# what pickups



## hoikey (Mar 9, 2011)

I have a jackson dkmg at the moment with emghz pickups and i want to change them for something good. what would you guys reccomend? Thinking emg 81 and 85


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## Tips (Mar 27, 2011)




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## hoikey (Mar 9, 2011)

Guitar pickups


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## sirkuk (Mar 5, 2012)

Depends on your style of music and what you're looking to achieve. 81/85 are high output pick ups and am I correct in saying they are also active? You'd need to factor in the battery installation then too. 

They're not my cup of tea really but if you're into metal or driving the front end of your amp hard, then they probably are what you're looking for.

Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk


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## hoikey (Mar 9, 2011)

Yeah they are active and mounting the battery wont be an issue (already have one in there for my overdrive).

I mainly play metal which is why I'm thinking the 81 and 85.


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## sirkuk (Mar 5, 2012)

Probably suit you down to the ground then. Popular combination.

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## nick.s (Dec 21, 2009)

What kind of metal though hoikey?

I use DiMarzio PAF Pro in my Jackson, and they work great for Iron Maiden type sounds. EMG's to my ears are a little 'fizzy'. I have the same humbucker in the bridge of my Strat, with hot single coils in middle and neck, which makes for a really versatile guitar 

Is your Jackson HH or HSH?


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## Ti22 (Mar 24, 2009)

81/85 are a good baseline, see also duncan blackouts - or the new duncan gus G pups. 

what bands do you like/ sound are you going for? for me, (as a metalhead and 81/85 owner) the duncans have more of a bark for downtuning and pedalling type stuff..

EMG is more metallica and SD more A7x etc. 

Really want a passive set of SD '57 and JB!

P.S. all of these will be waaaay better than emg hz's. Had a set once. Hated them! Current passive pickup fave is a bareknuckle nailbomb, which is awesomely versatile (like a jb/57) whereas actives are more one trick ponies.


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## hoikey (Mar 9, 2011)

nick.s said:


> What kind of metal though hoikey?
> 
> I use DiMarzio PAF Pro in my Jackson, and they work great for Iron Maiden type sounds. EMG's to my ears are a little 'fizzy'. I have the same humbucker in the bridge of my Strat, with hot single coils in middle and neck, which makes for a really versatile guitar
> 
> Is your Jackson HH or HSH?


Hey, its HH. Ive decided that whilst its apart Im going to strip the paint and redo it so its gonna be a while before its back together. Dunno wether to mod it to take a floyd rose or not too. Prob best leaving it but I do miss the dime squeals


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## nick.s (Dec 21, 2009)

Fitting a Floyd is a pain in the ****. I am blocking the Floyd on my Jackson so I can heavily down tune....I need a 7 string in reality but can't justify buying one or a hard tail guitar


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## hoikey (Mar 9, 2011)

that was one issue with my floyd too. Slipknot style drops could not be achieved, even with it wound all the way out lol


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## DIESEL DAVE (Jul 26, 2007)

Tips said:


>


Haha yeah the question had me wondering as well


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## PWOOD (Apr 30, 2007)

Try checking out IRONmanpickups as they are getting amazing praise for beer money. Changing half decent pickups like the ones you have wont be night and day. Try heavier gauge strings if your into dropped tunings first you may be surprised at the sound improvement albeit your fingers will hate you for a month.


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## hoikey (Mar 9, 2011)

PWOOD said:


> Try checking out IRONmanpickups as they are getting amazing praise for beer money. Changing half decent pickups like the ones you have wont be night and day. Try heavier gauge strings if your into dropped tunings first you may be surprised at the sound improvement albeit your fingers will hate you for a month.


I already use zakk wylde boomers when I can lol. Still got my guitar in pieces at the min so need to pull my finger out


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## nick.s (Dec 21, 2009)

Put it back together and play it man! 

While we're talking pickups, Bare Knuckle make some monsters at reasonable money too


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## Throbbe (Oct 27, 2005)

nick.s said:


> Put it back together and play it man!
> 
> While we're talking pickups, Bare Knuckle make some monsters at reasonable money too


This. People I trust have also recommended I look at Bulldog - http://www.bulldogpickups.com/


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