MMMkay, Dimarzio X2N

[Jackson-Charvel]

Besides the middy tone and the stratty single coil tone (never tried to split one of these) would be a Norton for the bridge. Probably one of the most under rated pickups. I have one in a 1 hum guitar and it is pretty versatile, powerful and THICK without being over compressed. Never thought of trying one in the neck but I guess it might be cool considering the Air Norton is basically the same pickup and it is reknowned as one of the best neck pickups for leads.

That said not sure many people would find a guitar with a Norton/Norton inspiring, but then again I have never tried it. Not sure anyone else ever has either.

My feeling for the best fit for what you are looking for that meets all your requirements would be the Dimarzio Super III. Split it sounds stratty, and it is full of mids, it is powerful without being overly compressed and it can chunk with articulation.

[[NEX]]

Have you tried to lower only one side of the X2N, if that doesn't work lowering the X2N almost all the way gives you a really good, mid output Humbucker (the X2N has enough pull to work almost all the way down as a bridge pup)

[sully]

someday, the entire JCF will understand that the duncan custom is the answer to any pickup question.

sully

[soc_monki]

id go with a Duncan Distortion myself...plenty of output, a bit open sounding with really good top end articulation, but not ear piercing. good mids, smoother than a JB, with a little bit of a stratty quack, which i prefer.

overall one of the best, if not the best, passive humbucker bar none. great for metal, and not too hot so you can get some good clean tones out of it as well. thick and chunky, but not overly fat and muddy.

[FatalTragedy]

The X2N is lowered past the mounting ring. It looks kind of funny but I never let it get too close to the strings as it does funny things. The Custom and the Distortion sound interesting. I'm all about that "stratty quack".

[ADR]

toejam: What the hell was I thinking? HM Live wires will not clean under any circumstance. Not even a Roland Jazz Chours head (Fact)
My friend tries Pups all the time, He sent back his JB and got the Custom and loves it,I didn't want to copy him so I got a Tone Zone for my Dinky.
Hard to explain but the TZ is smoother,nice spongey wah tone. .big on BASS too. We put side by side a Ibanez RG5 series w/Duncan Custom vs. my Dinky with TZ. He liked mine better.
Next will be my "Air Norton" for the neck (based of a TZ). I would never change my Duncan Custom 5 in my San Dimas though,thats a perfect match.

[bibz]

someday, the entire JCF will understand that the duncan custom is the answer to any pickup question.

sully

There are other correct answers, but the custom is never wrong. Ever since I put one in a guitar I totally understood your 'its what a guitar is meant to sound like' comment.

[Phantom Hawk]

I didn't like the X2N either. Much too bright for me. I swapped it for an Evolution and have been happy ever since. They really sound great no matter what you're looking to do.

[FatalTragedy]

I hear mixed remarks about the Evo, whereas everywhere I go people are singing the praises of the Evo 2. Is there much a difference?

[Phantom Hawk]

I haven't tried the Evo 2 yet. I'll hafta wait until a project comes in to try one out.

[XxKilgannonxX]

I hear mixed remarks about the Evo, whereas everywhere I go people are singing the praises of the Evo 2. Is there much a difference?

I have had both and have good memories of the Evo2 but not so of the Evo. The Evo2 has more character while the Evo was bright, harmonically rich but lacked something..

Also the Evo2 had more mids crunch, less ear-piercing highs and reacted nicely to attack. Pretty much all the pros from the evo with some of the cons and a bit more extra added. Check it out. The sound clips on the Dimarzio site sound every similar to how my Evo2 sounded.

I thought the problem of the Evo might have been it's large output..loses some "sweetness".

[jtr]

X2N to much treble? They are the most mid heavy pickup I've ever used.

[rocksoldier]

If you like it except to much treble, try using a 250k volume pot.

[Mordor]

Duncan custom or DiMarzio super3

[Sunbane]

X2N to much treble? They are the most mid heavy pickup I've ever used.

Lol...I sold mine because I felt it lacked mids.
When compared to my other favourite pickups (EMG-85, Duncan Distortion, J-80C), the X2N definitely had a more scooped sound. I never thought of it as too bright though. In my setup, it had plenty of punchy bass.