Looking for some pickup advice.

[guitarklown]

Hey, I've been wracking my brains as of late on which pickups I should buy. I bought an original Loomis 7 FR back in the day with 707's and replaced the bridge with a SD Blackout, I liked it, but always found myself playing my strat with a passive in it while my Loomis sat in the corner. Was at my local wallet lightening shop the other day, and one of the guys there brought to my attention that SD makes a bunch more pickups that can fit in the 707 route of my guitar. So the dilemma is this (my semi-colon doesn't work on my mac mini and I don't know why....) Anyway, I'm debating on which PU's I should get, the Pegasus / Sentient combo or the Nazgul / Sentient combo.. The guy at the shop said he looooves his Nazgul, but this guitar is very bright (ash / maple neck) so I've been told that the Pegasus is a little darker to keep it from getting shrilly.. I'm not really in to the shredding single note stuff, I'm more rhythm so I'm thinking the Pegasus would be my choice. Any other suggestions for this guitar? I could order some custom pickup rings for like $80 and go for some Dimarzio's (which I love) but I'm thinking that's just silly when I can just buy some PU's and just throw them in (obviously have to convert to passive from active so there's my $80 there since I don't trust my soldering skills) Thanks for any suggestions if you have any.

 

[atoragon]

honestly I have remained a bit deluded by the pegasus, because it's a bit dull and needs a lot of boost for metal. A nazgul is definitely more fit, but if I'd had to buy a new 7 strings pickup today I'd go for a dimarzio Crunchlab.

 

[guitarklown]

Hey, thanks for the reply. Dimarzio has always been my first choice, especially the D-Sonic I have in my strat. This 707 route is a curse. I should probably just go for the custom pickup rings from fretsonthenet and then my problem would be solved.. Much more options that way. From doing all of my research I've come across some people who actually put a Crunchlab in their Loomis and took it out again because it was way too bright and "ice picky" as they described it. So that's why I'm still debating on the Pegasus toning things down a bit. I have tons of gain on tap through my Mark V as well so that's never a problem.

 

[waav studios]

have you checked out the dimarzio titan? i just recently tried it out and like it, but note that i am a mids guy. i like things that cut through and its a pretty mid forward pickup, kinda twangy, but i feel like thats important to compensate for the low tuning of a 7 string. before that i swore by the dimarzio evolution. i did not like the crunchlab as it was too mushy in the low end, not my taste at all. some people consider that crunch, if i can't feel my palm mutes being tight it drives me nuts. i hope this was helpful and not adding to your indecisiveness as these comparisons usually do for me.

 

[guitarklown]

Indecisiveness, It's what keeps the world turning. Thanks for the input.. It just adds a +1 to getting some custom pickup rings made because there's a whole lotta options out there that I hadn't looked in to.

 

[newamerikangospel]

I didn't like the nazgul in the km7, which has the same wood selection as the jl7 I believe, very high mid spike-y. If you like your strat though, this may be your sound. It was very clear under gain, just not my taste. If I was to replace it with a passive, I would say the Pegasus or maybe the distortion, which I believe comes in an active mount.

Seymour Duncan will mount any of their pickups in an active mount, but it's a custom shop order. I think it's a $20-$30 difference, and a few days wait time.

 

[guitarklown]

That's the one thing that I dislike/d about the 707's and the Blackout I had is that mid spike that makes it sound almost single coil. I'm definitely swaying to that Pegasus option.

I purchased a tremolo stop that's on its way, and ordered some heavier gauge strings to try and tighten things up a little, I did the 18V mod on my 707's and I wired a 0.047 capacitor between my input and the pickup to warm things up a little. Once I get the new strings on and the tremolo stop installed I'm gonna see how that works out. If I still hate it, I'm going the Pegasus route, if that doesn't work, I'm burning it.

 

[newamerikangospel]

You may try swapping the bridge and neck pickups. I prefer the neck in the bridge position on "regular" blackouts

 

[guitarklown]

Hmmm, never even thought of doing that. Thanks for the suggestion, I'm gonna have to try that out.