# Seven String Pickup Guide



## Digital Black

Let consolidate all the info we as a group have aquired about 7 string pickups and write them in here. 

--All registered SS.org users are encouraged to post in this thread but must abide by the following terms:

---- This is not the thread to ask which pickups is best for you

---- You may not express disaproval for ANY PREVIOUS POSTERS REVIEW in this thread. Start another or write your own review of a particular pickup.

---- It would be a good idea to have at least 2 months of playing expirence on the pickup you are reviewing. If you just install a set of EMG's post here saying the are the bomb and smoke everything else-I'll delete it.

---- Be as spefic as you can.

---- You may post your own review of a pickup that has already been reviewed here. The more the better.

Hopefully this will become a good source for those looking for info on pickups. People will be able to read our thoughts and opnions and make a better judgement of what will be right for them. 

I will delete out any garbage posted in here not on this threads topic!


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## Digital Black

Dimarizo Tonezone 7

Bridge position.
Installed on a RG7620.

The TZ7 is a strange pickup. Clean channel on your amp, it it stays relitively undistorted and very clear. i can fake a good surf sound or Brian Setzer sound on my RG with it in phase and some echo. It does phase reverse on a 5 way switch very well without loseing power but brighting up a bit. Distortion, it screams pretty good. Palm mutes are thick. The TZ refuses to get muddy but likes having some midrange eq'ed in even though it has a relitively high amount of midrange.
String noise can get to be much so you have to keep strings your not playing from ringing out. Feedback is easy to achive, but it won't go nuts if you leave your distortion on and not mute your strings when not playing.

What I've learned about this pickup: It works better if you keep it further away from the strings. Some guys always have their pickups right up close to the strings. The TZ7 has more overtones and richness when you back it off some. You won't lose to much pickup gain or ease of pinch harmonics. For extrteme Pinch harmonics boost your highs some or run the presence high-they will sustain much longer.
I don't think this would be a good pickup for mahogany or other dark sounding woods. I do think the TZ7 is very close to the 6 string counterpart.


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## Drew

Dimarzio Tone Tone 7

RG-7620
RG-2027

This just goes to show how much the body wood can influence the sound of a pickup... 

I'm about 90% sold on the Tone Zone in my 7620. It's a great, middy, warm, powerful pickup- the cleans aren't particularly memorable as such, but are definitely useable, the lead tones are excellent, and while it has a decicive midrangey "cut" to it for rhythm, the effect is quite good- very "Strapping Young Lad"-esq, at times. 

Coil-tapped, for some reason it makes my 7620 sound remarkably like a Telecaster for no good reason that I can think of. It's a great sound, though- I've always liked the tele-driven tone of Satch's "All Alone," and I have a feeling that throught he right amp (or if I just spent more time tweaking my Nomad) this could get you totally in that ballpark. 

On the downside- I really dislike how this one cleans up when you back off the volume for single-note lines- much more so through a marshall-style amp (i had to switch over to the neck pickup whenever I backed off the guitar's volume through my old TSL) than the Mesa I played before and after my flirtation with EL-34's. It has a brittle, crystaline edge that gets very "stingy" and loses that wonderful fatness that helps this one sing with the gain up. Although, if you roll the volume back to clean up your amp and play some chords, the effect is great- just the right edge of crunch over a clean tone. go figure. 

In Mahogany... Let me just say that a Tone Zone through my old Mesa Rocket-44 is one of the best humbucker cleans I've ever heard. Very Les Paul-tinged. and, through the same amp for heavy rhythm, it just killed- if you're looking for Godsmack-inspired scooped riffing, this is a great tonal combination. For lead, I thought it was worthless- too much lower midrange, not enough treble, and yet too much extreme presence- it was a dark, tubby tone that didn't seem to cut particularly well, that still managed to sound a little fizzy. Some people may like it for the exact reasons I don't, so if you like the fudnamental sound of a Les Paul it's worth a try, and maybe it'd work better with a brighter amp (my taste in tone runs towards a bright guitar driving a dark amp), but for myself I was underwhelmed with this as a lead pickup for a mahogany guitar.

The 2027 arrived with a Tone Zone in both the bridge AND the neck, and I thought it was much better in the neck- I swapped the bridge TZ for an Evo (I'll review that later, great combo), but never got around to swapping out the neck because I really never felt the need. 

-D


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## Jim Soloway

Rio Grande Muy Grande Humbuckers. - Very hot signal. Great for playing loud, but for a humbucker, they're way too noisey. Expensive.


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## The Rx Elite

Seymore Duncan SH-4 7 String Humbucker
Installed in Ibanez UV777, (2) RG-7620's

I was looking for some different pickup besides the Blaze, mainly something with a little more clarity. I decided to go ahead and try out a Seymore Duncan. This is by far my favorite pickup I have ever had.

The sound quality is awesome. Its not over the top "metal" like the EMG's are, but just the clarity and overall sound of the pickup is amazing. The low end on the pickup is very full sounding. The high end is very clear and distinct. I would compare it to a Dimarzio Evolution in a 6 string. 

After installing it in my 7620, I immediately had one installed in my other 7620 and one in my Universe. In the studio, they are great distortion and have a great clean sound, especially if used with tweaking the tone and volume knob a little bit. 

The only downfall on this pickup for me personally would be before, I had 2 Blaze II neck pickups (Neck pickup in the bridge position). I used a 3 way pickup selector and with the switch in the middle, I could get some really cool "slap" tones out of the guitar. The output and treble on the Seymore Duncan has kinda eliminated that sound. Other than that, I strongly advise anybody with a 7 to give the JH-4 a shot. If you dont like it, email me, I'd prolly buy it.


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## Mind Riot

Dimarzio Evolution 7

I tried this pickup in my Ibanez RG7421 seven string. It replaced the stock pickup, and I thought I'd try something pretty hot in the bridge position.

The Evo 7 is definitely hot, no doubt there. 

The Good: Sounded great coil split, a nice hot single coil sound, actually quite spanky and just lovely. Lead sounds in series humbucker mode were awesome, just screamed. Nice mids on this one for lead playing. 

The Bad: The main thing I was concerned about was distorted rhythm playing, and this was where it fell short. It had just WAY too many overtones. Anything on the low B or A sounded like a train wreck. Just not clear or tight. Too much mids, it just raged out and lost all clarity.

I exchanged it with Dimarzio to try the less hot Air Norton 7 in the bridge, which was admittedly an unusual choice. Tune in next post...


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## Mind Riot

Dimarzio Air Norton 7

This replaced the Dimarzio Evo 7 in the bridge position of my Ibanez RG7421.

The Good: Smooth tone, chopped treble. Medium output, nice bass response and mids.

The Bad: Couldn't get it to sound clear no matter what I did. I tried various EQ settings to no avail before I just realized that no matter what I did with the EQ there was a limit on how much highs were coming out of the guitar and I couldn't do anything about it. I understand how it could work quite well for some styles and as a neck pickup, but this was definitely not the pickup for me. Just not clear enough, for cleans or distorted stuff.

Going against my gut (and going with Dimarzio's recommendation) I exchanged it for the Blaze neck model.


\/


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## Mind Riot

Dimarzio Blaze neck model

After going through two bridge pickups and not liking either of them, I approached this one with a certain amount of trepidation. Especially since it was a neck pickup, and I was putting it in the bridge, a practice that hadn't worked with the Air Norton 7.

The Bad: It could be a tad hotter I suppose, but there's nothing really lacking.

The Good: Most things. It is taut, muscular and clear. Distorted rhythm playing shines. Cleans are lovely coil split. The slightly scooped mids and lower output than the Blaze bridge make for outstanding clarity and tight low end. Leads could be a bit better if it was hotter with more mids, but you can't have everything. Just edge the gain up a bit or boost a tad and the leads are there. 

I consider this pickup to be my personal first choice for a basswood seven string. It shines in almost every category that matters to me, although more lead oriented players may want something hotter with more mids. It is essentially a slightly hotter PAF for seven string; the EQ curve is almost identical to a PAF and it's just about 60 mV hotter. Just a great all around utility pickup for almost anything you'd want to do. 

Personally, I feel that the Blaze neck is a great sleeper seven string bridge pickup. If more people tried it out I bet they'd love it. I sure as heck do. 

\m/  \m/


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## Mind Riot

Dimarzio PAF-7

This was purchased to go in the neck position of my Ibanez RG7421 seven string as a companion to the Blaze neck in the bridge position. I considered the Air Norton 7 (tried it in the bridge and didn't really care for it's overall tone) and another Blaze neck (would have probably worked fine, but I wanted something new) and decided on the PAF-7. I could have gone with a Duncan I suppose, but I knew more about Dimarzios and it seemed fitting to have them match in this guitar.

The Bad: Nothing I can think of. Perhaps a bit too hot a midrange in series humbucking mode for cleans, but I prefer single coils for cleans so my opinion probably doesn't mean much there.

The Good: As Dimarzio says, low output, sweet sounding pickup. It was actually quite a bit hotter than I was expecting given the description, but I suppose compared to some out there it is quite mild. It definitely has vintage tone. Open, breathy, with some nice 'squonk' in the mids. Distorted leads are smooth and buttery. Coil split it is nice, a clean, low output, but blends wonderfully with one of the coils of the Blaze neck in the bridge. A truly heavenly clean sound, to be honest.

The PAF-7 is quite a nice neck pickup, I dig it quite a bit. But I must also say that I got it more for it's clean sound than for neck pickup soloing.



The Blaze neck in the bridge and the PAF-7 in the neck were my main combination in this guitar, my basswood bodied RG7421, for quite a while. But then one day a deal of a lifetime dropped in my lap, and I got my new Schecter 007 Blackjack. So, as lovely as this RG7421 has been to me (and it has been a wonderful guitar, my main electric for about five years now) it has now been replaced and must be sold to pay for the Schecter.

Which leads me to..................


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## Mind Riot

Seymour Duncan JB-7

When I got my new Schecter 007 Blackjack, this was the stock pickup in the bridge position. I was actually quite curious to see how it sounded, as the JB is a very well known pickup that I had not previously had the opportunity to play on. Especially since I had been playing with the Dimarzio Blaze neck, PAF-7 combo for a long time. 

I was fully anticipating some buyers remorse until I got used to it. You know how it is, you play a certain pickup for a long time and you really get used to it then you get a new guitar and it just sounds...funny. And you start to think, "Was I just thinking the grass was greener on the other side of the fence? Is this guitar really any better than my old one? What was I thinking? I'd better take this back, it sounds awful!" 

Then you play it for a while, get used to it, and start to see it's good points, and realize you didn't make a huge mistake. Whew!

Well, I was prepping myself for that before I picked up the Schecter. So I plugged into my PODxt and set it to my favorite Soldano SLO-100 patch, and started playing.

"Hmmmmmmm...this sounds pretty good...wow...this sounds DAMN good...holy crap, this thing ROCKS!!!"  

The Bad: According to the Seymour Duncan website specs, the JB has almost double the treble frequencies than it does mids or bass. I would agree with this asessment. It is a VERY trebly pickup. Personally, for distorted rhythm playing, I keep my tone knob rolled back about 3/4 of the way with this pickup. But I much prefer having the response that I can roll off to not having the response no matter what I do. 

The pickup is also quite a bit hotter than I'm used to, which makes for a more aggressive sound, but I'm also having some trouble with picking up hum from my power system. It was quite obtrusive in the signal, and drove me nuts. I eventually shielded the entire control cavity with aluminum tape and tack solder, which brought it down significantly, but it is still there. I suppose this is just something you have to accept with higher output pickups, but my Ibanez is virtually silent compared to this. 

The Good: I am amazed by the tightness, clarity, and utter freaking BALLS of this pickup. (I should mention that the Schecter has an extended 26 1/2" scale which no doubt added to the clarity and tightness, but still...) It doesn't speak, it shouts. Notes just jump off of the guitar, and it growls with authority. I can understand why so many people use this pickup, it really sounds professional. It truly takes you one step closer to sounding like a pro.

I believe that Schecter chose it for the Blackjack series in part because of it's extreme treble response. The Blackjack series are all solid mahogany bodied guitars, and particularly on the seven strings, I know there is concern about things becoming muddy due to that choice of body wood. I can't say for sure that mahogany will always work for a seven string, but I can say that a solid mahogany body, combined with the crisp, clear treble of the JB-7, is an amazing combination. I've heard some guys talk about the JB in mahogany just being some kind of magic combo, and I agree.

One other thing to mention, is that the JB has amazing harmonics. The Evo 7 I tried on my Ibanez had lots of harmonics too, but they seemed out of control to me. The JB squeals and screams with harmonics, but it is very controllable via the way you play. 

The JB-7 is an amazing bridge pickup for a mahogany bodied seven string. I can't speak as to how it would work in basswood, but for mahogany I strongly, STRONGLY recommend it. I wouldn't use anything else in the bridge of a mahogany seven.


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## Mind Riot

Seymour Duncan '59-7

This, like the JB-7, came stock in my Schecter 007 Blackjack seven string. 

The Bad: It is too hot for me, as a neck pickup. Even in split mode, it's just a bit too hot. Jim Soloway gave me the tip of rolling off the volume whenever I use it, which works quite well and sweetens it up nicely. Interestingly enough, it seems to work with amp models on the PODxt that my PAF-7 in my RG7421 wouldn't work with at all. The PAF-7 sings sweetly through Fender Twins and Deluxe Reverbs in the PODxt, and the Roland JC-120 sounded awful, sterile and brittle. The '59-7 sounds way too middy and honky through the Fenders and sounds absolutely heavenly through the JC120. Go figure.

The Good: As I said, once the volume is rolled off a tad it sings with a nice voice. Like the JB, it has a tad too much treble response but also like the JB it seems to really come into it's own with the tone knob rolled back a tad. Lovely cleans through the JC120 model, it is my fave clean sound with this guitar. Distorted lead playing, it sounds similar to the PAF-7, as in smooth and vocal, but it is a bit hotter than the PAF-7.

Overall, quite a nice neck pickup, even though I feel like I have to tame it a bit for it to be useful. I'm still getting to know it, and I'm sure over time I'll come to understand it better and be able to use it more effectively.


I typed all of these pickup reviews in a row, and man, are my hands tired. But I've been wanting to type these up since I came here; it didn't look like too many people had posted in this thread yet. I hope this info is helpful, and thanks for reading!

MR


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## 7StringofAblicK

The EMG 707:
Well...My dream was to own one of these. I fell in love with Fear Factory tone and I raged how I wanted it. I was not dissapointed one bit in its performance, but it didn't do what I hadn't already done.

The bad: Very, very bright on clean. It was so crystal clear with no bass in it that it was thin sounding. Power chords were sufficient, but any jazz or neck movement was left dry. 

The Good: Distorted, it was clear and taut. Clarity out the ball sack, but still lacked a awesome low end. They say this is supposed to be bassier than the 81-7, but any less bass and you'd have a problem. But, this thing has some good output volume wise. ::the clean can be very good at times for single picking and that lo-fi kind of sound. by rolling back some of the tone, you get that more rhythmic feel. 

I still prefer my JB, but that is in a mahogany bodied guitar. I may try the 707 in a mahogany body, considering it will maintain some low end. My basswood guitar with the 707 is awesome for speed riffs and for that fear factory clarity. But my other guitars that are passive retain that deep gutsy low end that I prefer.

Damn glad to have it as a part of my arsenal, it is there when I need it and it has its great points. People may argue and desire the tone that it has more than any other kind, it is just not my favorite.


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## Jerich

Lundgren M-Model

Humbucker:

Carvin 747 Ash body painted Black with a Birdseye Maple fret board,and Floyd Rose Copy tremolo: for this test, I felt it sounds different in my Other Carvin 727 with full mahogany Bodied & string with maple fretbaord:

The bad: very hot pickup even when toned down it is still too vibrant for some. Very harsh distortion is not a smooth pickup when on full. Splitting the coil is reccomended.You must order them from the Ludgren Factory and be on pins and needles until they reach you. Comminication from them is not really the greatest,But i think it is becasue they do not speak English (swedish).

