"Metal" Pickup suggestion for all mahogany guitar.

[behemoth91]

So ive decided im getting a custom carvin, and while the bridge pickup in it isnt that bad i do plan on replacing it a shortwhile after recieving the guitar. So my question is whats a good "metal" pickup for a all mahogany guitar. I play stuff like cannibal corpse, behemoth, job for a cowboy, emporer, immortal, black dahlia murder. And also no actives please. There will also be a poll, if you chose other state your opinion in the comment box please. Once again im only looking for a bridge pickup as i kinda like the neck pickup on the carvins.

 

[Rev2010]

Duncan JB rules king in mahogany.... I don't care what anyone says it's always been my favorite.


Rev.

 

[hiflyer]

EMG 707 or Dimarzio Evo...........

 

[MaxOfMetal]

Why the active hate? At one time or another every band you listed has used EMGs in their guitars, and many still do.

Though, if you're absolutely dead set on going passive, check out the D-Activators by Dimarzio. They're great pickups and can easily do the tones you're talking about.

 

[behemoth91]

i know all of em use emgs, tried emgs and theyre definently awesome but i dont want to put emgs in my first custom. And besides i have emgs in my other guitar and d-activators in the other, and i prefer the passives but the d-activators arent ass bassy and ballsy as i want em to be though they are beast pickups regardless. btw beast pic of cannibal corpse. and as of right now im leaning towards the x2n

 

[AvantGuardian]

I had a mahogany body S7320 with a Dimarzio D-Sonic in the bridge (with the bar on the bridge side) and it had a really nice metal sound, very big yet articulate with heavy distortion. I've heard the Crunch Lab is good too but I haven't tried one yet.

 

[MaxOfMetal]

i know all of em use emgs, tried emgs and theyre definently awesome but i dont want to put emgs in my first custom. And besides i have emgs in my other guitar and d-activators in the other, and i prefer the passives but the d-activators arent ass bassy and ballsy as i want em to be though they are beast pickups regardless. btw beast pic of cannibal corpse.

If you don't think the D-Activators have bass or balls, then try the Drop Sonic 7 or Evo 7. The D-Sonic is really thick and has plenty of tight low-end still very articulate though, while the Evo 7 is super clear and aggressive.

Honestly, stay away from the X2N. It's got tone of output, and on paper would be a great pickup, but every guitar I've put them in and amp I've then played through has been fairly harsh treble wise with weak/brittle mids and a little too much bass, enough so they can be muddy if you don't watch your settings. They're great pickups if you're looking for that very early 80's/90's Thrash or Death Metal tone. The kind that you typically play with SS gear. Maybe I'm just doing something wrong.

 

[behemoth91]

If you don't think the D-Activators have bass or balls, then try the Drop Sonic 7 or Evo 7. The D-Sonic is really thick and has plenty of tight low-end still very articulate though, while the Evo 7 is super clear and aggressive.

Honestly, stay away from the X2N. It's got tone of output, and on paper would be a great pickup, but every guitar I've put them in and amp I've then played through has been fairly harsh treble wise with weak/brittle mids and a little too much bass, enough so they can be muddy if you don't watch your settings. They're great pickups if you're looking for that very early 80's/90's Thrash or Death Metal tone. The kind that you typically play with SS gear. Maybe I'm just doing something wrong.

i am trying to get 80s/90s thrash/death metal tone.

 

[MaxOfMetal]

i am trying to get 80s/90s thrash/death metal tone.

Gotcha, there's just nothing 80's/90's Thrash or Death Metal about all but one or two of the bands you listed.

 

[behemoth91]

Gotcha, there's just nothing 80's/90's Thrash or Death Metal about all but one or two of the bands you listed.

cannibal and behemoth theyre from the early 90s lol. and yea i listened to a few clips of the x2n and i agree it isnt exactly what im looking for. and i listened to the d-sonic and its pretty beast, that and the invader.

 

[Triple-J]

I'd recommend the Duncan Distortion as I own two Schecter blackjacks (which are mahogany) and I dropped a Duncan Distortion in one of them about a month ago and I love it.
There's a nice clear sound that's much much better than the JB that was originally in my guitar which provides a good solid percussive chunk plus it can cover a lot of ground tone wise as I tend to vary between Page Hamilton/Wes Borland style riffing/thrash/Black Sabbath/Type o Negative style sludge and it handles things so well I've just ordered another.

