7321 pickup upgrade

[theleem]

Hey guys, so I've been doing some research(I checked the pickup guide on here, but couldn't find they exact answer to my question), both on this forum and elsewhere, about upgrading the pickups on my 7321 I bought earlier in the week. So from what I've seen, it looks like BKP Aftermaths or Miracle Mans are a solid choice for metal, but I've also heard good thing about various Dimarzios.

At this point price doesn't really matter for me, so I'm just wondering, what pickups(I'm leaning towards passives right now) work well for a basswood body if I'm planning on playing mainly death metal? I'm looking for something that can do the heavy stuff well, but also has some good clarity and note definition, and if they can do clean stuff decently well, that's even better. Thanks in advance for all the help!

[ZOMB13]

BKP Aftermath
DiMarzio D-Activator
Seymour Duncan Super Distortion

[Purelojik]

im a full believer in BKP aftermath bridge and warpig neck. and coil tap for both.

heres a vid i just did with a buddy playing my 7 with that config


and heres a clip of the aftermath recorded through a pod hd.

another contender would be the Seymour duncan distortion. then the 59/custom hybrid. both awesome pups

[theleem]

damn the aftermath/warpig sounds great, but do you think it has potential to sound that good in a basswood guitar? I'm unsure of the tonal differences between mahogany and basswood

[theleem]

Also, does anyone have any experience with the combo of a dimarzio Blaze in the bridge and an Air Norton in the neck? It seems like that's pretty popular, but I'm not sure how well it will handle DM

[7stringDemon]

Not quite right for death metal. It can DEFINITELY handle it, but not as well as, say, a D-Activator combo.

[theleem]

by D-Activator combo, do you mean just D-Activators in the bridge and neck?

[7stringDemon]

DiMarzio makes 2 different D-Activators. One for the bridge and one for the neck.

Bridge
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/acces...00303000001000

Neck
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/acces...00290000001000

[Purelojik]

i think a lotta bulbs favorite guitars are basswood. i remember an interview where he was saying that when he was getting his jacksons made he wanted basswood because they are so consistent. granted its not death metal but thats all i remember.

aftermath bridge and warpig neck slay in mahogany. although i have to say i didnt like the warpig bridge in mahogany.

[theleem]

^ right on man, I'm gonna look into that combo. Also, just curious, will dimarzios or BKPs require any serious routing/modification to install? Its not a total dealbreaker, but I'd definitely have do as little modding as possible to get the pickups to fit.

[Mordecai]

crunch lab in the 7321 all day man.

[broj15]

Shouldn't have to do any sort of routing for either pickup unless you get covered BKP's, in which case I'm not 100% sure.

[MJS]

Originally Posted by ZOMB13

Seymour Duncan Super Distortion

Minus the "Super."

I know that you knew that... just correcting it so he doesn't go nuts trying to find a Dimarzio Pickup name on the Seymour Duncan site.


Keith made a pretty cool video that compares a few of the pickups mentioned here, all in the same guitar with the same settings, so you can hear the difference...

[theleem]

damn, sick video, this really helps! I can see from that that I'm really leaning towards the Aftermath, sounds sick. Ok I'm sorry if I'm asking too many questions here, but it seems like there's a million different combos. So let me run something by you guys... What about a combination of a D Activator in the bridge, and either a LiquiFire or an Air Norton in the neck? Obviously for DM i need something that can get super heavy, but I'd like to have a smooth lead tone too. Thoughts?

[theleem]

Or perhaps a Crunchlab/LiquiFire?

[MJS]

Originally Posted by theleem

What about a combination of a D Activator in the bridge, and either a LiquiFire or an Air Norton in the neck?

Originally Posted by theleem

Or perhaps a Crunchlab/LiquiFire?

There was a thread before where someone asked which cheaper-than-BKP pickup sounded most like an Aftermath. If I remember correctly, more people seemed to agree on the D-Activator being closest.

So, if you would have wanted either of those two with an Aftermath, you'd probably be happy using them with the D-Activator as well.

I like Duncans, but I only tried an Evo 7 in the RG7321 back when I had one, which was fine. If I had that guitar again, I'd probably either go with Duncans or the Crunch Lab/Liquifire set.

I know BKP has a lot of fans here, but I've never heard anything that made me want to spend that much more than Duncan/Dimarzio prices. It even seems like a few of the guys making them popular around here have either gone back to Duncan Distortions or Crunch Labs... so I'd just go with what you like & how much you want to spend.

That video's a good example. When Keith posted that on FB, most of the comments seemed to be favoring the Duncans once people were hearing them side by side... including Keith himself.

[dr_game0ver]

D-sonic?? it work fine on mine!

[theleem]

I'll definitely check out the D sonic. But I guess my main question right now is, can the Cruchlab/Liquifire handle DM?

[Harry]

Originally Posted by theleem

I'll definitely check out the D sonic. But I guess my main question right now is, can the Cruchlab/Liquifire handle DM?

Death metal is almost entirely in the overall gear (amp/cab etc) and the player itself.
That said Crunchlab and Liquifire set was designed in mind for Petrucci and he uses a lot of gain (not so much on their older albums, but in the last 10 years on studio albums and live he seems to really use a beefy amount of gain).
He also tends to tune down too, so he'd need a pickup to handle that along with the healthy amount of gain.
I can guarantee those pickups (as well as the D-Sonic) will handle any kind of high gain style of playing you throw at it with ease, death metal included.

[havocvulture10]

Ive got a Dimarzio X2n7 in the bridge and a blaze neck pu, sounds sick SON! I play nothin but Death/Black Metal in C# and the notes stay nice and clear.

[Mordecai]

Originally Posted by theleem

I'll definitely check out the D sonic. But I guess my main question right now is, can the Cruchlab/Liquifire handle DM?

myself and my friend andrew both use cl/lf's in our Rg7321's it really gives the guitar a whole better sound/new life. i'd recommend them to just about anyone buying one of these guitars.