The Good: It is a very High out put crunchy pickups, It has many different tones of distortion just by the volume pot alone, I use the tone Pot as a Blender pot for the treble so I use a cap to keep the tone at a simple setting that works for me. If you tune extremely Low It works well cutting through the mix.It is more consistant than the EMG-707,and i had them in both of these guitars first. Meshuggah use them But i do not like meshuggahs tone,so do not go by them.

Great pickups for your dollar, and you do not have to route out the body cavity to fit them in.


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## LordOVchaoS

EMG 81-7

Now played by Dino Cazarez. I bought one of these from the custom shop section of guitarpartsdepot.com and I love it. I think I've had it about 8 months now (not sure exactly). I had a 707 at the bridge and a crappy HZ at the neck (it came with the guitar). The 707 was great for a while! Then I started missing the glory of the 81 that I have in my 6-string Jackson. Convieniently, I was browsing guitarpartsdepot and stumbled across this. I bought it on the spot and installed it the second it came to my door. Anyone who's ever usen an 81 knows how bad ass this thing is! I moved the 707 to the neck and put the 81-7 in the bridge. This thing is so hot I had to improve my playing because it picks up everything! The clarity is amazing and the sensitivity is almost ridiculous! There is NO noise unless I'm standing close to a TV when I'm playing it. You can get a harmonic from literally every fret on the neck. I get sustain from a bolt-on neck that you could only imagine coming from a neck-thru due to this pickup. Anybody who is a fan of active pickups should get one of these! It blows even the almighty 707 out of the water! I can't compare this to too many passive pickups because I don't own any anymore and the EMG-HZs are hardly a good example to compare them to. All I can tell you is that the other guitarist in my band has some Blaze 2s and is quite envious of my EMG.


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## Jerich

Rio Grande 7 String... The Texas Tall single coil.

I have a Mutt Fender Style 7-string Strat. It has a Birdseye Maple Neck&Fretboard and a H-S-S pickup configuration. The single coils are counter angled like Jake E Lee did on his custom guitars, and wired with a 5 way selector and a coil tap on M-Model. This guitar was made by Ron Lucca for me; solid alder body with black Dupont Prism paint. HipShot Bridge, super ajustable, brass (black), brass nut.

I tried a lot of pickups in the guitar and finally found these Rio Grands to get that thinner Strat sound. I wish Joe Barden made seven string pickups... But if he did this is what they would sound like. They are a mid range, thin, full-sounding strat sound. I hate to compare it to someone, but maybe a Chris Impellitteri clean/bluesy tone. 

This guitar has a Lundgren M-Model Humbucker in the Bridge and two Rio Grandes in the Middle and neck. The output from the two Rio's is weak and I am working on a cap/resistor for the M-Model to drop it down to even it out with the Rios. This guitar is a project in the making. 

I love these pickups. If you install them in a body you must rout for the triangle size and shape they are, but I just cut/dremmeled out my pickgaurd.

Price: I purchased three of these off ebay for $22 each = Good deal.


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## Wayniac

Tom Anderson HB
Guitar: Anderson Pro-Am 7
The Good: Beefy tone, versatile, very responsive. Available cheap from Warmoth.com
The bad: As most Anderson HB's are - a little bassy. Need to change the EQ'ing on your amp.

EMG 707 - I agree with above statements... very bright and a bit thin on the clean settings.... pretty beefy when distorted. Guess I'd like to get my paws on an 81


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## ecalcagnino

All these were in my 7620 test mule:

*Dimarzio EVO 7 - *(bridge position) Bright as a mutha. Not a good choice for a one guitar band IMHO, it's too shrill and a little thin. Cuts great with two guitars and great for stand out leads. Good harmonics. Not too hot.

*Dimarzio Air Norton 7 - *(neck position) As smooth as the Evo is bright. Love this pup, the right amount of clarity with no mud. Petrucci lead tone for days.

*Seymour Duncan SH-4 JB-7 - * (bridge position) Hell yeah. This is what I am talkin' about. Not too hot but it has some juice boy. One of my favorites for metal/fusion. Super clear, no mud. Great PUP. Similar to the Blazes in the UV and Tone Zone 7s.

*Seymour Duncan SH-1 '59-7 - *(neck position) Perfect balance of output and clarity. Not very different than the AN7. Reacts very dynamically to playing style and picking strength.


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## terrorsound

emg 81 7's and emg 707's on ibanez and mh 307 customs:

the emg 707's on the esp going through my line 6 vetta II sounds a bit fuller in the bass department than the 81-7's do. Both setups have the pickups angled away from the bass strings with the same spacing from the top surface of the pickup to the bottom of the b, e, a, strings. For the line 6 setup these pickups definately do the trick, mids are pretty good, presence is right there and harmonics are rediculous on both pickup models. I do not experience the thin sounding issues on any of my clean channels. there is a song on acid planet called the storm in which I use the MH 307 and 7620 for both left and right guitar parts, no thin sounding tones coming from the guitars or the gear. Maby it's just the eq cutting the treble?


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## eaeolian

Seymour Duncan Custom 7

I have a Washburn Sonic 7 (maple neck with birdseye maple board, mahogany body with the oddest paint you've ever seen) that arrived with a Duncan Distortion 7 in it. Since that pickup was WAY too bright for normal settings (my main 7 string has a JB-7 in it), it had to go. Since I've had good luck with the Custom in maple neck/board w/mahogany body guitars before, I jumped on this one in the classified of another forum. The tone of the guitar is now, um, brutal.

The Good:

Thick, angry midrange. The guitar now has a low-mid "roar" to it that's really hard to explain, it just sounds evil. Single notes jump without being brittle, and chords are a wall of fundamental and harmonics.

The Bad:

Might be TOO thick. I use a realtively bright sound, so it's OK for me, but if you are used to a bassy sound this pickup - especially with this wood combo - might well totally mush out for you. It's not as clear as the JB-7, especially during chording.

The Verdict:

In the right guitar, this thing is positively evil. It's always going to be close to mud, though, 'cause the low mids are so strong. It works in this particular guitar very well.


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## Drache713

Dimarzio Blaze Custom

Installed in bridge postion of Ibanez RG7321

One word to describe this pickup is middy. Not so much mids to make it muddy or mushy, but enough to make it thicker/fuller and stand out in the mix. It has a good amount of low end so it is warm and has good thump to it, and yet the high end is bright and clear and yet not the "icepick in the ear" sound, not harsh and is actually somewhat smooth. In all actuallity it's a very balanced pickup tone wise. The high output helps it work great for distortion, i actually had to lower my gain a lot and my mids as well on my amp. The mids and high output help with harmonics too. Sounds great coil split, only thing is that it doesn't sound that great clean; too high of output and too much mids for my taste clean wise. Distorts the clean channel fairly easily. To me it's kinda like a middle-ground pickup between the tone zone and evo, warmer and less harsh/smoother than an evo, and yet tighter and brighter/edgier than a tone zone. If you're into the scooped metal pickup sound this pickup isn't for you (although having this pickup and scooping the mids on your amp DOES work quite well). If you're into a middier metal sound ala newer dream theater, killswitch engage, shadows fall or anything like that, this pickup would work really well. I actually e-mailed dimarzio and they said the blaze custom is basiclly the pickup that is being used in the bridge of the EBMM Petrucci guitars (or the D Sonic for the 6-strings) so for those looking for a tone similar to newer dream theater/petrucci (once he got his EBMM guitars), look no further. A great high output metal pickup I say, my personal favorite!


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## Drache713

Dimarzio Blaze Bridge

Installed in bridge of Ibanez RG7321

I switched out my blaze custom for this pickup. The blaze custom is a great pickup, it's just it wasn't what I was looking for as far as rhythm tone goes. There were just too much mids, it didn't really make the rhythms articulate or defined enough, everything just kinda seemed to mush together or "roll" together so to say, still a great pickup for leads though. So in went the blaze bridge, problem solved. Yes, it's scooped, but it's not a death metal extreme scoop, you still got mids in there. It's moderately bright, but not ear-piercing bright or harsh, and DEFINENTLY warm, has a lot of impact and oomph. Great pickup for rhythm. Clean it sounds really clean, glassy and warm, not too fat. It's not as hot as my previous blaze custom, so because of the lowered gain and less mids i had to raise my gain back up some as my amp was not being driven as hard. Harmonics are still there, no loss of those. The blaze custom could work for rhythm by all means, but for intricate and metal inspired riffing, it just didn't do the trick. The blaze bridge does. My fav rhythm pickup.


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## Drache713

Air Norton 7

Installed in neck of Rg7321

I put this one in along with the blaze bridge. Holy cow this thing rocks. One word to describe it would be smooth. Leads really sing and are smooth, creamy, warm and fat. It's not a bright pickup per say, but it's got enough treble to not sound muffled or to lose definition. I was very suprised as this pickup also handles rhythm work pretty darn well, and has some sweet harmonics! Clean, it gives you a really nice warm and fat jazz tone, i love playing this thing clean. Coil tapped along with my blaze bridge is godly, the most beautiful single coil esque clean I have ever heard. Coil tapped i can get some slap bass sounds that sound very genuine. The ultimate neck pickup i'd say.


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## 7StringofAblicK

Blaze Custom-

Installed RG7321
Color-White
Tone-Initial sound smacked the stocks in the face. Clean was cleaner and brighter, tone was more thick. However (though it may be the guitar, since the stocks were the same way), the gain on this guitar is slightly mild. All my other guitars had a gain advantage, but it is so subtle that the untrained ear might not hear it. 

Goods-Off the bat the mids were present, no doubt about that. The highs were rolled off and the bass was solid and clear. This is the perfect lead pickup, especially on a nice tube amp. nice hot and clear tone, and the cleans were spectacularly clear and punchy. 

Bads-Almost too much midrange for a serious rhythm player. again, i think the gain thing may be guitar related, but none the less it is apparent. 

Outcome-One sexy ass guitar, with a good tone. Nice cutting sound, but slightly heavy on the mids (for me at least). Would LOVE to hear it in mahogany, as it will probably react like an EVO i think. Very similar to the EVO, with some rolled off highs (which lessens it's brisk attack). I would send it to a lead player, but would tell a rhythm player to check out a JB or Blaze.


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## giannifive

Blaze Custom in bridge position:

I'll basically echo everything that's been said here: slightly warm, very balanced, kind of hot. Good lead tone, maybe too middy for rhythm. Sounds boring clean, but really sweet with high gain. Has high enough output to slam the front end of your amp. Using the neck-side coil of the Blaze Custom with the neck-side coil of the Air Norton 7 gives an interesting clean tone.

I haven't seen this mentioned anywhere else, but I will mention it since it was an issue for me: this pickup is physically very tall. To get it to fit in my RG7420 with my existing bridge height I had to file the floor of the pickup cavity near the channel to the control cavity, in order to accomodate the little bit of pickup cable under the pickup. Perhaps this wouldn't be an issue on a 7620, which comes with Dimarzios stock.


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## 7-string Sixpounder

Blaze Bridge (black)
Air Norton Neck (black/creme)
Installed in my Schecter c-7 classic (most likely basswood not too sure)

Okay dudes after finally getting these little bastards installed in my schecter my initial impression was a bit of a dissapointment. Honestly they didn't sound as badass as everyone here had previously stated. At least not to my ears. I mean, they LOOKED great, but still. Screw looks. However I wasn't satisfied with these light ass strings on my guitar so before being quick to blame the pickups I went out and bought a 10-60 guage set of strings  (GHS) and slapped those suckers on...and I must say my "newfound" impression while playing through my little peavey rage amp was.....WELL SHIT THE BED SALLY!!! I didn't no that shitty little amp could rock that hard...then I plugged them into my Randall Rg-100es and my G-Flex 2x12. HUGE SOUND!!  No joke these sound literally 10x better than my duncan designed. More tonefull and clear, epecially clear, which I am extremely anal about on a seven string. If its muddy and undefined, then the seventh string simply isn't working as good as the other six. The blaze is as articulate as I could ask for, even under extreme gain. Yes it does have a slightly scooped sound which worried me a little since, well mids have always been my good friend, however the best way I can describe it is an "adds to the CHUNK and articulation" kind of mid scoop, NOT the kind of "weenie tone/get lost in the mix" kind of extreme mid scoop. I am very happy and impressed with this pickup. On to the air norton. I'm not by any means an expert in neck pickups (or bridges for that matter) however I can say this pickup absolutely sings. The treble fequences are indeed slightly rolled back, while the mids are very warm and pleseant, and the bass is not muddy or overly boomy. It sounds a lot like a beefy single coil without hum or noise. Overall I would deffinately recommed these pickups. I'm extremely satisfied with this purchase. However I would though look elsewhere if you wanted a bridge pickup for more of a classic rock and vintage application, but you all probably could have figured that one out. I do however believe the air norton is a wonderfull pickup for anything from clean jazz to dirty blues to classic rock and especially metal. Sorry for the long post dudes but I really wanted to try and describe my impressions a little more than, I bought them.....they're in my guitar......they're really cool durr  ...... (although that works too) Again thank all you guys for helping me decide on these two badass pickups for my guitar.  

Chris


----------



## Drew

I just realized I still haven't posted a Blaze Bridge review...


Well, before I say anything, let me just say that I use a lot of midrange and play a Mesa Nomad, a VERY mid-heavy amp (it can do Recto, but it's more at home in Mark-esq territory). I'm SURE this is a factor in my perception of pickups - as a strat guy from way back in the day, I like bright guitars into dark amps. 

This is, to date, my favorite seven string bridge pickup I've played. It's clear, it's deep, and it's tight. It sounds exactly like I expect the bridge position of a seven string guitar to sound like in a basswood guitar. There's probably a good reason for this - 70% of recorded 7-string work was probably done with a stock UV - but it's just a very GOOD tone, equally at home for heavy rhythm and Lynch-y screams. 

The mid scoop is something that always comes up a lot, and while to me I don't hear a heavily pronounced midrange (like the Tone Zone, for instance), it feels pretty balanced. Like I said, I run a setup with a lot of mids, but going between my old 7620 and this, I didn't feel like there was an absense of midrange when I switched guitars - it was just more even. 

It's less organic than a TZ, so if you're looking for a good blues/rock pickup or something for old school rock (Van Halen, for instance), I'd look elsewhere. The clean's pretty bright, but useable, it splits well for a strat-y in between sound, this is the pickup that prettymuch invented high gain low B chunk, and it's still VERY similar to what Petrucci's using, so copping that soaring G3 tone of his with a moderately distorted Mesa is a cinch. In fact, that's where this one really comes into it's own, I feel - as a lead pickup, saturated but still clear, in a smooth, liquid, compressed, and round amp setting. There may very well be something better out there, but it's a sound where I plug in and feel immediately at home. 

-D


----------



## Drew

While I'm at it... 

Blaze Single. 

I LOVE singlecoil tones. Absolutely love 'em. I'm a big fan of bluesy, edge of breakup stuff, think SRV doing Little Wing, and while you can get good sounds like that from humbuckers, a single coil is really the way to go. So, I was pretty excited to have a true single coil on my seven when I got my UV. 

Frankly, I was disappointed. The thing I've always loved about singles is their airy high end and sparkle, and this pickup is almost totally lacking in this regard. It's cold, it's sterile, and while it does an acceptable job of copping the strat-y in-between sound in position 4, that's really about all I use it for. Clean, it's just very dry sounding, and distorted, it doesn't have the explosiveness to it that I look for in a single. Hell, if I want a strat sound clean, I've had better luck coping a Jimi vibe with the neck humbucker. 

It might sound better in a different bodywood or in the neck of a 22-fret guitar, and as I said it's nice for the option of an in-between strat sound, but it's just not a terribly inspiring pickup otherwise. Sadly, it's the only Dimarzio single seven in production, but word on the street is they're working on a few more, so we'll see. 

