New Pup reccomendations/advice?

[Beavis83]

Following on from this thread: http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/sevenstring-guitars/286226-ngd-schecter-omen-extreme-7-a.html

have any of you here upgraded the pickups on this exact guitar and if so, how's it been?
I read somewhere else that some models of Pups require additional routing, which will be a no-no for me due to cost reasons.

I'm thinking of just a Duncan in the bridge, but is there any point in putting in a good bridge while leaving the neck stock - has anyone done this and how do the two balance out?

Thanks

 

[TRaoul]

Hello Beavis83,

I have this guitar and I indeed had to swap pickups right after buying it (stock lack too much definition and have a hot output but that lacks both precision and character).

I upgraded the pickups by wiring them following the schematics that come with any SD or DiMarzio pickups.
Some models do require routing, but if you go for you traditional passive pickups, there shouldn't be any need for that !

Duncan in the bridge is a good idea : I've had several tries, first SH-4, then SH-6 then Nazgul 6 then I ended up with the Custom alnico 5.

SH-4, good hard rock, heavy metal or glam pickup. Offers good balance of power and dynamics but it lacks the face-melting punch and attack of the SH-6 (I play progressive metal, djent and death metal).

SH-6, brutal pickup with a hi-mid peak that will easily turn into djent. It's a great metal pickup with a lot of character to it. But it's really hot and you cannot get any decent clean out of it.

Nazgul 6, this thing is simply monstrous. It's the most brutal sounding pickup I've ever tried (even compared to some Bare Knuckle, DiMarzio, Lace). You do not play clean with this on your guitar, it offer terrible precision and brutality but lacks dynamics as it tends to compress your signal (as every hot pickup do, but this one is... really hot).

Custom alnico 5, the last one I put was the most moderate one. It has plenty of definition and the alnico 5 magnets makes it warm. It can perform really well in both brutal and clean context. It's not a pickup everyone would like, but it suits my style well.

My mistake was leaving the neck stock. The stock neck pickups is the best of both stocks but still, honestly, you have to swap it. I nailed this one right off the bat with a Sentient 6 which gives you average cleans but has incredible definition on the gain channel.

Feel free to message me for any other question.

Cheers,
Raoul

 

[Beavis83]

Hello Beavis83,

I have this guitar and I indeed had to swap pickups right after buying it (stock lack too much definition and have a hot output but that lacks both precision and character).

I upgraded the pickups by wiring them following the schematics that come with any SD or DiMarzio pickups.
Some models do require routing, but if you go for you traditional passive pickups, there shouldn't be any need for that !

Duncan in the bridge is a good idea : I've had several tries, first SH-4, then SH-6 then Nazgul 6 then I ended up with the Custom alnico 5.

SH-4, good hard rock, heavy metal or glam pickup. Offers good balance of power and dynamics but it lacks the face-melting punch and attack of the SH-6 (I play progressive metal, djent and death metal).

SH-6, brutal pickup with a hi-mid peak that will easily turn into djent. It's a great metal pickup with a lot of character to it. But it's really hot and you cannot get any decent clean out of it.

Nazgul 6, this thing is simply monstrous. It's the most brutal sounding pickup I've ever tried (even compared to some Bare Knuckle, DiMarzio, Lace). You do not play clean with this on your guitar, it offer terrible precision and brutality but lacks dynamics as it tends to compress your signal (as every hot pickup do, but this one is... really hot).

Custom alnico 5, the last one I put was the most moderate one. It has plenty of definition and the alnico 5 magnets makes it warm. It can perform really well in both brutal and clean context. It's not a pickup everyone would like, but it suits my style well.

My mistake was leaving the neck stock. The stock neck pickups is the best of both stocks but still, honestly, you have to swap it. I nailed this one right off the bat with a Sentient 6 which gives you average cleans but has incredible definition on the gain channel.

Feel free to message me for any other question.

Cheers,
Raoul

Hey Raoul,
Thanks for the advice great stuff.

I'd ideally like a pickup that does cleans as well as it does heavy stuff. The band I'm currently with has a soft/loud dynamic, so I need Pups that handle both equally well.
I do believe that a good clean tone is the basis for everything else, so I doubt I'd get a Nazgul. So, say maybe the Custom Alnico 5 or SH-4 would be more up my street.

And also, I do like using my neck Pup a good bit - I'm not one of those guys who just uses the bridge, so a good pairing will probably be the best option.

 

[jc986]

From Duncan I'd go with a set of Black Winters. They are the most versatile "heavy" pickup I've played through. Both the bridge and neck are capable of great clean tones.

Also, the Nazgul is not that high output of a pickup (JB & Custom 5 are actually higher output), and has no problem getting good clean tones. Of course there are better humbuckers for clean, but the Nazgul does a fine job.

 

[Beavis83]

From Duncan I'd go with a set of Black Winters. They are the most versatile "heavy" pickup I've played through. Both the bridge and neck are capable of great clean tones.

Also, the Nazgul is not that high output of a pickup (JB & Custom 5 are actually higher output), and has no problem getting good clean tones. Of course there are better humbuckers for clean, but the Nazgul does a fine job.

Thanks, I never thought of the Black Winters as being good for cleans, they would've be more of a chug thing in my mind.

 

[GoldenEagle0308]

Have you considered SH-2 on the neck? It has a great clean tone. Don't knock that it's a jazz pickup. I'm pretty sure Randy Rhoads used a jazz pickup in the neck position.

 

[Beavis83]

Have you considered SH-2 on the neck? It has a great clean tone. Don't knock that it's a jazz pickup. I'm pretty sure Randy Rhoads used a jazz pickup in the neck position.

I'd never knock a "jazz" pickup no more than I'd knock a "metal" one based just on the name or what it's normally used for. If it delivers the goods that's all I'd care about.