Best Pickups for Metal

[RexKeltoi]

Blackouts, EMG or Fluence ? My preference is Blackouts. I have considered Nazgul's for my Jackson which also has passives.   

[FatherAlabaster]

This all comes down to your guitar and your rig and personal preferences. I hate actives. I had three guitars with the Fluence Moderns in, and I wanted to like them, but they just didn't have teeth through my setup. If you're an EMG 81 player, the Fluence Moderns have a lot to offer, I just don't find them dynamic enough or strong enough on the attack, and somehow their EQ profile gets on my nerves.

I'm a Bare Knuckle fan. My two main guitars are Gibsons - a 6 string Explorer and a 7 string Les Paul. They're both warmer-sounding guitars that benefit from brighter pickups. I have a Rebel Yell in the Explorer and a ceramic Warpig in the LP. The Warpig had an alnico magnet when I got it, but I swapped the magnet and it really brought the pickup to life for aggressive stuff. I also love their Cold Sweat bridge pickup. But again, these guitars are heavy in the low mids and they're going into an amp (Fryette Pittbull 100CL) that loves being hit with a high mid spike, so the pickups balance them out and add some sparkle and make the amp break up in a pleasing way. I wouldn't recommend a Rebel Yell in a bright guitar, but maybe it could be a good fit with the right pot values.

Worth mentioning that both guitars have the bridge pickup wired to the jack, again not something that works on every guitar or for every pickup. I just happen to like it this way. Bypassing all the pots can make pickups sound harsh and unnatural. That's been the case with all the Duncans I use and in all of my brighter guitars. The 7 string LP came with a JB and it was almost great. I have another 7 string with a Distortion in the bridge and a Schecter 6 string with a set of Invaders. They're all ok. If I played simpler stuff I'd probably love them, but for what I do they feel a bit muddy.

[JonoBlade]

1 hour ago, FatherAlabaster said:

This all comes down to your guitar and your rig and personal preferences. I hate actives. I had three guitars with the Fluence Moderns in, and I wanted to like them, but they just didn't have teeth through my setup. If you're an EMG 81 player, the Fluence Moderns have a lot to offer, I just don't find them dynamic enough or strong enough on the attack, and somehow their EQ profile gets on my nerves.

I'm a Bare Knuckle fan. My two main guitars are Gibsons - a 6 string Explorer and a 7 string Les Paul. They're both warmer-sounding guitars that benefit from brighter pickups. I have a Rebel Yell in the Explorer and a ceramic Warpig in the LP. The Warpig had an alnico magnet when I got it, but I swapped the magnet and it really brought the pickup to life for aggressive stuff. I also love their Cold Sweat bridge pickup. But again, these guitars are heavy in the low mids and they're going into an amp (Fryette Pittbull 100CL) that loves being hit with a high mid spike, so the pickups balance them out and add some sparkle and make the amp break up in a pleasing way. I wouldn't recommend a Rebel Yell in a bright guitar, but maybe it could be a good fit with the right pot values.

Worth mentioning that both guitars have the bridge pickup wired to the jack, again not something that works on every guitar or for every pickup. I just happen to like it this way. Bypassing all the pots can make pickups sound harsh and unnatural. That's been the case with all the Duncans I use and in all of my brighter guitars. The 7 string LP came with a JB and it was almost great. I have another 7 string with a Distortion in the bridge and a Schecter 6 string with a set of Invaders. They're all ok. If I played simpler stuff I'd probably love them, but for what I do they feel a bit muddy.

+1 for Bare Knuckles . I use Warpigs in one guitar (Jaydee iommi custom) and Aftermaths in the other (regular SG special from the 90s). I had EMGs in the SG for many years but I just liked the look of the Aftermaths.

I wonder if I should go ceramic for the Warpig. 

I never thought about this stuff too much. You stumble across a sound you like and stick with it. I've recently been using an original Marshall Guv'nor pedal for a bit of boost. It sounds a bit HM-2ish but not so in your face. 

I got that pedal about a year ago and never got a useful sound out of it. I tried again a few weeks ago and loved it.

[FatherAlabaster]

48 minutes ago, JonoBlade said:

I wonder if I should go ceramic for the Warpig. 

I never thought about this stuff too much. You stumble across a sound you like and stick with it.