-D


----------



## bobthemerciful

Bridge position.

Had this in a couple of months now. Previously had a DiMarzio Blaze in there, which was good but lacked output to my ears, and the mid scoop was particularly pronounced in this (alder) body. Also tried the Evo 7 in my friends Ibanez Universe. I nearly got one until he got the 6 string War Pig for his SG, and just HAD to get one. What I like about it most is the clarity across all strings. To my ears it has just the right balance of mids, treble and bass. I am afraid I've never been a good as some at describing sounds. Harmonics are now ridiculously easy to pull out of what I had thought was an inherently muddy guitar. Output is in EMG 81 territory for sure, but with more tone to my ears anyhow.(I have one in another guitar). It has solid but defined bass response, and much as I love the Evo 7, this is EXACTLY the sound I was after.Also the guy at BareKnuckle will wind you pretty much anything you want, if you ring and discuss it with him. Shouldn't think you'd get to chat with Larry Dimarzio or Seymour very easily!!
I have a clip of it I made for my friend to hear. It's at http://media.putfile.com/BKP
There is only one thing I'm dissapointed with, I couldn't have the distressed covers that the 6 string comes with  .Sadly he's not tooled up to make 7-string covers. I personally cannot think of a better pickup to have put in it!!Just need a Universe to put round it now!!!
Manufacturers page www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk

PS they come with a lifetime warranty to the original owner as well

PPS I know the playing sucks, was a bit drunk after long day!!!!!!!!!!


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## 7slinger

EMG-707

I use a pair of these in my LTD M307, and the bass is ridiculous. I'm playing a dual rec head through 2 recto 4x12's, 1 with vintage 30's and 1 with celestion custom 90's. My amp is set up with the diodes on, in hundred watt mode, channel 3 with modern selected. I keep the bass knob at about 2.5 to 3, and I need no more bass than that. I actually got the second cab because the 4x12 with the 90's in it couldn't handle the bass enough by itself to turn it up, the bass turned to mud = me pissed off! The guitar is all mahogany body and neck and neck-through to boot. The room we are playing in may also be affecting this, but we do have some foam up and bass traps in the corners. I'm interested in trying an 81-7 to just have more control over the bass.


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## 7StringofAblicK

7StringofAblicK said:


> Blaze Custom-
> 
> Installed RG7321
> Color-White
> Tone-Initial sound smacked the stocks in the face. Clean was cleaner and brighter, tone was more thick. However (though it may be the guitar, since the stocks were the same way), the gain on this guitar is slightly mild. All my other guitars had a gain advantage, but it is so subtle that the untrained ear might not hear it.
> 
> Goods-Off the bat the mids were present, no doubt about that. The highs were rolled off and the bass was solid and clear. This is the perfect lead pickup, especially on a nice tube amp. nice hot and clear tone, and the cleans were spectacularly clear and punchy.
> 
> Bads-Almost too much midrange for a serious rhythm player. again, i think the gain thing may be guitar related, but none the less it is apparent.
> 
> Outcome-One sexy ass guitar, with a good tone. Nice cutting sound, but slightly heavy on the mids (for me at least). Would LOVE to hear it in mahogany, as it will probably react like an EVO i think. Very similar to the EVO, with some rolled off highs (which lessens it's brisk attack). I would send it to a lead player, but would tell a rhythm player to check out a JB or Blaze.



Update...

This review above was in my friends guitar, the 7321. I didn't feel that i gave it enough chance so i decided to order one for myself (having read/heard so many other people saying they loved it). I purchased it along with an AN7 for the neck, in creme (go ahead, laugh). 

First off, it and the AN7 look SO bad in my black 7620 now. it has that metal edge loook, but it's classy and subtle (less in your face than the 321 w/the white pup). 

Secondly, the New 7's were not that bad, really. They had a nice attack but didn't have as full of a sound...a little thin i guess (i'll probably be selling these as well). 

Once i plugged in, the difference was really huge. On the clean, the BC was very clear, warm actually. For some reason the 7321 seemed much colder on the clean. i'm guessing this in part was due to the wood quality (though both are basswood) and the setup. The 7620 sets up much faster than the 321; so i feel more resonance in the actual guitar itself. Distorted it was sweet. It had an awesome lead sound (which i did notice before) but the rhythm was very muscular. It had less highs than the New 7's, but since the mids were spiked it still had a nice clarity and punch...plus, it was much more full...exactly what i was looking for. and the gain issue i had on the 321 was not present on the 7620...plenty of gain. To be honest, I had to turn it down a tad because it was a bit increased. 

Yea, it kicks ass. BONUS, it fit right into the guitar...new screws and all. I did not have to do one thing to accomodate the guitar...a direct replacement (i saw above that someone w/a 7420 had a small issue). 

AS for the AN7...nothing new here, bad ass. Suprisingly, I have it barely above the body of the guitar, pretty far away from the strings. I thought i could get more clarity by doing this, but feared i'd lose bass response and output...wrong. It seems just as loud as the BC, but with more of a warmth of course. It doesn't have as much bass as one of my other guitars that also sports one in the neck, but it is much closer to the strings; I actually prefer it further away for distortion. it's much clearer, more smooth, and doesn't affect the ouput. 

Now I too have one sexy ass guitar that is just full on brutal. It's a very versatile combination...lethal even. Jaw dropping looks and awesome tone.


----------



## Emiliano

EVOLUTION7
i installed my evo7 one week ago in my rg1527 i had to route slightly the pickup cavity because the evo is as tall as the cavity, so if you want to install it in your axe you have to screw it to the wood!!!!!!! and the cable underneath is very clumsy! 

first of all i want to say that i play with a medium action ( not too low )
the reason i say this is:

i immediatly noticed how the sound was much more clear but it wasn't the high gain monster i was expecting i played with the pole piece for a day or two and came to this conclusion

using this pickup very near the string lead to a very powerful but trebley
sound, while if you put it a little back the sound reamain clear but balanced
i use now the polepiece to individually set the string
so i have the right amount of output and clarity for each string

the good:
clear hot output, nice in clean ( with medium space between pickup and string ) and crispy split, crunchy and very rock on distortion

the bad:
maybe in ibanez guitar is a bit unconfortable to install and set up properly, need a bit of routing, on some setting clean channel go into crunch

the verdict:
i learned how to live with this beast, since the day one i lowered my action a bit, i set the polepiece and found a very nice suond, i'm very happy
(and it was a present too! )


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## simon

DiMarzio Air Norton 7

my guitar is an rg1527 with stock PU's, 10-56 strings, running through a mid-heavy mesa/boogie setup where i either need an ultra-clean or a heavy distorted sound. weird enough i play most high-gain chord-work with the neck-pickup, which produces an extremely rough and hard to handle sound. since the stock PU's really disappointed me in comparison with the stock new7's of my RG7621/0, i started reading through these forums and finally bought an Air Norton 7.

many reviews mentioned the "slight" lack of brightness of the Air Norton. its quite an underexageration. the air norton really lacks brightness and when using both, bridge and neck-pickup during solo's then its impossible to correct it with your amp. the pickup made it impossible for me to play chords in neck positions and the lead lacked presence, clarity and punch for palm-muted solo picking. in short: i was heavily disappointed by the air norton. last week i replaced it by a blaze neck and i couldnt be more happy!


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## vintagevibeguitars

Hello.

Pete Biltoft, Vintage Vibe Guitars here.

I am very new to this forum.

Jim Soloway suggested I register & let people know I can offer custom 7 string pickups. I made the blade pickups shown in Jim's post dated 11/12/05:

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/sh...highlight=blade

In addition to blade pickups I have made 7-string HB pickups and 7-string strat style single coils. I am interested in building P-90 style pickups too.

I make all the custom pickups I offer myself in my shop in California.

Reviews of my pickups are posted on harmony Central (no 7-string reviews yet):

http://www.harmony-central.com/Guit...e_Vibe_Guitars/

Reviews of my P-90 pickups are posted on All Things Guitar:

http://www.allthingsguitar.com/2005...ageVibe/P90.htm

And reviews of my SP-90 (strat-size P-90 style) pickups are posted on All Things Guitar:

http://www.allthingsguitar.com/2004...e Vibe/vv.htm


Pete Biltoft
Vintage Vibe Guitars


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## Emperoff

Here I go: Tonezone 7 / Air Norton 7 combo in Alder guitar with maple neck, rosewood fingerboard and 5-way switch with positions 2 & 4 with coils in parallel (no tone pot).

*Dimarzio Air Norton 7*

I suppose there's nothing more to add to what is already said, a sweeeet sounding pickup with great clarity, ideal for that legato stuff. The cleans aren't wonderful, but they're not bad either. In single coil mode has an "acoustic-like" sound that I love.
I'm sure this pickup will sound great in any kind of wood, really a must for any 7-stringer  

*Dimarzio Tonezone 7*

Well, the Tonezone is a pickup with a great character, I would say; It's VERY sensitive and reacts amazingly to your picking, with a very smooth and fluid sound when shredding, but it screams like a bitch when you pick it hard or when doing pinch harmonics. And of course, it works damn well for rhythm too, with a bone-crushing bass response. I've read some reviewes saying that the TZ becomes muddy when riffing, well, do what I did (disconnect the tone pot, or get a 1k volume pot for the TZ) and you'll enjoy a very rich and full sound.
The clean sound... In serial I never use it, but when splitted it just sounds incredible, It's the clean sound that I was after for a long time.
If you have an alder seven (which is rare, I guess) put this baby on it, you won't regret!


----------



## Digital Black

From Jim Soloway: 



I've been using DiMarzios in all my 7-strings for years. I still like them but I decided to try to push the envelope a bit with some custom boutique pickups from Lollar and Vintage Vibe. I've been just thrilled with both of these pickups and I highly recommend both. These are both available direct from the manufacturers for anyone who's interested.

The Vintage Vibes are blades that many of you have seen on the photos I've posted of our recent bubinga 7-string. They're true P90 single coils with blades instead of screws. They're incredibly clear with a great P90 growl. I don't believe there's anything similar. The fit was a little iffy. They were a bit big for the rings although if you're doing a direct mount, they did fit the route with no difficulty. In either the neck or bridge position, they do have the usual single coil hum, but in the middle position running both pickups, they are absolutel drop dead slient. Pete Biltoft ar great at custom winding and he'll do any output level that you request. They are available with black, tortoise, and MOTO fronts. The price is about $160 for the pair. 

The Lollars are in my new personal Swan LN7. They are based on his Imperials, which are a high quality PAF style pickup, but they are underwound for a lower output level. That produces a bit more clarity and a tighter low end. Jason is a great pickup maker and these are simply the best 7-string humbuckers that I've ever played. They are balanced, clear, and warm. I never play with distortion, so I can't really tell you what they'd sound like with a lot of gain, but I've always felt that if a pickup can do clean tone well, it can do anything else and thes pickups do clean tone just incredibly well. Jason built these for me with tortoise front to match the binding and I'm sure that he can also do some other fronts as well as the usual black. Like Pete, he can also do a variety of output levels, but I have a feeling that these pickups would get too dark if you wound the much brighter. You'll have to check with Jason Lollar for a price on these pickups, but his standard 6-sting Imperials are $300 for a pair, so expect to pay a pretty hefty premium.

Here are links to both companies sites for anyone who's interested.

http://www.vintagevibeguitars.com/

http://www.lollarguitars.com/


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## emux2

I posted the following at the carvin musuem forums. It is sort of a review of both the Tone Zone 7 and the carvin C26T bridge pickup and compares the two. This is in my carvin home built alder neck through alder body guitar with the carvin active/passive eq modual.

Here it is:
For a while now I have been contemplating a bridge pickup change on my NT7 home built guitar. I studied the C26T sound for some time because there was something I did not like but could not put my finger on. I finally figured it out. The C26T sounds alright from the E string to the low E string but when you get to the low B there seems to be some high end roll off. When I would adjust the actives to compensate it made the rest of the strings too trebly. So that is it, the C26T just doesnt balance well with the Low B.

I am not saying this is the case in all instances. Now the spec of my guitar are:

Alder neck through alder body with the active/passive module.

I ordered a dimarzio tone zone and installed it yesterday. I can not comment on how it compares to anything other than the C26T as that is all I have had on this guitar. It took a little filing of the base plate to get it in. I did not feel inclinded to reroute the guitar. I like the looks of the C26T better but the sound is more important to me.

The tone zone sounds more even accross all 7 strings to me. It has a little more midrange and pinch harmonics are easily attained. In passive mode it sounds nice and open. In active mode there is slightly more bass with the eq set flat and is slightly compressed. I can back off the bass and up the treble on the guitar and it sounds good across all 7 strings. It sounds good clean as well. It is not muddy at all in my guitar

I don't know if there is another dimarzio that sounds better. I was considering trying the blaze custom but I am satisfied with the tone zone 7.


----------



## Emperoff

Here I go again, this time with a review of the Blaze Pickups (Installed in a Basswood Baritone Agile Interceptor) 

*Dimarzio Blaze (neck):*

If I have to name something that has impressed me about this pickup, it's his clarity and definition. It's very good for fast legato runs, and has some Vai kinda sound playing leads, omeway agressive. For rythm, it can't find something special on it. I prefer the Air Norton for that.
Playing clean, it has a better sound than the Air Norton IMO, more bright, but that can simply be my preferences. Anyway, when tapped sounds too bright for my tastes. It's a nice pickup, but is overall below the Air Norton.

*Dimarzio Blaze (bridge):*

Well, I must say that the Blaze semt to be the pickup that I was looking for for a long time, but, now that I got it, It's not that great at all.
Let me explain, the Blaze bridge is an AWESOME rythm pickup. It's tight, it's defined, and has punch and growl with total clarity. But for leads, I really missed that mids, you can crank them up with your amp, but It's not the same. I'm not saying that it sounds bad, it has a ver nice fluid tone and som serious scream on it, but compared to my tonezone installed on an alder guitar with no tone knob, I must say that the tonezone literally DESTROYS the Blaze for playing leads, it's just amazing. The tonezone is an amazing pickup if installed in a correct wood. But the Blaze is an all-around bitch than sounds much better for rythms that any other Dimarzio I've tried. I don't have much to say about it playing clean, just too treebly for liking the sound, but overall, a damn great pickup.


----------



## Roland777

Emperoff said:


> Here I go again, this time with a review of the Blaze Pickups (Installed in a Basswood Baritone Agile Interceptor)
> 
> *Dimarzio Blaze (neck):*
> 
> If I have to name something that has impressed me about this pickup, it's his clarity and definition. It's very good for fast legato runs, and has some Vai kinda sound playing leads, omeway agressive. For rythm, it can't find something special on it. I prefer the Air Norton for that.
> Playing clean, it has a better sound than the Air Norton IMO, more bright, but that can simply be my preferences. Anyway, when tapped sounds too bright for my tastes. It's a nice pickup, but is overall below the Air Norton.
> 
> *Dimarzio Blaze (bridge):*
> 
> Well, I must say that the Blaze semt to be the pickup that I was looking for for a long time, but, now that I got it, It's not that great at all.
> Let me explain, the Blaze bridge is an AWESOME rythm pickup. It's tight, it's defined, and has punch and growl with total clarity. But for leads, I really missed that mids, you can crank them up with your amp, but It's not the same. I'm not saying that it sounds bad, it has a ver nice fluid tone and som serious scream on it, but compared to my tonezone installed on an alder guitar with no tone knob, I must say that the tonezone literally DESTROYS the Blaze for playing leads, it's just amazing. The tonezone is an amazing pickup if installed in a correct wood. But the Blaze is an all-around bitch than sounds much better for rythms that any other Dimarzio I've tried. I don't have much to say about it playing clean, just too treebly for liking the sound, but overall, a damn great pickup.



You ought to test the Blaze Custom, if you haven´t already. The mids on that pickup is what makes it slay.


