Pickups!!!!!!!!!!!!!

nigellum

nigellum

New member
hey guys, i wanna mod my pups in my epip lp.

currently, im playing alternative rock music. (creed, 3 doors down.. etc)
but also play stuff like (keane, coldplay... etc)
looking for strong rock worthy pickups but at the same time, silent and cool during the cleans.

went down to davis to take a look and was deciding between the
1) EMG's 81(B) and 85(N)
2) SD Alnico II pro humbuckers

which would you recommend? they both cost about the same. my first mod so im quite caught in the middle.

also, would there be any other pup combi you would recommend me?
 
You should get PAF style pickups.. vintage sounding ones. Duncan 59's, dimarzio air classics. i think the alnico II pro would do as well..

cheers
 
+1 for Jazz & Jb. I'm using a wierd combo though, SD Alnico II pro (neck) + Custom Custom (Bridge). It gives me a mixture of moderate and hot. There's a variation. The custom custom has more clarity that the Alnico II pro. Both sounded great together anyway! :)
 
The jazz and jb pups upon installation, they need to mod the push and pull thing too right? to split the pups to attain the single coil sounds. does this mod cost alot?

also heard some good reviews on the P-Rails by SD.

softies using emg's 81/81 or alnico II pro humbuckers, care to share more about the dynamics and tone versatility of it?
 
Last edited:
Regarding Seymour Duncan pickups, I suggest you go to their website to hear their tone samples. They have a tone sample for almost every pick up in both dirty and clean. All humbucking pickups are being tested on a Gibson Les Paul.

As for coil splitting, you can do it in almost any SD humbucking pups. It's your personal preference.
 
nigellum said:
softies using emg's 81/81 or alnico II pro humbuckers, care to share more about the dynamics and tone versatility of it?
Click to expand...

EMGs and the SDs are vastly different.

Have you youtubed for 81 and 85 clips? Have you found any clips with a clean tone you like? What about the bands you've listed, any of them use EMGs?

If you like the sound of certain bands, just look up their gear, that's an easy way to launch into the pickup thing.

Otherwise, you'll have 1001 suggestions and you'd go all over the shop. Anyway, either way, you'll probably end up going all over the shop.
 
nigellum said:
went down to davis to take a look and was deciding between the
1) EMG's 81(B) and 85(N)
2) SD Alnico II pro humbuckers

which would you recommend? they both cost about the same. my first mod so im quite caught in the middle.
Click to expand...

funny that you compare the pickup based on the price.

if you just want to change the pickup just for the sake of changing it without knowing what to expect, better donate the money to me :D
 
Thats true actually. It kind of depends on what kind of tone you wanna achieve. Pups play one of the part in achieving the desired tone, you still have to consider your AMP, guitar type, efx if necessary, etc....
 
ShredCow said:
Was he really comparing pickups based on price? He's just saying that the 2 options he has listed cost the same.
Click to expand...

read carefully please...

He was DECIDING on those two pickups, because they are about the same price.

If that doesn't translate to comparing between the two to you, then we are speaking different english here.
 
Nope, I'm just interpreting what you said in a different way, just as how I'm interpreting what the TS said.

Pretty cool huh - we could start a topic on this!
 
rhizo. im not comparing them based on price. i dont think i stated a budget or anything did i? it was just an innocent comment.

anyway, about the pups, yes i did youtube emgs 81/85 and they sound good with the gain up but very muffled and buzzy on clean. and yeah, i do listen to zakk wylde's playing and his sound's just awesome.

on the other hand, the alnico's handle both gains and clean well but doesnt pack as much punch as the emg's.
 
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If you're getting EMGs, do take note of the excessive oscillation. I watched the video on youtube about Ernie Ball strings being the best to reduce excessive oscillation.
 
nigellum said:
anyway, about the pups, yes i did youtube emgs 81/85 and they sound good with the gain up but very muffled and buzzy on clean. and yeah, i do listen to zakk wylde's playing and his sound's just awesome.

on the other hand, the alnico's handle both gains and clean well but doesnt pack as much punch as the emg's.
Click to expand...

Ah... and you want BOTH cleans AND powerful dirt aye?

Thing is - how "powerful"? You mentioned "alternative rock music" and "strong rock worthy" as requirements. I dunno why you'd look at Mr Wylde. :)

So middle ground is what you want - the EMGs seem slanted towards 1 side of the spectrum while the Alnico IIs are right smack in the middle ground no? I think the choice is obvious?
 
yeah. i like mr wylde's sound even though i play alternative music. can't deny that i love that gain. :D

what do you mean by oscillation?
 
nigellum said:
rhizo. im not comparing them based on price. i dont think i stated a budget or anything did i? it was just an innocent comment.

anyway, about the pups, yes i did youtube emgs 81/85 and they sound good with the gain up but very muffled and buzzy on clean. and yeah, i do listen to zakk wylde's playing and his sound's just awesome.

on the other hand, the alnico's handle both gains and clean well but doesnt pack as much punch as the emg's.
Click to expand...
It's not only about the pickup my friend. Having a Alnico II pro doesn't mean it will sound like Slash, having a EMGs does not make u sound like Zakk Wylde either. It's the overall set up as well as your fingers.

Do you think Zakk Wylde will play his EMGs on a Laney 12w amp? Haha.. Think about it.
 
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