That was my philosophy about it too. I only got interested in trying different pickups because my Explorer wasn't clear enough. I am glad I did, though. I've gone down the rabbit hole a little bit and learned a lot about what makes different pickups sound the way they do. It eventually brought me back to where I started, though; I like the sound and feel of a bright pickup in a darker guitar better than a thick pickup in a bright guitar, I like hot-ish scatterwound pickups with a bit of asymmetry between the coils, and I like a Gibson 24.75" scale length with thicker strings better than a 25.5" or longer scale with thinner strings. 

Because of all that, there are some guitars that'll never sound the way I want, no matter how I tweak them. I kind of envy people who play with the higher output metal-oriented active pickups because it seems like their sound is a lot less dependent on what guitars they're in. And since those pickups aren't as dynamic and responsive to pick attack, you don't have to play as hard, which means you can play faster with less energy. I found myself relaxing and playing a bit more "easily" when I was using the Fluence pickups just because of the way the guitar responded. But then I went to dig in for certain things and the tone and feel just wasn't there. 

 

Ceramic in the Warpig will give you a bit of a firmer feel, more aggression in pick attack, and more bite in the highs than alnico 5. A bit more output too. I wanted that for my rig but the change might not do anything beneficial for you... maybe fun to try anyway though? 

[JonoBlade]

22 hours ago, FatherAlabaster said:

Ceramic in the Warpig will give you a bit of a firmer feel, more aggression in pick attack, and more bite in the highs than alnico 5. A bit more output too. I wanted that for my rig but the change might not do anything beneficial for you... maybe fun to try anyway though? 

Watched a video of how to do it and it looks fairly straightforward. But not sure if I'm motivated enough to source a magnet and pull everything apart.

 What I really need is a "guitar whisperer" that would do a session for a day to optimise complete chain. Teach a man to fish.

[FatherAlabaster]

1 hour ago, JonoBlade said:

Watched a video of how to do it and it looks fairly straightforward. But not sure if I'm motivated enough to source a magnet and pull everything apart.

 

It's worth doing if there's a problem with the tone or feel of your guitar and you think a different magnet will make it right, or if you're just interested in tinkering for the sake of it and hearing the difference for yourself. If you're happy with the sound you already have, there are definitely more fun and productive ways to spend an afternoon. 

[RexKeltoi]

On 2/14/2024 at 9:35 AM, FatherAlabaster said:

This all comes down to your guitar and your rig and personal preferences. I hate actives. I had three guitars with the Fluence Moderns in, and I wanted to like them, but they just didn't have teeth through my setup. If you're an EMG 81 player, the Fluence Moderns have a lot to offer, I just don't find them dynamic enough or strong enough on the attack, and somehow their EQ profile gets on my nerves.

I'm a Bare Knuckle fan. My two main guitars are Gibsons - a 6 string Explorer and a 7 string Les Paul. They're both warmer-sounding guitars that benefit from brighter pickups. I have a Rebel Yell in the Explorer and a ceramic Warpig in the LP. The Warpig had an alnico magnet when I got it, but I swapped the magnet and it really brought the pickup to life for aggressive stuff. I also love their Cold Sweat bridge pickup. But again, these guitars are heavy in the low mids and they're going into an amp (Fryette Pittbull 100CL) that loves being hit with a high mid spike, so the pickups balance them out and add some sparkle and make the amp break up in a pleasing way. I wouldn't recommend a Rebel Yell in a bright guitar, but maybe it could be a good fit with the right pot values.

Worth mentioning that both guitars have the bridge pickup wired to the jack, again not something that works on every guitar or for every pickup. I just happen to like it this way. Bypassing all the pots can make pickups sound harsh and unnatural. That's been the case with all the Duncans I use and in all of my brighter guitars. The 7 string LP came with a JB and it was almost great. I have another 7 string with a Distortion in the bridge and a Schecter 6 string with a set of Invaders. They're all ok. If I played simpler stuff I'd probably love them, but for what I do they feel a bit muddy.

BKP's are excellent passives from the demos I have seen, considered putting them in my Jackson but kinda leaning towards Nazguls, never tried Warpig's but I will try a guitar at a store that has them loaded in a guitar, I drop into to check out gear all the time.   

