Crunch Lab/Liquifire or Illuminators or...?

[ovlott]

SO I'm looking into finally swapping the pickups out of my Carvin DC727, which has the beloved C26 routes and I am torn about what pickup(s) would be best suited for the guitar as I don't want to add too much top end to my tone.

Dimarzios are the preferred brand i want to go with because they are relatively cheap and so that they will save me routing my guitar but if there are better suggestions that would be worth it I'll look into getting a dremel

It is an All walnut guitar, walnut wings, walnut top, and 5 piece walnut/maple neck, ebony fretboard and stainless frets. Although it is a fairly bright and snappy guitar, it still has a lot of bottom end and midrange in it (maybe because it is on the lighter side of walnut guitars) The kind of sound i'm looking for my bridge is something with a great low-mid crunch almost, with a lot of clarity and not too bright and nasally. For the neck I want liquid smooth leads with a lot of warmth and fullness to them but not dull sounding.

I run this guitar into my POD HD pro, then into an SLA-1 Power amp, and then out of a bugera 4x12 and two monitors for live/band practice, and at home I just run the pod straight into my KRK's

Any suggestions would be great! I think the CL/LF combo should work but the illuminators peak my interest... but then again almost anything is on the table haha

 

[Lifestalker]

I would say CL/LF. Just installed them in my RGD2127z. While we have different woods, I'm very, very happy with them.

 

[RevelGTR]

The cl/lf is indeed a cool combo, can't go wrong with it!

 

[TheWarAgainstTime]

The Liquifire would be good for sure, but I've found that the Crunch Lab is sort of bloated in the mids/lows and doesn't have a very good amount of attack I'd look into something like the Blaze Custom. It's not on the Dimarzio site anymore, but they're still on eBay and can still be bought from Dimarzio as a special order.

 

[Dawn of the Shred]

I would go with the Illuminators, i like them a lil better the the CL/LF combo, I also like D-Activators. Cant go wrong with any of them imo. All great pickups.

 

[HighPotency]

I like the crunch lab but the liquifire tends to just get messy and undefined with distortion.

I'd say illuminators.

 

[ovlott]

The Liquifire would be good for sure, but I've found that the Crunch Lab is sort of bloated in the mids/lows and doesn't have a very good amount of attack I'd look into something like the Blaze Custom. It's not on the Dimarzio site anymore, but they're still on eBay and can still be bought from Dimarzio as a special order.

Its funny you mention the blaze custom because I just a sold a set of blazes they werent my taste in my 7321 but that might have been different in my Carvin, although they were neon green bobbins

 

[ovlott]

Has anyone tried a Cl/lf in walnut? I know a lot of people have put them in their ibanez's but those are mainly basswood, and I feel walnut will respond more drastically to a pickup swap.

And has anyone tried the illuminators in anything besides a jp13? I would like to know how they sound without the pre amp they installed in them for the illuminators.

 

[ovlott]

Thanks for all the suggestions so far guys! I'm thinking a liquifire will be my choice for the neck pup for sure, still unsure about the bridge one though...

 

[Mike]

What about a D Sonic? I've always found it to feel really balanced. It won't add excessive brightness to your high end, but it'll still be present and very smooth. It definitely has that low-mid crunch but without being overbearing to the point that it gets muddy. Plus it's an extremely clear pickup that I feel also cleans up better than most other DiMarzio 7 bridge models.

 

[ovlott]

What about a D Sonic? I've always found it to feel really balanced. It won't add excessive brightness to your high end, but it'll still be present and very smooth. It definitely has that low-mid crunch but without being overbearing to the point that it gets muddy. Plus it's an extremely clear pickup that I feel also cleans up better than most other DiMarzio 7 bridge models.

I've never tried one before, so its something I should check out. What kind of guitar do you have them in?

 

[Mike]

I've never tried one before, so its something I should check out. What kind of guitar do you have them in?

They were in a mahogany bodied ltd viper 7. I've since sold the guitar, but I owned it for 3 years so I knew those things inside and out. Prior to the D Sonic, an EMG 81-7 was in the bridge. The D Sonic really smoothed out that fizzy top end I didn't like from the EMG, but wasn't dark at all and had a nice cutting presence.

 

[Jzbass25]

I haven't heard the illuminator 7 but I prefer it to the AN and the liquifire. I love both the illuminator and blaze neck in different ways so either will probably be great. Illuminator is more for that petrucci solo picking sound (go figure =P)

 

[Given To Fly]

I would go with the CL/LF combo. Its the only way to satisfy your curiosity.

 

[TheWarAgainstTime]

Its funny you mention the blaze custom because I just a sold a set of blazes they werent my taste in my 7321 but that might have been different in my Carvin, although they were neon green bobbins

For what it's worth, everyone who's compared the Blaze Custom to the regular Blaze has said that it's a totally different game and that they're related only by name

 

[ovlott]

For what it's worth, everyone who's compared the Blaze Custom to the regular Blaze has said that it's a totally different game and that they're related only by name

You learn something new everyday, haha. I had the blaze custom and then a regular blaze in the neck, still havent tried a regular blaze in the bridge however

 

[ovlott]

I just ordered a liquifire for the neck position today, so I'm waiting for that to come in, and then hopefully by then I will have made up my mind for the bridge! If I can't come to a conclusion by then, then I'm probably just gonna flip a coin between the Crunchlab and D-sonic, worst case scenario I just end up selling the pickup if I don't like it and getting the other

 

[Neko]

The Liquifire would be good for sure, but I've found that the Crunch Lab is sort of bloated in the mids/lows and doesn't have a very good amount of attack I'd look into something like the Blaze Custom. It's not on the Dimarzio site anymore, but they're still on eBay and can still be bought from Dimarzio as a special order.

It really depends on woods. I have so much attack on mine (mahogany/koa top/ebony fretboard). Insane attack! I have to roll off treble & presence on my amp.

 

[Neko]

Actually, Blaze Custom 7 in bridge seemed midrangy on my other basswood/maple top guitar. Great lead tones but not good for heavy rhythm.