Important query

[Max Payne]

Hey guys

I have a friend back in Bangladesh who owns a Washburn WG 228 and he's been considering getting the pickups changed. He's in a hard rock/alternative band that's up and coming and they'll be hitting the studio soon. The guitar has a H/S/H configuration and I'm considering getting 2 pickups for him when I head back there in the summer. The problem is that I think he needs a versatile tone, because even though he's playing predominantly alternative music, he's also quite the metalhead. I've been looking through Dimarzio's and Seymour Duncans but I have little idea of what would be a good combo of pickups. If you guys could offer some suggestions I would be very happy. He basically needs a versatile and powerful tone, especially for distortion effects and the like. Thanks guys.

[Max Payne]

Right now I'm looking around and so far the Dimarzio Super Distortion looks like a good buy for the bridge position. However I'm not sure about the exact differences that it has with the Super 3 pickup. Can anyone articulate ?

[frankfalbo]

The Super 3 is thicker and smoother, and louder. But the thing is, the Super Distortion is already thick and smooth. So the Super 3 is one of the least trebly bridge pickups available. The Super Distortion is good, but a little compressed. So if he ever wants that open, airy vintage sound, then the Tone Zone might be a better alternative. The TZ isn't really open or airy, but it can be more vintagey if it's backed away from the strings a little. The Evolution could also be a good choice to bridge the gap between metal and alternative. As for the neck, just make sure it's something versatile, like the PAF Pro, the Breed neck, or the Air Classic.

If you're going with Duncan, you can't lose with the Custom, or the Custom 5 in the bridge, and the Alnico II or '59 in the neck.

[Max Payne]

I've also always been fascinated by the Bill Lawrence pickupsm namely the L-500 ones but do those make good bridge AND neck pickups ?

[Tom Gilroy]

Duncan's to me are more versitle. Think about a Duncan hotrail for the single coil position.

[tone_connoisseur]

What kind of sound does he want? Does he want something high output? Tons of distortion? I'm a big fan of the Screamin' Demon, from SD. Great tone, not a lot of output, hence the good tone. The 59' sounds really good too. In the neck position I like the Pearly Gates.

[Max Payne]

Well he could really use distortion that doesn't souind muddy , with lots of output so the Screamin' Demon sounds like a plan, especially for the bridge. I'll have to look up the Pearly Gates.

[lyconxero]

Either way you go, you've got tons of options. Just make sure that your single coil is a nice balance between the bridge and the neck. You're probably going to want it to be something medium to high output. I'm mostly into hard rock/metal/alternative/neo-classical so with my new Ibanez RG370DX i'm probably going to but a Tone Zone in the bridge and a Humbucker from Hell in the neck (Paul Gilbert also uses this config). The Humbucker from Hell in the neck position probably has the cleanest neck tone of all the humbuckers i've ever listened to and that carries over when it's distorted so your notes come out perfectly clear. And with the Tone Zone in the bridge, you get that hard hitting crunch. If I weren't going to get the Tone Zone for the bridge, I'd probably look into the SD JB because it's also a really good bridge pickup. For the single coil in my new axe, i'm going with the Dimarzio Cruiser with the dual blade construction. It's got medium high output so it should match well between the TZ and the HFH.

[power freak]

I think that the Norton by Dimarzio and the Screamin' Demon by Duncan are some of the more versatile pickups in the "metal" world. For the neck a PAF pro is pretty good or a '59 from duncan. For the single coil I personally think that the Dimarzio Virtual Vintage line is unbeaten. They sound good but also have no noise or hum like regular singles.

[Dr. Funkenstein]

Dimarzio or Seymour Duncan both make great pickups but pay a little more and you will get the best - I started winding my own and I'll never buy a mass produced pickup again, the tonal difference is that big. Take into account that I'm a complete pickup winding novice with poor soldering skills / no electrical knowledge etc. With this in mind, why not try someone like Lindy Fralin or BareKnuckle pickups - both make amazing quality pickups and have the knowledge to produce the pickup that will do what you need it to do.

Shelling out that bit extra can make a good guitar sound great - you really can't beat handwound pickups in my opinion, scatterwound by a human as opposed to a CNC machine. The variations in winding pattern and wire tension make all the difference, letting through more top end and opening up the sound in a way that a CNC pickup just cannot do.

Cheers,

Dave