Passive pup for Loomis?

[HCL]

It's finally time to record my own band - I'm looking to replace the 707 on my Loomis with a passive pup because there's this hard to place unattractive quality about it. I tried an 81 and that sounded better but a bit thin.

With the Loomis having a very odd character to it, what would you recommend I replace the 707 with? My knowledge of pickups isn't particularly extensive and with all the varieties out there (and lack of useful information on their tonal characteristics, Dimarzio are pretty good for that though) having some experienced opinions would be helpful.

 

[EffigyForgotten]

What music do you play? Id say ceramic warpig bridge and miracle man neck would be epic in that guitar. Or the holy diver set if your not into brutal metal.

 

[drawnacrol]

Holy Diver pairs very well with Swamp Ash. I have one in my Custom Schecter 7 string. Warpig is meant to work really well too.

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

... I'm looking to replace the 707 on my Loomis with a passive pup because there's this hard to place unattractive quality about it...l.

My goodness I had to reread this post several times to make sure I wasn't hallucinating.

I may be able to shrug it off if you were to say "My Loomis is hard to play". But knocking the sound on it is simply ridiculous. Why did you buy it in the first place?? It sounds like Loomis! I can only play mine for about 20 minutes before I need to change my underwear due to self-pants-creamage. I don't understand this at all. Wow.

 

[HCL]

My goodness I had to reread this post several times to make sure I wasn't hallucinating.

I may be able to shrug it off if you were to say "My Loomis is hard to play". But knocking the sound on it is simply ridiculous. Why did you buy it in the first place?? It sounds like Loomis! I can only play mine for about 20 minutes before I need to change my underwear due to self-pants-creamage. I don't understand this at all. Wow.

I've had it since 2007, it's like the 41st one they made. The 707/baritone/ash combo just isn't my thing and the 707 brings out the same qualities the baritone and ash do, and it's just too much. Baritones bring out more of the fundamental, EMGs are super focused pickups and ash is very bright in a poppy rather than an airy way. Too much of the same thing.

 

[FIXXXER]

I tried an 81 and that sounded better but a bit thin.

what do you mean by thin!?

i often read stuff like that but i was never
able to understand these periphrases...

so ok, it sounds thin, so what's the next logic step!?
changing the pickup!?

 

[EffigyForgotten]

what do you mean by thin!?

i often read stuff like that but i was never
able to understand these periphrases...

so ok, it sounds thin, so what's the next logic step!?
changing the pickup!?

By "thin'" he means its lacking body, fullness, low end etc.

 

[FIXXXER]

By "thin'" he means its lacking body, fullness, low end etc.

so what's the next logical step!?

A: adjust settings: amp, modeller etc.

B: swap pickup

 

[EffigyForgotten]

so what's the next logical step!?

A: adjust settings: amp, modeller etc.

B: swap pickup

You can't remove the tone from a pickup from just re-eqing you amp. Every amp no matter what settings will still have the same emg tone. Are you trying to be a douche or what?

 

[Mattayus]

Yeah you can just tell when a pickup isn't working for you. Plus it's pretty insulting to suggest someone hasn't even bothered trying to adjust their amp settings first

I can definitely see how the 81-7 would be unbelievably shrill in the Loomis. I used to have one in an M-307, and it helped the attack on that guitar because it was a huge slab of mahogany and was dark as fuck, and it was a chunky neck-thru. But in the Loomis... fuck no, that's one guitar that does not need brightening up, nor does it need any assistance with note definition!

I tried Blackouts in my Loomis, loved them at first but then I missed that snap and twang of the 707 so I went back to it. I personally like the combination of Loomis + 707 but I can easily hear how some people would hate it.

Adam, my two favourite passives for tight, aggressive metal, are Duncan Distortions, and Dimarzio D'Activators. The D'Activators are inhumanly tight and focused, but without *that* EMG attack you don't like. Distortion's are just a huge kick to the balls, nice and compressed, and fucking huge sounding (but also ridiculously tight, you just have to roll the gain off and they're super focused!)

D-Sonic is another good one, but I'm not sure how that would fair up in the Loomis.
My final choice (albeit the most expensive by a mile) would be a Lundgren M7. Utter ridiculousness on a stick.

 

[Uros]

^^I'll just say that I switched from 707 to Distortion in my guitar (it's made of mahogany tho), and I am super pleased. Totally injected new life into the guitar.

 

[xFkx]

I wouldn't mind chaning the pickups in my loomis just for the sake of changing shit up...

but then again, I have no idea where to get the rings for a passive pickup + ripping the guts and replacing them, meh...

 

[MarcusGHedwig]

Yeah, +1 trillion to the notion that you can't compensate for character and tonal differences in pickups (or especially speaker cabinets) with the ridiculously imprecise and nonlinear tone stacks on most any modern high-gain amp - this is really something I hope can be laid to rest in the future, big pet peeve of mine (still love you though Hanzo )

+1 for the Duncan Distortion!

 

[Uros]

I wouldn't mind chaning the pickups in my loomis just for the sake of changing shit up...

but then again, I have no idea where to get the rings for a passive pickup + ripping the guts and replacing them, meh...

http://www.fretsonthenet.com/Pickup...tm#EMG707:32to:32Passive:32Conversion:32Rings

http://www.haloguitars.com/store/Pickup-Ring-for-EMG-707-RING-BK-EMG71.html

My guitar tech didn't even have to use them when he was installing Distortion, but he's skilled.

 

[FIXXXER]

You can't remove the tone from a pickup from just re-eqing you amp. Every amp no matter what settings will still have the same emg tone. Are you trying to be a douche or what?

i just don't think that any pickup has this immense unremovalbe/unadjustable signature tone that you either love or hate, especially when it comes to distorted sounds...if this makes me a douche, so be it

about the amp settings, c'mon we all know how this works.
most people, me included turn the knobs back and fourth for a few
minutes and then instantly G.A.S for a new pickup, guitar, amp or whatever
hoping to get this perfect tone instantly, this is not going to work.

sure, you can never tell what's going on in someones head but to me the OP sounded more like that than like "i've tried anything but it does just not sound as i want it".

 

[Keregioz]

I agree with those who said you can't change the character of a pickup by changing the amp settings or by applying eq after the amp. You can, however, change the tone significantly if you apply eq before the amp.

 

[HCL]

I'm torn between a set of invaders or distortions. Soultrash like I said, I've had the guitar for about half a decade now.

EDIT: Went for the distortions. Let's see how it goes. If they don't work out I'll either sell them and get invaders or I'll wait and put them in the MH417 I'm getting.

 

[Mattayus]

Wise choice sir, wise choice. I hate the Invader

 

[xFkx]

http://www.fretsonthenet.com/Pickup...tm#EMG707:32to:32Passive:32Conversion:32Rings

http://www.haloguitars.com/store/Pickup-Ring-for-EMG-707-RING-BK-EMG71.html

My guitar tech didn't even have to use them when he was installing Distortion, but he's skilled.

Yeah, I hear you man, but ordering pickup rings from the states seems too much trouble for now...

maybe someone knows a similar company in EU ?

 

[Uros]

there was a site which was selling them (I think it was based in some ex-SSSR country), but last time I checked it was gone.