Which pickups to choose?

[darrcooper]

hi guys..
im new to the forum and would like a little help..i currently own an 03 57ri goldtop and an 03 57ri black beauty..both are stock classic 57 pickups and i find them too dull..i have just aquired a 2003 plexi reissue modded by mark cameron with the aldrich mod..my cab is a 79 jmp 4x12 with 25w greenbacks.

i find the pickups a bit dull and bass heavy..almost lifeless..and would love to hear any suggestions for new sets for both guitars..
any help would be greatly appreciated.. :)

darren

[AndyR]

Welcome :D

My first (and probably last :lol:) suggestion would be Mules. My guess would be that these would get you in the same ballpark but better tone.

Others will be able to help further I'm sure - but I suspect they'll want to know what kinds of music you play, what you're trying to achieve.

[darrcooper]

thanks andy..

musical tastes are...doug aldrich..john sykes..jake e lee..whitesnake..dio.. and most of the 80's stuff in general..there are so many of the bkp's to choose..
its a case of making the right choice..?

[Twinfan]

Brighter than '57 Classics?  You'll want Mules  :)

[Antag]

Brighter than '57 Classics?  You'll want Mules anything :)

fixed :)

[ericsabbath]

thanks andy..

musical tastes are...doug aldrich..john sykes..jake e lee..whitesnake..dio.. and most of the 80's stuff in general..there are so many of the bkp's to choose..
its a case of making the right choice..?

they all used a lot higher output pickups
i'd get a holy diver, rebel yell or nailbomb
but if you want to keep the low output, maybe the riff raff or the vhII will satisfy you
as you have 2 guitars, you can get a low output set for one, the strong output set for the other one

[PhilKing]

For the Black Beauty, for John Sykes etc., the Cold Sweats will do it.  As a nice contrast, Mules or Emeralds in the Goldtop.

[ericsabbath]

Brighter than '57 Classics?  You'll want Mules anything :)

fixed :)

anything but a duncan '59
the '59 is so dark it can almost open a mid scoop interdimensional blackhole through your speakers
:lol:

[darrcooper]

For the Black Beauty, for John Sykes etc., the Cold Sweats will do it.  As a nice contrast, Mules or Emeralds in the Goldtop.

i was thinking along the lines of the cold sweats due to the sykes connection..also the mules sound intersting too..basically something with more output and and bite..with a tighter lower end is what im after..
the classic 57's sound great for clean and low gain..but higher gain and they sound too flabby on the lower notes.

[shaman]

welcome aboard!I have both the rebel yells and Mules..they both handle the tones you are after with no problem..never had the CS, but it is the obvious Sykes choice(get ready for that pinch harmonic!!)
-interesting you brought up Doug-with the modded plexi, you should be there!!I talked to him about his pickups that Suhr makes and they run 17.5 K/9K-I heard him play thru someone else's Paul one time, however, and it was Burstbuckers!...sounded just like DOUG-proving to me the old adage about so much of the tone being in your hands(I even told him"thats it!!!thats the tone I want..."...I had the same freakin' BB's in my Standard...sounded ice-picky..too raw for what I was after...the Rebs were just what my old Mesa Mark amps needed)

[HTH AMPS]

Emeralds are not a million miles away from Mules.  They are hotter for sure and have that slightly harder sound that typifies 70s rock imo.

Crawlers would get you there too - I like these better, they have a more 'open' tone.

VHIIs would work well too, especially with the hotter amp since they have more bite in the top end. 

[shaman]

[quote author=HEAVIER THAN HELL link=topic=13551.msg174684#msg174684 date=1216553662

VHIIs would work well too, especially with the hotter amp since they have more bite in the top end. 
[/quote]
...very good point...I have VH II's and they have good bite..no mush with high gain ...love the VH II's-they really articulate my pick attack-good bite

[il˙ti]

I'd get Mules for one of them and Cold Sweats for the other. That way you can have a nice contrast but still stay within the same ballpark. You'll have two guitars that will do it all but in different ways.

[darrcooper]

thankyou very much guys..
im definately gonna go with the cold sweats in the black beauty..now just to make up my mind whether its black open poled or gold covered?.. :)

not sure yet on the goldtop??

ill be in devon next week so ill call into mansons guitar shop in exeter to see if they have any ready installed to some guitars to get an idea..
they can do my custom while im there too..

[Scotty477]

For the Black Beauty, for John Sykes etc., the Cold Sweats will do it.  As a nice contrast, Mules or Emeralds in the Goldtop.

i was thinking along the lines of the cold sweats due to the sykes connection..also the mules sound intersting too..basically something with more output and and bite..with a tighter lower end is what im after..
the classic 57's sound great for clean and low gain..but higher gain and they sound too flabby on the lower notes.

I would consider Emeralds for your goldtop. These will easily cover what you're looking for, in regards to output, bite and also do very well cleaned up.