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GMC Forum _ GEAR & PRODUCTION _ Which Pickups? Help!
Posted by: AudunESP Oct 5 2008, 12:10 PM
Hey! i have this guitar, ESP-MH 250. Great guitar, pure beauty, perfect playability IMO and great sounds, even though the body is made of agathis, which i haven't heard any good about. was at an original price of 8200 norwegian kroner, which is about 1223 dollars, at a local dealer. Link: http://www.espguitars.com/guitars_mh.html
I still have the ESP-LH 301 pickups which i bought it with, and an employeed at the store recomended me to shift to EMG pickups. I concider bying EMG 81. But i wonder if theres another pickups you'll recomend?
Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Oct 5 2008, 02:24 PM
If you play a lot of distortion and like the good and defined tone, I think EMGs are great choice. You just can't go wrong with them IMO.
Posted by: 2mazzo Oct 5 2008, 02:45 PM
I got emg 81tw and a 89 in my Schecter and they sound awesome. The emg 85 i also a nice pickup. The 89 is simular to the 85 but u can use it as a singlecoil if u got a push/pull volume controll.
Posted by: Unleash-The-Shred Oct 5 2008, 03:21 PM
That guitar doesn't have the push/pull volume knob.
I'd recommend getting an EMG 81 in the bridge and an 85 in the neck. You could also get an 81 for both positions, that's how my ESP Kirk Hammett is set up and that sounds good, one more option I can give you are the EMG Zakk Wylde signature pickups, I have Zakk's Les Paul also and those sounds good too.
Posted by: AudunESP Oct 5 2008, 03:48 PM
Thanx for your response:) YEAH! seems like EMG is the thing for me. The guitar DOES have a push-pull on volume knob, and i use that a lot. You might have looked on wrong guitar. Ill surely concider getting the 89, and again, thanx:)
Posted by: Hisham Al-Sanea Oct 5 2008, 06:51 PM
you can use for a bridge EMG and for neck some of Demarzio
Posted by: Toni Suominen Oct 5 2008, 09:01 PM
EMG's are a good choice, you could also look into other active-pickups. like the Seymour Duncan Blackouts.
Posted by: ZakkWylde Oct 5 2008, 09:10 PM
First of all: Are you sure it cost 1223$ ? In germany it's about 500Euro which is something above 700$ !!!
Next time order your guitar from Thomann or something like that, it'll save you a lot of money.
Nex thing: We need your favourite bands and musical style; it wouldn't make sense to recommend you metal pickups if you're into Jazz...
If you're into EMG and want to coilsplit both pickups, make sure you buy the 81tw for the bridge (normal 81 emgs can't be splited) and the 89 for the neck (split version of the 85)
Posted by: AudunESP Oct 5 2008, 11:55 PM
well, sure thing, this is my "metal" guitar. So the hard sounds of EMGs as you state would really fit. if im not wrong this guitar is made for a heavier sound, don't look very jazzy anyway 
Well, the high price is becouse i bought it at a local dealer, in Norway everything's expensive around here, especially guitars.
About Demarzio pickups, which would you recomend?
Posted by: ZakkWylde Oct 6 2008, 12:23 AM
Do you want active or passive pickups?
Active metal pickups : Emgs or Seymour Duncan Blackouts
Passive Pickups : Seymour Duncan Sh-6,Sh-8,Sh-13 (the higher the number the more metal^^)
DiMarzio D-Activator or Steve Vai's Evolution humbucker, the rest is just meh...
Posted by: AudunESP Oct 6 2008, 12:50 AM
I've brosed around a little bit, and i really got a good eye on DiMarzio D-activator, and a little bit on SD's blackouts too. Does these function with the push-pull knob? And do anyone have good/bad experiences with these? Does anyone know the different qualities of both of them? The rewiers at Harmony central gives the D-activators a full 10 on their reviews. Same goes for the seymour duncan blackouts. The passive D-activators sounds just as they were Active anyway. Is it true that Active pickups need to shift batteries? 
Have had mine nearly for two years, and i never needed to shift batteries... 
Posted by: kjutte Oct 6 2008, 01:01 AM
I still have the ESP-LH 301 pickups which i bought it with, and an employeed at the store recomended me to shift to EMG pickups. I concider bying EMG 81. But i wonder if theres another pickups you'll recomend?
Emg's are far from versatile. I would get humbuckers that can also be used as singlecoils.
Posted by: ZakkWylde Oct 6 2008, 01:05 AM
Active pus drown batteries very, very slowly, they have about 2000 hours operation time (when the guitar is plugged in) so it comes down how often you play.
D-activators sound like an active pickup without being one, sounds but does not have the extreme output of an active pickup but the tone loss of an active pickup=makes not much sense to me. Played them in an Ibanez Xiphos and they are heavy as hell but not good to me. They can be splited.
Blackouts are great but not that much better than an EMG, just a bit more like a Seymour Duncan version of the EMG. Some prefer them some hate them. It's your preferance; AFAIK they can be splited
Try guitars with similiar specs to your guitar with your desired pickups and decide on your own if possible. If there is no place where you can try some pups then I would say go for the EMGs as they are the ''Standard'' and they are great pickups...If you like them, good ...if you hate them they can be resold at a fairly high price^^
Posted by: Jose Mena Oct 6 2008, 02:28 AM
I have tested many pickups, my conclusion is High gain for metal, low output for that blues overdriven sound, but it is a matter of taste, as far as tone, it can be changed with changing capacitor values, and potentiometers.
Any brand name I like, I've been using Kent Armstrong lately, and like them a lot, but in the past Di Marzio was about all I used.
Posted by: AudunESP Oct 6 2008, 01:40 PM
HMM...i've now really laid my eyes on the Blackouts. Seen some videos, heard some descriptions and recomendations. They really sound promising. 
If EMG's are far from versatile, as Kjutte stated, are The blackouts more versatile? they kinda look like:) saw a vid of someone playing on a telecaster with Blackout pickups, what a tone! THey sounded bluesy, with a little rough sound.
Zack Wylde, by saying they can be splitted, do you mean they can be used as single-coils with the push-pull function? i don't know very much about Pickups and stuff
And btw. what does it mean when they are high output?
Posted by: OrganisedConfusion Oct 6 2008, 01:41 PM
I agree EMG's aren't really versatile. They are great for what they can do but you really don't want them for jazz and other guitar disciplines.
Posted by: ZakkWylde Oct 6 2008, 03:55 PM
High output means the pickup has a lot of power and overdrives the amp better. Tone comes out easier, harmonics come out easier and it's better for metal and stuff...
Yes, splitted means they can be switched into a coil with the push pull knob. EMGs are good for rock and metal because they were built for that music (even some modern blues). I prefer a pickup that does one style good instead of all styles with an just OK sound.
Posted by: Marcus Siepen Oct 6 2008, 07:26 PM
EMG 81 and EMG 85, classic combination and unbeatable when it comes to metal sounds
Posted by: AudunESP Oct 7 2008, 12:31 PM
Well, thank for all your answers:) I think i'll go for the Blackouts, they sound really nice, and i only hear positive feedback about it. Does anyone know a cheap and relyable online dealer? would really help:)
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