----------



## bostjan

Swineshead Pickups:

In general:
I got GITD bobbins, and I'm somewhat disappointed with the dim glow. They definately glow, but the light output is only about 20% of what my GITD knobs are doing.
The backplates are huge. Very thick, rectangular, with plenty of unnecessary material. I had to chop the corners off in order to fit the pickup in the cavity, and it's a pretty large cavity. I would have had to have done even more chopping if they were going in my rg7620. The instructions they came with were short and sweet.

CL7N-
I ended up slanting this pickup by accident so that the bass side is slightly closer to the neck than the treble side.
This pickup packs quite a punch for being advertised as a medium-output pickup. It sings very well with plenty of bass and mids. Wired in parallel, it really doesn't seem to lose much output, and gets a very nice nasal tone to it. In series, it sings with a great deal of clarity, it reminds me of the AN7N, only with a tiny bit more bass.

HT7B
This pickup seems to lack the balls I had hoped for. Not quite bright enough for my tastes in bridge pups. The tone is clear and focused, but rather punchy in the mid. This isn't a bad thing, it's just not what I expected. I'd compare it to a TZ7B with some of the mid shifted to lower mid. It cleans up wonderfully.

Overall: You know, for the money, I would think you could do better. I'm very happy with the CL7N and I'm moderately satisfied with the HT7B, but I think my tastes are more in tune with the clarity and power of EMG's, or at least the diversity of the Dimarzio AN7/EVO7. My draw to these pups was purely cosmetic, and I'm not even blown away with that.

IMO- These are good aftermarket pickups at a premium price.

Overall:    + 1/2
Price: £125 pr.
Looks: 3/5
Tone: CL7N=5/5, HT7B=3/5
Service: 5/5
Convenience: 2/5


----------



## JoryGriffin

Dimarzio Evo7 Bridge
Korina Epiphone V 7

Due to the fact i was fitting this is korina, not a very popular wood it was sort of a guess, a good one though.

The Evo7 is a great bridge pickup, palm mutes are awesome and is incredibly tight at my rate of distortion (Think Train of Thought - Dream Theater). The lead tone i find is okay but quite harsh, all depends on what you're playing. I normally switch to neck position for a much smoother sound. Overall when distorted it is well balanced

The Clean sound i find is quite clumsy, not much warmth (on it's own that is)
When paired with the neck pick up on the middle setting it sounds alot richer.

I have a Dimarzio Drop Sonic in my Ibby six string which is set ALOT lower, my evo7 is set much closer to the strings but the volume drop between the neck and bridge positions is none existent.

Overall I would say this pickup is fantastic, it sounds alot tighter than my DropSonic6 and with alot less string noise aswell. I know not many people are going to have Korina guitars... but im sure it will sound just as awesome as it does in my V


----------



## 7 Dying Trees

Dimarzio Tone Zone
Mahogany (RG2027)

-This is, fortunately, going to be a very short review. I traded an evo7 for this, as i wanted something with a bit more, well, balls. This wasn't it. No treble, and just awfull for any leads as it sounds flat, dull and has no sparkle. Rythm, i'd say ok, but still suffering from the lack of any pronounced highs, just makes it all sound muddy and lifeless. Avoid this pickup in mahogony if you can.

Dimarzio Evolution
Mahogony (RG2027)

-I really do remember liking the sound of this, very very very clear, with being able to hear every single string in a 7string chord through a "metal" amount of gain, very impressive. Does scream as well. However, in mahogony I found it too clean, just lacking in character, and really not having that gutsy dirty sound to it. It's a hot, very clear pickup, but not aggressive.

Dimarzio Evolution
Basswood (UV7BK)

-Now we are talking however! Whereas with the 2027 i always thought this pickup was too clear, in the UV (recently installed) it's tightened up the low end and got rid of the flubbiness on the low A (or B string if you are in standard tuning ) that seemed to plague the Blaze and Blaze Custom. In short, this pickup makes for a fantastic tight thrash sound. I'd never really believed that it was close to EMG like, but it is a nasty little gained fueled monster. All the problems i had with in mahogony have reversed, and i find it ballsy and really aggro while retaining the clarity. Very nice. In fact, i think, so far, my favorite bridge pickup in basswood.

edit: I just took this pickup to a rehearsal, and jezus! Does this thing cut through, really good at cutting straight through the mix. Very pleased with it


----------



## Drache713

Dimarzio X2N-7
Ibanez RG7620

First off - this thing is LOUD! Not uncontrallable loud, but definently very hot. I know people are concerned with the magnet pull of this on the strings but don't be, i got mine about 2mm away from the strings fretted at the 24th and have no magnetic pull problems. Despite being very high output this pickup is very clear and very articulate. It's got a really tight responsive low end (some people might think it sounds cold/thin but once you get it in a mix with bass and drums, it'll cut through like no other and sound punishing) and the high end is pretty smooth but it has this crisp high end presence/sizzle/bite thing going on that sounds so aggressive. The midrange is in there to, not scooped very much so that it doesn't sound tinny or thin/dark, and not so much midrange that it's way fat/honky and muddy/uncontrollable. If you're looking for a more natural or organic sounding pickup don't look to this one (even though if you were even considering the X2N-7 organic/natural sounds aren't probably what you're looking for anyways). Harmonics jump off this very well. Another thing people are concerned with are the cleans - I can get excellent bridge cleans with this in series without it distorting my amp, and it only gets better when you coil tap or coil split it (hello Strat!). This is probably the closest thing to an EMG/Dimebucker/Bill Lawrence 7-string pickup without having to route out your guitar or pay for a custom shop fabrication. Just awesome for metal and sounds absolutley brutal.


----------



## Black Watch

Pickup: EMG 707
Installed in: Ibanez RG7420

When I first purchased my RG7 I thought the pickups left a lot to be desired, since then I have played some others and i think my pickups were duds, anyhow - I decided to try something huge. This was back in 1998, and I got a pair of 707's from EMG. It was fun to buy them because you had to go and ask them to make them for you (not sure if this is still the case). I ended up trading a few emails and phone calls with the EMG folks. The were very nice and a pleasure to work with. I took them to a local guitar modding / repair shop and they set them up. First off, these things are very different than every other pickup I have used before. Some of it bad, some of it good.

Mounting Differences
First off the Ibanez RG7s don't use pickup rings, so you get to see the metal plates down there in the body. I have always thought that a bit un-tidy, but oh well. The EMGs are physically larger (width and length) than your standard humbucker, so the pickup cavity had to be enlarged. Some of you might go into shock at the thought of someone strapping your axe on the mill and having a go, but the guys I was working with were first rate all the way. In fact most of the half circle hole at the top and bottom of the pickup "trench" was eliminated by the larger 707. 

Also note that the 707's are active pickups, so a 9v battery was added into the control cavity of the RG7. I also had a treble boost circuit added (also from EMG) to help give definition that I had been looking for.

The Good
These things are very high output. That is a blessing and a curse today. When working with a tube preamp or a long cable the 707's are a lot of fun because they can send a larger voltage (peak to peak) signal through the line. When playing through the Mesa V-Twin it is possible to drive it so hard that it all devolves into meaningless hash. I know there are some folks who like that though. The sound quality is very EMG, so if you are fan of that kind of sound you can get it in full. They will go very metal indeed (maybe more metal than I wanted at times). The treble boost circuit worked very much as desired and can really add a great deal of definition to low rhythm parts.

The Bad
The large signal output can sometimes be trouble to a modeling system like Line 6, where it really does not care that much about the nuances of the input signal. In addition it can sometimes feel like you are not quite in control of the tone as there is a so much output at times, and if you are really playing hard you can get outside of the range of "golden" input to your amp. What that boils down to is that you need to really learn how to work with them, and (in my opinion) there is some learning curve involved.

Overall - a great move, and it sounds very different than my other guitars and is very useful in a variety of situations.

Black Watch


----------



## bigheadood

pickup: X2N7
guitar: RG 7321

1st impression--the low end is huge. lots of bass and low mids without getting muddy. Not as much scream as I expected, but harmonics are effortless. Very rich and thick sounding, similar to a duncan custom custom, except with a much tighter low end.

After some tweaking--Very responsive. This is not the one trick pony that I was expecting. While this pickup excels at anything high gain, it also works very well for blues, jazz, and of course, shred. Clean sound is usable in series, and very nice when split. Much better than the stock POS unit this guitar came with.

Now this guitar needs a new neck pickup. Blaze, Paf, or jazz...not sure yet.


----------



## Lethe

Dimarzio Blaze Custom

Had this in the bridge of my 7321 for about half a year now. No matter what I did, I never really got the tone I was looking for. Being mainly a rhythm guy, I think that with the BC, finding a good compromise between tight palm mutes and nice sounding upper strings is really tough. Or to put it the other way round: Finding a setting were your low notes don't sound muddy and "soft" while the high end doesn't literally make your ears bleed is pretty much impossible.
Even after many hours of tuning the settings on my pod, trying many amps, cabs, micings, eq and compressor settings etc, rhythm still sounded pretty washy.

I could not really put my finger onto what is wrong with my settings, and to be quite frank, the last thing I expected it to be was the BC, but that was exactly it. 

People sometimes recommend the BC over the regular Blaze, arguing that the mids are less scooped, which ist right, but they neglect to say that the BC seriously rolls off in the treble. This means that in order to get some balance in your tone, you must turn up the treble and presence on your amp, and resurrecting those buried high frequencies leads to the same as resurrecting human beings does: They get ugly, walk the streets moaning and eat your children. So by all means, beware!  

Keep in mind though, I based my opinion mainly on rhythm with the occasional solo. If you play both, you will probably not sound good at either. For mostly lead and depending on your style this might be the right pickup, but to me this was a bad choice.

-------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
Dimarzion Evolution 7

This came in the used Schecter Omen 7 Extreme I recently bought. At first, I was disappointed. All those patches I had so thoroughly tweaked for my 7321 with a BC sounded trebly as hell. My first reaction was: "Man, the BC is already slightly rolling off towards the treble, if it wasn't, it would sound like *this*! Maybe i should look for a pickup that rolls off even more."

Wrong.

As I said before, once something is gone, bringing it back is a bitch. On the other hand, if there is too much of something, you can always cut, and that'll always sound better to the human ear. So what I did was cut back a little on the presence and it was...well it was an epiphany. 

Harsh treble - gone.
muddy palm mutes - gone.

I was baffled, thinking "hey, where's the compromise here?". Well, there isn't one.

Suddenly it all became tight as hell, powerchords were well defined and sounded serious as hell. It's so much more fun to play percussively now, you really can snap and thump along with the drums, it's just pure, unfiltered joy. I fell in love with this pickup, I really did. Yesterday our keyboarder came over and we composed a little, and she was blown away by the sound. Crisp, mean, grunty without getting all screachy at the top end. 

I A/B'ed the BC and Evo7 several times, and even when the BC was on patches I had tweaked for hours and days to make the BC sound good, it did not come close to a slightly modded version with the Evo. 

I would like to try the Blaze Neck in the bridge position, which seems to be an insiders' tip, but as of now, man, am I in love with the Evo. And to think I almost traded it for a Blaze Bridge!


----------



## g3rmanium

Seymour Duncan Jazz installed in a 2027XVV (mahogany), neck position.

The samples on the SD website were a bit misleading. From the samples, you'd think that this is a very bright PU, but it isn't. Somehow they managed to make all strings sound the same (well, Jazz). Not a lot of treble. Very round. Good bass. Works great with octave fuzzes because it isn't bright.

Seymour Duncan Distortion installed in a 2027XVV (mahogany), bridge position.

The distortion has a very rock-inspired sound. Not a lot of bass (and definitely less than the Jazz in the neck), lots of upper midrange. Good clarity, dynamics and all. Not "Metal" sounding at all.

Edit: I also noticed after swapping PUs that with the distortion, the sound changes a lot from the fourth string upwards. B to D strings sound a lot different than the G to E strings which are even brighter. Compared to the Blaze Neck the distortion really is *very* bright.


----------



## Nuke

Haven't seen this particular pickup/wood combo listed here yet:

Pickups: Seymour Duncan Distortion-7 and Custom-7
Installed in: Alder bodied Jackson Custom Shop Warrior with maple/ebony bolt-on neck

Distortion-7: I've always been a big Duncan Distortion fan, so this was a natural choice for me when I ordered the guitar. Unfortunately, the only way to get more balls out of the pickup was to boost the EQ in my ADA MP-1/Digitech TSR12 rack setup, which left me with a custom patch for one guitar. While these two rack units have plenty of room for multiple guitar-specific patches, it doesn't work right out of the box with all the other patches I've tweaked and perfected over the years, and I'm not too interested in doing that all over again, so something's gotta change.

As well, the guitar has an OFR-7, and it appears Duncan doesn't understand the concept of trem-spacing 7-string pickups, because the bass poles are aligned with the strings but the treble poles are too far off the mark for me. While a Distortion doesn't have to be spot on with the alignment due to the output level, if I decided to put the Custom-7 in the bridge, I'd be tonally screwed.


Custom-7: The first time I moved a Custom to the neck position of a guitar, I was hooked on it. But that was a 6-string, and this is a 7-string, and the difference is pretty drastic. The neck pickup aligns perfectly with the strings, and distorted rhythm and lead tones are nice and beefy. Unfortunately the cleans are as weak as they could be. I prefer a nice round and bright clean more than the muted/muffled Joe Pass tones.

I thought about moving the Custom to the brige position, but with the F-spacing issue, I'm nnot sure it's going to work.

Looks like I'll be trying a few DiMarzios based on what I've read here.


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## g3rmanium

Blaze Neck installed in a 2027XVV (mahogany), *bridge* position.

Mh... It looked to me that the Blaze Neck in the bridge position was a sevenstring.org insider tip so I bought it and installed it.

First, the output isn't very high. It's also noticeably darker compared to the SD Distortion (but then, the Distortion is very bright). There is a ton of mids that forced me to take out a couple of dBs of my mids. 

Also noteworthy is that the B string just doesn't sound good. There's something weird, clangy to it.

I also found that the amount of information -- the way the pickup reproduces what my hands do -- is lower in the Blaze than the SD pickups.

I guess the Blaze Neck in the bridge doesn't get my stamp of approval in mahogany. 

Edit: I'm begging to like the Blaze Neck in the bridge. If I pick very strongly, it sounds pretty good and develops interesting harmonic structures. I will try how it sounds in the neck though -- I guess this is where it belongs.


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## Drache713

Pickup: EMG 707
Guitar: Schecter Hellraiser

These pickups give a loud, clean sound. Not muddy, they are very tight and articulate. They are also VERY bright, and while there is enough bass to not have it sound thin i wouldnt say they are warm or dark pickups at all. Great harmonics, very quiet. As you go higher up the neck the high notes start to sing more and smooth out, which i thought was nice with the lows being so edgy and aggressive. The mahogany body of the hellraiser didn't seem to help much, which seems to match the general consensus that emg's are less effected by body woods than passives are. If you're looking for a sound that cuts, has great clarity, and is loud and aggressive then look no further. If you need something a little smoother or warmer/sludgier then I'd advise to look elsewhere, these pickups work great for metal and for when you need a really bright sound but when you need something more mellow and "vintage/classic", these are lacking in that department.


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## Drache713

Pickup: Dimarzio DS7
Guitar: Ibanez S7420FMTT, bridge

First off, yes - this IS a very noisy pickup like others have noticed. Maybe it's just a problem with the 7-string version and not the 6-string, I dunno. Put it anywhere near an electical source and you get buzz and fizzing.

THAT being said, the tone of this pickup rocks. It's warm, but not dark or bassy/boomy. It's VERY clear and articulate, but without being very bright actually. It also growls really good with the mids and sounds very full but it isn't muddy or sludgy at all. The sound overall is very tight and precise, and yet still warm and smooth. Harmonics are very easy to pull off. It is high output but it's so clear and has such great clarity that it sometimes feel like you're playing a lower output pickup like a PAF or something. The clarity gives it kind of an EMG-ish vibe, and yet not as "crystaline" or metallic as an EMG, much warmer and smoother. This pickup to me kinda seems like a pickup that breaks all the rules, much like the Air Norton (to my ears) - full, warm, and smooth, and yet very tight, articulate, and clear. So far I'm loving it (except for the noise) but it sounds so good I think I'll be able to put up with the noise.


