What pickups...

[Crazy_Joe]

Would i need if i wanted a thrash/80's vintage metal kind of sound, i'm talking about:
Annihilator,
Slayer,
Metallica - first 4 albums in particular master of puppets.
Megadeth - not first album though

[Sifu Ben]

Hhmm, some quite different sounds really. I'd imagine Miracle Mans would give you the sort of Metallica and Slayer sounds (as both use EMGs, and prior to that Metallica used extra hot ceramic PUPs). Mustaine has a much less saturated sound, and a Holydiver or Rebel Yell would probably be better.

[Crazy_Joe]

Yeah i didn't have time to go into depth with that list, but now i shall elaborate on it. These albums have kind of the sound i want, but i like to play heavier stuff than this too so keep that in mind, im talking about death metal and stuff like that.

Forget that list for a second, if some people could listen to a Melodic-Death band called Kalmah and listen to songs off the album 'They Will Return' thats the kind of bridge and neck tone i would like, on that album they used standard Jackson pickups in their jackson soloist guitars i beleive.
Basically i want a thrashy kind of tone with some good dark evil death metal in there, also i like my harmonics, i know now everyone will say miracle man but im not sure if that is the pickup for me because they dont have that dark bassy death metalness about them. Im not sure if thats the words to describe the Kalmah tone but its the kind of tone or if im making any sense here, but if someone can find a solution it would be appreciated.
The specs of the guitar they are going into considering i get this guitar which is very likely are as follows:

Dean ML Black And Gold

Trans black,
Flame Maple Top,
Mahogany Body and Neck,
Set Neck,
Rosewood Fretboard,
Pearl Black Inlay,
"Black Gold" 12th Fret Inlay,
Gold Hardware,
Grover Tuners.

[Sifu Ben]

Isn't the stock set on Soloists a JB and Jazz? That takes us back to RY and HD. To be honest, I'd imagine that the tone you're after in that case is at least 70% about amp settings and cab miccing.

[Sifu Ben]

Anyway, If you want a dark but rich metal PUP with good bass response you probably want the nailbomb.

[Crazy_Joe]

No thats the new type of Jacksons, and even if it was i know for a fact that he changed them to jackson pups because he said on their forum. I want something with power but i need it to be capable of a nice melody line, i was pretty sure that i would get some warpigs, but then i don't know if i would regret it because there are no clips of people doing the styles that i like with them, and the only nailbombs i have heard are all in ibanez guitars and they will sound much different in the guitar i will have, but if i get nailbombs i wil think about how its inferior in power to the warpig and perhaps regret my decision if it doesnt give me what i want lol

[Sifu Ben]

Ok, that's a mile away from metallica and slayer, and not even close to thrash  :roll:
 I'd say Holydiver, for that sort of sound.

[Crazy_Joe]

Have you listened to Kalmah? Beause i'm pretty sure a holydiver wouldn't satisfy their needs, maybe i phrased that wrong in my last post, but i think you are right with the nailbombs, i'll just listen to more clips on the players section, and maybe make a few requests.

[screamingdaisy]

because they dont have that dark bassy death metalness about them.

In my opinion.....

.....death metal tones have alot to do with your choice of amp and how you EQ it.  Alot of bands that have that sort of sound use EMG pickups, and specifically an 81 in the bridge, which has almost no bass to it as it's almost all midrange and treble.  Since they let the amp and sheer volume take care of the bottom end, their sound stays tight.  If you choose a bass heavy pickup (ie, Invader) thinking that'll give you a tight, bassy, thraash/death sorta tone you're just going to be dissapointed again as your bottom end will tub out and your tone turn to mud as you add more gain.  There's a reason Hetfield pitched that thing early on.

Choose a good pickup with alot of mids and highs, that'll let you cut through tons of gain without loosing too much definition.  I'd also avoid ultra-high output pickups in favor of low to mid output pickups....they'll give you more string to string definition and less compression, both of which will help keep your palm mutes more separated and defined.  If you need more output, add a pedal to use as a clean boost.

IMO, you could take a set of Mules, run them into a 5150, mid-scoop like a madman, and pull off a decent Death Metal tone.

[Crazy_Joe]

But i don't have a high gain amp though, i am going to buy a H&K Matrix 100 combo.

[screamingdaisy]

But i don't have a high gain amp though, i am going to buy a H&K Matrix 100 combo.

Pantera in a box....

[Crazy_Joe]

lol i have that...

[screamingdaisy]

lol i have that...

 :twisted:

[Sifu Ben]

Yes, I listened to Kalmah, hence my comments. They're speed metal rather than thrash, and they're not really that heavy. Certainly more at the Megadeth and Anthrax end of the scale rather than the Slayer and Metallica end. The sound actually has quite a lot of mid in it (to me the tone screams George Lynch), and there's not that much saturated distortion. I'd say Holydivers would do this with ease. If your amp isn't up to it there are numerous inexpensive pedals that will take you into this realm with ease (again, you don't even need it to be that powerful, something like a Digitech Grunge would probably do the job, but their Distortion Factory will do this and Metallica as well).
 You seem to have a strange view of the effect of pickups in terms of heaviness. I'm sure no-one has ever said "lack of power" and "nailbomb" in the same sentence before. Many, many players get fantastic distorted tones from relatively low powered pickups.

[Crazy_Joe]

It makes my amp sound monsterous, i don't know why line 6 has such a bad name, unless that pedal is an exception.