Author Topic: ANOTHER pickup suggestion thread (Read 2250 times)

Miracle Man · « **on:** October 24, 2006, 10:41:49 PM »

Hi guys! I'm finally ready to purchase my first BKP pickup. These »pickup suggestion« threads are pretty common so I'll just skip to the point.

Right now I only want to buy the bridge pickup.

My main guitar is an SG copy with an ebony fretboard, mahagony body with maple top and mahagony neck. It's curently loaded with Gibson '57 Classic pickups. My amp is a stock Marshall JCM800 50w (EL34). When I'm playing the SG I usually keep the gain at 3'o clock. The amount of gain is perfect so I'm not really looking for anything much hotter or weaker than Gibson's '57 classic.

I mostly play rock, punk-rock and blues rock. I want the pickup to be very smooth and very thick with a lot of clarity in the bass department. I like my sound a bit bass-heavy but the '57 classic get muddy if I crank the bass. I also want it to have a very open sounding top end but at the same time I don't want it to be too bright or harsh. My rig is bright enough as it is

. Oh and I hate mid-scooped tones so I want the mids to be somewhere in the »Slash area«.

Some of the tones I really like:
-Green Day's Dookie album ( :twisted: This is the sound I would love to be able to get!!!)
-The Darkness, Permission to land
-Foo Fighters, The color and the shape
-Weezer, The Green album
-Older stuff by Van Halen
-Anything by Tokyo Dragons
....

I know I'm in the right place for pickup advice so I'm confident that I will find something that suits my requirements. :D

P.S.: Sorry for my English :roll:

Twinfan · « **Reply #1 on:** October 25, 2006, 11:29:16 AM »

You're English is fine!

From the music you've described I would have said a Black Dog. It's a more bassy/lower mid pickup than the all rounder Mule. However you're using an SG and Tim does not recommended these "medium" gain pickups in SGs as they can go a bit muddy in the bass.

I would suggest a Mississippi Queen (the humbucker sized P-90). I have one in an SG type and it's very thick on the mids and bottom end. However, being a single coil there is a clarity there that you won't get from a humbucker. There's also plenty of power there lik a humbucker so it won't sound like a Strat or Tele.

Go for a Mississippi Queen. You'll love it :D

Ratrod · « **Reply #2 on:** October 25, 2006, 01:06:52 PM »

I think you could be fine with a pair of Mules. It will do all the styles you mentioned.

Like Twinfan, I love my MQ's but I wouldn't put them in an ebony board SG.

Miracle Man · « **Reply #3 on:** October 25, 2006, 02:36:44 PM »

Yeah I also remember Tim saying that medium gain pickups might sound muddy in an all mahogany guitar like the SG. But my SG has a maple top. Would that make it ok?

I might actually get a Black Dog for the SG (since it needs more low mids). Curently I'm not considering buying a MQ (I'll get that later on for my Epi LP :twisted: )
Does anybody know if the black dog is hotter or weaker than the Gibson '57 classic?

:P

Twinfan · « **Reply #4 on:** October 25, 2006, 06:20:44 PM »

I should have read your guitar description a bit better!

An SG with a maple cap and an ebony board should sound a bit brighter than normal, so I think a pair of Black Dogs would be perfect. They'll be a touch hotter than '57 Classics you have now.

I'm not sure why Ratrod wouldn't put MQs in an ebony board SG. Too bright?

Ratrod · « **Reply #5 on:** October 26, 2006, 11:31:38 AM »

Ebony boards are often used to brighten up a humbucker sound. A single coil MQ could sound too bright.

A Pig90 in combination with an ebony board could be nice to achieve that Iommi tone.