Thinking about changing the bridge pickup on my Ibanez... thoughts, please?

[Rex Rocker]

Ok... so here's the deal. I have a DiMarzio Super Distortion in there. I like it, but I want to experiment with more stuff.

I kinda want something that takes the things that I like the most about the Super Distortion (BIG chunky lows and mids without sacrificint clarity) and that pushes it towards a bit more modern territory... something a bit tighter, but still big-sounding, basically.

My three top options right now are the DiMarzio X2N, Duncan Blackout Bridge and EMG 85. I'm leaning more towards the Blackout Bridge, based on some DI's by Marcus that I re-amped thru my POD. I liked how they came out. Also, I tried re-amping a DI by Matt Parsons from here of the X2N, and that came out well too.

Aaaaanyway, I realize there's been several threads regarding Blackouts vs. EMG's and whatnot, but in this particular thread, I just wanted to ask you guys what are your thoughts/experiences about how those three pickups compare and which would you say would get me a Super Distortion-ish kinda feel pushed into a bit tighter/more modern territory.

If you've got any other suggestions, please drop them in as well!

Thanks!

 

[Machinated]

i love the emg85, but havent tried the blackouts so cant compare. that said, the 85's have been great for me since i bought them (nice and thick).

 

[Nitrobattery]

It really just depends on your guitar man. I really like the 85 in the bridge of brighter sounding guitars like my RGA or my past basswood RG's. In darker guitars though, it doesn't always work for me. I've been swapping pickups around in my Angelus for the last several days and an 81 with the 18v seems to work the best for that guitar.....so far. I prefer the voicing of the 85 infinitely more, but it's just too muddy in that guitar for my taste.

Tone is really subjective and if you can't try the different pickups out for yourself first, ultimately you'll just have to guess and hope you guessed right. eBay might not be a bad way to go because you can pick up a used pickup, try it out, and if it doesn't work throw it back on the bay and try something else.

This is going in an SZ right? Maple or mahogany neck on the model you have? If maple I would definitely say go with the 85. If mahogany, try the 81 with the 18v mod or even the new 81-X

 

[Eschatologist]

If you want to keep passive, I can't recommend the DiMarzio Evolution enough....great sounding pickup!

 

[MT01]

EMG 81.

The end.

 

[Rex Rocker]

Thanks a lot for the replies!

Ed, what guitar do you have the 85 in?

Juan, the SZ has a mahogany neck and body, but it has a maple top. It's not nearly as bright as my Epiphone Special II, but it's not a dark-sounding guitar either. I'm sure it's leaning more towards the warmer side of things, but I doubt it has packs nearly as much low-end punch as an Angelus or a Les Paul.

Eschatologist, I actually re-amped a couple of DI's Matt Parsons from here recorded with both an Evo and an X2N, and I must say I liked the X2N quite a bit more for what I wanted to do.

MT01... I am actually considering the 81 too, but it's just the fact that I don't want something that's completely the opposite of the Super Distortion low-end wise. I do want the tight and modern character of the 81, but with a bit more low-end punch... hence why I am considering the blackout bridge.

 

[Metaltastic]

Rex, dude, you of course know my feelings on the Blackout So the EMG85 is without a doubt my vote, it's between the BO (never was a more accurate acronym given ) and 81 in terms of thickness, so I'd say it's perfect for what you're shooting for!

 

[Harry Hughes]

Do you use a clean sound much?

 

[Rex Rocker]

Rex, dude, you of course know my feelings on the Blackout So the EMG85 is without a doubt my vote, it's between the BO (never was a more accurate acronym given ) and 81 in terms of thickness, so I'd say it's perfect for what you're shooting for!

Really? I had always been reading the Blackout was sort of in betwen an 81 and an 85 in terms of tone... so would you say the 85's more defined and tighter than the BO? I'm actually a bit surprised by this, given that the BO Bridge is modeled after the 81, no? I can't even imagine how the blackout necks is, then

Do you use a clean sound much?

Not a lot... and NEVER from the bridge pickup, honestly.

I'm thinking about leaving the neck pickup unplugged, actually, and just going for the bridge pickup... we'll see, tho. I might be able to swing an EMG 60 in the neck.

 

[Harry Hughes]

If you're not much of a clean tone guy, EMGs are well up your alley. I personally play a lot of clean funk stuff, so EMGs don't fit the bill for my tastes.
Depends what you want really, if you want super tight, than EMGs are great. Again, personal preference for myself means I'll take Blackouts over EMGs because I prefer a slight looseness and less compression. To be fair I play a lot of post metal/stuff bordering on sludge metal too, not a strict "tight" metal genre player, so I like pickups that are a little loose.
I think the clean tone of the 81 is god awful, whereas the 85 has a good clean tone (and sounds better for everything anyway IMO).

 

[Rex Rocker]

I really liked the clean tone in the middle position of my ex-guitarrist's EC-500 with an 81/60 combo... nice sparkly cleans. I haven't tried an EMG with the kinda dirty bluesy-ish broken cleans that I'm digging right now, tho.

 

[Metaltastic]

Really? I had always been reading the Blackout was sort of in betwen an 81 and an 85 in terms of tone... so would you say the 85's more defined and tighter than the BO? I'm actually a bit surprised by this, given that the BO Bridge is modeled after the 81, no? I can't even imagine how the blackout necks is, then

Yeah dude, I thought it was really obvious from my clips (to refresh your memory, here and here ), but I would indeed say it goes 81 > 85 > BO as far as tightness; the 85 has more fullness and body, the BO has more flub and a sort of nastiness to the high end IMO (a bit gritty, not a big fan).

And also, I've always been more than happy with the chimey clean tone I can get from my Dual-81 loaded guitars with the 3-way set to the middle! (as you have it Rex)

 

[Rex Rocker]

Thanks!

Were you able to try the 85 at 18V as well?

I'm thinking I might get some EMG's right now... perhaps a ZW set, see which one I like the best, the 81 or the 85 and then trade whichever I like the least for a 60 for the neck... or maybe for a blackout just out of curisioty.

 

[Rockchops]

I'm not sure about a emg85 in that kind of guitar, unless you're going for a muddy, bassy tone like a Les paul, an ideal match would be the 81, but I would take a jb anyday

 

[Rex Rocker]

Honestly, not much of a fan of the JB. It's not a bad pickup, many people swear by it, but it's definitely not gonna get me a 'more modern but still Super Distortion-ish' type of sound.

 

[Dexter_prog]

What's JB?

 

[Rex Rocker]

What's JB?

Seymour Duncan JB? Jeff Beck pickup.

 

[Nitrobattery]

The 85 in the bridge of your SZ with the 18v mod will be mud city. It sounds fantastic in brighter sounding guitars though.

 

[Metaltastic]

Agreed, the 18v mod does heighten the bass, which is great for the 81 but not so much the 85 IMO! And yeah, didn't realize you had the SZ Rex, as I recall that's a pretty thick guitar (and mahogany most likely, though if it's a cheaper one it might be agathis ), so yeah, I feel the 85 likely would be too bass in that as well

 

[Rex Rocker]

Oh, you think?

Yeah, the SZ320 has a mahogany body and neck, but with a maple top... It's definitely not agathis, tho.

I'm undecided... I'm really curious to try all three: 81, 85 and blackout. I'm not really 100% sold on the idea of getting an 81, TBH, but it's definitely a pickup that I have to try for my stuff at some point. I'll see what I can score. I guess I have to at least I have to get an 81 to see if you guys are right.