Pick ups for Prog metal

[Tasteh]

So I am going to be getting a custom 7 from Acacia guitars and need to decide on what pick up to get. I am mainly going to be playing stuff along the lines of Scale the Summit, so good smooth leads but also some heavy distortion, but at the same time amazing cleans.
My current amp is a peavey JSX btw.

 

[Spike Spiegel]

Crunchlab and liquifire all ya need

 

[Thep]

Asking for pickup advice is pretty close to useless.

Learn how to solder and swap them out until you find something like. Hands on experience rather than opinions that can be, and often are biased.

 

[Tasteh]

So in your opinion those are better than any of the BKP or lundgren pick ups?

 

[Choop]

Like with most things, there are diminishing returns when you pay for the really high end pickups in terms of what you get for the money. Sure BKP and lundgren sound great, but their price doesn't deem everything cheaper to be inferior. Duncan and Dimarzio have really great pickups. That said, there are plenty of pickups that can do what you described. It would really come down to voicing, but to be short the crunchlab/liquifire combo would probably be pretty awesome for what you want. They can get heavy, are extremely articulate and clear, and do the singing lead tone really well.

 

[djentinc]

Go for either the DiMarzio Crunch Lab/Liquifire or Bare Knuckle Nailbombs. Both those sets are great all round pickups.

 

[Captastic]

OP...

The same PuP will sound different in every guitar...and what works in one guitar will sound like poo in another even with the same wood. So while recommendations are good...it really is down to trial and error.

That being said...

Dimarzio:
Crunclab / Liquifire combo
D-Sonic / Air Norton Combo
Tone Zone / Air Norton Combo

Seymour Duncan:
Full Shred Set
Distortion Set
Custom / Full Shred Combo

Also...there are an ass-ton of videos on Youtube. Have you searched on there?

 

[Petie]

I'm currently using a Seymour Duncan Full Shred 7 and '59 7 in my main prog metal guitar and they fit my needs perfectly.

 

[CharliePark]

Bare Knuckle Holydivers are pretty perfect for progressive stuff if you want to go down the BKP route. Not as aggressive sounding as some of the other models but still cool! I think the guys from Scale the Summit use the CL/LF combo and a whole lot of other Bare Knuckles.

 

[Choop]

I'm currently using a Seymour Duncan Full Shred 7 and '59 7 in my main prog metal guitar and they fit my needs perfectly.

Gonna echo this, really good combo from Duncan. I also really like the tones from the 59/custom hybrid for the bridge position as well. Very clear and has a nice midsy grind, a lot like the custom. The Custom 7 is also an awesome bridge pickup, lots of mids and very tight, however would maybe not be the best match up for all body woods and amps.

 

[Hyacinth]

STS uses Lungren M7s at the moment. On formspring Chris made it sound like he had a signature pickup in the works though. If you decide to go the crunchlab/liquifire route definitely update us on how you like them.

 

[Whammy]

I am mainly going to be playing stuff along the lines of Scale the Summit

STS uses Lungren M7s at the moment. On formspring Chris made it sound like he had a signature pickup in the works though. If you decide to go the crunchlab/liquifire route definitely update us on how you like them.

Yeah Chris endorses Lundgren pickups.

If you are looking for their sound then using their pickups is a good starting point.

 

[Overtone]

I know he was happy with Aftermaths at one point as well.