Humbucker for Early Thrash

[MetalAxxe]

My first post here so i'll first of all start by saying hi guys  :)

Im looking for a bridge humbucker to go in my Jackson DXMG. I play mainly old-school thrash i.e early metallica/exodus/slayer aswell as some of the newer thrash bands such as municipal waste/gama bomb/toxic holocaust.

I believe my Jackson has a basswood body, its currently running the EMG-HZ's that came with it and im finding them to be a bit sub-par shal we say  :( The amp im using at the moment is a Marshall TSL601 which i will be selling shortly in favour of a JCM800 + overdrive pedal ala pretty much every thrash band ever at some point in thier careers  :P

Im currently looking at the miracle man or the nailbomb, they both sound good but i wanted the opinion of the forum aswell...

Thanks.

[DimeZakk]

Personally I would go for a Painkiller for these bands. The Miracle sounds to modern (new Metallica/Machine Head) and the Nailbomb is tonally closer to Megadeth imho...

[Roobubba]

I've not tried the painkiller, but I have tried the miracle man in basswood (it's fantastic!) and the aftermath. For what you ask, I think the miracle man is a good match, especially in basswood.

[Transcend]

I was just going to add the miracle man if your guitar truly is basswood.

I have used basswood guitars with the miracle man and also use a TSL601 and can cover any of the old school and more modern tones with it.

Are you sure it's basswood though? I believe the one my old guitarist had was alder body with maple bolt on neck w/rosewood fretboard?

[Nolly]

I agree, either Painkiller or Miracle Man would be your best place to start. The Painkiller gives you a very tight, percussive and dry sound that makes all the fast riffing very in-your-face. I almost think of the the PK as a "Marshall in a pickup" - it has that British upper-mid focussed voicing. Definitely the right pickup for the Gama Bomb sound.
The Miracle Man is more saturated and compressed but still very tight, it's fatter in the low mids (which could work very well in conjunction with a Marshall). It is bigger and "chuggier" sounding than the Painkiller, closer to Machine Head as DimeZakk has mentioned.

[MetalAxxe]

Are you sure it's basswood though? I believe the one my old guitarist had was alder body with maple bolt on neck w/rosewood fretboard?

Theyre currently listed on the Jackson website as basswood and Im 90% sure mine is a basswood, I know they used to be alder and some of the websites that sell them still have them listed as alder but i believe sometime in 2009 they were changed to basswood, i think mine was made late 2009/early 2010 so im not 100% sure. All the cavities are painted so short of scr@ping some of the paint off i dont think theres any way to tell?

Would it make a great deal of difference to your reccomendations if it was alder?

[Transcend]

Are you sure it's basswood though? I believe the one my old guitarist had was alder body with maple bolt on neck w/rosewood fretboard?

Theyre currently listed on the Jackson website as basswood and Im 90% sure mine is a basswood, I know they used to be alder and some of the websites that sell them still have them listed as alder but i believe sometime in 2009 they were changed to basswood, i think mine was made late 2009/early 2010 so im not 100% sure. All the cavities are painted so short of scr@ping some of the paint off i dont think theres any way to tell?

Would it make a great deal of difference to your reccomendations if it was alder?

Well i know the miracle man works incredibly well in basswood never used it in alder.

The painkiller i've heard was originally voiced for alder guitars so i would've said that.

But i personally havent used the painkiller. That and the Holy Diver are the only ones from the contemporary line i havent used

[Transcend]

also if it says it's changed then it will have his was an older model i believe hes had it quite a few good years now