bridge pickup for alder

[seven-eleven]

Got a esp fr7 which is Alder body, maple neck through with an ebony board, it's a 7 string in drop A tuning.

1st I'm looking for is to fatten up the guitar
A little give it more body but retain some of
that Edge that Adler has.

2nd I play progressive death so I would like it to clean up ok but saying that it's more important
that Its a better pickup for the high gain stuff.

 I was looking at the holydrivers but worried they might not cut it for the heavier stuff and the
warpigs Look ace but worried they won't clean up!


Any advice?

[Dave Sloven]

An A-Pig set works well in my korina Explorer, and apparently they work even better in brighter woods.

I found though that I can't get a real clean out of them - I can get a warm, slightly overdriven clean which works well for the chords in Snowblind, for example, but not a true clean - THROUGH MY AMP.  I think this is a common problem, in that the players who are attracted to them tend to have high-gain valve amps like my Peavey 6534+. I've played it through solid state amps and not had this problem.  You might have better luck through a low-gain amp such as a Peavey Classic series, but I haven't tried that yet.

What I am doing is installing Seymour Duncan Triple Shot pickup rings (there's a thread on them somewhere on this board) in order to allow coil splitting and series/parallel switching.  Either coil split or parallel should reduce the output to the amp sufficiently to give a nice clean.  I haven't had a chance to do that yet but I might be able to post some impressions of them in a couple of weeks.  Otherwise you could try a Holy Diver or Cold Sweat in the neck position but the output difference with the Warpig bridge might be quite substantial, and doesn't help if you want to play cleans through the bridge.  I suspect that the A-Pig with a split or parallel using the Triple Shots might work nicely. With them you can also select either the slug or screw coil, so that you could have both pickups running with the front coil on each pickup active, both rear coils active, the coils closest to each other on the two pickups active, or the two furthest apart active.  There are a lot of options.

Another option if you want a high-output alnico pickup would be the alnico version of the Black Hawk.  I don't have any experience with them but if necessary you could do the same thing with splits etc

[Sarkasis]

The Holydiver bridge is intense enough for any death metal. It doesn't have all the metallic impact of an Aftermath but it has its own voice. If you like the Holydiver's voicing it's tight and aggressive enough for whatever.

[seven-eleven]

An A-Pig set works well in my korina Explorer, and apparently they work even better in brighter woods.

I found though that I can't get a real clean out of them - I can get a warm, slightly overdriven clean which works well for the chords in Snowblind, for example, but not a true clean - THROUGH MY AMP.  I think this is a common problem, in that the players who are attracted to them tend to have high-gain valve amps like my Peavey 6534+. I've played it through solid state amps and not had this problem.  You might have better luck through a low-gain amp such as a Peavey Classic series, but I haven't tried that yet.

What I am doing is installing Seymour Duncan Triple Shot pickup rings (there's a thread on them somewhere on this board) in order to allow coil splitting and series/parallel switching.  Either coil split or parallel should reduce the output to the amp sufficiently to give a nice clean.  I haven't had a chance to do that yet but I might be able to post some impressions of them in a couple of weeks.  Otherwise you could try a Holy Diver or Cold Sweat in the neck position but the output difference with the Warpig bridge might be quite substantial, and doesn't help if you want to play cleans through the bridge.  I suspect that the A-Pig with a split or parallel using the Triple Shots might work nicely. With them you can also select either the slug or screw coil, so that you could have both pickups running with the front coil on each pickup active, both rear coils active, the coils closest to each other on the two pickups active, or the two furthest apart active.  There are a lot of options.

Another option if you want a high-output alnico pickup would be the alnico version of the Black Hawk.  I don't have any experience with them but if necessary you could do the same thing with splits etc

my guitar comes with EMG707 pickups so ill have to go with the soap bar style cover.
are you not able to coil split the warpigs because to me it sounds like a good idea!

The Holydiver bridge is intense enough for any death metal. It doesn't have all the metallic impact of an Aftermath but it has its own voice. If you like the Holydiver's voicing it's tight and aggressive enough for whatever.

whats the holydiver neck pickup like?

[Dave Sloven]

Sorry, I forgot you have a 7-string.  I doubt that SD have a pickup ring to suit.

Still, coil splits and parallel/series switching can be done with push-pull or push-push style pots or superswitches. I'm not sure if you can have all options available at once, but you could solder a push-pull for splitting and then change it to give you series/parallel and decide which you like best.

[seven-eleven]

Sorry, I forgot you have a 7-string.  I doubt that SD have a pickup ring to suit.

Still, coil splits and parallel/series switching can be done with push-pull or push-push style pots or superswitches. I'm not sure if you can have all options available at once, but you could solder a push-pull for splitting and then change it to give you series/parallel and decide which you like best.

