Pickups for a gibson x-plorer

[bloodeagle]

i'm aiming for an amon amarthish tone with a gibson x-plorer, does anyone know what pickups they use, or how emg 81+85 w/afterburner would compare to dimarzio stuff, or duncan livewires, livewire classic+livewire metal. i know that individual tone preference is ultimately the deciding factor, but if someone could liken the sound i'd get from any of the above, or a combination, to an existing band i'd appreciate it. while the manufacturers do post artists using certain pickups death and black metal bands rarely appear amongst them.

 

[BOOGEY]

i proberly wouldnt put an afterburner on with active emgs that would be overdoing it.dimarzios i find are good for lead work but i would go with semour duncan jb's in the bridge or emg 81-85 if you prefer a tighter sound.i couldnt tell ya what pickups are in the explorer with seeing a pic.

 

[bloodeagle]

http://www.metalstorm.ee/images/articles/99-2.jpg

^^^thats his guitar, sorry, you can't see the bridge pickups, but yeah, if you recognize the neck pickup...

 

[Nebulous]

The neck pick up in that picture seems unbranded, and looks pretty generic. I wouldn't be surprised if they were jsut standard pickups to be honest. The Amon Amarth tone isn't all that great. (IMO of course, im basing it off Vs the world, Fate of Norns and the live DVD)

 

[bloodeagle]

thanks very much for the advice guys, amon amarths tone is (in my humble opinion) quite good on "with oden on our side" but i think they got new amps for it, the hughes and kettner tri-amps. which probably contribute a lot to the sound. but yeah, i might just have to demo the different pickups, see what sounds good. i have a horrible fear that my little vox ad30vt will kill the guitar tone, but oh well.

 

[Nebulous]

thanks very much for the advice guys, amon amarths tone is (in my humble opinion) quite good on "with oden on our side" but i think they got new amps for it, the hughes and kettner tri-amps. which probably contribute a lot to the sound. but yeah, i might just have to demo the different pickups, see what sounds good. i have a horrible fear that my little vox ad30vt will kill the guitar tone, but oh well.

Yeah, the tone did impreove alot on the new one, but you can't really trust that the band used the same gear on an album that they do live. I'd recommend any high gain, mid rich Seymour Duncan or DiMarzio if you want the "older" AA tone (that I based my last post on). If you want somethnig more similar to teh new album, you don't have to worry about getting a mid rich pickup.

One of my personal favourites is the Seymour Duncan JB. It comes highly recommended for metal as a great highgain, smooth, slightly scooped replacement. I will be getting one for my guitar soon, too.