Jackson RR24 upgrade

[Jasper.]

Hi,

I'm looking to maybe upgrade the EMG81 in my guitar.
To be honest, I don't dislike the EMG in the Jackson. I actually recorded our upcoming EP with it instead with my Mayones Setius with a C-bomb set in it.
I did the leads with the Setius though. But I'm thinking maybe the Jackson could do even better.
What I like in the EMG81: I like the push that it gives. It gives an in-your-face wall of sound. And it cuts through. I also like the tight lows but I feel a pickup with a bit less tight lows could also work well by adjusting my technique a bit. The EMG makes playing tight easy and I wouldn't mind working a bit harder. I also like the compressed tone it gives but now comes the downside. I feel the compression also makes it a bit flat/lifeless.

I'm looking for a pickup with a nice growl for old school death metal. Tight with palm mutes and clear with tremolo picking.
Our band is in standard C and influences are Carcass, Morbid Angel, Bolt Thrower, Immolation. Blood Incantation etc.

The Jackson has an Alder body and a maple neck with ebony fretboard. Neck-through design and floyd rose. It has a really tight/stiff and balanced feel/tone. Great guitar.
Amp I'm using is a 3ch Mesa dual rectifier on vintage mode. With an Fulltone OCD as a boost and before the OCD a TS808 with gain at zero and Volume at half to tighten up the OCD.

[ericsabbath]

painkillers

[Dave Sloven]

I actually think the alnico Black Hawk might work well here.  I have a couple of them and they are pretty great in C standard.  They like brighter guitars like yours and they are tight enough but also add some 'juice' that the ceramic version lacks, and doesn't have the ice pick high end of a ceramic pickup.  The matching neck pickup is also very tasty.  Our lead guitarist has a couple of guitars with EMGs, one with the 81 and another one with that modified 81 with the 'coil tap' that you get in Hellraisers, and he says that the alnico Black Hawk KILLS the EMGs, so we recorded our album with two of my guitars fitted with that set.

Also: BOB VIGNA IS THE SHIZZ!!! THE END

[Jasper.]

Hi! Thanks for the replies! I'll dive into the recommendations.

I played a bit with my RR24 today and I think I want to change the description of what I'm looking for a bit. I think I want the next pickup to 'breath' a bit more in the lows. With chugging/palmmuting etc. And I want it to 'growl' more in stead of the 'grind' the EMG's give if that makes sense. And something else that also doesn't make sense maybe: I want more 'hair' in stead of the 'sizzle' of the EMG's in the high end.

Less 'later era Cannibal Corpse', more 'Gateways Morbid Angel'.

Bigger and more brutal in stead of surgical precision/flat


What pickups would 'work' in my guitar and what are their advantages? I also keep having a Warpig in my head.

[ericsabbath]

I stand corrected then

You definitely want a C-Pig!

[Dave Sloven]

Another pickup that consistently works well with these guitars is the Miracle Man.

Worth checking out.

[Jasper.]

Thanks guys! I'm pretty sold on the C-pig. Too bad it doesn't retail in Europe. I found an AlnicoV version but I usually prefer Ceramic pickups (I've got C-bombs in 2 guitars).
Now I've got to decide I'm going to pay import duties/taxes (Only free until 31st this month because of the brexit. I don't think the pickups going to make it before that date past the border) or if I'm going to wait until a second hand pickups pops up. Probably the first.

[Dave Sloven]

I think you'll find either the ceramic War Pig or the Miracle Man will work better with the maple neck-through than the alnico War Pig

[Jasper.]

After I dug in more on the C-pig and saw more video's/clips I decided to pull the trigger in this one.
Had to arrange something to pay with creditcard (still no Paypal?) but I ordered one today. Black cover with black hex polepieces. Aesthetically nog far off the EMG that's in the guitar now. Can't wait to get them in the Jackson.

I thought I could put the EMG in my Solar S1.6FR and buy a neck pickup to go with it. But if the C-pig really delivers that guitar may be a contender for a C-pig too. Almost the same body woods. Guitar is a little less 'focused' though than the RR. But I am starting to really dislike those Solar duncan pickups.

[Jasper.]

Got em and build them into my Jackson. Haven't had time yet to play around with it but I'm planning to do that this weekend. From the 5 minutes of tinkering with it on my THR amp I found that pickupheight makes a huuuge difference. Seems to be even more than the Nailbombs in my Mayones. What's a good starting point to begin with regarding pickupheight?

[ericsabbath]

Got em and build them into my Jackson. Haven't had time yet to play around with it but I'm planning to do that this weekend. From the 5 minutes of tinkering with it on my THR amp I found that pickupheight makes a huuuge difference. Seems to be even more than the Nailbombs in my Mayones. What's a good starting point to begin with regarding pickupheight?

glad you finally got them installed

yeah, pickup height still makes a ton of difference with pigs too

these are bass heavy pups, so I usually can't get them as close to strings as some others, but I'm a les paul player
anyway, the best starting point for me is as close as possible to strings while holding the low E without touching when vibrating
this is will probably sound bloated and overcompressed, then you start lowering the bridge pickup back down just a bit, and then you adjust the neck pickup to match the bridge volume

[Jasper.]

Thanks! Been playing with them for a while yesterday and it sounds great. More than the sound I love the response I'm getting while playing. I think I'll be doing some tweaking of the height the coming time. Got them 2,5/3mm from the strings now. But haven't tested on my main amp in the practice space. On plugins this sounds great tho.