I have been researching pick-ups/humbuckers for the past 3 months and I am still searching for the right pair to buy! I have the EMG-81/85 set and I despise the compressed "artificial" tone I get from them. I have an Epiphone Les Paul Custom and Marshall (Mode Four) MF350 half-stack. Does anyone have any ideas on what pick-ups would sound good through this set-up? I really like a Symphony-X, Nevermore and Arch Enemy type of tone. Dimarzio's and Duncans are what I'm thinkin?

well to be honest mate, Michael Romeo uses EMGs, just depends how you set them up with the eq really...

for a great tone I recommend Duncans or DiMarzios, they both have some really killer pickups to offer, but it's worth looking around for one you think will be best!

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Don't both Arch Enemy and Nevermore use EMG's?

Do you like the sound of your guitar through other amps? Just make sure it's not your amp's sound you're not dissatisfied with, although the MF is a decent amp.

If you decide to swap out the emg's take some time to find what passives(dimarzio, duncan, or more expensive choices like lundgren and bareknuckle) are good for you, there are dozens out there, you're bound to find a couple you like.

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No, the Amotts use Duncan, and Michael Romeo is switching to a DiMarzio Tone Zone/X2N on his Caparison. I think Nevermore uses them though.

Ya the Mode Four in my opinion is a sick amp. Ammott uses the Duncan JB/59 set-up, Loomis has the EMG 707's and Romeo Dimarzio X2N/Tone Zone. I don't what those will sound like through a Les Paul though?

I've never really been a fan of the mode 4. Not really worth it for the price...considering WHAT ELSE you could get.

Check into some Duncans or Dimarzios if you must, but I would recommend some Bare Knuckles...and if you want some nice shit...a Lundgren M6 would definitely suffice.

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Being a noob doesn't exclude you from the rules.
http://metaltabs.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1507

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Hey mate i got a Mode Four also.
I got 3 guitars, one of em has seymour duncan JB and Invader.
One has EMG 81's.
The other is a Ibanez RGA 121 Prestige which i just got recently. It had stock V7 and V8 pickups which had no clarity through the amp. The Mode Four has huge bottom end and i play in drop c so i needed something that was gonna cut through.
I bought a Dimarzio Dropsonic (aimed at detuned guitars), i put it in the bridge position and i must say its fairly good. Very hot pickup. I wanted to get away from the EMG 81's sound, as i already had it. These pickups have proven to be a good choice and not that expensive either. They cut through really well, a lot of clarity, i play mainly tech death metal stuff and you really need every note to ring out, i can achieve it with this.


Also in regards to the amp, i've heard so many people not liking this amp. But i think it's due to not taking the time to play with it, and experiment. I can dial in any sound, its just a matter of getting used to the amp yourself, and knowing when to back off the gain and treble so its not piercing your ears!

Ya it's an amazing amp. I love the damn thing. You really have to play around with it to get a great sound. I just tried it awhile ago with my friends SG with the JB/59 setup. It sounded so sick! It was on the bassy side due to the amp somewhat, but I figured if I'm using a les paul I might wanna go with something with more treble like maybe a Sh-6 duncan distortion?

Sh-6 is pretty nice, I have 2 in my Les Paul. Surprisingly, it actually works quite well in the neck position also.