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## g3rmanium

Pickup: DiMarzio D Activator 7 bridge
Guitar: Ibanez 2027XVV, mahogany, bridge
Replaced: DiMarzio Blaze neck installed in bridge position

I Installed this one yesterday and don't have a lot of experience yet. First impressions: Deeper bass than the Blaze, better, more natural sounding B string. Not quite as much treble as the Blaze. More output and a certain peak in the highs, but not too aggressive.


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## Drache713

Dimarzio D-Activator's, both bridge and neck models

Installed in S7420 and RG7421

The D Activator in the bridge definently sounds clear, but in a different way than the DS7. The DA7 sounds much warmer and deeper, and it isn't as crunchy or raw to my ears. It sounds pretty smooth actually without a lot of attack, has tight bass and balanced mids. Very balanced actually.

In the neck, the DA7 is BRIGHT. Reminds me of the 707 in the neck, i've never played a single coil or a humbucker from hell in the neck, but I would imagine this would get you VERY close to that sound. Lots of snap, twang, and attack, very tight lows and cut mids. Really sings and begs for fast picked runs.


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## LEWY7777777

Yes The d activator shows me and tells my ears parts of my emg 81-7s emg707's and even the seymour duncan metallivewire7 (HB105s) all @ the same time. Very distinct qualities of each of these pickups nailed by Dimarzio. The sound is truly one to be heard - and sounds like three of the different pickups working at the same time. A sound truly its own, distinct, clever, inspiring.A real mega-smasher. And for the first time a pickup that makes all my right hand techniques fight to control it. (The less used the less fight neccessary)
Effectively making me play harder than ever before. real sweet palmute sound,Makes the strings feel like spongy when wanted , You can squeeze cool distorted sounds and naunces with your pick and fingertips and sustains when you want not brittle at all . full of life and headroom. It is gonna take me a while to get fully aquanted with this thing. Cleans sound amazing although can jazz out and distort sooner. A rich sounding pickup like the active duncans and bareknuckle affect. Although not an all round pickup many things it can do- a real jazzy character choppy and then sustaining. can boom if you make it boom and chunky too. All this and yet such great articulation. A useful tool for making new creative inspiring sounds. Another great flavor from Dimarzio


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## NeglectedField

Pickup: Dimarzio Evolution 7
Guitar: Ibanez RG7321 (mahogany, Korean made)
Replaced: Stock Ibanez AH-7 humbucker

Good: Tight for rhythm, but great soaring lead sound with that warmth you hear from Vai's guitars. But this is more similar in quality to his Evo 6es than his Blazes. Just the right mix of mids and treble. 

Bad: May lack that trebly crunch for some. Sometimes I kinda get frustrated it doesn't give me the fizzy tight scoopy chug I need, or much in the way of attack, but this might be due to the fact I'm on a pretty light set of strings at the moment. Also I got this due to not being able to get hold of a D-Sonic so naturally I'd be looking for flaws. Oh yes, and having to ream out bigger holes for the mounting posts (so the screws could align) was a real pain and I had to make a number of calls to the UK distributors of Dimarzio for help. 

In short, good all round, but probably slightly more oriented towards lead playing.


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## reguv760

First time user of this site... was linked from jemsite and I thought I could share my experience with two pickups I replaced the stocks on my UV777GR many years ago since most of the pickups reviewed are installed on rosewood boards... the context for these replacements was to get a more "metal" rhythm and lead tone with increased sustain than the stock Blaze's and I didn't want to spend the money to route a rare guitar for a pair of EMG 707...

for my first review:
*
Evo-7 in bridge position*

Good: High Output full of mids. It's mean and ballsy when you hit powerchords with the B string and screams when you 'solo' - whether it maybe pinch harmonics, whammy dives, bending the high E string to the point-of-breakage, sweeping, tapping and every odd combinations in between. The tone cuts through the mix in a band setting as long there's enough mids in the amp. 

Bad: Not the 'cleanest' sounding pickup through the clean channel. It overdrives the clean but a little tweak in the guitar's volume knob to 6 or 7 resolves this problem. In split mode (middle + Evo neck coil), the tone's bright and crisp, even spunky, that it makes you want to play reggae and maybe light up something...
*
Blaze Bridge in neck position*

Good: The purpose of this upgrade was to take the tone of a stock Blaze neck and give it a higher output. I purchased this in 2001 when the Blaze's and Evo-7 were the only aftermarket DiMarzio 7's available. Fortunately, it's a good pickup for doing sweeps in this position...

Bad: It has 'dark' and bassy tone that doesn't quite overdrive the clean channel... treble in the amp might need to be boosted and bass cut. Once acheived, you can get a decent clean jazz tone.

Ugly: most of the mids are lost... the low B sounds muffled and it doesn't quite 'scream' like an Evo-7. It picks up harmonics decently on the the higher strings but requires finding a 'sweet' spot. Can't really do fast scale runs as it gets lost in the mix. Currently getting upgraded to D-Activator 7 neck by next month...


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## MAXEDON

i was wondering if i should get emg 707's for my rg7321 any suggestions?


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## daemon barbeque

Bare Knuckle Pickups Miracle Man 7 string Bridge

It's used on my 1527 ,with 10/68 Daddario strings.

Well ,i was dissapointed when i first installed it!I then reailzed that i didnt't adjust the height!
After adjusting the height ,it became a beast.
Really Rich harmonics ,somewhat unforgiving but therefore clean voicing.
Lot's of highs ,Lots of lows and great midds.
The Powerchords are ripping and with the right amp...really tight!
The Lead tone is super (i never use Neck PU for leadwork) ,and i have to say ,it kills every "normal production" PU on earth.The quality of this Product is extreme...
The funny thing is ,alltough i ordered a 7 string PU ,they put a Rotosound set of strings in the box ....but for 6 ahahaha.Anyways..
If you have the extra cash for a killer product.Try the Miracle Man...The Huge bass and the screaming Highs with extremely complex and rich harmonics makes it one of the best Passives ever!

Articulation:8

Harmonics: 10

Bass: 9

Midds:6

Highs:9

Clarity: 10

Attitude:11

Insipiration: 10

Output: High..a tad less than Duncan Distortion

Compression:High but enough Dynamics to play lead.

Build Quality: Perfect.

Similar products (soundwise) : Duncan Distortion


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## MetalSir

My review on EMG81-7 on my nec tru esp SC607..

i have another esp with emg81 (6 string).. the sounds really the same.. incredible sustain, armonics and frequencies response, due to the nec tru construction and emphasized by the strings-tru body and the bridge (les poul model).. low noise.

really really cool sound.. i tuned it B standard with blue steel .009\.046 and sounds great!







can i suggest you this 3 articles by Mr Tillman? =)

Response Effects of Guitar Pickup Position and Width

Response Effects of Guitar Pickup Mixing

Pickup Response Demonstration Applet

really interesting.. really.. i studied here elettroacustics for my laurea degree course.. really supremus!

 


ps: i really don't know if i posted by following the rules.. i hope so..


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## p0ke

I changed my Ibanez RG1527's stock bridge pickup to a D-activator 7 last tuesday. It wasn't as loud as I had hoped, but still a bit louder than my EMG HZ-H4 on my 6-string. I have to admit that I don't have much experience of other pickups, but I definitely like this one. 
With the stock pickup, everything below D turned muddy, especially chords. With the D-activator, even my low A sounds clear! And it has enough gain to give me a good death/thrash metal sound with my Valveking, that was something the old pickup couldn't do.
The high notes are too bright for my liking though, but that's no problem because I use the neck-PU for leads anyway


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## neroceasar

these pickups sound like any other dimarzio but with a lil more omph. The bass is really good and the highs are set just right for good sound thats not harsh. the only complaint i have with them is that they don't take to G tuning well if your tuning to B or A they sound amazingly dark and evil...(METAL!!) my only issue is that i play in g and they sound a little to bassy in that tuning.

this pickup sounds really good in A tuning and even better it G but in B it sounds a little to thin. the note definition is really good hammer ons pull offs, tapping, ect. sound really good but i wish it had a tinny (really tiny) bit more bass response.


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## 7 Dying Trees

Bareknuckle Nailbomb 7 (Bridge), custom rewould single coil 7 and Cold Sweat 7 (Neck) in basswood (RG1077xl)

Nailbomb 7:
This is the alcino5 version, can also be got in ceramic. Very clear, but punchy and aggressive while still retaining a smoothness across the whole pickup. Makes a lot of other pickups I've tried sound compressed. It's very open and breathes really nicely. DIstorted it has a nice high mid/treble bit that isn't annoying like the JB7 can be, as it has a smoothness to it. The mid range really cuts through, and the bass is tight while still retaining character. Harmonics do just leap off with ease. One thing though, is that because of it's clarity it's a less forgiving pickup than some, you can really hear if you muck up and there's no hiding. When palm muting has that nice crunch to it, and handles fast picking on the low strings well. Not as focused as say a lundgren, but still very clear, and with a good amount of life to it.

With clean tones although it is a hot pickup it doesn't distort. Very spanky, with that nice vintage-like alcino goodness. When split you get that really cool bridge single coil sound. ABsolutely gorgeous, you can mess around with the clean sound for hours, and this is coming from someone who gets bored with clean sounds really easily.

Cold Sweat 7:
Also alcino 5. The best way to describe it is that it's very fluid, but with a bell like single coil overtone to it. Kind of almost the thickness of the air norton, but with less spread. It's kind of hard to describe, but it's a gorgeous neck pickup. Leads do just punch through, and I found that I could even get away with playing rythm on it. It's also a lot easier to hit pinch harmonics and naturals harmonics and stuff with it, as some neck pickups do lose that screeching sound you get with the bridge pickup. Not to say it's trebly, but just that I reckon the single coil vibe of it helps to pickup. Again, you'll hear mistakes you make a lot more with this pickup.

Clean, well, not as sparkly as the nailbomb, but well rounded. As with the nailbomb this thing sounds amazing clean, it's kind of like the notes leap off the guitar and sing. Just inspirational sound wise. Split it just sounds awesome.

Custom Rewound Single coil 7:
I sent tim at BKP the stock new7/whatever the fuck single coil 7 that came in the 1077. Whilst he couldn't redo the magnet (shame, but apparently it is a weird shape) he did rewind it. While technically not a bareknuckle, the job he did is still awesome and makes this sound a hell of a lot better than it did, in fact, night and day better. And whilst not a production pickup, well worth mentioning as it was rewound to make a set with the NB and CS. Basically, this thing sings. Split with the coils of the humbuckers, the mix of alcino and ceramic really is spanky and very hendrixy in the bridge/mid pos(2) and, well, gorgeous in position 4  I'm not too familiar with clean sounds, but suffice to say that I actually really love the sound of the mid single on it's own now, it's no longer a bit useless like the blaze single coil. In fact, I think all my single coil blazes are going to slowly get shipped off to tim, as for the price of less than a new dimarzio (in the states) and for half the price of a new one in the UK you can get an awesome sounding pickup, especially as choice for single coils is limited for 7stringers. Hell, this thing even sounds cool distorted for leads which I'd never have though it would.

Overall:
I couldn't be happier, and they just really do make all the other guitars I have bar the LACS (which is swamp ash/maple) sound a bit dull and lifeless. The set I got compliments each other very well, and with the humbuckers split with a push pull pot and 5 way wiring it's given me 7 distinct usable gorgeous clean sounds. For the distorted arena, I have all the nuts from the nailbomb and the silkiness from the cold sweat and all the split tones in between, however for distorted stuff I pretty much just use the neck and bridge pickups.

A few other things:



[URL="http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/members/daemon-barbeque.html" said:


> daemon barbeque[/URL]] Well ,i was dissapointed when i first installed it!I then reailzed that i didnt't adjust the height!
> After adjusting the height ,it became a beast.
> 
> Really Rich harmonics ,somewhat unforgiving but therefore clean voicing.
> 
> Lot's of highs ,Lots of lows and great midds.
> The Powerchords are ripping and with the right amp...really tight!
> 
> The Lead tone is super (i never use Neck PU for leadwork) ,and i have to say ,it kills every "normal production" PU on earth.The quality of this Product is extreme...
> The funny thing is ,alltough i ordered a 7 string PU ,they put a Rotosound set of strings in the box ....but for 6 ahahaha.Anyways..
> If you have the extra cash for a killer product.Try the Miracle Man...The Huge bass and the screaming Highs with extremely complex and rich harmonics makes it one of the best Passives ever!


exactly what this many says.

The good:
- Sound amazing, and if you are in europe, the slight extra cost compared to dimarzios is more than worth it. I'd actually be happy with them if they were 50% more than they already are.
- The rewound single coil is a revelation. I was worried about having to route out bits of the guitar to fit other single coils, but turning swine into pearl and having it calibrated to the set is awesome. Very very pleased.
- Superb build quality
- Excellent value for money. Trust me.

The bad:
- Once in one guitar you'll find yourself trying to think of a way to get them into all your other guitars.
- For US residents they are expensive, but, not much more than the Seymour Duncan custom shop from what i've read... But even then, i actually think that even for the price they are an absolute bargain for a handwound hand built pickup as part of a calibrated set (calibrated sets work out cheaper). And it's worth it. Just as much as buying an expensive head is.


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## djpharoah

Well I got a k7 about 4 days ago and it has a blaze neck in the bridge and the original paf7 in the neck. Note this is in Mahogany bodied guitar.

*PAF7- neck*
_Cleans_: This pickup is  . On a clean setting (JC120 on my cube) with slight delay and chorus, this pickup rocks. Its very clean and has a nice classy vibrant tone. It is also very smooth on clean, unlike the AN7, which I found could sound clanky and sharp on clean.

_Low Gain_: Tried it out with the plexi model on my cube. It really sounds good. Very bluesy like and great for soft rock kind of stuff.

_High Gain_: This pickup officially is now my favorite neck pickup. It has some nice blaze neck like tones, but really nice. It just rocks!!

*Blaze Neck - bridge*
_Cleans_: Its quite alright for this. However I find I usually use the neck or neck+bridge for cleans. The tone is nice with some nice chorus/delay.

_High Gain_: This is where this pickup is . It is so articulate and clear due to its low output that even with high gain on my pedals/amp, I can hear every note in chords! Its got great midrange and the low end just is soo tight. Its almost like a better evo!! Can't believe I just said that but yes with new strings I put on last night - this pickup is sweet.


----------



## necronaut

I bought a RG7321 recently. So many people say the stock pickups aren't that good. I wondered if someone with a wider experience of pickups could tell me how you would describe the tone with the stock pickups compared to something more expensive and why they're deemed bad?


----------



## ibznorange

DiMarzio DSonic 7 
Guitar used: RG7620BK
Position: Bridge
Notes: Swapped magnet to an Alnico 8. Bar facing bridge.

The pickup seems to put out a bit of noise in my shitty practice amp, but my plexi is pretty quiet (even though its absurdly loud lol), and the noise doesnt really come through on there. Kinda bright with the bar facing the bridge, I've played them with the stock ceramics in both directions, and prefered the bar towards the neck by a good bit. I'll be switching it when i have some extra lead wire to attach. I have the guitar tuned to G#, and have been playing around in Drop F#, and it handles it just fine with a .070. sounds totally fine all the way up the strings, with a high c# using a .010
The magnet swap is a very good thing. i think it could benefit from an Alnico 5, but im not sure if i want to sacrifice the extra tightness that a8 (or c8) provides. DEFINITELY better with the a8 though. added a bit of aggression, although the pickup already had its share, while buzzing off some of the harsh highs


----------



## reguv760

Since I've sold the Blaze Bridge from the neck position of a UVGR, I moved the Evo7 from the bridge to the neck and got a D-Activator7 for the bridge. Here are my impressions on both:

Evo7 in neck:
*Good:* wow... tons of sustain and cuts through the mix. Not bassy at all! The mids seems to be dominant in this position. Otherwise, I dig the Evo tone in this position.
*Bad:* Not recommended for clean settings unless you roll the volume knob to 5. Also had to find the appropriate height so it balances out with the D-Activator7 without bottoming out. Can get a fat "jazzy" tone by rolling both vol + tone knobs to 6/7.
*Ugly:* Picking attack sensitivity is less defined and not as pronounced.