I should of checked to see what the Seymour Duncan Triple Shot pickup rings were before posting, sorry.
yeah i think ill put push pull nobs in for both neck and bridge pickups. Thanks for the help man.

[Dave Sloven]

If you can find the new push-push type you could use those too.  They cost a little more but you avoid the problem of possibly pulling the knob off when you are trying to pull it up. On the other hand they may sit up a little higher, which would not be so great.  You could also try mini-toggles.

I's also agree with Sarkasis that the '80s voiced pickups like the Holy Diver, Rebel Yell, and Cold Sweat can be very heavy in a seven string while giving you the flexibility in terms of cleans. You don't always have to go for the highest output pickup to get the heaviest sound.  Remember that you can also use a number of options in the front end and effects loop of your amp to boost the sound, including overdrives, EQs, and compressors.  I'm experimenting with an MXR 6-band after my overdrive to give a boost for leads. I'm assuming you have more than one channel on your amp like mine, with separate EQs too?  That makes it easier to dial in a clean sound together with a really heavy dirty sound.  Some like a 6505 though share an EQ for both 'channels'

[seven-eleven]

If you can find the new push-push type you could use those too.  They cost a little more but you avoid the problem of possibly pulling the knob off when you are trying to pull it up. On the other hand they may sit up a little higher, which would not be so great.  You could also try mini-toggles.

I's also agree with Sarkasis that the '80s voiced pickups like the Holy Diver, Rebel Yell, and Cold Sweat can be very heavy in a seven string while giving you the flexibility in terms of cleans. You don't always have to go for the highest output pickup to get the heaviest sound.  Remember that you can also use a number of options in the front end and effects loop of your amp to boost the sound, including overdrives, EQs, and compressors.  I'm experimenting with an MXR 6-band after my overdrive to give a boost for leads. I'm assuming you have more than one channel on your amp like mine, with separate EQs too?  That makes it easier to dial in a clean sound together with a really heavy dirty sound.  Some like a 6505 though share an EQ for both 'channels'

hey Agent Orange thanks heaps for the advice and ideas man much appreciated.

I have a 4 channel rm4 Preamp that goes from fender cleans to uber high gain, i have a GT-OD up front and a rocktron Xpression
in the loop that has an EQ but i think i might get a Eq and stick it out front and have a play with it :)

thanks again.

[Dave Sloven]

I would just correct what I said above and say that the Rebel Yell might be too bright for your guitar.  You should probably stick with the Holy Diver, especially as you like the voicing.  I was just making a general point.  The RY would be more suited if your guitar was one of those dark mahogany ESPs, like a Viper.

[seven-eleven]

I'm about 75% sold on the HD just need to know
If it will be Tight enough on the Low A string I tune Drop A.

[EffigyForgotten]

The HD bridge isn't an "aggressive" pickup if thats what you're after, its balanced and articulate with a rolled off high end, most people consider alder to be a bright wood with tight lows, which would be perfect for the HD.

I'm tuned to B on my guitar right now, and it could be a little tighter but can you share your amp/tubes/if you running a boost or not? That would be helpful. I'm using 11-56 strings and my guitar is full mahogany so that could be why its not super tight.

[seven-eleven]

The HD bridge isn't an "aggressive" pickup if thats what you're after, its balanced and articulate with a rolled off high end, most people consider alder to be a bright wood with tight lows, which would be perfect for the HD.

I'm tuned to B on my guitar right now, and it could be a little tighter but can you share your amp/tubes/if you running a boost or not? That would be helpful. I'm using 11-56 strings and my guitar is full mahogany so that could be why its not super tight.

my set up is

ESP harizon FR7 with EMG707. 11-64

Decimator Pro rack G.
MXR GT-OD OD.
Randall RM4 pre amp w/Blackface, Camerock(hot roded marshall tone), Trilogy(5150 I,II and III) and a snakebite(bassed on a cobra).
Rocktron Xpression.
Marshall 9200, 100 watts a side 6l6gc in channel A EL34 in channel B set up so i can change between the two.
Egnater Armageddon Cab.

I use the GT-OD on the camerock to push it from a more crunchy mid to high gain tone to a nice high gain
and on the trilogy to tighten it up.

I love the attack from EMGs but in this guitar they sound weak and the highs are harsh, some stuff im playing up around 280 so the pickup must track well but we also have doom parts and everything in between, there is quite a bit of cleans but i will defiantly sacrifice a good clean tone for an ok one for a more aggressive pickup.

[EffigyForgotten]

If EMG's aren't tight enough for you I don't know what to say, I've never played a 707 but the 81/81-7 is the tightest pickup out there, nothing is tighter.

The Aftermath is the tightest BKP, you might not like the dryness of it though so maybe the Miracle Man set will work for you.