Alright

[kylendm]

Well it's time for new pups in my Jem.

I Love the Evolution in the neck but for the bridge it really isn't cutting it for drop tuning. I need something that is very clear (not muddy), works good with distortion, and  has good chugs.

I know it's my pups because the EMGs and the Semour Duncan JB sound good in my other guitars but the Evolution needs a bit of a change :).

And Recommendations.

Music I play:

Metal/Prog
August Burns Red
Between the Buried and Me
Misery Signals
It Dies Today

Modern Rock
Coheed and Cambria
Switchfoot

Classic Rock
Everyone back then

But just focus on the metal. :)

Oh and my guitar body is alder and neck is ebony.

[Zaned]

The whole neck is ebony? Or just the fretboard? There's a vast difference there 

Until then..you seem to want to cover a lot of bases. How low will you drop? For a versatile contemporary pickup that goes towards vintage too, I'd say..nailbomb. But if you want it higher output, and tighter (drop tunings), ceramic Nailbomb. Depending on the tone of the guitar and what amp you use.

Listening to the band between the buried and me..nailbomb.

-Zaned

[kylendm]

Oh sorry the neck is  5-piece maple/walnut,

I'll look into the nail bomb.

If the neck makes a difference though then recommend me something else :)

I go as low as Drop B, Drop C, and C# standard

[gingataff]

Oh sorry the neck is  5-piece maple/walnut,

I'm just being picky but AFAIK the 5 piece neck started in 2005 and by that point Ibanez had changed the fretboard from ebony to rosewood (in 2004).

[kylendm]

I just read more on it and it is a one peice maple. :D

[Jonny]

I play Drop B stuff (and dare I say down to A or G) with my alder bodied guitar, I have a ceramic Warpig in it. I heard that the Painkiller was a good option in alder as well.

I believe I've just made the choice more difficult :D

[Nolly]

I'm going to echo the choice of the Nailbomb. Most alder guitars I've tried tend to have nice punch in the midrange, with tight and clear lows, which in my experience is a great tonal platform for the Nailbomb. It's a very versatile pickup, which should suit the rockier stuff just as well as the metal end of the spectrum.
In comparison to the Evolution, you should notice the Nailbomb is much more open and dynamic, with a chewier midrange which gets very toothy and nasty under gain. It's also sweeter in the high end. As mentioned by Zaned, the Nailbomb should absolutely nail the BTBAM-style tones.

[kylendm]

Well it looks like I'm going for the Nailbomb then.

The Evolution just isn't clear enough for lower tunings. It's very muddy and doesn't respond well. It sounds great on clean sounds and lead, but when it comes to chords,power chords, or open notes it doesn't respond well at all.

Any more suggestions?

[Nolly]

The only other suggested I could make would be to consider the going for a ceramic Nailbomb instead of the usual alnico, as Zaned described. You get increased tightness and saturation, a bit more cut in the high end, and the mids fall back a little. The trade-off is that the pickup gets a little more compressed and loses a bit of its organic-ness.
It's possibly a little clearer for drop-tunings, but I think you should be fine with the regular Nailbomb personally.
What amp are you using?

[kylendm]

Randall MTS RM100  :)

[kylendm]

Can anyone tell me the difference between Alnico and Ceramic pickups?

[Zaned]

That August Burns Red called for more of a Painkiller type of tone, which makes me wonder if you'd be better off with a ceramic pickup (bridge!), to reach a happy medium..I''m still sticking with the nailbomb suggestion however.

I own both a regular bridge Nailbomb, and a Cold Sweat humbucker set. The reason why I mention the Cold Sweat, is that the ceramic Nailbomb is essentially an overwound Cold Sweat. So it's a higher output, a bit middier and darker Cold Sweat. At least the Cold Sweat is still organic, it's not by any means sterile.

I assume now that you have your neck made mostly out of maple. But are you sure of the fretboard?

This is a maple fretboard: http://www.fender.com/products//search.php?partno=0101502723

Rosewood fretboard: http://www.fender.com/products//search.php?partno=0101200700

Ebony is even darker than rosewood. Point being: if you have rosewood, it has the softest attack (generally speaking) of the three. Maple has the quickest and tightest attack, most midrange and is very tight sounding both in the lows and highs. Rosewood is softer and warmer, but also has bit more sizzle in the top. Ebony has a stronger attack than rosewood but not as strong as maple. Ebony emphasizes highs and lows.

Based on the specs, I'd probably go with the C-Bomb with a rosewood fretboard, and alnico bomb with the other two. But to confuse you more (:D), just listen to the tone of your guitar acoustically; is it darker sounding or bright? If darker, c-bomb. Brighter, alnico.

-Zaned

[Zaned]

Take a look at the sticky topic (the top one) on magnet types.

Straight from Tim: "We use ceramic 8 as do most pickup makers-it is more powerful and essentially more efficient so the resulting tone usually has a very fast tracking bass response with a distinct cut in the highs.Some players find them cold/hard when run clean and they can cause alot of compression from their relatively hot output-again, depending on how you use them, they are capable of good clean tones too but the general consensus is that Alnicos are sweeter run clean."

-Zaned

[kylendm]

Yeah my guitar is very bright.

Here's the specs of my Jem

Fretboard = Ebony
Neck type = 1-pc maple
Body = Alder
Inlays = Abalone and pearloid





I guess that means I'll probably be going with the Alnico. :)

[ericsabbath]

I own both a regular bridge Nailbomb, and a Cold Sweat humbucker set. The reason why I mention the Cold Sweat, is that the ceramic Nailbomb is essentially an overwound Cold Sweat. So it's a higher output, a bit middier and darker Cold Sweat. At least the Cold Sweat is still organic, it's not by any means sterile.

I own those sets too and in similar sounding les pauls
the nailbomb definitely sounds a lot like the cold sweat, but just like you said
middier, louder and a bit darker
the cleans are better, but through distortion, I'd say cold sweat is even more organic and more crunchy, a hair bit thinner

Straight from Tim: "We use ceramic 8 as do most pickup makers-it is more powerful and essentially more efficient so the resulting tone usually has a very fast tracking bass response with a distinct cut in the highs.Some players find them cold/hard when run clean and they can cause alot of compression from their relatively hot output-again, depending on how you use them, they are capable of good clean tones too but the general consensus is that Alnicos are sweeter run clean."

I don't really know the differences from the C8, but my cold sweat has a C4 magnet (and it's definitely extremely explosive! :lol:)