D-Activator7 in bridge:
*Good:* Took me a while to actually hear and comprehend the differences between this and an Evo7. In the end, the D-Activator is "active" sounding as it gets. It responds and attacks like an EMG and handles pick dynamics without sounding "compressed" and "metallic" while retaining the clarity DiMarzio's seem to be good at. Triplets and crunches are also top-notch. 
*Bad:* It's a bright pickup... might have to adjust treble/presence settings on amp. Not your typical "Dimarzio tone" but one can hear the PAF-ness on the D-Activator7. Cleans are very natural but somehow lack "character". 
*Ugly* Picks up more ground noise; the X2N's are much quieter! Noise suppression recommended for hi-gain madness with these pickups.

Reg


----------



## idspispopd

Pickup: Seymour Duncan JB-7
Guitar: Ibanez S7320 (mahogany body)
Position: Bridge

Clean: I'm usually not a big fan of using the bridge pickup for cleans but here's what I noticed

Really woody and organic sunding, think Volunteers by Jefferson Airplane live at woodstock.

Nice funk tone, except there is a TON of attack in the upper register. Nothing a little tone knob adjustment didn't fix though.

Overall this pickup is loaded with attack and punch. 

Distortion:

Lots of attack. 

The highs are through the roof. I can't even play a low C# power chord without getting overtones, even with the pickup as far away from the strings as it could go. BUT some rolling of on the tone knob fixes this right up. Lead tone is great. 

Tight low end. DJENT DJENT AHH YES

nice blues tone too


I really like this pickup, but the only problem with it is it would be unusable in a guitar with no tone knob. Other than that  1/2 out of 4


----------



## Kryss

i pretty much just stick with dimarzio evolution 7s they sound amazing. just a great great pickup imo. i always find myself going back to them when i play something else.


----------



## djpharoah

*Dimarzio X2N7 *
Guitar: Agile Septor 727 - 27"
Mahogany wings - Maple Neckthru - maple fretboard - TOM

This pickup rocks as a bridge pickup. It has the raw output lke an active pickup in the bridge and is great for rhythm/djent whatever you wanna call it. It needs to be placed in the right height away from the strings to really get it going. Also I recommend using heavier gauge strings as the x2n7 just sounds a lot fuller with them. 

Distorted this pickup is nice. Remember it has a relatively flat EQ with a small scoop in the mids. It has the nice chunky rhythm tone. 

Cleans is where this pickup surprised me the most. Coil tapped this pup has some nice shimmering cleans. Even with both coils its awesome!

*
Dimarzio Dactivator 7 Neck*
Guitar: Agile Septor 727 - 27"
Mahogany wings - Maple Neckthru - maple fretboard - TOM

This pickup was one that I wasn't really sure about before I bought it. I was like hmm mdo I want an active sounding pup in the neck considering I never liked the EMG stuff in the neck. 

Anyways I go to wire it up and find it sounds :yummy: almost like a smooth hotter PAF. I can achieve nice cleans with it to high gain steve vai stuff. It has now become my favorite neck pup from dimarzio pushing out the an7/blaze.

With a JCM800 Jubilee patch I can get Slash like tone, Satriani stuff to even YMalmsten stuff.

Great pickup. I would pair this hot pup with either the X2n7, the EV07 or the DS7.


----------



## daemon barbeque

Q-Tuner GL7 SuperHighZ Bridge
It's in my 1527

Well after extensive tweakage and tests ,it's time to make a In-Depth review.

The most important thing about the Q-Tuner is it's clarity.No other active/passive PU has this clarity ,and I can play High-Gain stuff without any noise cancelling gadget!

The second most important thing is it's range.After playing some minutes ,the range of this PU only takes your breath. You can hear harmonics that you never knew they where there.

And the third most important thing is 36 pole-pieces.There are great possibilities to push the midds ,get more harmonics etc.Works well for different Radius applications.


Okay. Let's talk about sound

The Q-Tuner doesn't have it's own sound like many PUs. It's rather transparent and Hi-Fi sounding ,therefore it's not well suited for "raw" players.

It's dead quite and really sensitive for any little resonance on guitar.The finger scratches ,small harmonics ,and free ringing strings are much more present than normal ,so It needs a really clean fingerwork.

Since it's Flat EQed (Better said it let's every single freq thru) ,it's important what kind of tone-character your guitar has.

The sound is like EMG60 ,X2N and BKP MiracleMan crossed.

I put a 1 MegOhm pot to get "every drop of highs out ,and it works really well.

The only "negative" thing is the PU height adjustement. You need to be really carefull (Like on X2N) of the PU height. Since the magnets are Neo. the magnetic field is even and strong.If you get too close to the strings ,the break-up is fast and false harmonics are jumping.It's soo strong that you can't even play a "normal" note on high-E after 18. fret.Everything rings on harmonics without end.

But a small adjustment clears every problem. It's a really versatile PU ,but i wouldn't recommend it for Stoners ,Doom players etc.

Every note is exact , too well defined and strong.

I will get Q-tuners for every guitar I own and going to own ,including my upcoming custom 8...

Great quality and value.


----------



## Daemoniac

DiMarzio X2N 7; Bridge position

Came on the new 7 string i got. Im pretty sure the 7 string has a mahogany body, wizard II maple neck, and 10-70" strings (Drop A).

The site says it has a slightly scooped tone as follows:
Bass: 6
Mid: 5
Treble: 6

Its a really high output humbucker, not the hottest by any stetch, but a good amount. Im going to steal Mind Riot's format here... so cheers for that...

Positive: Nice amount of gain and output, more aimed at slightly heavier styles. Due to the scooped nature of the pickup though its probably aimed more at a metal market. Good round clean tone, easy to control, and doesnt lose too much definition at lower tunings.

Negative: There is something reall strange about the voicing, and i cant quite figure out what it is. Maybe it just isnt for me. Also, it isnt quite 'thick' enough for me, i think because of the scooped voicing. 

Its definately a good pickup, but its got a weird voicing that i think you will either love or hate.


----------



## 8stringlover

those are the most powerful pickups you will ever play on... i have a pair in my 7 string... the neck pickup is very warm sounding with great power, the bridge pickup is chrome sounding, very very bright with massive power 25K yet perfect definition....


----------



## xma223

Anyone know if Seymour Duncan planning on AHB-2 Metal Blackouts for seven string? I have been using Livewires for a long time and would love to carry that sound to a sevenstring.

Thanks


----------



## caughtinamosh

When I first got my RG7321 I thought the stock pickups were OK - nothing outrageously wrong with them nor anything brilliant. I asked Tim from Bare Knuckle (a REALLY helpful guy - email him your rig/guitar and the sound you're after and he'll tell you what you need) what pickup I needed for an Eric Peterson sorta sound. He told me that I should buy the Miracle Man, so I did.

HELL, what a difference. While Bare Knuckle pups are known for their versatility (especially their contemporary high output ones), this is one is DEFINITELY voiced for hard rock/metal. It will do cleans, but with half the enthusiasm it has for distorted tones. It's EMG-esque, but it is succeeds where EMG fails - it doesn't sound as sterile and cold as hell. It can even produce really good tones through my Pod (known for their "digital" sound).

The bads? Like all Bare Knuckle pups, it's expensive, but if you're looking for heavy, there is nothing better. 



xma223 said:


> Anyone know if Seymour Duncan planning on AHB-2 Metal Blackouts for seven string? I have been using Livewires for a long time and would love to carry that sound to a sevenstring.
> 
> Thanks


 
I don't think so man. The only active Seymour Duncan 7 string pup I know of is the regular Blackouts.

Livewires?  Don't they give such outrageous output that it's impossible to get a clean sound at all on them?


----------



## sevenstringj

JB 7

What I hate about this pickup is that I always come back to it after trying other pickups. It's like, I really want to have a great alternative, but nothing seems to quite match the JB's combination of warmth, clarity, heaviness, tightness. The closest I've gotten is, believe it or not, the Dimarzio Chopper, which is a single coil-sized humbucker. Too bad Dimarzio's "custom shop" isn't really all that custom or I'd slap one on my 7-string in a heartbeat. The Chopper sounds like someone took the blanket off the JB.

I think my dream pickup would be a full humbucker Chopper.

Jazz 7

Pick attack can be piercing. Otherwise, quite a lush tone. Great clarity. Though I still prefer single coil tone for hot solos.


----------



## saltyrevenge

has anyone tried the blaze bridge


----------



## TomAwesome

saltyrevenge said:


> has anyone tried the blaze bridge



Do a search. It's a very popular pickup, so there are probably countless posts about it, including more than a couple in this very thread.


----------



## mika ale

Few di-marzio (again...)
Well, when i got my xyphos, i found that there wasn't enough difference between the *D-activator7* neck and the *d-activator7* bridge model. I mean they are nice pick ups, with the right amp and stompbox, it kicks ass, but, the sounds are too much similar.
Then i set a *blaze neck* and a *d-sonic7* : Well, the blaze is quite muddy attacking the low B, but is very hot when you play on the treble strings, while the d-sonic deliver you power and sustain (but without the typical attack of an EMG 81-7) and is as efficient soloing in low strings than in treble strings, un little bit with less precision in treble notes than the blaze.
With this guitar, i use a RG1527 with a *X2N7* and an *AirNorton7 *: the X2N makes you feel a growl. I mean that it's the same thing that hear howling a bear far from you. It's a very powerful pick up to play rythm guitar when lead uses a blaze, but, the sound will be more dirty than on a d-sonic, less clean. I use the Air norton as "single coil" on my Rg, using the parallel sound and with a chorus effect, it provides very nice sounds, bright, really like it. 
I really love di-marzio sounds, you have a big choice of pick ups that allows you to find the sound you're looking for, but, i think that solid rythm need for tainted trash metal project need the attack of EMG active pickups.


----------



## LEWY7777777

xma223 said:


> Anyone know if Seymour Duncan planning on AHB-2 Metal Blackouts for seven string? I have been using Livewires for a long time and would love to carry that sound to a sevenstring.
> 
> Thanks



I just wrote Seymour Duncan earlier today about making me a permanently jumped version in white and in an emg style housing, they will be responding probably within a week or so.



Mind Riot said:


> Dimarzio Blaze neck model
> 
> After going through two bridge pickups and not liking either of them, I approached this one with a certain amount of trepidation. Especially since it was a neck pickup, and I was putting it in the bridge, a practice that hadn't worked with the Air Norton 7.
> 
> The Bad: It could be a tad hotter I suppose, but there's nothing really lacking.
> 
> The Good: Most things. It is taut, muscular and clear. Distorted rhythm playing shines. Cleans are lovely coil split. The slightly scooped mids and lower output than the Blaze bridge make for outstanding clarity and tight low end. Leads could be a bit better if it was hotter with more mids, but you can't have everything. Just edge the gain up a bit or boost a tad and the leads are there.
> 
> I consider this pickup to be my personal first choice for a basswood seven string. It shines in almost every category that matters to me, although more lead oriented players may want something hotter with more mids. It is essentially a slightly hotter PAF for seven string; the EQ curve is almost identical to a PAF and it's just about 60 mV hotter. Just a great all around utility pickup for almost anything you'd want to do.
> 
> Personally, I feel that the Blaze neck is a great sleeper seven string bridge pickup. If more people tried it out I bet they'd love it. I sure as heck do.
> 
> \m/  \m/


 Yeah it rocks, I have a white DP700 in the bridge position of a modded RG7321- only pickup with just an on/off switch. It has simulated carbonfiber pickguard and coverplates. Very ibanez, very DiMarzio sounding.


----------



## Niilz

Andreas Kloppmann Pickups are well known here in Germany (but nearly unknown in the US :-(

Andreas builds some of the best replicas of old Gibson PAF Pickups (worldwide! ...no nonsense) and so I asked him for a custom 7-String Set based on his '58s PAF-replicas.
These pickups are quite "cool" (Neck: 8,3 k ohm / Bridge: 9,4 k ohm) and sound very open w/ a superb definition (good bass, not too thin, not too treblely, amazing midrange).
Since I work in a quite big guitar store (1200m²), I had the possibilities to compare them in a guitar w/ mahogany body, w/ set neck (mahogany w/ rosewood fingerboard; 24 frets) to all available Seymour Duncan and Di Marzio 7-string production pickups. They are absolutely *superior!!!


*


----------



## bulletbass man

I've been working on this for years. I've posted it on a few other forums and figured I'd pull some copy and paste and add it to here as well.
If you don't agree with me 

Nah more seriously though I love any possible input you guys can give me. Send me Pms if you have an inquiry on a certain model. I often forget to update the list with models I have used (or have used them but not enough to give a good review)

Also PM me if you have anything you would like added to this list. I don't add anything from other users though unless I have a lot of respect for you or have gotten several reviews from a variety of users to sort out bias.

Anyways hope you enjoy.

A special thanks to Zimbloth who is helping me critique some of my reviews as well as greatly enhance the bareknuckles section.

Another thanks to a friend of mine, Dave, who helped get this idea started and critiqued a few of the models as well
*Seymour Duncan:*

*SH-1 59: *Bit harder sounding than a PAF. Has kind of a vintage sound is good for blues, classic rock, and hard rock. Most common in neck position but is found in the bridge also. Decent cleans but has better od then the jazz- versatile.
Pros: Versatile.
Cons: Jack of all trades.
Hint: great for neck position use with high output bridge humbucker- has good cleans but takes nicely to overdrive too.

*SH-2 Jazz:* Low output. Very clean sounding. Mainly used in the neck but I have seen it used in the bridge once or twice. Very commonly paired with SH-4 JBs, SH-6 distortions, and SH-5 Customs. Poor overdrive IMO but some like it.
Pros: good cleans.
Cons: poor overdrive for anything heavier than blues.
Hint: good in neck position if you only need good cleans.

*SH-4 JB* (Jeff Beck Signature): One of the most popular pickups. It has relatively high output. It&#8217;s great for heavy blues to grunge to metal. Very trebly. Better cleans than most high out put pickups.
Pros: Good hard rock/thrash tones, better cleans than you&#8217;d expect.
Cons: Hard to predict which wood it&#8217;ll work well in- although it&#8217;s very trebly, I&#8217;ve liked it in (some) alder guitars more than mahogany guitars. Can sound thin sometimes too. 
Hint: Great choice on guitar with one humbucker. (fat strats, G&L Rampage, and such) Decent cleans with good Overdrive. Only down sound is it&#8217;s a bit eqed but set up properly its not much a problem

*SH-5 Custom:* Sounds like a beefed up PAF. It&#8217;s great for hard rock and I recommend it as a vintage-ish sounding metal pickup. Very commonly paired with a SH-1 in the neck. Pretty crappy cleans and can get a bit muddy is the down side.
Pros: Like the sound of your Gibson but need more gain
Cons: Pretty lousy cleans. Can get muddy if not eqed pretty perfectly.
Hint: Not very versatile but good for a beefed up classic tone.

*SH-6 Distortion:* It has high output, Good for metal, punk, and hard rock. Very commonly used with a SH-2 in the neck for versatility. Does not have great cleans. It also can get very muddy.
Pros: gives the amp a good kick for distortion. Works well in darker-voiced woods.
Cons: Very trebly but can get muddy too if you aren&#8217;t careful.
Hint: Avoid in alder guitars (especially with maple necks)- will be extremely bright! However some disagree.

