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metal pick ups

M

mr-cheese

Guest
Sep 18, 2006
27
0
#1
Im gonna make a custom bass soon, n i wanna know ur guys adivece on what are the best pickups for playig metal? (as in the music, not as in aluminuim :P)

i usually finger pick with nickle strings if that makes any difference what so ever to your answer.....

and i am also getting a distortion / overdrive pedal soon too if that changes anything either
 
#2
Depending on your preference of pickup type (ie. Jazz pickups, P pickups, MusicMan style pickups)-

I've used the Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder P- bass pickups: they are fantastic, very solid low end and low midrange but with more highs than comparable P pickups as well. Steve Harris from Iron Maiden uses these. They sound good to me either clean or dirty, some people describe their sound as "scooped"- but I've found them to have plenty of great midrange growl even when EQ'd flat.

For Jazz pickups- alot of guys use EMG active pickups for metal, I guess for the same reason that alot of guitarists do- they have a decent frequency response, but more importantly they make no noise and feedback less than typical passive pickups- if you want really clean scooped mid type tones, you'd probably dig them. I actually don't like super clean metal bass tones though I used these pickups for about 2 years- so my pick for Jazz pickups are the Dimarzio Model Js: they are tonally about the opposite of the EMGs, with very heavy midrange (and a great low end) and can sound really dirty/ nasty in a good way, especially through all tube amps!

For MusicMan style- I have only used a Seymour Duncan MM Replacement pickup (I believe its an Alnico one) and it sounds great- deep lowend/ + midrange punch and really glassy highs, it seems the most versatile in the sense that it can be both really clean and hifi sounding or really dirty depending on how you EQ it (I have only used it in a bass with an active EQ, so I don't know what it would be like in an all passive bass).

My favorites so far are the G&L MFD humbuckers: they are the thickest of all that I have used and sound especially good through tube overdrive, the only better pickup for the overdrive that I have tried is the Dimarzio Model J- but the Model J doesn't have as much output or as much punch. The G&Ls are kind of like having 2 Model Js in one pickup in my experience! The only downside to them is that I don't think you can buy them seperate of G&L basses, but if you could ever find some I would highly reccomend them!

I also reccomend wiring any pickups you try in series (or installing a switch to have either series or parallel wiring)- Ever since first trying it out on my bass with the Dimarzio Model J pickups, I've installed a switch on all of my basses: series wiring offers more low midrange punch generally and extend the low end to some degree as well, which works well if you like dirty, midrangy metal bass tones as opposed to clean, scooped- midrange tones. Although I guess you may not like either of these- they are just the most common metal bass tones that I hear these days.

My late-night 2 cents....
Karl Zickrick
 
#5
mr-cheese said:
Im gonna make a custom bass soon, n i wanna know ur guys adivece on what are the best pickups for playig metal? (as in the music, not as in aluminuim :P)

i usually finger pick with nickle strings if that makes any difference what so ever to your answer.....

and i am also getting a distortion / overdrive pedal soon too if that changes anything either
Click to expand...


there are a million different awesome pickups/pickup combinations you can put on your bass to make it sound good, BUT, IMO, there are no pickups as ballsy as EMGs. if you're playing metal, i think the way to go is active EMGs. beyond that, it's your preference...P...J...P/J...Humbuckers.

i have an ESP with two EMG Hz Humbuckers, and the thing kills. i know those are passive pickups, but it has an active preamp.

EMG!!!
 
#6
I have a Schecter Stiletto with EMG Soapbar pickups at the bridge and neck....Which I, too, run through a Mesa 400 + rig...

Great tone for metal, which is one of the genres I happen to play in as well....

As for whether they are good for metal...I would say a lot of it depends on your amp as well....For example, the EMG's were not very "Raunchy" through my SVT III Pro, but they absolutely destroy things through the Mesa....
 
#9
I don't remember if it was Dimarzio or Seymour Duncan (maybe both), but I know there is at least one of those companies that will allow you to trade out a pickup you buy and don't like- so it makes sense to buy those new. Otherwise, I have had good luck buying used pickups on Ebay for pretty cheap- since you may or may not end up liking them, you can sell them again for around the same price you bought them for if it comes to that. You actually may be able to find new pickups on Ebay for less (even with the cost of shipping) than they would cost in a store as well, I know I have in the past!

Karl Zickrick
 

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