[FatherAlabaster]

2 minutes ago, RexKeltoi said:

BKP's are excellent passives, considered putting them in my Jackson but kinda leaning towards Nazguls  

I have to say I'm not a huge fan of Duncans in my guitars. They just don't have the feel I'm looking for and I wind up fighting with them. They come across as kind of stuffy with my riffs through my amp and I dig in too hard looking for note attack that isn't there. I know a few people on another forum who love the Black Winter. If I was going to try another production Duncan it would probably be that or the Custom/59 hybrid. 

Since you're up in Canada you might want to check out Peg City pickups, from Winnipeg. A guy I know recently got their Angry Widow bridge pickup and was raving about it. 

[RelentlessOblivion]

This is something for me to consider now that I’m starting to write my own stuff. I don’t mind the EMGs in the Dean i’m using as my main guitar, although sometimes it gives me some weird crackling feedback, I’ve taken it to be repaired twice without much luck, resolving that issue would be great.

[FatherAlabaster]

17 minutes ago, RexKeltoi said:

BKP's are excellent passives from the demos I have seen, considered putting them in my Jackson but kinda leaning towards Nazguls, never tried Warpig's but I will try a guitar at a store that has them loaded in a guitar, I drop into to check out gear all the time.   

Just to follow up since I replied to an earlier version of the post - what does your Jackson sound like? What do you think it needs? The Warpigs will sound different in different guitars and through different pot values, but they're not inherently bright like my other two favorites so they might work for you if your Jackson is a bright guitar. BKPs are pricey but you can sometimes find a good deal on a used set if you wait around.

[RelentlessOblivion]

I’m wondering if replacing the EMG active 83 neck pick up on my Dean with a Bareknuckle, maybe the aftermath, and keeping the EMG 85 body pick up might give me a little more of the versatility I’m after. I’ll have to head into a guitar store and play around with some of the bare knuckles I think. 

[FatherAlabaster]

40 minutes ago, RelentlessOblivion said:

I’m wondering if replacing the EMG active 83 neck pick up on my Dean with a Bareknuckle, maybe the aftermath, and keeping the EMG 85 body pick up might give me a little more of the versatility I’m after. I’ll have to head into a guitar store and play around with some of the bare knuckles I think. 

It's not impossible to mix actives and passives but it's tricky. They take different value pots so the volume and tone knobs would have to be completely separate for each. And they usually sound so different that they require different settings on the amp. I wouldn't go for a setup like that without a clear idea of exactly what I was doing. Also, playing BKPs in a guitar in the store isn't going to give you a great indication of how they would sound in your guitar through your amp. They make great pickups but not every model is going to match well to every guitar or give you the sound you're looking for. There's a lot of marketing fluff around pickups. If you don't have a specific goal in mind for your sound and an idea of what your guitar needs in order to sound that way, you can wind up tossing hundreds of dollars down a hole chasing tone.

As much as I'm not an "active pickup" guy, you might actually like a set of Fishman Fluences if you want versatility. The moderns or one of the signature sets. They all have switchable voicings so it's like having two or three pickups in one. You may also like the sound of running the EMGs at 18 volts. In any case you'd have to get a knowledgeable tech to set this up for you and it sounds like the people you've been going to aren't that great. 

[RelentlessOblivion]

That sounds like more hassle than it’s worth. Honestly, I’ve got a pretty clear idea the sort of tone I’m looking for though and I’m just not getting it with my current set up. Truth Be Told, I’m about halfway there, but i’d probably be better off, playing around with my amp, a little more,

 

if anything, I’m just getting frustrated because I can’t quite seem to capture the feel I’m going for.

[RexKeltoi]

17 hours ago, FatherAlabaster said:

Just to follow up since I replied to an earlier version of the post - what does your Jackson sound like? What do you think it needs? The Warpigs will sound different in different guitars and through different pot values, but they're not inherently bright like my other two favorites so they might work for you if your Jackson is a bright guitar. BKPs are pricey but you can sometimes find a good deal on a used set if you wait around.

Well for one they don't sustain to my liking and lack bite, I have to push it hard with pedals to get the tone I want and have blown tubes doing so,  since it is Dinky it has Duncan Designed pickups, not sure if the bridge is HB 102 or 103 clone s as I believe the sticker is on the underside of the Pup? Pups are classic Strat setup a buck in the bridge POS then 2 singles. I had even considered a Sustainiac in the neck position but that is additional wiring. Definitely sticking with passives because I don't want to pay for the routing required for actives anyways.   

