New pickups for my guitar !?

[Kissa3]

Hi ya folks !

I'm seriously gassing for a new guitar but money is tight so I thought the best way to get something new is to plant new pickups on meh 8-stringer ! (+ somehows the EMG's sound really REALLY flat and un-present, maybe it's the scale + wood choice ? as the wiring looks okay but i dunno shit)

So, anyone ready to share some thoughts/experiences ? Mainly i've had bareknuckle pickups in my mind but got NO idea which ones to take and will they fit the EMG808-routing ? I'm kinda looking for a ultra-agressive tone for the bridge pickup without being too treble-harsh + has to have a nice OOMPF (djent) to it and a really sweet balanced neck pickup for some holdsworth-esque lead work !

ps. sorry to post one of these again, i bet there's a million of these threads but hay, time is tight so kinda sucks to go thru millions of threads

oh and PSPS. i'm a poor guy with not much of money (student in otherwords).

 

[Prydogga]

Poor? Says the guy with a custom Roter 8, and some ENGL/Orange related products (Reading off your avatar section for the amps part.)

 

[signalgrey]

i think q tuners would work for you. check them out.

but im sure peeps are gonna recommend black outs and BKPs

 

[rareform707]

^ i would check out the q-tuners as well
otherwise theres bareknuckle like you mentioned. you could talk to zimbloth on this forum for help finding the right models...theres lundgren too but i think theyll run you a little more. if you cant afford those id probably say go with the blackouts...ive never had any experience with the 8 string models but the pair i put in my LTD were solid

 

[Erik Hauri]

Honestly - if you're that poor, forget new pickups. Spend more time learning how to dial in your tone, you've got good gear to work with - and that's free.

The thing with EMGs that set them apart from passives (besides the electronics) is that they have a very flat frequency response. So often guys who go from passives to actives need to work with more midrange to get back to something like a passive EQ. Ideally, you should have EQ capability pre-gain and post-gain to tweek with.

 

[phaeded0ut]

Spend more time learning how to dial in your tone, you've got good gear to work with - and that's free.

The thing with EMGs that set them apart from passives (besides the electronics) is that they have a very flat frequency response. So often guys who go from passives to actives need to work with more midrange to get back to something like a passive EQ. Ideally, you should have EQ capability pre-gain and post-gain to tweek with.

Totally agree on this post!

Before doing anything, zero out the EQ on your amplifier and turn off any effects (if they are present). Find the clean sound you're comfortable with using and note the settings. From there, start adding distortion and gently tweak the EQ settings on your amplifier to dial in the tone you want to use. As Erik stated, try tweaking the midrange. If you have multiple levels of lower and higher midrange, start with the higher midrange.

Adding a graphic EQ before going into your distortion pedal may help you out, too should amp tweaking not make the cut.

The worst case scenario is that if you still can't find what it is you're trying to dial in on the midrange settings, is to look into adding some active EQ circuitry to your beasties with EMG's.

Hope this helps out.

 

[MF_Kitten]

EMG pickups require some tweaking to get a nice sound.

if you want to try new pickups, get a Q-tuner BL-5 in the neck (drop-in replacement for emg 808 sized pickups), then get a pickup ring that can convert the 808 route to hold a normal pickup, and get a BKP or something. they aren't too expencive, and are easy to get a hold of without paying too much.

you could also contact hufschmid about getting a hand-made kent armstrong pickup, but i don't know what size they are compared to the 808. i believe they are awesome for ballsy metal, anyways.

 

[frank falbo]

Hello...

 

[MF_Kitten]

yeah, i just saw that, and was coming back in to suggest blackouts

 

[Kissa3]

Ahhhh yeah, well that's all true with the dialing the tone -business, but dunno, it might be a 'spiritual' (or just mental, in otherwords ) thing that i kinda need something 'new' to try out pickup-wise (actually maybe just GASSING) :S but yeah i get ya peeps ! + a few months of saving money in a hardcore fashion and i should have some money towards pups, that's how i saved for the custom 8 + amp + cab cut down the booze and extra foodcosts and tadah -you got gear !

Oh and it's worth mentioning that my bandmate (nick -pitiful) has EMG808's on his ibanez 2228 and his guitar sounds around 8000times better, more djenty and punchy, can it be that woods + scale affect tone THAT much ? :S we're tho suspecting that there might be something affecting inside the wiring but to my eyes the wiring looks very good o.o but a tech's gonna check it out !

(oh and ps. the ENGL is a blackmore and the Orange is the PPC412 cab !)

Bareknuckles have kinda won my heart so i'd love to try them out probably any experiences regarding them would be cool ! been looking at warpigs mainly, maybe nailbombs ?

Seymour Duncans are not in my interest their mics have always seemed a bit 'meh' except for the dimebucker which i like a bit