Which pickups for System of a Down clean tone?

[SeabaSquad]

Hey everyone,
A few days ago I dusted off my old Ibanez Iceman which I purchased during a phase where I was obsessed with System of a Down. They are still certainly one of my favorite bands, and one thing I have always envied are the clean tones on the later albums (specifically Hypnotize.) I've done quite a bit of research and there doesn't seem to be much solid information out there on the guitar, pickups, or setup of any kind that Daron used in the studio, but I have still always wanted to recreate that sound. I heard somewhere that he actually used a Jazzmaster to achieve the tone, but I believe that's just speculation.

Anyways, a while back when I was deciding on my first set of Bare Knuckles I heard a sound clip that sounded almost exactly like the tone I was after, and for the life of me I cannot find that video again. Does anyone happen to know of a set of BKPs that have a similar tone to what I'm looking for? The video I saw was literally about spot on, and the guy that was playing was simply running straight through a Blackstar HT-40, no effects or otherwise.

For a better description of the specific tone I'm after, it is Daron's clean tone from the Hypnotize album. There's just this clarity and compression to it that are hard to explain; it's a very bouncy sound. The intro to Soldier Side is the perfect example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jK4ynCvvV0A

Hopefully someone out there knows the answer, or else I might just go crazy! 

Cheers!
J.R.S.

[fdesalvo]

Man, I cannot answer your question, because the clean tone is a bit amorphous to me. But - thanks for posting this song.  I never gave this band a shot, but I'm glad I listened to this song because of its uniqueness.  Cheers and best of luck in your tone quest.

Frank

[northlane.josh]

If memory serves me correct, Darren was a big fan of the Seymour Duncan SH-6 in the earlier days of that band when he was using Ibanez iceman guitars, I think he paired it with the SH-2 in the neck. I'm not 100% certain though so take this with a grain of salt.

From there he moved on to playing vintage Gibson SG's that were unmodified when they started tuning up to Drop Db which is when the song you're referencing came out. Keep in mind, he could have used just about anything in the studio. If you are trying to replicate what might have been in the guitar that he might have used in this era, your best bet is probably a hot PAF, Mule of if you want more output a Black Dog.

[fdesalvo]

As a matter of coincidence, my luthier (who serves major artists, not just me hah!) just finished setting of Serj Tankian's Taylor T5.  How cool is that??  He just posted the pic a few minutes ago.