Jan
Well-Known Member
Ok, a while back I posted this thread. In a nutshell:
- my ESP EII Eclipse 7 ET is very resonant, but super dark/bass-heavywih no low mids.
- I tried a number of passive pickups, they made SOME, but honestly, not much difference.
- the Seymour Duncan Distortion pickup I have in the bridge right now is the best one I have had in it: it tamed the bass a bit, added some nice "grind" as well as some top end and higher mids. However, the lower mids (which I love) are still non-existent and the guitar is till very dark compared to pretty much any other guitar I have played (with the exception of a Schecter Hellraiser C7 I had years ago, which was possibly even darker).
- a number of folks suggested trying out a set of EMGs, and I was lucky to be able to get a brand new set of 57-7H/66 for 1/3 of the price...
- HOWEVER, the pickups come in a casing, which means I may have to modify pickup cavities to fit them in - this means that once I have done it, the guitar will use a lot of its market value.
- I also love the sound of split coils on my bridge pickup (for cleans - with a Klon clone, some copression and my Big Sky reverb) and I know I won't be able to get that tone with the EMGs I have...
So, the question is: should I do it? Will EMGs add their magical low-mid grind to my boomy guitar? Will they make it brighter? Should I route the cavities to fit them in? Will it lower my guitar's re-sell value (which is what my friends are telling me)?
- my ESP EII Eclipse 7 ET is very resonant, but super dark/bass-heavywih no low mids.
- I tried a number of passive pickups, they made SOME, but honestly, not much difference.
- the Seymour Duncan Distortion pickup I have in the bridge right now is the best one I have had in it: it tamed the bass a bit, added some nice "grind" as well as some top end and higher mids. However, the lower mids (which I love) are still non-existent and the guitar is till very dark compared to pretty much any other guitar I have played (with the exception of a Schecter Hellraiser C7 I had years ago, which was possibly even darker).
- a number of folks suggested trying out a set of EMGs, and I was lucky to be able to get a brand new set of 57-7H/66 for 1/3 of the price...
- HOWEVER, the pickups come in a casing, which means I may have to modify pickup cavities to fit them in - this means that once I have done it, the guitar will use a lot of its market value.
- I also love the sound of split coils on my bridge pickup (for cleans - with a Klon clone, some copression and my Big Sky reverb) and I know I won't be able to get that tone with the EMGs I have...
So, the question is: should I do it? Will EMGs add their magical low-mid grind to my boomy guitar? Will they make it brighter? Should I route the cavities to fit them in? Will it lower my guitar's re-sell value (which is what my friends are telling me)?