Pickups for Charvel 750xl!

[declanpearson1]

Hey guys, so it's nearly time for another order of pickups, this time for my Charvel 750XL.

Most people know this guitar for being the Shawn Lane guitar, yet my playing couldn't be much further from that (yes, because I'm nowhere near as good as he was!) It has a thick mahogany body with a thick maple cap, making it quite a weighty guitar. It's similar in weight to a Les Paul, and sustains like one too. Neck through body, rosewood fretboard, Schaller Floyd Rose trem. Quite a bright sounding guitar guitar overall.

I guess I'm looking for something that's going to fatten up the low mids, whilst still retaining the bitey top end it has. I play in Drop C, and I'm influenced by bands such as SikTh, Dream Theater, Periphery, Monuments etc, so my desired tone is along those lines.

The guitar currently has Seymour Duncan pickups, a Full Shred in the bridge and a Jazz in the neck. This sounds okay but it's not exactly what I want. I feel like the bridge pickup is over-compressed and the neck pickup just lacks mojo really, it just doesn't inspire me. FWIW, I used to have a Dimarzio Evolution neck in another guitar, and loved the lead tone that gave. Would like something in that kind of area tonally.

I've been considering a Nailbomb set, but I've also heard good things about the Painkiller/Cold Sweat combo.

Any suggestions would be great, and thanks for reading my ramble!

[ProgMetalFiend]

Hello! If the guitar is really bright you would be fine using the a-bomb, holy diver, or the juggernaut. These have fairly tamed highs that would not over accentuate the top end. I would personally stay away from the painkiller in a bright guitar, if the guitar is too bright the highs can be somewhat overbearing. I say this from experience with the painkiller, one guitar it was in it was kinda shrill, put it into a warmer sounding guitar and it kills! There may be some other pups that would be good, these are the ones i have had experience with, hopefully some other people will chime in 

[darrenw5094]

The Evo is what Vai uses and BKP suggest the Miracle Man for Vai lead tones.

[declanpearson1]

Thanks for the replies guys!

I have juggernauts in my Ibanez S7420 and they sound great, so maybe I could consider them for this guitar too. However I'm kind of in the mindset of seeing what else is out there, playing the BKP field so to speak haha! A-bomb could be interesting, I was originally thinking C-bomb if I got the set, but I guess that could make it too bright. I hadn't considered the Holy Diver or the Miracle Man neck either... Hmmmm... A-bomb/Miracle Man combo, maybe?

[Duck2587]

A-bomb is voiced like the warpig but not as powerful. The HD is great in the right guitar. Known to be weak at times. Depends how resonant the guitar is naturally. It really reacts well to resonant and reactive guitars. I would personally go with the Warpig alnico, a-bomb  or juggernaut. The warpig has plenty of power and will help tame the high end or brightness. It can do all out extreme metal, shred, 80s and even jazz(neck pick up). If you need something with good cleans, then the juggernaut is where it's at. 

[Telerocker]

Miracle Man (huge lowmids) or C-bomb for the bridge (a little less scooped).

[Duck2587]

Missed that you are in drop C tuning. Check out the miracle man as well. Awesome awesome pick up with great LOW MIDS. Still had aggression cause it's ceramic and hot.

[declanpearson1]

I previously had a Warpig set (C-Pig bridge) in my other Charvel, a 375 DLX. Now whilst that was basswood and this is mahogany etc, I found those ridiculously bright in that guitar. However they sounded great in the Ibanez RG321 I had too, and that is also mahogany, so I'm unsure about them.

The guitar is very resonant acoustically, something I love about this guitar. And again, I'm not really looking for another set of Juggernauts, whilst I have them in my 7 I really would like to try something different for my 6. However, if most opinions are saying that they're the best for what I'm after, then I may be tempted.

I'm not really a fan of the scooped mids sound though, isn't that the thing with the MM? May be tempted for neck if it has those Evo-esque leads.

[darrenw5094]

Hey guys, so it's nearly time for another order of pickups, this time for my Charvel 750XL.

Most people know this guitar for being the Shawn Lane guitar, yet my playing couldn't be much further from that (yes, because I'm nowhere near as good as he was!) It has a thick mahogany body with a thick maple cap, making it quite a weighty guitar. It's similar in weight to a Les Paul, and sustains like one too. Neck through body, rosewood fretboard, Schaller Floyd Rose trem. Quite a bright sounding guitar guitar overall.

I guess I'm looking for something that's going to fatten up the low mids, whilst still retaining the bitey top end it has. I play in Drop C, and I'm influenced by bands such as SikTh, Dream Theater, Periphery, Monuments etc, so my desired tone is along those lines.

The guitar currently has Seymour Duncan pickups, a Full Shred in the bridge and a Jazz in the neck. This sounds okay but it's not exactly what I want. I feel like the bridge pickup is over-compressed and the neck pickup just lacks mojo really, it just doesn't inspire me. FWIW, I used to have a Dimarzio Evolution neck in another guitar, and loved the lead tone that gave. Would like something in that kind of area tonally.

I've been considering a Nailbomb set, but I've also heard good things about the Painkiller/Cold Sweat combo.

Any suggestions would be great, and thanks for reading my ramble!

Miracle Man fits the bill

[declanpearson1]

Wouldn't the Miracle Man sound too scooped though? I generally prefer boosted mids to scooped, so I'm a bit wary of trying the Miracle Man

[Telerocker]

The mids are there, but just a bit overshadowed by the lowend/lowmids. Downtuned this should not be a problem. The Nailbomb is middier though.