Pickups for metal?

[straycat]

Well I think Iced Earth is pretty metal and Jon Schaffer uses RS/Lindy Fralins. Its more the amp/effects you use that anything IMO.

[Sunbane]

Yup, what Stray says is true; the amp will make the biggest difference. Get an amp that you really like to start with.

As for the pickups themselves:

If you want a super-tight bottom end for modern metal rhythm (i.e. death metal, etc), that is where active pickups excel. You don't need a lot of headroom and dynamics when playing intense metal rhythm, and EMGs (for instance) will deliver each note with outstanding clarity. An active EMG will never turn muddy on you.

If you want a sound that leans more towards classic heavy metal (more mids, and a more organic sound), passives will probably suit you better. DiMarzios will do it just as well as Duncans - it's just a matter of finding the pickup that YOU like.

My current favourite pup is a Jackson J-80C, that (apparently) is like a cross between a Duncan JB and a Duncan Custom. It has this awesome 80's sound with lots of high mids, that is great for both leads and rhythms. Jacking into a Marshall takes me right back to "Shout at the Devil".

[Dreamland_Rebel]

IMO..It doesn't really matter how metal a pickup sounds...but how metal you sound!

when i was 12 the guy at the guitar store told me that:
"it doesn't matter what guitar or what amp or what pickup you use... Heavy Metal is "played" by hitting the strings hard with a heavy pick."

for years i didn't believe him. i was into using really thin picks and a metalzone pedal. well... it took me over 15 years to realize he was right all along.

the best thing i can tell you is find the right pickup for that particular guitar based on fretboard, body wood, and Your fingers. because those are the 3 things that affect tone the most.

[Spivonious]

My opinion on what affects sound the most:

1. Player
2. Speakers
3. Amp
4. Pickups
5. Body wood
6. Strings
7. Pick

[Partial @ Marshall]

:ROTF::ROTF:

+ :ROTF::ROTF:

Hate EMGs...Duncan Custom 5...Pickups should be selected based on tone woods, unless it's and EMG.

[Grandturk]

I change pickup preferences about every three years.

There's no "bad" pickup out there - but you need to look at what you want the pickup to do.

In today's high gain world, you don't need a pickup that slaps the shit out of your amp to get distortion - you've got all that built right in. That's just one of the evaluations you need to do.

For instance, I just got a Mk 2 Boogie. Not a terrible fizzy-high gain amp - sure, gobs of sustain, but not that Rectifier sound. My guitars with higher output pickups tended to sound better through it, so I began looking for high power pickups to drive that sucker and wound up finding that Super Distortions are the absolute balls through that boogie - in comparison, I thought a JB sounded honkey and EMG 81 sounded a little tinny.

But with a really high gain amp, you can get a pickup with really great dynamic response and tone - like a PAF style pickup - because the amp is doing all the work in the gain department.

Anyway - buy a Dimarzio or a Duncan, try it out, and if it ain't working for you, swap it back to them for something else. Both companies have that policy. Like I said - there's no bad pickups, just ones that aren't right for you.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

In today's high gain world, you don't need a pickup that slaps the shit out of your amp to get distortion - you've got all that built right in. That's just one of the evaluations you need to do.

I totally agree. I prefer a versatile pickup to one with a lot of output; "modern" amplifiers have plenty of gain for me (and I like a lot of distortion) and if you want a nice tight sound don't start with a sloppy, muddy-sounding pickup like the higher-output ones tend to be.

[marnold]

There's no "bad" pickup out there - but you need to look at what you want the pickup to do.

In today's high gain world, you don't need a pickup that slaps the shit out of your amp to get distortion - you've got all that built right in. That's just one of the evaluations you need to do.

+1

There's a common misconception that you need a high-output pickup to play metal. Taint necessarily so. I'm a big fan of George Lynch and his Duncan Screamin' Demon is very bright and in PAF territory for output. I like that pup a lot. Works great for high gain and cleans.

[Trussrod]

I had an EMG in the bridge position years ago and came to the conclusion that active pups are noisier than passive pups. I spoke to an engineer at EMG and he verified this fact. The company sent a new pup to me free of charge and let me keep the old one, but I ended up replacing the EMG. I am not too fond of dealing with 9 volt batteries either. The type of wood the body is made of has a huge influence on the final tone you get. My preference is alder. I think it works better for a distorted tone than anything else. With a decent amp, compression, eq, and alder body the pup selection is pretty wide.

[shobet]

Get a Bareknuckle Warpig - http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/ZH-warpig.html - it even looks the dogs bollocks!