flatfourfan
My advice, look at changing those pups first, them BC rich design and the ESP design and the SD design are not the real thing, they are budget pick ups.
Also don't write off passives, Dimarzio, Seymour Duncan, Bare Knuckles are all way better pups that EMG actives IMHO.
Reinecke
Agreed, I think getting a huge tone out of a Seymour JB is a lot easier than getting it out of an active EMG! But non stock pick ups are an essential start to good tone.
But then again, you do find Gems, I bought an Ibanez AXE42 a good couple of years back, they have the Ibanez AXE pickups in there, and those pick ups just killed everything else I could get my hands on.
flatfourfan
Reinecke wrote:
Agreed, I think getting a huge tone out of a Seymour JB is a lot easier than getting it out of an active EMG! But non stock pick ups are an essential start to good tone.
But then again, you do find jems, I bought an Ibanez AXE42 a good couple of years back, they have the Ibanez AXE pickups in there, and those pick ups just killed everything else I could get my hands on.
gotta agree with the gem comment. I have a set of house brand ESP design pick ups in my LTD KH and they do sure sound sweet.
Slayer
Hey flatfourfan what pus would you suggest? Any input would be welcomed.
Don't mind spending +- 1k or so, as long as its the right one.
Want to use it on my Warlock - also detuned.
LooneyAtTheGate
There's something deliciously evil about the Seymour Duncan Invader, really nice for that old death metal sound, or even modern (think Nile).
Also the Duncan Distortion, which has a bit more clarity yet still very brutal.
flatfourfan
Slayer wrote:
Hey flatfourfan what pus would you suggest? Any input would be welcomed.
Don't mind spending +- 1k or so, as long as its the right one.
Want to use it on my Warlock - also detuned.
SD Invader.
I have one in my explorer and it's amazing, I shopped around and got one from music mate for a little over R900.
MikeM
Just a bit of input.. The JB, Distortion and Invader are all related. Essentially the same wind with a few distinctive changes. Personally I prefer the distortion over the invader because it has less bass and MUCH less string pull. Both very attacky though, being ceramic pups (although the distortion usually sounds tighter cause of the reduced bass). The JB is the least tight of the 3, and has the most prominent high mid honk, as the relatively high wind of awg43 creates a resonant peak that coincides with the A5's high end.
I'm going to throw a spanner into the works here and say consider the Custom. Not the Custom 5 or custom custom though. It's tight, attacky, thick, and is far less nasal than the aforementioned pups. Ideally I'd say the Custom 8, but that's a shop floor custom, so not easy to get this side. It's a beast of a pup, thick, tight and crisp.
Just cause you want to play brütals, doesn't mean you need a high output pickup. Most amps have MORE than enough gain, even without pedals. The Eq and attack of a pup matter more, and personally I always think decreased string pull is a good thing (The Distortion has a triple thick ceramic, and it does affect sustain, also it has so much bass that it runs though a capacitor in the pickup to tame it a little).
The best solution would be to try out some guitars with these pups in. A JB is relatively easy to find, so is the EMG set, and there are loads of guitars with knockoff invaders installed (which at least sound similar). The Custom and Distortion aren't as common locally though from what I have seen.
Edit: People hear things differently. That's why it's always best to try and get some kind of first hand experience with these things, even if it's on another guitar, you can still get an idea of what it sounds like. This goes for most thing guitar related actually.
Slayer
Have too go shopping again. Brilliant - will do something about the pus soon!
Thanks for the tech info on the different duncans. I must really educate myself regarding the finner details and now I know where to start.
Isis
I'm going to go against the grain here and recommend you not be so hasty to replace the pickups on your guitar. As a previous TSL owner I can tell you that it's got plenty of oomph for the style of music you want to play. Plenty of bands use Marshall for "the brootz", including early Cannibal Corpse and Hatebreed (they actually use the TSL and their tone is a s brutal as they come). You just have to remember that a 100 watt amp has an enormous amount of power, and to get to that sweet saturated metal chugga-chugga you have to push the amp pretty hard, otherwise it will sound tinny and iffy and various other less than pleasant fartiness. I had the 50 watt combo version a couple of years ago, and even that thing was too loud for my purposes, so I sold it. Keep the volume on the channels pretty low, and crank the volume button on the far left (if memory serves correctly). This should drive the amp without it going through the roof or killing your ears.
To get a nice tight distortion you have to EQ the thing properly and preferably use a boost in front of your amp. The tubescreamer and bad monkey are the two I have experience with and both work reasonably well. Don't be tempted to scoop out all the mids out, especially if you play in a band. The key with Marshall is getting the mids balanced with the highs and lows. Set the highs and lows to about half way and play around with the mids a bit.
Slayer
You're right. I will get pus soon any way, but as Alan said earlier on, first play around with the tones, swop cabs, etc. And get to know what it is I have and not what I don't have.
I downloaded the manual for the amp and now know what the emulator switch on the amp is for - crank it up as much as you like and press me! It cuts the amps output down to approx 25%. This should allow me to maximize the gain/volume and hopefully achieve the tone/effect I'm looking for without murdering the neighbours.
Roll on Saturday!
bENDER
Haai, experiment with your EQ and balance out the distortion. You want brutal, but with good tone, smooth in a sense. We play with more of a 1990's Death Metal sound (Suffocation/Death/Nile). You have to balance the EQ according to your pups EQ & output. Eg. If have a very trebbly pup, don't crank the treble too much, this will cause screeching noises. If it is very high output, back down on the distortion a bit etc. B standard tuning also helps...buwhahaha. Feels lekker with 13-59 strings. ?
