I currently have a kramer at the moment http://www.musicyo.com/product_specs.asp?pf_id=318 and am thinking of a pickup change as the pickups aren't really suited to my type of music (death/black metal). So i was just wondering if anyone had any suggestions on any type of pickups i should get? Thanx

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get an EMG-85 active humbucker for the bridge. it hass a fuller output than the 81 and has more os a bassy tone. it can be tweak to have overtones of treble as well. definately a rightious(sp) pick-up for metal. the 85 is under rated because all the famous musicians ('tallica, zakk) use the 81 in the bridge position. i definately believe that the 85 is truely better than the 81. it has a better distorted sound. heres a bit of advice: once you go active you can never go back.

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alot of the guys i know with 81 and 85 sets, use the 85 in the bridge, and i thought tallica did (in their better days) and i thought zakk did the same. So i put the 85 in the bridge, i'm happy like fuck with the sound i get, but i use the 81 for alot of my clean stuff, cause it does have a better clean tone.

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speaking of pickups, has any of you tried this one(first one in the list)?

http://www.shadow-pickups.com/gandbmag.html

(heres the setting list: http://www.shadow-pickups.com/images/EQ5%20Settings.jpg )

i didnt find many reviews, and no shops in quebec have them so i cant really try them for now either...it seems a bit weird

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81's are better for bridge position, 85's are better for neck position, switch them around and you'll be amazed

The 85 is more commonly used as a neck because it has a better clean tone, there is less output in the 85 then the 81.
As well for a good metal pickup try a seymor duncan SH-4 or SH-13 (a JB or Dimebucker, respectivly) and for more output use a 1meg-ohm pot instead of a 500k, it will allow more of the pickup to bleed through, although it is a personal opinion as to how you wire them in. Seymor also makes actice humbuckers, its worth a look into as well, a "Livewire Metal" would be what to look into.
You may also want to look into a Dimarzio pickup or a Bill Lawrence quad rail, the Lawrence is a brutal pickup.

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Yeh seymor duncan STOLE the dimebucker design from Bill Lawrence. Dime used to play Bill Lawrence pickups until seymor offered him money Plus the Bill Lawrence is alot cheaper

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What about a Seymor duncan invader (i think thats what there called) they are crazy sounding!!!!!!!!

the sh-4 is shit compared to an EMG, I didn't like its tone at all, played that pu in a gibson LP and wasn't impressed, played a dean with bill lawrence bridge pu and it was pretty good...

dimarzio's, meh, nothing special in my opinion, PAF's are ok, but I still prefer active pickups by far.

I use EMG-81's in my guitars, the battery is a pain in the ass, but well worth it.
I have played guitars using quite a few different pickups and so far I like the sound of the EMG-81 with an EMG Afterburner boost on, had to be the best sound I have ever heard, so much output it was insane.
I didnt mind the JB or Dimebucker that seymor duncan has but I personally dont like the Invader, too much mids in the pickup, far too muddy sounding.
For Dimarzio the Evolution pickups that are in an Ibanez Jem I found were very well rounded and great sounding.
The Bill Lawrence in the Washburn Dime models is also a killer pickup, but it all depends on what you want for a sound.
Remember that the rating on the tone and volume pots determines the sound as well, by replacing one of the pots with another of a different rating it will have an effect on your guitars sound.

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i have an 81 in the bridge and a 60 in the neck which noone seems to use. But tonight i was excited cuz i nailed satrianis sound on the top gun theme . i sorta fucked up with the grounding so i get some hum and shit on higher notes but my dad actually knows how to solder shit (unlike me) so whenever he comes here he can fix that. will proper grounding just get rid of hum or will it make the whole thing sound better?

ummm emgs dont need to be grounded

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they don't need grounding and the top gun theme is performed by van halen

well then why do they have the grounding braid and why do both of mine hum like a bitch on the higher notes?

they don't have a grounding wire or you're shortsighted and you bought a set of emg-hz's instead.

I've installed EMG's on a bass and a guitar, didn't have grounding wires because the amplified circuit is closed. you might have got a bad solder on one of the pots or something.

They are "grounded" on to the pots are they not? but they dont use the strings as the ground like passives do... I think thats the way it is.... Im only new to EMG's so....

no, theyre active, but what the hell is that braid for?

I know emgs are active, read it i said passive pickups use strings as ground.

The active Seymour Duncans are nice and one of their passives come close to its sound. Check out the Di'Marzio website and other pickup places ones' too.

I’d like 2 know which is the best EMG pickup set 2 get a really heavy, “bassy” and distorced sound, something like Dimebag Darrel pulls off or even heavier.

I chose the EMG pickups because they r the best and cheaper active pickups I found here (Brasil), so I’d like only EMG pickups suggestions.

THX

81's for sure.

the others are just more tame, the 81 is the metal pu.

Yeah i was already thinking about the 81/81 set cos Kirk Hammet is my idol and Slayer, Zakk Wylde and others use it, but when saw ppl talking about the 85 i got a bit confused.

I'm looking for some distortion like PanterA uses since V.D.O.P, MetallicA from Master of Puppets to Black Album, Dream Theater MetallicA's covers, etc...
So as u said the 81 is the metal pu its the best 1 to get this sound.

Thx 4 the help

your welcome,

dimebag has a pretty special tone, but with an 81 and a nice amp or good distortion pedal you can get pretty close, his signature pickups (S-D sh13's are pretty crappy and expensive, you're better of getting either EMG's or Invader's)

for slayer and tallica, the emg 81's are perfect.

Anyone here actually have some Bill Lawrence's? Any comments? People say they are great but don't mention much in particular. Also has anyone ordered them from http://www.billlawrence.com/ Some people have mentioned it takes 6 weeks or more to get an order delivered. I've been thinking about picking some up but I'm not to sure.

EMG = Solid State of pickups

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Death and black, i'd have to say EMG 81 in the bridge and 85 in the neck.

I have dimarzio, but then again, i play everything from blues to death metal.

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yeah they're good, a friend of mine has them in his dean, it sounds more like dimebag then those sh-13 dimebuckers.

Fuck that dimebucker shit. He dosent use them he uses Bill Lawrence pickups which acually sound good. There also cheap than that dimebucker

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I heard that if you use active pickups, you should have an amp with an alternative input, or else your sound would be shit. Is that true?

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No.

some guitar and bass amps have two inputs, the "alternative input" you're thinking of would be a low gain input, which is what you'd probably want to use with something like an 81 if you have the option. but if you don't have two inputs then don't worry about it, it wont make an emg 81 sound like shit unless it's a shit amp, but a shit amp can make any pickup sound shitty.

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jackson j50bc!!!

I have recently purchased a new amp head and cab, and now that i have that my epiphone has started to fall apart and i have decided to put all my time and energy into buying a guitar that will last me for years in quality and preformance. To the best of my knowledge a Jackson kelly us series with emg 81 and 85's seems like the way to go.
Any suggestions?
( im aiming for a brutal death metal sound: Death, Morbid Angel, Decapitated, Hypocricy)

Yeh that sounds about right. But right now musicians friend has the Scheter c-1 steath on sale for only 300 and its a badass guitar. But its a tune-o-matic bridge not a fr

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yeah, if im gonna save up for this shit im definetly leaving with a wammy bar. I also wanted a guitar that paves the way of possibility for someone losing an eye, and people say jacksons are more dependable than B.C. rich's.

http://ranguitars.com/_en/index.htm check out those guitars

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That guitar looks badass, do you know of anyone who owns one?

Vader

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oh, is peter the guy posing in the pictures?