New Guitar. Decisions, Decisions.

[Nyxie]

I'm selling some things, making some money and buying some new toys. Well, one really big new toy.

The first and most important decision. Pickups. I'm looking for something stupid-clear and crisp, but also not weak in distortion.

Lace Alumitone Deathbuckers

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwxbihuTZPY

These bad boys have really clear cleans and low drive, I've tried them, and they accentuate mutes and chugs really crisply, which is something I like.

Tesla VR Extremes

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78QRPyfBMsE

Dunno what to say except that these sound stupid-good, and they're strong on the distortion department too.

Opinions? Choices? Alternative suggestions? I need help, maybe.

Edit: That awkward moment when you come back from a leave and discover there is a Music section you could have posted the guitar thread to....

 

[cowboyrepeater]

If you want the quintessential metal pickups, EMG 81s/85s are it. 60s are okay for a warmer rhythm tone but if you like that. If you plan on playing extreme metal, gotta go with the standard. If you're getting a physical git-fiddle too, I really like Ibanez. The wizard necks feel like buttah. You could do LTD if you want the LP or SG style with the fatter neck.

If you want a new amp, the 5150 or whatever Peavey calls it sounds great distorted. Engl Powerball amps are good too but expensive.

 

[Nyxie]

I have 81/85s on my Schecter. I can't stand them, they sound so played out and don't accentuate much of the guitar. They're great for covers but that's about it. That's half the point of getting a new guitar. xD I need something that really speaks to me, not something so impersonal.

And yeah, a 5150 over a 2x12 Orange.

 

[Daniel Winnik]

EMGs have good output, better than most other pickups. I suppose DiMarzo blackouts are good too. I unno though about lotta other pick-ups. They always seem too quiet, too muddy. Also as far as sameyness in sound, in the studio most guitar tones by themselves sound crappy. With the band, with some extra rythmn tracks you sound totally different.

Oh and this is a sub account for the green Twi'lek .

 

[Daniel Winnik]

Oh and I should point out that your guitar's tone wood plays a big role too. Iirc shecters basically use budget mohogany...I forget the name of the wood. That could explain why they don't accentuate sound as well. Maybe try some alder or maple for a brighter tone if that's your bag.

 

[Ludolf Vaas]

Some helpful things to know would be -

Are you building your own guitar? Or buying a stock model and replacing the pickups? (may not be necessary)

What type of music are you playing? It looks like metal of some kind?

 

[Nyxie]

Going with expensive (very expensive, like hundreds) three-ply solid imported mahogany with an ebony board. The guitar is a full custom. If you look it up though, EMG's tend to be so post-processed and synthetic because of their reliance on pre-amplification that they tend to drown out the tones generated by the guitar itself - which is why I can put them in a crappy 150$ guitar and they sound almost identically the same in my loop.

Which is why I want passives. You can still pre-amp passives, but you can do so directly before output, so it's not filtering any tone generated internally or by the guitar itself. You can also turn it on or off, and control the level of amplification as well as tone. Whereas with straight Actives, you get what you get, all you can do is take the battery out which leaves them rather weak since the coils are MUCH smaller.

Going for something in maybe in the range of pop punk all the way to djent/progressive and all the in-betweens, like metalcore and touhou metal. Basically Melodic Metal.

And lastly I took luthing classes. I like to do everything myself, much more rewarding.

 

[Ludolf Vaas]

Mahogany is always nice, but honestly, if you're just playing those styles, it almost doesn't matter what kind of guitar you have. There will be so much distortion that it pretty much won't matter.

I have the 5150 III, which is basically your amp. The overdrive channel will make almost any guitar sound crushing.

Your money might be better spent on upgrading your speakers, if you haven't already.