Recommendations for an all-maple guitar?

[Emperoff]

Hi folks!

I'm in dire need of your help, I'm afraid. I have an (almost) all maple guitar which I'm having trouble finding the right pickup. I'll give you guys more info so maybe you can help me 

The guitar is a 7-string Jackson Soloist. Maple necktrhu, maple fretboard and 3/4" carved maple top with Hipshot bridge. Body is mahogany but considering the huge electronics cavity and the battery pack, the guitar is probably like 90% maple. And boy, is it bright...

But not bright as my Jackson B7 (27" ash, maple, ebony ). That guitar has a nice and jangly hollow sound that sounds wonderful for cleans. This guitar however is sheer high-mids assault with almost no bass. Unplugged it sounds like a piezo. No kidding. Very dry and stiff sounding, and the EMGs it came with are definitely not helping. My trusted luthier said it sounded like cardboard   

So what would you recommend me? I play all kinds of music since I'm into two cover bands (ranging from folk to metal). My main goal is a nice lead tone specially on the bridge pickup. I like Andy Timmons a lot and share his preferences in tone (fat sounding leads with the bridge pickup and crunchy tones in the neck with good attack). Of course, some ocassional riffage on the B string will be delivered. My metal dish of choice is heavy riffs a la Nevermore, Machine Head or Unearth. None of the newer prog metal wave thing. So yeah, big fat  thunderous palm mutes, not Donald Duck djent tone.

My initial idea was a Holydiver/Emerald set. Since I want to cover quite some ground I don't want super high output pickups, and those are regarded for their lead tone. However, I read some old posts here where Tim himself said something along the lines of "The Holydiver would sound too congested in the mids as maple has plenty of high mids. Also, only ceramic magnets can get the most out of maple and pull off the bass frequencies right". I don't really like ceramics, but it they fit in this guitar then why the hell not. I asked him via email and he recommended me a Juggernaut set. It seems that this pickup has plenty of low mids and smooth highs, so it could actually work. The fact that actual fans of Periphery hate it might be a sign.   

My only previous experience with Bare Knuckles was with Aftermaths. Definetely not for me. I do believe they were a very bad choice for that guitar, though. I want to give BKP another chance! 

So fire away! Thanks a lot in advance!

[Dave Sloven]

Could be a good candidate for a ceramic War Pig.

[one]

Or Ragnaroks if you are scared of the "djenty" propierties of the Juggs

[Emperoff]

Or Ragnaroks if you are scared of the "djenty" propierties of the Juggs

Huh? Djent lovers hate the Juggernaut and love the Ragnarok, so I'm not sure you got that right 

I'm open to any suggestions. So I'll check the Ragnarok as well. The "Djent" reference comes from the fact that nowadays everyone thinks all 7 string players like that, which I don't.

[Muffler]

Could be a good candidate for a ceramic War Pig.

Agree, I was even thinking on alnico, as ceramics have more high end response.

Anyway, if you need more body and low end, the War Pig should fit great. I tried a ceramic one in my PRS SC245 and didn't like the combination, too bassy, agressive and mid-scooped, but in a thin sounding guitar should work well for modern rock and metal

[Dave Sloven]

I thought of an alnico War Pig, which I do have on a bright, middy guitar and it did add a lot of bottom and rolled off some highs, but that is all-mahogany (and SG) whereas this one is all-maple and I think the mids might be even more pronounced.  The more maple you have in the body generally the better a ceramic pickup seems to work.

Another option would be a Miracle Man.

[Muffler]

I guess it depends on the overall character of the guitar, I would never think on loading a bright guitar with ceramics, unless if it has very pronounced or ugly mids, then I had to decide what frequencies of the guitar bother me the most to decide the type of magnet. In case of a tie, I usually tend to alnico V, because I can't stand shrill highs

[one]

Or Ragnaroks if you are scared of the "djenty" propierties of the Juggs

Huh? Djent lovers hate the Juggernaut and love the Ragnarok, so I'm not sure you got that right 

I'm open to any suggestions. So I'll check the Ragnarok as well. The "Djent" reference comes from the fact that nowadays everyone thinks all 7 string players like that, which I don't.

Sorry, my Spanish should have interfere. I'm about to get a pair of Rags in a week or so and I can't definitely tell you. Anyway, if you lean towards the Warpig, go for the Ceramic if the guitar is not too trebblish.

[ericsabbath]

Miracle Man
perhaps the Ragnarok
I wouldn't go middier than that

[Emperoff]

Thank you so much for the suggestions! 

