Best pick-up to drive a JCM 800?

[Wings of Obsidian]

Man....usually its the other way around....people are looking for amps to bring out the full potential of their pickups....I think you got this reversed.

My recommendations are all passives:

1.) BKP Black Dog (put one in the bridge and it will fit any Les Paul nicely!!! Maybe throw a BKP VH-II in the neck. Open and organic sound.)

2.) BKP Miracle Man (calibrated set of both. Love the tonality and EQ curve on these...but not as much as the Black Dogs. These depend on the wood of the guitar a lot more.)

3.) BKP Riff Raff (never experienced or used these. Just recommending random pickup here. Sound rather "blah" and compressed in the few demos I have heard.)

4.) BKP Warpig (these might be a little too hot and high distortion for your taste. However, they have the tightest bass response of any pickups I have ever tried and I am slightly biased towards them since they are my current faves. Organic as can be, plus the cleans are EXTREMELY hard to beat. If they are too hot for you, then at least try an Alnico one in the neck where there is less gain/drive, as opposed to the bridge.)

 

[Dani2901]

I used a jem 7V with DiMarzio Evotutions for my JCM 800 and that was best cleansound in my opinion. very jazzy!!!!

 

[TRENCHLORD]

An emg85 in the bridge would give growl and grind without being as focused as the 81, and without a boost I really don't think you'd be quite to full out modern gain. (close)

 

[Frankb7stringer]

Dimarzio x2n. Chuck Schuldiners tone in a nutshell. You can obviously sculpt the tone however you chose but they drive harder than a funny car wide open

 

[noUser01]

JB is a great pickup for that, but doesn't exactly have tight bass. Something like a Duncan Custom is better, or hell, just get EMGs and be done with it.

 

[Toshiro]

Duncan Blackout Metal in "Livewire" mode.

 

[MF_Kitten]

from experience, I'd say X2N or EMG 81, and probably the DiMarzio D Activator too.

 

[iron blast]

black winters get my vote lol

 

[jeffguy]

I have a jcm800 2204 from 1983, thing rips! It depends on the tone you're seeking though. For classic rock style riffs I'd suggest something like a AlnicoIIpro. For more metal sounding styles go with a good old Super D. Your cabinet/speakers make a huge difference with this amp. And I ALWAYS use my Ts9 and a Noise Gate to get into proper driven territory (as this amp is crazy loud!).

I find EMG 81's to be much too sterile sounding but that's just me!

 

[theronaldchase]

Honestly, I'm liking my Dirty Fingers humbucker through a friends JCM800 that I used for a couple of gigs. I was pleasantly surprised.

 

[WarMachine]

DiMarzio D Activator

/thread

 

[GraveMind]

If you wanna hit the front end of it like a sledgehammer then......X2N