The OFFICIAL guitar pickups thread.
 

So many questions and confusion about pickup voicing,combinations,tonewood, ect.Heres the place to ask,and to refer to about pickup related topics.

right on

what would be a good match for a evolution as far as a neck pickup goes? I want to get a lead tone similar to chuck on human, or a really spacey sound like trey azagoth on gateways to annihilation

If you want Trey's lead tone, you'll need a PAF Pro in the bridge. A shame it's not hot enough for anything else besides Morbid Angel or shredding/cleans unless you use a distortion boost of some sort. It's a very clean, clear and transparent sound. That's what gives him those air-like, captivating voicings for his solos(plus that's a Marshall JCM900 he plays, and he does a lot of weird mic'ing techniques). For an evo, try an evo neck pup?

An extremely versatile combo is a X2N in the bridge and a PAF Pro in the neck. That's a good passive pup for anything metal, but you can still tweak the volume and tone knobs to dull down the sound a bit, and you've got a perfect blues axe. I would also suggest a Tonezone(brown, modern techno-ish sort of sound, like Van Halen) in the bridge but maybe that's not what you're looking for(tonezone isn't extremely hot, and it's very warm, so it's best for bright guitars).

I dont like PAF's in the bridge,thats where they can get muddy.An EVO neck would suit you fine.

What's the diff between an evo and an x2n ? sure sure, name all the artists you want, but I don't care. So yeah which one's better for what? Reason im asking is because ill be buying one soon for my 7 (basswood)

Evo is super sensitive. Has a very slightly scooped EQ, it's designed for lead players with a good technique. X2N is a little more balanced, has more mids, and is porbably better for metal rythm(and leads too). I'd get the X2N-7 just cause it's new and not a lotta people have it yet.

if i were to replace the 2 humbuckers and 1 single coil in an RG with an X2N in the bridge, a Paf pro in the neck which pickup should i put in the middle so that it does not get drowned out by the x2n?

The only reason you would want one in the middle is so you can coil split the 2 humbuckers to get 3 singlecoils at once, like a strat. Otherwise, you won't need a middle pickup, just take it out or leave it there(all the way down) for cosmetic purposes.

Or put a hotrail in there.

+1. and those ain't bad little pups at all. not great, but not bad. and you could probably pull a coil split on that kinda setup, too. :confused:

I heard that EVO's make shit players sound worse. Is it true?

Dont be silly.

i have a 22fret mahogany body/maple top guitar, and i want new pickups in it. Right now, it has super 2's and i love them in the neck for their cleans and how they arent muddy with only 22 frets.

BUT i want more gain in the bridge, and with more gain i'd also like some brightness so that leads still sound decent... leads like Nile dont work for what i play... I'm pretty much thinking of the emg-81 sound, but i dont want anymore actives... any suggestions?

I hear that the Dimarzio X2N is almost like a passive version of EMGs. Very hot pickup. The leads will sound very nice and chugs will be bright. Just listen to some Death to get an idea. Cant wait to get mine in 3-4months...

I've got a les paul. For the neck pickup, I like to do clean rhythm work, but at the same time I like to get nice rich, warm lead tones. Which is more suited for that, a Duncan '59 or a Jazz?

Jazz I would say,awesome lead tones,great for sweeping.My favorite duncan pickup.

Quick question: what's the bassiest pickup around?

(Explanation: My guitar is basically all maple and has these ultra trebly/high output ferrite pickups that requires me to turn bass/contour to max, treble to min and the tone knob on the guitar to full bass when playing live - the PA mixer then mods it to hell. A very bassy pickup would remedy this a little, I hope. I may downtune to B in time.)

Not the bassiest pickup around,but its up there.Duncan Invaders might be what your looking for,though I hear they can get muddy when you downtune to B.

Could someone help me, im new to guitar around year now and my guitar is a 2nd hand inbanez ex350, not in awesome shape, but im happy with it none the less.

basically i want new pickups, but im completely lost where to start, i think i have some average ones, which are in horrible condition, all the metal dots are rusted and have scratches, and my on higher notes my guitar has a tinny sound to it.

my guitar has 5 pickups i think?? im not sure, but it has 5 sections, 2 clumped together on each end and single one in the middle.

im looking for new ones, can someone recommend me some, i dont know if you buy them individually or as pack, i have no clue.
if it helps i mainly play death metal type music.
thanks.

You have two humbuckers(The 'clumped' ones),and one single coil in the middle.That totals 3 pickups.Check out EMG's.