Pickups for ESP kh202 help please.

[hodgey87]

Hi everyone,

Haven't been playing long, 7 months or so. I brought the guitar mentioned in the title fairly recently at a bargain price, which means I have spare money to swap the pickups. My guitar teacher recommended these pickups, but i didn't realise how much choice there was  :P

At the moment im playing a lot of metallica, black sabbath, iron maiden. With abit of led Zeppelin and acdc thrown in  :D

Could anyone recommend the best pickups for me?

Thanks in advance.

[Transcend]

I would go for the miracle man set.

I play a lot of metallica and its just the ideal pickup for it.

The only other pickup i would use for metallica would be emg 81/60

[Telerocker]

I think the Holy Diver delivers both styles, metal and classic rock.

[explorer76]

+1 for the Divers, more versatility than the MM and imo better cleans especially on the bridge position.

[Madsakre]

Alnico pickup would be nicest

[Transcend]

I would never use an alnico for any kind of metal. The low end isnt tight enough and doesnt have enough punch.

For the classic rock though i would.

But i would personally shoot for something like a cold sweat in this situation

[hodgey87]

Cheers for your replies  :D

Went for the holy diver set, looking forward to getting them installed  :P

[Telerocker]

Congrats! Hope you like them. Fiddle with the height to find the sweet spots.

[asianaxeman]

congrats look forward to some demos in the ESP...good choice

alnico pickups can def be tight enough for metal esp with a boost in front of your amp e.g. nailbomb, rebel yell, HD, JB etc. Some of the best metal tones ever have come from alnico pickups so rest assured you've made a great choice.

[Transcend]

congrats look forward to some demos in the ESP...good choice

alnico pickups can def be tight enough for metal esp with a boost in front of your amp e.g. nailbomb, rebel yell, HD, JB etc. Some of the best metal tones ever have come from alnico pickups so rest assured you've made a great choice.

see for me that is a no go.

If it needs a boost its not good enough.

Thinking about it though i could probably get away with an alnico with my SLO rather than when i had the marshall.

[MDV]

Tru dat tony. If you want to boost, if it makes it even more betterer, then great. I do it often. If you need to boost, somethings wrong.

FWIW I think that overal spectrum of sound cant be given with one pickup. 2/3 amps and 3/4 guitars, more like. Compromises have to be made and the HD isnt a bad choice

[metalmaniac93]

I agree with Toe-Knee and MDV on the boost thing.  There is no reason you would need to use a boost.  Now wanting to take it over the top is something I agree with unless you are using a low gain amp.  The HDs do smoke for sure and will do all of the bands mentioned below though.  The HDs are tight enough for most metal in my opinion, but they can be bass/mid heavy depending on the guitar and amp. 

[Transcend]

Yup i will use a boost if the situation calls for it but for me my preferred way of getting a good tone is simply

guitar -> amp -> cab

[asianaxeman]

yeah if you want to avoid the boost then the tightness achieved is entirely dependent on the amp. HD sounds tight enough in my experience with 5150, fireball, 5150 iii and jvm lead channels. But turning the amp gain down and boost, and sonic maximiser makes it so tight that my HD sounds like a bloody miracle man but still retains that thick middy lead tone.

[asianaxeman]

Here's a clip on this thread of HDs in a jvm, no boost

http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=24497.msg322785#msg322785