like a perfect JB. Less output than DSH+

Duncan JB with A2 mag.....killer sounding but really spongy. Perfect lead pickup. A2 mag shifts mid Q lower and rounds off treble of stock JB

Duncan JB with C8 mag.....more even EQ than stock, more output, but too focused and edgy. Great for rhythms and more modern stuff

Stock JB.....workable, but bright and a bit spongy. I much prefer the JB in my mahogany V
 
mixeduplydian":1gnn9cor said:
metalmaniac93":1gnn9cor said:
I use a Suhr Aldrich in my Alder Charvel. It can be a little bright in low gain settings, but works really well with high gain amps. I also have a MCP Angel Dust (A5) in my Alder Carvin Bolt-T+ and that is far my favorite pickup. I tried the BKP HDs and did not like them very much.
Click to expand...
How would you describe the MCP Angel Dust as far as "fluidity" and EQ?
I've been seriously considering grabbing a couple of them for my superstrats. Also, has anyone tried one of the 4 conductor Angel Dusts? If so, how well do they split?
Click to expand...

I have the Angel Dust four conductor bridge and a 2nd Degree BB Neck four conductor. loaded in my Carvin Bolt+. The Angel Dust is more aggressive, but it does have some fluidity for leads but nothing like the BKP HD. which is very fluid, but not aggressive at all IMO. The EQ is more emphasized in low mids than the bass with a slight bump in the upper mids and a nice articulate top end and is very open compared to the BKP Holy Diver, JB (old and new), and other medium to high output pickups. It is my fav bridge pickup so far and I have tried a lot, but it all depends on the guitar, amp, speakers, and cab. It sounds a little more brighter playing through the Engl Savage 120/Bogner OS 2X12 w/ V30s than my Cameron Atomica/Cameron 4X12 cab with G12H30s, but it still sounds huge (low mids) and mean, but not ear piercing bright.

The Angel Dust does split very well, but I am an all out balls to the wall player, but I have the 5 way switch and I do like the tone in between the middle and bridge position (I do not have my coil cap switch wired for split; only phase for cleans).

I highly recommend this pickup for the bridge and have tried them in two different alder bodied Luxxtone guitars played through the Atomica and Friedman amps and they sounded great especially through high gain!!!!
 
Thank you all for your answers!

Unfortunately the MCR pickups are not available here in greece so... it gets tricky to try one, which is unfortunate as i have heard pretty good things about them.

Crunch lab scooped? most reviews say that it is full of mids... and mostly mids... less lows and treble... if scooped then definately not an option ...

The AT-1 is mostly a tweaked tonezone in essence so yes it must be bassy but fluid but also dark...

Maybe the duncans with the a2 are the answer or i really have to give another shot to super distortion that i have now in my strat... my only complaint about it was the lack of fluidity in solos.

Is norton fluid and has an output to keep up with 80s metal?

Any opinions about the Anderson H2+ ?
 
There are many, but I now have 2 American Stratocasters with Suhr Aldrih pickups in them and they sound incredible. Doubt I'll ever look for a replacement. Perfect. :rock:

Didn't dig the Crunch Lab in an Ibanez Prestige I had. Got lost in the mix for me. Too scooped.

Distortions are great. Customs are great.

I would like to try a Painkiller one day and an Afwayu.
 
Thank you very much for the detailed answer metalmaniac.
I'm getting closer to pulling the trigger on an Angel Dust.
One more question though if you don't mind. How is the low end with them? I don't want overhyped, which I gather you are saying they aren't, but I'm hoping they're a little less flubby/ farty with what's there than a JB. I'm more concerned about having the low end sound good as opposed to loud. That's what bothered me about the afwayu. Sounded nice, but it was way too present in the low end.
 
I have a Dimarzio Steve Morse Bridge model in my Charvel So Cal and it cleaned up everything I didn't like about the stock Tone Zone.
 
I really like the Crunch Lab in my Charvel.

I use it for all my drop D tracks for my band. Here is a track I recorded with it below:



Tony
 
I love the Suhr SSH+ on my alder bodied/1-piece maple neck guitars. To me the Suhr SSH+ basically corrects all of the unwanted qualities of a Duncan JB (harshness/high-mid spike).

The Anderson H2+ is a great pickup and very underrated, but I eventually replace the one I had in my Anderson Classic with a Suhr.
 
maiden_fan":1cg3sxrn said:
I really like the Crunch Lab in my Charvel.

I use it for all my drop D tracks for my band. Here is a track I recorded with it below:



Tony
Click to expand...


Nice track! Do you find the crunchlab to be scooped in the charvel?

love the Suhr SSH+ on my alder bodied/1-piece maple neck guitars. To me the Suhr SSH+ basically corrects all of the unwanted qualities of a Duncan JB (harshness/high-mid spike).

The Anderson H2+ is a great pickup and very underrated, but I eventually replace the one I had in my Anderson Classic with a Suhr.
Click to expand...

In comparison the H2+ with the SSH+ (which in essence is about the same as aldrich more or less), does the H2+ has enough mids and gain/saturation for 80s hard rock? which has more treble (My JVM is pretty trebly as a marshall)

So far i tested again the super distortion but its solo sound is lacking in fluidity so it will remain in my strat... Tonezone was again good but i think in my jackson is better solution.

So i go towards... the Anderson H2+ and dimarzio Norton which i hear is perfect for this kind of sound and i can find it pretty cheap over here (half price of the Anderson).
The Suhr scares me a bit with its treble i hear it has, and the Crunch lab, which some say its scooped and some say its full of mids so the juries are out on this one.
 
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