*SH-8 Invader:* Like a SH-6 on steroids. Made for metal but can be used for Hard Rock, Punk, and other Aggressive styles. Usually only used for the bridge but can be used for neck. Terrible cleans in my opinion. It can be very muddy too. However I have been told it is good for beefing up the sound of a hollow body. But I don't really know why you would buy a hollow body to beef it up. But if you already have one, 70 dollars on a pickup is better than a few hundred on a guitar.
Pros: Lots of gain, and can be used to fatten out a thin or bright-sounding guitar.
cons: Extremely muddy with darker amp or guitar
hint: use it to beef up a really thin sounding guitar or amp

*SH-10 Full Shred:* Good for metal, hard rock, classic rock, and, well, shred. In-between a SH-5 and a SH-6 in the output but has a lot of presence. Great harmonics best on a Seymour Duncan pickup imo!!!
Pros: Great for classic rock, hard rock, or metal. I've liked it in both mahogany and alder guitars
Cons: Not great cleans but not too bad either
Hint: Really nice in the bridge position. Brings out good playing but devastating to poor.

*SH-11 Custom Custom:* Bright sounding, not as bright as JB though. It&#8217;s like a SH-5 except with alnico II magnets. Good for classic rock and blues. Can get a bit muddy with a high gain amp.
Pros: &#8220;Nice&#8221; bright, rather than piercing. Mature, expressive tone.
Con: gets a bit muddy with high gain, partly because of alnico II magnets. But with a high gain amp that is natrually very tight sounding its not muddy.
Hint: As it&#8217;s bright, works well in Mahogany guitars. great solution for more gain in your classic rock voiced guitar 

*SH-12 Screaming Demon:* Moderate output. A lot like a PAF, but more in a rock vein. Good for classic rock and hard rock. Very nice harmonics.
Pros: not super hot, so quite versatile (or at least, more than you&#8217;d think).
Cons: You&#8217;re paying extra for the Lynch name.
Hint: great for an old-school superstrat tone.

*SH-13 Dimebucker:* It has seriously high output. I only recommend for metal. And is seriously trebly too, but can get muddy too.
Pros: I&#8217;m thinking hard here&#8230; High output?
Con: can be too trebly yet muddy at the same time. Seriously not recommended.
Hint: Avoid. 

*SH-14 Custom 5: *Like custom custom except with alnico V magnet It&#8217;s great for blues, classic rock, and Hard rock.
Has a good deal of bottom end.
Pros: Better tone than the custom and better for high gain than the custom custom.
Cons: Doesn&#8217;t achieve the extremes the other customs do.
Hint: If your considering the custom custom and have a high gain amp I'd go for this instead

*SH-55 Seth Lover: *Well its pretty much a modern PAF. It was designed with the humbucker inventor Seth lover. Great for blues, country, and Classic Rock. However with gain it gets very muddy. It also feed backs like a mofo as it&#8217;s unpotted.
Pros: Gives that awesome classic rock tone
Cons: not meant to be used with any higher gained amp, or any high wattages either. A 50 watt plexi reissue is pushing it in both terms.
Hint: If your play primarily cleans and need a warm tone It's a pretty great sounding pickup. However if you're using any large amounts of gain or volume I'd avoid.

*SH-PG1 Pearly Gates:* Warm slightly hotter than normal vintage humbucker. It&#8217;s great for blues, country, classic rock, and hard rock. My favorite pickup of SD. I like it in the neck position.
Pros: Great for classic rock or a neck pickup paired with something higher gained
Cons: muddy with high gain. Not the greatest cleans but good cleans.
Hint: Neck position paired with a high gain pickup in the bridge. Or both if going for a classic rock tone. Much cheaper that say a Gibson pickup Great vintage soloing tone. Suprising amount of dynamics for a low gain pickup.

*APH-1 Alnico II pro:* Warm vintage sounding humbucker. It&#8217;s great for jazz, blues, hard rock, and classic rock. 
Pros: very warm tone, great for jazz and similar stuff.
Cons: needs to be paired with a warm-sounding bridge humbucker (if fitted in the neck position) as you&#8217;ll struggle to EQ both pickups properly if you don&#8217;t.
Hint: Don&#8217;t pair with bright bridge pickup

*DiMarzio:* Overall DiMarzios have a lot of presence. Usually bring out every note which is great for more experienced players. But for beginners who have started making bands it will cause for a lot of awkward silences from the crowd.

*Air Classic:* Vintage sounding. It&#8217;s relatively bassy. It&#8217;s great for blues, classic rock, and hard rock.
Pros: nice cleans and nice overdrive. More warm than bright.
Cons: Muddy with high gain. Not the best cleans either.
Hint: similar to Duncan 59 but warmer compared to brighter

*Bluesbucker:* Higher output vintage pickup. It has more treble than the average vintage pickup. This pickup when split gives awesome Jimmy Page tone. It&#8217;s great for blues, classic rock and hard rock. Pretty obviously Dimarzios wanna be burstbucker.
Pros: Nice cleans and great slight OD. 
Cons: Muddy with too much gain
Hint: brighter sounding vintage pickup. Good for a mahogany guitar

*PAF/PAF Classic:* Built to sound like the old PAFs of the 50s but its considerably brighter. It&#8217;s great for classic rock, blues, county, and hard rock. Can get a bit muddy. I much prefer PAF pros.
Pros: great cleans and good light od
Cons: muddy with too much overdrive
Hint: Some use it in the neck paired with a paf pro in bridge.

*PAF Pro* Another one of DiMarzios most popular pickups. Been used by nearly every shredder out there. Not a lot of gain but still upholds a lot of presence.
Pros: Extremely Versatile, Great tone, Great Clarity
Cons: Not the most forgiving of pickups
Hint: It's a great pickup. Solid for leads. May not have as much gain as some of the more metal guys would like so may be best in the neck paired with something hotter in the bridge.

*Air Norton:* one of DiMarzios most popular pickups. A good vintage sound with a little more kick. Great midrange. Good for almost anything.
Pros: versatile.
Cons: can get muddy.
Hint: Brighter woods suit it better- such as alder.

*PAF Joe: *Made for Joe Satriani. He wanted a mix of a PAF and an old 50s Gibson humbucker. It has a great balance in tone. It&#8217;s great for classic rock, hard rock, blues, and more.
Pros: warmer than dimarzio PAFs. 
Cons: Not the greatest cleans and gets muddy with gain
Hint: use with brighter guitar and lower gained amp.

*Fred:* Also used by Satriani. It has great harmonics. It has a much more balanced tone than most of Dimarzios pickups. It&#8217;s great for shred, metal, hard rock, and even blues.
Pros: vocal tone. Sounds like Joe.
Cons: not too versatile.
Hint: It has very vocal tone. It's really great for soloing but i would not recommend it if you play a lot of rthym or are in a band with a singer.

*Mo&#8217; Joe:* A hotter, more intense Fred. It&#8217;s great for shred, metal, and hard rock.
Pros: slightly more versatile when it comes to hard tones. Less vocal.
Cons: still a bit muddy. Not as vocal as fred (yes not as vocal is both a con and pro)
Hint: like satch but want to be heavier. Heres the answer Better rthym tone as well.

*Evolution:* Designed for Steve Vai. It has pretty high output and a tone of presence. Every note really jumps out. There is a slight lack of low end when played clean. It&#8217;s great for Shred, Metal, and Hard Rock. Loaded with mids.
Pros: very good for shred. Suprisingly good cleans. Great soloing tone for both bridge and neck pickups.
Cons: Not for beginners.
Hint: Only for experienced players. with the right amp and in the right guitar it will make the tone you want. Effects your tone more than you average pickup swap.

*Evo 2:* Just like the evolution with a little less power.
Pros: Better cleans than evo. More bass.
Cons: Doesn't bring out playing like an Evolution 
Hint: Good for someone with a very bright amp compared to evolution.

*Breed:* Also designed for Vai. Basically a Evo and PAF pro mixed together. It has awesome harmonics and output with a more vintage tone.
Pros: much more versatile than Evos.
Cons: perhaps not hot enough for the crazy metal stuff. Not as good with dark amplifiers.
Hint: don't get for the super high gain (modern metal) but definitely hot enough for less gainy metal. Do not use with a dark amp. Better in brighter tonewoods. 

*X2N:* Very High output. It&#8217;s good for metal and Shred. Pretty lousy palm mutes however. Very Muddy and really bad cleans. Personally I hate this pickup.
Pros: eh 
Cons: Too much gain. Sounds like poop
Hint: Avoid

*Super Distortion:* Often compared to Seymour Duncan&#8217;s Distortion in tone. Great distorted tone but not too great of cleans. Nicer harmonics than the SD distortion. It&#8217;s great for Hard Rock and ballsier classic rock.
Pros: better than SD distortion
Cons: Still not great cleans and its quite bright
Hint: Brings out thin sounding guitars nicely. Really nice sounding pickup. 

*Tone Zone (six string):* Very versatile. It&#8217;s often compared to Seymour Duncan&#8217;s Jb. 
Good from harder blues to Metal. Much deeper tone than JB, though. 
Pros: Good solo tone, reasonably versatile.
Cons: Prone to muddiness.
Hint: Avoid in darker sounding woods, like mahogany. I would also not suggest one with a dark amp.

*Dactivator:* It was meant to be an emg with passive perks. It turned out to be a metal machine but certainly isn't that comparable to an emg. More of a very high gain passive.
Pros: A great pickup for rthym playing. A tight lowend.
Cons: Can be a little sharp, piss poor cleans
Hint: It's great if you just want something for great rthym tones and decent lead tones. It's definitely Dimarzios best pickup for ultra low tuned stuff. (much tighter than other models)

*EMG:* These sound great for modern metal, and like all pickups, sound best through a quality (more often than not) tube amp. Not terribly versatile (apart from the single coils). The word "sterile" is something I describe them as. It's mainly because the active preamps on the pickups boost certain frequencies far above the others. So they don't sound quite as organic as your passive. 

*81: *Great for Metal and that&#8217;s about it. Pushes a tube amp way more than your average pickup. Eqed to be nearly all treble and high mids so it's rather bright.
Pros: Extreme amount of output. Good harmonics.
Cons: Prone to thin-ness.
Hint: Sounds best in mahogany.

*85: *Has same output than the 81 but is bit more versatile. Has a very chunky sound. It&#8217;s great for metal/harder rock.
Pros: more versatile than 81, doesn&#8217;t sound as thin.
Cons: Still not very versatile compared to a good passive pickup.
Hint: works well in alder.

*89:* Has coil-splitting possibilities. Therefore is one of the most versatile pickups EMG makes. It&#8217;s more similar to the 85 than the 81.
Pros: Want to coil split here's your answer
Cons: same as all emgs. It's still is a bit sterile.
Hint: Good answer for someone who likes the sound of emgs but plays a lot of styles. Perfect for pairing with SAs in my opinion

*60: *Cleanest sounding of active EMGS. Brightest sounding also. Mainly used in the neck paired with either a 85 or 81 in the bridge. Good for metal and hard rock. Still far from great cleans.
Pros: better cleans than most active pickups far more versatile
Cons: Still not very versatil
Hint: If you need super high gain but want to have a chance at decent cleans here is your answer
This is the most unbiased I could be. Personally I'm not a huge fan. But you can try them at nearly any guitar store. Just look for Jackson or Esp guitars. They're not for everyone including me. But you may love them.

*SA* series is quite nice.
pro: much better clean tone than emg humbuckers
con: quite bright. Not to be paired with an 85.
Hint: Really awesome with an 89. has a less sterile sound than emg humbuckers,

*Gibson:* These are quite good for stock pickups, but to be honest, unless you&#8217;ve tried them (and compared them to other branded pickups) and like them, I wouldn&#8217;t really consider them for an upgrade- especially in the UK/Europe where they&#8217;re hideously expensive.

*57 Classics:* Nice Blend of mids, highs, and lows. It&#8217;s great for classic rock, blues, hard rock, and more. I much prefer burstbuckers however.
Pros:
Cons:expensive
Hint:

*Angus Young:* Much like a 57 classic but hotter. 
Pros:
Cons:expensive
Hint:

*Burstbucker:* Used in mainly les Pauls. Classic sound. It has relatively high mids and bass. It&#8217;s great for classic rock, hard rock, blues, and more. My favorite Gibson pickup.
Pros: Sound good clean and distorted.
Cons: Expensive, especially in UK.
Hint: If you want a Gibson tone then it may be worth it. But a Pearly Gates would do more than suffice

*Tony Iommi:* High output. It&#8217;s great for metal and hard rock. Not the greatest of cleans however. Mainly used in the bridge with a 57 classic or 490r in neck. A little trebly.
Pros: comes in epi Iommi sig. Best pickups available in a epiphone solid body guitar
Cons: trebly. Bad cleans
Hint: I wouldn't buy it except if I were looking at sgs and on a budget. Where I would buy the epiphone Iommi.

*Dirty fingers:* High output. Not too great of cleans but ok distorted. Comparable to the X2N and invader. In my opinion way too muddy and way too sterile.
Pros:
Cons: Horrendously bad
Hint: Avoid

*496R Hot Ceramic/500T Super Ceramic:* Used mainly in explorers and Vs. Has mediocre cleans but good distortion. Good for hard rock and metal. I still prefer burstbuckers. 
Pros: very hot.
Cons: crap tone.
Hint: replace as soon as possible. 

*490R/490T:* Standard in many Gibson guitars. It has decent cleans and good distortion. It&#8217;s great for blues, hard rock, soft rock, metal, and more. It&#8217;s very versatile. But I much prefer burst buckers.
Pros: better than the 496R
Cons: still bad
Hint: replace

*498T Hot alnico: *Like the above but a little hotter. I prefer it over the standard 490T.
Pros: Doesn't need to be replaced like other gibsons do
Cons: Not a bad pickup but not great either
Hint: don't buy other than stock

*Guitarhead Pickups:*
*Megametal:* Somewhat similar to an X2n but not as over the top. Very good tapped tones as well. A fairly bright pickup
pros: Great price, high but manageable gain, good harmonics
cons: Neck pickup is a little too hot and over powering.
that's my 2 pennies. 
Hints: Cheap pickups that really rock for the price. Great for a variety of styles. Better suited for warmer woods.
Thanks to metalmike for this one

*Swineshead pickups*

*Venom: *Very high out put pickup but has great tone. It even manages pretty good cleans. Similar to an evolution but a little more rounded out. Neck pickups sings and bridge brings good amount of gain.
pros: Versatile for high gain. Really good tone.
cons: A little bright and cleans aren't the greatest.
hint: Very good pickups, Especially if you do a lot of lead parts

*Warthog: *Similar to venom but with less gain and and alnico V compared to ceramic.
Pros: More versatile than venom. Better cleans.
Cons: Could use a bit more gain in bridge. 
hint: Can be used for anything with the right amp. But could use a bit more gain in the bridge. A warthog neck and Venom bridge make a fantastic pair.
I have heard great things about other swinesheads. But haven't used them personally. My friend has yet to send me his opionions on them.

*Bareknuckles.*

*Miracle man: *Really good gain on passive. However has a lot more clarity than an emg would have. And has better cleans and lighter od as well.
pros: Great for achieving a fairly high level of clarity with lots of overdrive. With the right amp is rather versatile.
cons: Not fantastic cleans. A little harsh when improperly eqed.
Hint: really fantastic stuff. 

*Nailbomb: *Awesome pickup my favorite of this brand (actually all pickups) Extremely versatile. The only thing it doesn't do extremely well is jazz. But properly eqed it does it well enough. Amazing clarity and feel.
pros: insane clarity, extremely versatile, great soloing tone
cons: not the best for jazz
Hint: If you spend more time with high gain I'd suggest this

*Painkiller: *Another one of BareKnuckles High gained pickups. A tight, clear, and ferocious midrange, screaming harmonics, high mid emphasis opposed to low mid like on the warpig. More of a snarl than a growl. Fairly bright but not overly so.
Pros: Screaming midrange and loads of clarity
Cons: May be a bit bright in a bright tone wood. The high midrange isn't for everyone
Hint: Great match for mahogany guitars.

