A suggestion for a Jackson sl2h ?

[aris17561]

Hello guys , I have a jcakson sl2h... For some reason no pickup fits best to this guitar... It had jb... Its not good... Compared to an esp horizon , it sounded shite... I changed a lot of pup like tb -5 , invader , emg 81-60 , and more and nothing make the guitar sounds good... So the last one is a duncan distortion. To be honest the guitar now sounds good... But... I wanna give a try to bare knuckles , that everyone says that if you try bk you never go back...

So any set of pup for metal , iced earth , nevermore , drop tunings dream theater , not so high high output cause my apms are very ver high gain , ( evh 5153 , mesa dual rectifier ) , clear and with more resonance and less presence ?

The duncan distortion is ok but it still sounds a bit treblly and not so clear... I had a vhii but i didnt like to be honest !!! lots of treblle and mids for an alder body guitar...

[EffigyForgotten]

This is just screaming Holy Diver. Exactly what you described.

[aris17561]

This is just screaming Holy Diver. Exactly what you described.

This is just screaming Holy Diver. Exactly what you described.

The only thing that problems me is that holy diver has a lot of treble and mid and I am afraid that it will have a lot of presence because Jackson has alder body and it is already bright guitar . I don't know if this thought makes any sense .

[EffigyForgotten]

This is just screaming Holy Diver. Exactly what you described.

This is just screaming Holy Diver. Exactly what you described.

The only thing that problems me is that holy diver has a lot of treble and mid and I am afraid that it will have a lot of presence because Jackson has alder body and it is already bright guitar . I don't know if this thought makes any sense .

The Holy Diver has a very warm and smooth high end. When I got it I had to boost the treble like crazy on my amp and my EQ pedal to get the sound I liked.

[aris17561]

This is just screaming Holy Diver. Exactly what you described.

This is just screaming Holy Diver. Exactly what you described.

The only thing that problems me is that holy diver has a lot of treble and mid and I am afraid that it will have a lot of presence because Jackson has alder body and it is already bright guitar . I don't know if this thought makes any sense .

The Holy Diver has a very warm and smooth high end. When I got it I had to boost the treble like crazy on my amp and my EQ pedal to get the sound I liked.

Thanks man ... About low end ?

[Telerocker]

Low end is a bit less then a Nailbomb and a Miracle Man. For alder the Diver could be the ticket though if you need strong centermids.

[aris17561]

Low end is a bit less then a Nailbomb and a Miracle Man. For alder the Diver could be the ticket though if you need strong centermids.

So for more resonance I have to go with nail bomb I guess right ? I like resonant sounds . With bowls ...

[Telerocker]

If you mean by resonance more bass, I think the NB has a bit more lowend. But the NB has brighter and more agressive topend then the Diver. Some forummembers stated that the NB is great for riffing, but that the Diver has the better solotones for progmetal. Both are tight enough in most cases. There are users here on the forum that can give a better comment on this. I hope they chime in.

[antikue]

If I may borrow the thread for exactly the same reason - what BKP for my SL2H? My Soloist is quite dark and there is very little presence to worry about. Tuning down a mere whole-step while retaining clarity requires some serious tweaking and EQ'ing - which I have to reverse afterwards in order to make my other guitars sound good. The neck pickup always sound good, maybe due to being positioned closer to the bridge than usually is the case with 24-fretters. (The bridge pickup, OTOH, is rather far away from the saddles)

I've tried D-Activators - they were surprisingly dull and choked on the bass;
JB - ok, especially with a ceramic magnet (A8 makes it a low-mid monster, exactly not the choice for this guitar), but not great;
Duncan Distortion - it does not scream in this guitar, the mids are a bit overbearing;
Duncan Custom - the best passive so far, bass a-plenty but great snarl in the upper-mid region and has much more bite than the DD, could use just a tad less bass and better string separation at the low end;
EMG 81, 81X - the voicing is nice, I like the resonant frequency, but the tone overall is bland and uninspiring;
Blackouts AHB-1 - huge sound, clearer than EMG 81 actually, crazy output and silent operation. I may turn back to these if I don't find a great passive set for my needs.

I don't require much, just a clear, articulate tone at D standard at the lowest. I've been looking at Cold Sweat set or maybe a Miracle Man. No real chance of trying them out. Thanks for any help, and sorry for hijacking  :oops:

[EffigyForgotten]

D standard is not low enough to start worrying about articulation or tightness.

It seems you like to like "looser" pickups as you preferred the alnico counterpart to the SH-6, which is the JB and you like the Blackout AHB-1 which in my experience has more bass, output etc over the 81 which makes it sound muddy and messy. I would go for the Nailbomb.

[ericsabbath]

Duncan Custom - the best passive so far, bass a-plenty but great snarl in the upper-mid region and has much more bite than the DD, could use just a tad less bass and better string separation at the low end;

I don't require much, just a clear, articulate tone at D standard at the lowest. I've been looking at Cold Sweat set or maybe a Miracle Man. No real chance of trying them out. Thanks for any help, and sorry for hijacking  :oops:

guess you might enjoy the ceramic nailbomb, then
it sits right between the duncan custom, cold sweat and miracle man voicings
more articulation than a sh-5, darker and more gainy than a cold sweat, punchy but not as bassy as a miracle man

[antikue]

Thanks for the input :) I'll check out the C-bomb first. I indeed seek for a bit looser pickup than, say, EMG81 or the Aftermath. In other words, I prefer my pickups had some lower frequencies ;) But clarity first.

[aris17561]

Thanks for the input :) I'll check out the C-bomb first. I indeed seek for a bit looser pickup than, say, EMG81 or the Aftermath. In other words, I prefer my pickups had some lower frequencies ;) But clarity first.

I am seeking the same pickup . Lots lows , lots treble , less mids because evh 5153 has plenty of mids ... All these Duncan distortion offers me but the problem is that Duncan diatortion has not clearance . It's very dirty . I need the same voicing like Duncan diatortion but  more clean distortion . Not so gainy ... So which is the final result ?

[ericsabbath]

Thanks for the input :) I'll check out the C-bomb first. I indeed seek for a bit looser pickup than, say, EMG81 or the Aftermath. In other words, I prefer my pickups had some lower frequencies ;) But clarity first.

I am seeking the same pickup . Lots lows , lots treble , less mids because evh 5153 has plenty of mids ... All these Duncan distortion offers me but the problem is that Duncan diatortion has not clearance . It's very dirty . I need the same voicing like Duncan diatortion but  more clean distortion . Not so gainy ... So which is the final result ?

then you don't want the duncan distortion voicing at all  :lol:
guess you would enjoy the miracle man or the ceramic nailbomb either
they have a fuller low end, clearer top and no midrange spike

[EffigyForgotten]

Thanks for the input :) I'll check out the C-bomb first. I indeed seek for a bit looser pickup than, say, EMG81 or the Aftermath. In other words, I prefer my pickups had some lower frequencies ;) But clarity first.

I am seeking the same pickup . Lots lows , lots treble , less mids because evh 5153 has plenty of mids ... All these Duncan distortion offers me but the problem is that Duncan diatortion has not clearance . It's very dirty . I need the same voicing like Duncan diatortion but  more clean distortion . Not so gainy ... So which is the final result ?

The Distortion is all about upper mids and treble with not much bottom end, super high output and really harsh sounding ( people mistake that for "aggressive" )