Ok well I'm looking to buy this guitar it's an Ibanez with the Explorer body going on, but I want to replace the pickups. I've been doin the whole EMG thing as of lately and am looking into some passives, I've heard good things about the Dimazio X2N, anyone have any good things to say about this? Any other suggestions you guys might have? What locations...bridge, neck? I play metal and play out of a Peavey 6505+. Thanks is advance for the help guys.

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I'm planning to put in an X2N into one of my guitars in June or July, but have never tried it myself. But ive asked around and it seems like its a really good pickup for metal. I would only really put it in the bridge since its high output and would sound muddy in the neck. A PAF pro would fit nicely in the neck and make the guitar quite versatile. BTW Chuck from Death uses an X2N so listen to some of his stuff to hear how it sounds. Hope that helped.

I only liked the X2N in mahogany guitars, not alder or basswood.

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The X2N and Seymour Duncan Invader are probably the two highest output passive pickups you can get so try and find a place where they are selling a guitar that has these pickups so you can try them out and then decide for yourself which you like.

I have my alder-bodied Jackson with an X2N and it's ok... but I'm not that impressed really. Just sounds powerful and really sensetive, that's all. Balanced tone, though, that's always good.

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X2N = 510 output

Wow...

I like High output pickups that have character

Evo...

You might like the Seymour Duncan JB for that then... i think it has quite a bit of output but still sounds really nice. Anyone with more info on the JB?

Jb's are good, but not super in non-mahagony bodies. Maybe check out the SD Distortion pickup, wich is basicly the JB with a bit more bass.

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You said it.

what pickup would compliment basswood?

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Anybody know how an X2N would sound in a maple body?

It kind of depends on the quality of basswood. I've heard that the X2Nsounds good in basswood, but have never heard it myself though.

Great.

EVO's.

Assuming all other factors constant, would an X2N/PAF Pro combo sound better in a guitar made entirely of mahagony OR entierly of alder OR mahogany with a maple neck OR a mahagony neck and a mahoghany body capped with maple?
If you could tell me how each one would sound that would be great. Thanks in advance.

No, it would probably sound like ass. Maple has a lot of treble responce and the X2N is super trebley. So your guitar will sound like bees in a tin can unless you do some massive EQ'ing. Especially if it's a Floyd rose guitar, I'd reccomend more bassy pups to balance out the lack of bass. A Dimarzio Tonezone is very mid-growly with lotsa low end(but not muddy) and it sounded great in a mable bodied guitar.

I would say the X2N is better in basswood and mahogany rather than alder.

Warm pickups for are for bright guitars, bright pickups are for warm sounding guitars. No shit you're going to get muddy sounds if you put an Invader in LP, but if you put it in a Fender standard strat(alder bodied) it will probably be great.

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I've got a Tone Zone in my RG370dx.
And thats basswood.
Go for it.

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I was just thinking that since the X2N is a very high output PU wouldnt it impose itself over the wood, therefore making the type of wood not too important since most of the sound is generated by the PU? just a thought

Says who? X2N is super fat. It's the most low end I personally have ever heard out of a bridge pickup. I can play my X2N in my super shitty basswood guitar through any crappy amp in the world and it will never sound like bees in a tin can.

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dude he said basswood and x2n=good.
maple and x2n=bad

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so an x2n(7) in a high quality basswood guitar will have a sick tone for death metal but good harmonics too?

So wait... Mahogany is bassier than basswood??? Stupid name Basswood then huh?

Correct,though everyone has different opinions in what they believe is sick tone.

so, not to get off-topic, but let me see if i've got this straight: alder & maple = trebly/bright, and basswood & mahogany = bassier/warmer?

oh, and that "bees in a tin can" thing is fucking hilarious.

No, alder is just very balanced, in the middle. Lots of mids for a balanced tone. Maple = super trebley and harsh. Mahogany(high quality): very warm and bassy. Basswood = very balanced, but has more treble and bass response than alder(and is much lighter, but dents easily)


You need to try more pickups then. Even a tonezone that only has like 400 mv of output(not that that really matters with EQ) has way more bass than the X2n. In basswood it would probably sound very good, and way better in mahogany. But I'm not extremely pleased with it in alder with a maple neck, so I'm going to have to sit down and find the perfect EQ for my guitar(I use different EQ's for each guitar to make sure they're all balanced).

I wouldn't reccomend using high value pots(ie: 1 meg, 500k) with the X2n. It's already got an assload of treble, so using something like a 250k pot will help you balance out the sound my rolling off a slight amount of treble. The less I have to fuck with my amp's EQ the happier I am. Which is why I prefer bright pickups in warm guitars and bassy ones in thin sounding guitars.

If you have a maple guitar(Thorns of heaven) and it has a floyd, it generally sounds thin. Throw in a SD Invader in there, with a PAF Pro if you'd like, you won't regret it. Or get EMG's if you just don't care for passives.

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thanks for the advice soeru and everbody else.
it seems like some people think the x2n sounds good in maple and others do not. Im just curious if anybody actually heard the x2n in a maple bodied guitar firsthand?

I have my X2N in an alder guitar. Sounds good to me

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Soeru, would lower-value pots on a pair of 81s be advisable? or are they generally standard for those?

Its not advisable to put low value pots with EMG's,actives in particular.There isnt a great deal of difference in price,so its worth paying that bit extra.

? Pretty sure your supposed to put 25k pots in with emgs.

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man, the super distortions are probably the best way to go, in terms of passives. they're perfect for any type of music.

Low value I mean as in $.