I guess it depends on the overall character of the guitar, I would never think on loading a bright guitar with ceramics, unless if it has very pronounced or ugly mids, then I had to decide what frequencies of the guitar bother me the most to decide the type of magnet. In case of a tie, I usually tend to alnico V, because I can't stand shrill highs

I'm exactly like you. That's why I'm so reluctant to try ceramics, but Tim seems to recommend them for maple so that complicated things. The guitar is very narrow sounding, focused hi-mids. I wouldn't say harsh, but very present. I want to make it bigger sounding! Warpigs were a chocie, but ceramic version has a ton of highs as well as bass and the alnico may have too much mids... 

Or Ragnaroks if you are scared of the "djenty" propierties of the Juggs

Sorry, my Spanish should have interfere. I'm about to get a pair of Rags in a week or so and I can't definitely tell you. Anyway, if you lean towards the Warpig, go for the Ceramic if the guitar is not too trebblish.

Sure! Tell me what you think about the Rags compared to the Juggs. BTW, don't let the spanish interfere. Spanish are always interfering! ...Isn't it, Chopeth? 


Considering that the Ragnaroks have less highs than the C-Pigs, I'd say that rules Warpigs out. Which leaves me with:

- Miracle man
- Ragnaroks
- Juggernauts

... No one said Juggs even if they were Tim's recommendation... No love for them?

[MerlinTKD]

Never used the Juggs myself, but I've messed around with the Jackson MM's, and they sounded reeeally close to every clip I've heard of the Juggs... I have mixed feelings about them in basswood, but I would think the brightness of all that maple would be a good combo. But I'm no expert /shrug

[one]

Thank you so much for the suggestions! 

I guess it depends on the overall character of the guitar, I would never think on loading a bright guitar with ceramics, unless if it has very pronounced or ugly mids, then I had to decide what frequencies of the guitar bother me the most to decide the type of magnet. In case of a tie, I usually tend to alnico V, because I can't stand shrill highs

I'm exactly like you. That's why I'm so reluctant to try ceramics, but Tim seems to recommend them for maple so that complicated things. The guitar is very narrow sounding, focused hi-mids. I wouldn't say harsh, but very present. I want to make it bigger sounding! Warpigs were a chocie, but ceramic version has a ton of highs as well as bass and the alnico may have too much mids... 

Or Ragnaroks if you are scared of the "djenty" propierties of the Juggs

Sorry, my Spanish should have interfere. I'm about to get a pair of Rags in a week or so and I can't definitely tell you. Anyway, if you lean towards the Warpig, go for the Ceramic if the guitar is not too trebblish.

Sure! Tell me what you think about the Rags compared to the Juggs. BTW, don't let the spanish interfere. Spanish are always interfering! ...Isn't it, Chopeth? 


Considering that the Ragnaroks have less highs than the C-Pigs, I'd say that rules Warpigs out. Which leaves me with:

- Miracle man
- Ragnaroks
- Juggernauts

... No one said Juggs even if they were Tim's recommendation... No love for them?

haha, u got me. Btw, I love my juggs, it's just they don't make such a good match to my 5150III and the general tone of my guitar. It's not bad, but I prefer the Cpigs with my Ironball. I think there is something about ceramics I dislike too.

[Emperoff]

Ok guys, I ended up buying a Juggernaut Set. Despite the hate it gets all over the internet, my reasons were:

- It's recommended for bright guitars, and this guitar makes my ebony/ash baritone sound warm by comparison.
- Seems quite versatile and it's both AlNiCo and ceramic, so it should work good on maple.
- After hearing some demos, it really packs a punch in the low end but is not overly hot and fizzy as the C-Pig.

I hope I made the right choice! I'll let you guys know if I like it when I get them. Thanks for the suggestions! 

[one]

Well done, you're probably gonna love'em. Enjoy the most versatile modern pickups ever.

[stratguy23]

Ok guys, I ended up buying a Juggernaut Set. Despite the hate it gets all over the internet, my reasons were:

- It's recommended for bright guitars, and this guitar makes my ebony/ash baritone sound warm by comparison.
- Seems quite versatile and it's both AlNiCo and ceramic, so it should work good on maple.
- After hearing some demos, it really packs a punch in the low end but is not overly hot and fizzy as the C-Pig.

I hope I made the right choice! I'll let you guys know if I like it when I get them. Thanks for the suggestions! 

I’ve played Juggernauts before, and I think you made the right choice here.