Pickup advice for custom built guitar

[Sweep-it]

Hi guys!

I'm having a custom guitar built for me, and I was wondering which Dimarzio Pickups I should get for it.
The Guitar's gonna be Ibanez RG Shaped, Mahogany Body with a bolt on maple neck and maple fingerboard. fixed bridge.

For the neck position I'm going with an Air Norton, now I'm looking for a suitable Bridge Humbucker. I play mostly metal.

I'm looking for a fat, chunky, yet articulate rhythm Sound, which at no point should get muddy. Should be able to cut through the mix really well.
Should have enough mid's for lead sounds with lot's of harmonics.
Clean sounds aren't really important.


Of course the Tonezone comes to mind, but I'm afraid it would get too muddy (also considering I'm using a Peavey XXX Amp, which is already kinda on the bassy/muddy side).

I thought the Norton might be more suitable, what do you guys think?
I don't need huge ammounts of output, my amp has more than enough gain.
But the pup should still be able to do well in high gain situations (death/thrash metal)

I've already sent an email to Dimarzio, unfortunately they didn't reply.
Any suggestions are welcome.

[waylay00]

Perhaps X2N? What it lacks in the clean department, it makes up for in the overdriven department. Don't be mislead, it is not JUST for high gain situations. It can do the vintage thing too. However, it lacks a little bass, but since your amp is already bassy, it should even out nicely.

Sounds like X2N or Evo for you.

[Shredcows]

You can use the older Double Whammy pup. Its simliar to the TZ but with slightly less bass (tighter too) and less output. It has a VERY good chug and harmonics come off easily. Tonality, its similiar to the modern tone of a TZ.
Also, it has nice cleans!
I would think the DW has more chug than crunch, ala a Tonezone, but its defined, tighter, perhaps, smaller sounding than a TZ.

oOOOO... x2n. The temptation of awesome power is tempting! Don't worry, the X2N can be split for some pretty nice spanking cleans.

[rgr]

The DW is hard to find now, but might be a good choice, I've never tried the X2N. The Norton would be good, tighter bass than a TZ but still has the midrange drive. The Evo 2 is also nice, I like it alot better than the original Evo.

[j.arledge]

the tone zone would do just fine. If you are looking for a tone zon-ish type sound with better clarity and more attack the d-soinc is your pickup . Face the bar to the neck and is great for stanard or d-tunnings , i think it sounds close to what you are looking for .

[Sweep-it]

First of all, thanks for your answers guys.

Well, I've told myself, I wouldn't go with high Output Pickups this time, so the X2n and DSonic, hence even the tonezone might be too much. I'd really want to preserve some "tone".

As I said, I already have a guitar with Emg's, so now I want to go in a different direction (but the pups should still be able to perform well in my main musical style, which is metal) About 300-350mv should be fine.

I really like the pafPro, but it kinda lacks in the harmonics departement.
What about the fred guys? I know it's a pup not really made for metal, but with the right amp it should be fine, shouldn't it? And the Fred also has more harmonics than the paf pro.

Considering all that, basically it's either:

AirZone (maybe too muddy in mahogany like the tonezone?),
PafPro/Fred (too weak?),
Norton (kinda sounds like the perfect match),
or the breed neck in the bridge position, which seems to be quite popular around here (not enough harmonics?)

Maybe you guys could help narrowing down the choices.

[Shredcows]

I used the breed neck in bridge for my S series... there is a thread here with a review...

Basically, think PAF Pro but with more bass and mids.

You get more crunch than chug from the Breed neck. Harmonics wise, its not bad, but it wouldn't rival a Tonezone... Its very very very dyanmic though... on clean you can get really loud!

I am not sure about the Norton, I did read some reviews claiming it has a kind of fuzzy bass and a very very pronouced mid range that some couldn't stand?

I guess i would still stick to my DW suggestion... 330 mA output... its available on the bay stores for the same price as a normal dimarzio...

[AARRGGHHH]

I find the fred to be pretty good for metal actually, it's midrange helps give you a pretty tight aggresive tone for heavy rythm. It will be a bit of a change from the TZ because it doesn't have much low end, especially compaired with the TZ.

[frankfalbo]

I second the Fred recommendation. The Fred should produce harmonics as easily as an EMG, but have the organic passive dynamics you want for this guitar. And it is tight. The TZ, AZ, and Norton are all woolier, with a less pronounced attack, while the S.S. and D-Sonic would have too much attack and sharpness IMO for what you are trying to do.

[Sweep-it]

The reason why I'm not going with the DW is, that I need a red Humbucker, so I need a Pup, I can buy at the store. It would be downright impossible to get a used red, dw on wee-bay, especially here in Europe

If it didn't have to be a red one, I would have far more options. Unfortunately it has to be red

Well, the Fred seems more and more like a good choice.
I don't need an extremely huge low end, but I don't need an ice pick like the evo 1/x2n/emg81 either.
As long as it's capable producing a bit of chunk for rhythm sounds, and doesn't get muddy at high gain, I'm happy.
And I'm sure lead sounds are great with the Fred.

If you have any more suggestions or comments, just keep em coming.

[Shredcows]

Hahaha! Man! Red red... okay... hmmm... eh...

Breed bridge?

A more vintage version of the Tonezone, with tighter bass and more ah... how do you put this... less pronouced awwwww mid range?

[dangomles]

What about a Seymour Duncan Jazz model or even a '59
I know you said Dimarzios. but hey, those are awesome pickups

[j.arledge]

i just installed a steve's special , and although it shows to be higher output it is actually pretty well easy to maintain tone . It is basically a 6 string version of the original blaze 7 string pickup . It is is very smooth and extermly well defined . The mid scoop thing isn't noticable especially not with pinch harmonics .

I replaced the fred with the steve's special . The fred is great it just wasn't quite as smooth and getting the dynamics i wanted it to .