[FatherAlabaster]

6 minutes ago, RexKeltoi said:

Well for one they don't sustain to my liking and lack bite, I have to push it hard with pedals to get the tone I want and have blown tubes doing so,  since it is Dinky it has Duncan Designed pickups, not sure if the bridge is HB 102 or 103 clone s as I believe the sticker is on the underside of the Pup? Pups are classic Strat setup a buck in the bridge POS then 2 singles. I had even considered a Sustainiac in the neck position but that is additional wiring. Definitely sticking with passives because I don't want to pay for the routing required for actives anyways.   

The Duncan Designed stuff is pretty well thought of on the Seymour Duncan board. Those models would be similar to a Distortion or JB depending on what magnet is in there. It should have plenty of output. I'm kinda shooting from the hip since I haven't seen or heard your guitar at all, but I doubt the sustain issue is down to the pickups, unless they're so close to the strings that they're pulling on them. Is the wiring ok? Does it sustain well unplugged? Do you have another bridge pickup there that you could just put in and try to see if it opens things up, before you spend money on something that doesn't fix the problem?

 

[GoatmasterGeneral]

Sorry to butt in, and I don't play so forgive my ignorance. But aren't active p/ups the norm for metal because of their higher output and greater sustain? Don't most guitars these days come wired for actives or is it 50/50? How much would it cost to add the circuitry and convert a passive axe to accept actives?

[FatherAlabaster]

45 minutes ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:

Sorry to butt in, and I don't play so forgive my ignorance. But aren't active p/ups the norm for metal because of their higher output and greater sustain? Don't most guitars these days come wired for actives or is it 50/50? How much would it cost to add the circuitry and convert a passive axe to accept actives?

There isn't really a norm. Actives and passives both have high profile users. Hetfield is an EMG guy, but Mustaine used a Duncan JB, Chuck from Death used a DiMarzio X2N, Dimebag used a Lawrence L500XL - all high output passives. Actives have an onboard preamp so they can avoid some of the tonal "compromises" that come from winding a passive pickup hotter and using a more powerful magnet, and they can handle long cable runs without losing tone. I've never liked the way EMGs felt to play, they always seemed really compressed and didn't have the balls that my favorite passive pickups do on palm mutes. They sound like plastic through my setup. So do the Fishmans. But it's all down to what sounds good for someone's amp and their playing style. I don't know what the proportion is but there are plenty of metal-oriented guitars made with passive pickups. If you want to convert a guitar to actives, you can buy a set with all the wiring for $200-300, cheaper used. The main issue is that most guitars made for passive pickups don't have space for the battery so you have to rout out a spot for the battery box.

[RelentlessOblivion]

That’s exactly the problem I’m running into, frustrating as all hell when the riffs I’m writing are palm mute heavy.

[RexKeltoi]

6 hours ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:

Sorry to butt in, and I don't play so forgive my ignorance. But aren't active p/ups the norm for metal because of their higher output and greater sustain? Don't most guitars these days come wired for actives or is it 50/50? How much would it cost to add the circuitry and convert a passive axe to accept actives?

As FA said it is mostly the routing of the cavity so on a good guitar a lot of routing can depreciate the value, if you want to put passives back in it can look a tad gnarly but if you don't mind a Frankenstrat look I guess it wouldn't matter. 

7 hours ago, FatherAlabaster said:

The Duncan Designed stuff is pretty well thought of on the Seymour Duncan board. Those models would be similar to a Distortion or JB depending on what magnet is in there. It should have plenty of output. I'm kinda shooting from the hip since I haven't seen or heard your guitar at all, but I doubt the sustain issue is down to the pickups, unless they're so close to the strings that they're pulling on them. Is the wiring ok? Does it sustain well unplugged? Do you have another bridge pickup there that you could just put in and try to see if it opens things up, before you spend money on something that doesn't fix the problem?

 

Good point, it could even be a perception thing as I play the Schecter a lot more because most stuff I play now is in C or C# so I use it most and the Blackouts sustain like crazy. There could be a wiring problem in the pots of the Jackson, it is about 20 years old and 5 since the last setup.