Passive pick-ups

[No Soul]

I'd go Bareknuckle Warpig. Consider yourself lucky you're in the States.
An EMG 81-7 costs $320 here as opposed to about $200 for a Bareknuckle.

wowza.

I havent been able to try one yet, but everybody keeps telling me

"Its just like a passive EMG81!" Which always leads me to say 2 things

1, if its just like an EMG, why not just get the EMG? Save in the case of the Warpig being cheaper.

2, A passive EMG81 is an EMG HZ4, and nobody (save the Children of Bodom guy) likes those so why bother?

 

[dpm]

Well, to start with it's not just like an 81, it's like a passive 81.
Which is to say it has an EQ curve like an 81, but with passive dynamics, and without the things a lot of people (myself for eg.) don't like about EMG such as 'clinical' high end. Passives just respond differently to EMG actives.
As for the HZ4, it doesn't sound like an 81. It's just crap
And the Bareknuckles are the same size as DiMarzios.

 

[Revolution777]

has anybody here tried a Tone Zone 7?
I heard you get awesome pinch harmonics.

 

[mikoxxx]

Just from my experience (I own an alder sevenstring) in the bridge position:
1.had an EVOLUTION7 - was great for soloing but not really good for riffing- the sound there was too "thin" and artificial;
2.had a BLAZE II - soooo much better, beautiful soloing and selective sounding riffs (although a little muddy, and in hid in the mix);
3.have a Seymour Duncan SH-6 Distortion - that's it for heavy playing, cuts right through the mix. It has less bass than those above listed pickups but it's no harm when playing in low tunings. Solos just scream!

 

[Drew]

has anybody here tried a Tone Zone 7?
I heard you get awesome pinch harmonics.

The TZ7's a nice sounding pickup. Very raw and organic, for a Dimarzio, but middy as all hell without much true bass (just a ton of lower mids). It kills for heavy riffing in just about any tonewood (as you can scoop the mids a bit without killing your tone, since there's so much to go around ), and is a pretty good solo pickup too, in basswood, although I prefer the Blaze bridge in my UV.

The harmonics didn't seem any more pronounced than any other good bridge pickup, to me.

-D

 

[jim777]

I have a TZ7 and a PAF7 in my Carvin, and Bartolini 493's in my up coming custom 7620 (they were in the previous body). My other 2 7's are stock Ibanez pickups (New 7's, whateverfuck 7's). The TZ7 is is fine, but doesn't sound as good to me in Alder as it did in mahogany. Odd but true. The PAF7 is waaaaay too mid heavy, with almost no highs. Both of these are in the Carvin, which is maple neck through with Alder wings. Both pickups RULED in my mahogany AX-7521, which surprised me, but they did (I know it doesn't really make sense, maybe the smaller AX body and 22 fret neck had something to do with it). That guitar really sounded great with the DiMarzios. Anyway, the Barts are flat response, with spectacular seperation, so they are great for soloing and fingerpicking but less good for constant strumming stuff. With an onboard preamp like a Bartolini or EMG Afterburner, they are just about as good as you can get. I wouldn't put them in everything, like I wouldn't but EMGs in everything, but they are special with a preamp.

 

[Jerich]

i have installed my Lundgren M-Models with thicker coil wire so they are custom at a $275.00 price tag. in just about every guitar I own for a Very Similar sound in each. I try to direct mount most of them..Like the Carvins but the BC Rich's I float them..they seem to be thinner then. I like the fact they are sooooooo hot with just a little bit of Volume knobb turning you get new types of gain distortion. I have purchased nearly 15 Lundgrens and they are very consistant..in quality and sound. I went from Dimarzio Blaze Customs/Evolution 7's and SD JB models as well as SD Invader 7 to nothing else but Lundgren...swedes are Killer....

 

[Mind Riot]

Lots of love for the Blazes and JB in here, and for good reason, IMO. I had the blaze neck in the bridge of my RG7421, and it was great. Then I got my Schecter with the JB in the bridge, and it was great. I prefer the Schecter for a number of reasons (extended scale, fatter neck, I like mahogany, tune-o-matic bridge which has always been my fave bridge type, plus I do like the JB more than the Blaze), but the Blazes are great seven string pickups. I think there's many good reasons they are some of the most popular seven string pickups.

For neck pickups, I've had the Dimarzio PAF-7 and now the Duncan '59-7. I like them both, but the PAF-7 was a little sweeter I think. The '59-7 is a bit too hot for me, but rolling off the volume makes it really sing. It's great split, too.

So many lovely pickups to try out there, so little time and money. But at least I'm happy with what I have now, I'm not out there searching and reading and guessing at what I should use like I used to.