 

[Solstafir]

Depends heavily on what amp ya gonna drive with it.
I LOVE the JB, D-Sonic (absolutely fabulous my Mayones), CrunchLab sounds very deep and crunchy and full, too, Evos are also awesome, X2N7 is also amazing in mahogany bodies. Great pick attack on all of them too, essential for 80's-90's thrash style.
EMG's also sound great in mahogany guitars, just can't seem to get a good lead sound out of them, at least not as easy as with passives!

 

[Disco Volante]

Duncan JB rules king in mahogany.... I don't care what anyone says it's always been my favorite.


Rev.

+1 any day of the week if you're going passive. I have a Duncan JB in my all mahogany LTD Viper and it slays in that particular guitar.

Here's two of my songs that I recorded with the JB so you can get an idea of what it sounds like:

SoundClick artist: Single Unified Force - page with MP3 music downloads

SoundClick artist: Single Unified Force - page with MP3 music downloads

I also love the D-Sonic in my JP6, but am unsure of how it sounds in mahogany. The CrunchLab always gets rave reviews too.

 

[afflictive]

Go Bare Knuckle instead. You won't regret.

 

[MrMcSick]

I used to have my invader in my all mahogany gui and liked it but its a pretty dark pickup and mahogany is rather warm. Took it out and put it in my alder maple board gui since it was wayyy too bright and absolutely love it in it since invaders are low on the treble side.

 

[cwhitey2]

Duncan JB rules king in mahogany.... I don't care what anyone says it's always been my favorite.


Rev.

this pup is 100% pure awesome...love mine would not trade it for anything


edit: mahogany + jb + my ear = orgasm

 

[behemoth91]

yea at this point im either getting the jb or the d-sonic.

 

[Triple-J]

One thing to bear in mind is that the JB does sound great in a mahogany 6 string but the 7 string version of the pickup is a little different tends to lack tightness on the low B and can sound muddy, personally I spent a lot of time amp fiddling when I had the JB in my Schecters and I just got sick of it never being quite 100% in terms of tone.

 

[Rook]

It helps to know what amp you've got.

Example: If you have a Mesa Dual Rectifier, these 'sag' in quite a characteristic way, generally. If you like the 'big' sound you get from them, but want a tighter gain, rather than the masses of fat compression you would normally get, go for something very hot and bright. The more voltage you put the the front, the tighter it gets. Something like an EVO or D-Sonic, or if you want a REAL boost, a D-Activator.

If you have something essentially the sound you want, or an amp that doesn't change its characteristic depending on the guitar like most Peaveys, go for something that's EQ'd more the way you want - in this case, something like a Blaze that has the ducked mids. This is the approach Lamb of God take with their Mark Series amps. The Marks don't need pushing to get that serious tight tone because that's what the bass, mid and treble controls do, so Mark can get away with using something, with lower output. Something clear and with a lot of mids - a '59.

As far as matching to the guitar, hot ceramic pickups don't really take a lot from the guitar, so you can concentrate a lot on the pickup's general 'EQ'. If you were going to go for a much lower output pickup because you think your amp's up for it, your guitar's construction will come into play. JB's are great with Mahogany, as are the PAF Pro's or PAF7's (how many strings?).

 

[Rook]

It helps to know what amp you've got.

Example: If you have a Mesa Dual Rectifier, these 'sag' in quite a characteristic way, generally. If you like the 'big' sound you get from them, but want a tighter gain, rather than the masses of fat compression you would normally get, go for something very hot and bright. The more voltage you put the the front, the tighter it gets. Something like an EVO or D-Sonic, or if you want a REAL boost, a D-Activator.

If you have something essentially the sound you want, or an amp that doesn't change its characteristic depending on the guitar like most Peaveys, go for something that's EQ'd more the way you want - in this case, something like a Blaze that has the ducked mids. This is the approach Lamb of God take with their Mark Series amps. The Marks don't need pushing to get that serious tight tone because that's what the bass, mid and treble controls do, so Mark can get away with using something, with lower output. Something clear and with a lot of mids - a '59.

As far as matching to the guitar, hot ceramic pickups don't really take a lot from the guitar, so you can concentrate a lot on the pickup's general 'EQ'. If you were going to go for a much lower output pickup because you think your amp's up for it, your guitar's construction will come into play. JB's are great with Mahogany, as are the PAF Pro's or PAF7's (how many strings?).