pickups for Iron Maiden?

[HTH AMPS]

I've always loved the juicy tones Maiden got on Number Of The Beast and Live After Death.  Anyone know what pickups would get closest to that tone? (in my Explorer)

[TwilightOdyssey]

VHII or Cold Sweat.

[il˙ti]

VHII or Cold Sweat.

That's what I was thinking too! I'm getting the hang of this.

[Twinfan]

I was thinking Riff Raffs?  Dave Murray used PAF Pros in his old Fender Strat at the time.  Riff Raffs would brighten up an Explorer a little bit and being AV would be quite tight.

All "in my opinion" of course  :)

[Philly Q]

I was thinking Riff Raffs?  Dave Murray used PAF Pros in his old Fender Strat at the time.  

I always thought he used a Super Distortion and a PAF.  He might have used a PAF Pro on some of his more recent Strats maybe, but the pickup wasn't on the market at the time those 2 albums were recorded.

Sorry for being a smartarse.

I just looked at Live After Death and it lists the equipment in great detail - even picks and strings - but doesn't mention pickups.   :roll:

[Twinfan]

My memory must be going.  Super Distortion sounds much more appropriate.  Why on earth did I think PAF Pros?

Anyhoo, Cold Sweats sound the best best  :)

[Sailor Charon]

I dunno, but the Painkillers in my Les Paul have a really good NWOBHM feel to them...

[Davey]

VH II

[HTH AMPS]

Riffs Raffs or VHIIs might be more what I'd go for - everything seems too damn dark in this Explorer (costing me a small fortune).  I might have to do something silly and put EMGs in this guitar as it's REALLY fussy and EMGs basically sound the same in anything.

I've essentially come to the conclusion that you can't beat Mules - they just rule for almost everything.  Every time I plug my Les Paul in again, I just get 'that' tone.

btw, I have a Black Dog bridge for sale and also an Emerald set - gonna put them in the FS section soon.

[gwEm]

everything seems too damn dark in this Explorer (costing me a small fortune)

i know this feeling well from my Vs. if you try VH2s and they don't work, go for an A5 mule bridge i reckon....

the cold sweat has quite a deep bass response, you can tame it alot with 1M pots - but i'm still not 100% convinced about it in a V.

the miracle man has a stronger bass response, but it is more defined and less deep, and i think it definately works in darker guitars.

i never tried VH2s in any guitar - i plan to pimp some cheapo V with a bridge model. Mule A5 will almost definately work, it won't be ideal for maiden, but you won't be far off, especially with some sort of pedal. with an A4 mule neck, its a great combo. if you imagine a slightly more powerful, but alot more modern sounding version of the A4 mule, thats the A5.

riff raff would also work. i never tried them in an explorer, but in a V they are very 70s UFO period schenker. i think its further from maiden than you'd want.

i say steer clear of the EMGs for now.

if you get VH2s and they don't work, if they are black open poled, i'd be willing to buy them.

[ericsabbath]

the first holy diver version (ceramic, 13.5k)was apparently based on dimarzio super distortion (which makes more sense, since the dio album sounds more like a dimarzio SD than a duncan JB)