Tone Zone way too dark - good BKP alternative?

[ke2]

Hi, all!

After swapping the neck on my Lag Beast Custom to a Warmoth rosewood neck with ebony fingerboard, the Tonez Zone is too dark for my liking. The Lag is basswood, but it is much thicker than an Ibanez body, and sounds thicker as well.

I don't need a bassy pickup, that's for sure! :D

I've looked at the Cold Sweat and the Aftermath. This guitar is a shredder, and is used for metal mostly.
It has a PAF Pro in the neck.

Do you think one of the abovementioned PU's would do the trick?

[darkbluemurder]

The ToneZone is a dark pickup to begin with. Most BKPs in the contemporary range will be brighter. Except maybe for the Crawler, which is quite smooth, all pickups in that range should work well for metal. It really depends on what style of metal is your focus on - anything which requires the tightest possible low end would look for the Aftermath or Painkiller. 80s style - see Rebel Yell, Cold Sweat, Holydiver and Miracle Man. 90s style - see Nailbomb.

If you don't need a bassy pickup, that would rule out the Miracle Man, Warpig and Nailbomb. I think you are on the right track with the Cold Sweat and the Aftermath. The Cold Sweat has enough low end but it's not bassy. It's quite bright but not harsh. Cannot comment on the Aftermath - have not played one.

Cheers Stephan

[Telerocker]

I would check out the Blackhawks too.

[ericsabbath]

the cold sweat is almost the tonal opposite of the tone zone
if that's what you're looking for, go for it
solid but not big bass, not much low mids (not lacking either), nice and crunchy upper mids, sparkly non-harsh bright top

if you just want to improve clarity and brightness and remove the nasal midrange, the alnico nailbomb will do the job

the aftermath is very middy, like the tone zone, but has a quite lean bass (less bass than the cold sweat) and has a extremely articulate and strong response to picking, tapping and even moving your fingers over the board while changing notes

the ceramic nailbomb is a hotter and more frequency balanced alternative to the cold sweat

[ke2]

Thanks, guys :) The (quite fat) rosewood neck made the guitar pretty dark sounding.
The PAF pro in the neck sounds flutey and lovely, but for tight riffing, the TZ is not defined enough.

I'm also more partial to Testament, Megadeth and Nevermore-type sounds than "djenty" sounds, so tight enough, but not necessarily bouncy, if you get my point :D

I'll have a look at the BlackHawk as well.

[EffigyForgotten]

Thanks, guys :) The (quite fat) rosewood neck made the guitar pretty dark sounding.
The PAF pro in the neck sounds flutey and lovely, but for tight riffing, the TZ is not defined enough.

I'm also more partial to Testament, Megadeth and Nevermore-type sounds than "djenty" sounds, so tight enough, but not necessarily bouncy, if you get my point :D

I'll have a look at the BlackHawk as well.

In that case a Holy Diver set would be perfect. If your willing to try other brands Megadeth used the duncan JB/Jazz set on all of their classic albums and Testament's rhythm guitarist uses the Duncan Distortion. Nevermore is 707's which your not going to get close to tonewise on a 6 string.

[ericsabbath]

with the guitar being that dark, you'll be safer with the cold sweat
the holy diver is definitely brighter than a tone zone, but not that bright