*Coldsweat: *Another awesome pickup from BKP. Again extremely versatile. Less gain than the other high gain models but still plenty to get the job done. Does jazz better than the nailbomb. Not quite as good of a soloing tone in my opinion. Retains insane clarity. Rather bright but does not have a lot of mids. 
Pros: great clarity extremely versatilte, better at jazz (only in neck model)
cons: not quite as good as nailbomb in high gain and soloing arena. But still very very recommended.
Hint: get over nailbomb if your play a lot of jazz. Due to Ceramic magnet opposed to Alnico V (bridge pickup only) it's a little better suited for a very dense piece of mahogany as it's rather bright in the bridge

*Stormy Mondays: *This pickup is far more geared towards low gain use. Insane jazz tone. Does blues and classic rock tones quite amazing as well. Perfect for your jazz box or Lespaul.
Pros: Amazing cleans, great for jazz and blues.
cons: Gets alittle muddy for gain. Then again if you bought this pickup for hard rock you deserve it.
Hint: Use for low gain applications. 

Zimbloth will be helping me enhance this section greatly as well as the overall thread


----------



## awesomeaustin

Nice work!

Thought, shouldn't it go in the Sevenstring Pickup Guide thread?


----------



## Ruins

nice review i will sure remember to have a look net time i will be thinking "new pickups"
thanks for sharing


----------



## sworth9411

Wow thanks for putting in the time, Its nice to see all of these things together


----------



## Elysian

interesting that you found the x2n muddy, i find it the opposite, its very clear, has tons of clarity, and palm muting sounds brutal on it. maybe its my ash bodied 6er speaking though. x2n7 sounds similar in my alder 7, only even more well defined. also, x2n doesn't sound good clean in the bridge position, but i've yet to find many pickups that do, but in the neck spot, in parallel, it sounds awesome clean, to me. very shimmery, bright, has everything i look for in a clean tone.


----------



## JMP2203

Elysian said:


> interesting that you found the x2n muddy, i find it the opposite, its very clear, has tons of clarity, and palm muting sounds brutal on it. maybe its my ash bodied 6er speaking though. x2n7 sounds similar in my alder 7, only even more well defined. also, x2n doesn't sound good clean in the bridge position, but i've yet to find many pickups that do, but in the neck spot, in parallel, it sounds awesome clean, to me. very shimmery, bright, has everything i look for in a clean tone.



well, 18 pickups in his review are muddy


----------



## bulletbass man

Elysian said:


> interesting that you found the x2n muddy, i find it the opposite, its very clear, has tons of clarity, and palm muting sounds brutal on it. maybe its my ash bodied 6er speaking though. x2n7 sounds similar in my alder 7, only even more well defined. also, x2n doesn't sound good clean in the bridge position, but i've yet to find many pickups that do, but in the neck spot, in parallel, it sounds awesome clean, to me. very shimmery, bright, has everything i look for in a clean tone.


 
Well the x2n is a fairly dark pickup. I tried it in a mahogany guitar. That's likely why I found it so attrocious. I'll definitely add that when I update the list later tonight.


----------



## Elysian

bulletbass man said:


> Well the x2n is a fairly dark pickup. I tried it in a mahogany guitar. That's likely why I found it so attrocious. I'll definitely add that when I update the list later tonight.



its not dark by any means, its extremely well balanced... i admit though, i didn't like the x2n6 much in mahogany, but the x2n7 crushes in mahogany. honestly, i wish they released a 6 string version of the x2n7, like, same eq curve(so as not to mutilate the original x2n, leave it the same, just offer a different sounding x2n)


----------



## bulletbass man

I've honestly never played the 7 string version. Again another thing I need to mention when I update this. Of course thier are going to be various conflicting opinions. No doubt about it. And again have only played it in a mahogany guitar so another fact I need to mention. I will be updating this later tonight hopefully.


----------



## EdgeCrusher

Cool reviews, thanks man! 

One thing I will say about the Tone Zone though, I installed an extra one I had lying around in a friends Les Paul and expected it to be pretty dark and muddy, but much to my surprise I LOVED how it sounded! Super beefy and chunky yet smooth and articulate with no mud! Though this was through my naturally very tight Mark III rig. With a tight amp, this pup actually sounds great in mahogany IMO


----------



## zilong

Elysian said:


> its not dark by any means, its extremely well balanced... i admit though, i didn't like the x2n6 much in mahogany, but the x2n7 crushes in mahogany. honestly, i wish they released a 6 string version of the x2n7, like, same eq curve(so as not to mutilate the original x2n, leave it the same, just offer a different sounding x2n)



If I recall right, Dimarzio liked the X2N7 so much that they DID release it... as the D-Activator X or something like that. Like the TZ7, for instance, the X2N 7 is pretty different from the its original counterpart. I don't recall off the top of my head where I heard this, but maybe it's worth looking into?


----------



## mnemonic

i found the x2n and x2n7 to be a bit different when i had both of them, though not like really different, they were still clearly very similar. then again they were both in pretty different guitars.

regardless, i didn't much care for them anyway. i found them kinda boomy and muddy, but with a fizzy top end which was weird.


----------



## bulletbass man

The Dactivator 7s in my opinion sound really great. The 6s are good but they really take down tuning quite well.


----------



## Elysian

zilong said:


> If I recall right, Dimarzio liked the X2N7 so much that they DID release it... as the D-Activator X or something like that. Like the TZ7, for instance, the X2N 7 is pretty different from the its original counterpart. I don't recall off the top of my head where I heard this, but maybe it's worth looking into?



not the d-activator x, thats for sure, the d-activator has a very different eq curve to the x2n7... not to mention slightly lower output... when i spoke to dimarzio 2 years ago(was doing a pickup swap, evo7 for an x2n7), the guy i spoke to told me they liked the sound of the x2n7 so much, they were actually considering redoing the x2n to sound like it... i don't think anything ever came of that though.

the funniest part about you guys saying the x2n is muddy is, it isn't eq'd bass heavy at all.


----------



## TonalArchitect

Cool. 

You said you've worked with Q-tuners and preferred them in bass guitars. 

Would you add a section for them?


----------



## bulletbass man

I'd prefer to take a review from someone else. Since I've only really played them in the stock position with some slight eqing I'd far prefer to have a review from someone who own's them and can really go into much further detail on how much that effects the sound. Perhaps the reason I preferred them in the bass so much was the guy said I could eq them for him. So again I'd prefer to take a review from someone else.


----------



## Toshiro

Elysian said:


> interesting that you found the x2n muddy, i find it the opposite, its very clear, has tons of clarity, and palm muting sounds brutal on it. maybe its my ash bodied 6er speaking though. x2n7 sounds similar in my alder 7, only even more well defined. also, x2n doesn't sound good clean in the bridge position, but i've yet to find many pickups that do, but in the neck spot, in parallel, it sounds awesome clean, to me. very shimmery, bright, has everything i look for in a clean tone.



The X2N sounds absolutely brutal in my S540. No problem with palm muting, or anything of the sort.


----------



## sonofabias

A very informative review, thank you very much. Would you consider reviewing Motor City pups?


----------



## bulletbass man

sonofabias said:


> A very informative review, thank you very much. Would you consider reviewing Motor City pups?


 
at the moment I don't have enough guitars to shell out for more pickups so I'm stuck primarily reviewing what I can for free or using friend's money. (Basically telling them to get a pickup I want to try out then if I don't like it I'll just throw in one of the few random pickups I have lying around the home which are all nice pickups btw not no stock Ibanez shit or something like that ) 

Also due to the fact I'm extremely busy at the moment I don't have the time just to mess around with various project guitars. Perhaps this summer I'll try one or two of thier models.


----------



## eegor

djpharoah said:


> *Dimarzio X2N7 *
> Guitar: Agile Septor 727 - 27"
> Mahogany wings - Maple Neckthru - maple fretboard - TOM
> 
> This pickup rocks as a bridge pickup. It has the raw output lke an active pickup in the bridge and is great for rhythm/djent whatever you wanna call it. It needs to be placed in the right height away from the strings to really get it going. Also I recommend using heavier gauge strings as the x2n7 just sounds a lot fuller with them.
> 
> Distorted this pickup is nice. Remember it has a relatively flat EQ with a small scoop in the mids. It has the nice chunky rhythm tone.
> 
> Cleans is where this pickup surprised me the most. Coil tapped this pup has some nice shimmering cleans. Even with both coils its awesome!
> 
> *
> Dimarzio Dactivator 7 Neck*
> Guitar: Agile Septor 727 - 27"
> Mahogany wings - Maple Neckthru - maple fretboard - TOM
> 
> This pickup was one that I wasn't really sure about before I bought it. I was like hmm mdo I want an active sounding pup in the neck considering I never liked the EMG stuff in the neck.
> 
> Anyways I go to wire it up and find it sounds :yummy: almost like a smooth hotter PAF. I can achieve nice cleans with it to high gain steve vai stuff. It has now become my favorite neck pup from dimarzio pushing out the an7/blaze.
> 
> With a JCM800 Jubilee patch I can get Slash like tone, Satriani stuff to even YMalmsten stuff.
> 
> Great pickup. I would pair this hot pup with either the X2n7, the EV07 or the DS7.



Holy shit. I just got this guitar (Septor 727) and when I was thinking about what pickups to put in it I thought about this a lot. I just came into this thread and BAM! there's a review about that exact combo of pups in the exact same guitar.

Thanks for the review, I think I'm going to go with this combo.


----------



## djpharoah

eegor said:


> Holy shit. I just got this guitar (Septor 727) and when I was thinking about what pickups to put in it I thought about this a lot. I just came into this thread and BAM! there's a review about that exact combo of pups in the exact same guitar.
> 
> Thanks for the review, I think I'm going to go with this combo.


Thats cool man - I kinda regret selling that guitar.


----------



## eegor

Hey, you wouldn't happen to have any recordings, would you? I'd love to here what it sounded like, just to make sure it's what I want.


----------



## the_arod

Elysian said:


> not the d-activator x, thats for sure, the d-activator has a very different eq curve to the x2n7... not to mention slightly lower output... when i spoke to dimarzio 2 years ago(was doing a pickup swap, evo7 for an x2n7), the guy i spoke to told me they liked the sound of the x2n7 so much, they were actually considering redoing the x2n to sound like it... i don't think anything ever came of that though.
> 
> the funniest part about you guys saying the x2n is muddy is, it isn't eq'd bass heavy at all.


so would you advise the X2N-7 or D-Activator 7 for my Ibby 7321, if I'm only looking for some great rhythm metal action??


----------



## bulletbass man

Personally I'd say the d activator just because I know for a fact it is indeed awesome. The x2n 7 may be better though. If it isn't like it's six string version as ely said than it may be great.

The dactivator-7 does kick much ass though.


----------



## baracuda

I ve just bought my new Ibanez Rg 7321 black. Its got stock IBz pups which is honestly speaking not a top of the line ones. I play metal hardcore ,real tight riffs with lots of chunky parts. But I also like to play some melo stuff on clean sound. So here it is what Im desperetly looking for (im asking all of you guys who really knows what they are talking about): I want my clean as flexible and versitle as my distortion.

My distortion : For my distorted sound I want a pup that will give me - tightness, 
noseleness, its gotta be very articulated, agressive , easy for pitch harmonics, with a good sustein and overall just a cool alternative metal tone.

My clean: For clean sound im looking for a neck pup that will make everybody cry.
I really wanna get a cool versitle, soul touching clean sound.

Before you guys say something you should keep in mind that i have a Basswood body
guitar with 5 piece neck and rosewood fretboard. My bridge is fixed. You can e-mail me
[email protected]
Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## Bloody_Inferno

This thread is awesome. I read this in the Ibanez forum first. Thanks bulletbass man

Anyone tried the Seymour Duncan Phat Cat P90s?


----------



## robotsatemygma

*EMG 707 Bridge
*Guitar: ESP LTD H-207
Ash Body, Tune-o-matic Bridge, strung with Ernie Ball 11's
Amp(s) used: Engl Thunder w/ Marshall 1960A, Peavey Rage w/ DS-1, Randall RM50 1x12, and Vox AD50 (?) 1x12

First extended experience with an active 7 string pick-up. 

I'm very impressed with this pickup. I have never been a fan of active pickups, let alone EMG's. I've played a LTD SC608B w/ EMG 81-7's and wasn't impressed. Very dry tone that lacked punch and clarity and sounded horrible when played clean w/o effects. 

Now the EMG 707 is a different story. This pick up does an excellent job of providing a high degree of precision, clarity, and body. It makes your accents pop more, and can be a unforgiving pick up if you play sloppy. 

Clean: This pickup has a very clear tone with a nice snuffed mid high/high end. The bass response can be a lil farty on the low B if you pick hard , but can be helped a little with rolling your volume knob down. I've had some fun playing slap bass with this guitar and this pickup does an excellent job keeping up. It gives you the clarity, snap, and thud for doing it, and gives it almost a neck p/u experience on the higher strings. I'm digging it.

Overdrive: Wow. This pickup delivers all facets of music. If I want to sound mean and evil, it gives me that "djent" easily where anyone listening will start moshing. Bluesy soul solos? Covered. Jazzy runs with a bebop rhythm and then some... yea it does it. My only grip is, 32nd notes on the low B can start to muddy up easily if you're not careful. This can be cured by turning down the gain a little... but who wants to do that?

Being a picky person, I'm very impressed with the EMG707 and what it can do. I think this pickup will be around for a bit.


----------



## Konfyouzd

hey... i have read many reviews about the dimarzio new 7's being kind of muddy in the lower registers. i was wondering if anyone has tried disconnecting the tone pot or changing out the pots to 500k or even 1M? and did this help w/ the muddiness?


----------



## guitarjerry

Can anyone tell me the specs on the alnico 5 and 8 magnets? As in what size, what dimensions are they? I cant seem to find anyone selling them right now and am going to see about getting them from a magnet manufacturer but need specs


----------



## Jaden

Tom, great thread idea mate.
I have been thinking of doing one very similar for a while now but heve not found the time to write it.

the one thing that I would include in all these reviews is a benchmark pickup from each manufacturer in both the alnico and ceramic magnet types..
personally I was going to choose the paf pro for the alnico and the evo for the ceramic.

I recently tested a few different pickups but one you dont have on here that you should check out is the PAF 36th anni, I used the standard 103 in the neck and I love em, I will test the bridge model soon and see how that works out.

you also mention that the TZ sound muddy and would recommend it for mahogany, i have to say that on paper I would agree, but I fitted one into one of my mahogany bodied guitars (a 7 string) and found them to be complimentary, bags of power and prescence but i do have a very very bright amp in the laney VH100R and of course it gets brighter the more you crank it..

top thread mate !


----------



## Sang-Drax

Amazing thread!

I deem it sticky-worth! \o/


----------



## blackrobedone

Reads a little like the Dimarzio and Duncan website descriptions . . . And Gibson gets the shaft on detail - "Sound quality: sux ass".


----------



## djpharoah

and Stickied.


----------



## ShadyDavey

Any thoughts on the qualities of a Dimarzio Chopper vs Seymoure Duncan hotrails in the neck position for hi-gain rock tones?

I've tried a 'rails, if that helps for comparison.


----------



## bulletbass man

Jaden said:


> Tom, great thread idea mate.
> I have been thinking of doing one very similar for a while now but heve not found the time to write it.
> 
> the one thing that I would include in all these reviews is a benchmark pickup from each manufacturer in both the alnico and ceramic magnet types..
> personally I was going to choose the paf pro for the alnico and the evo for the ceramic.
> 
> I recently tested a few different pickups but one you dont have on here that you should check out is the PAF 36th anni, I used the standard 103 in the neck and I love em, I will test the bridge model soon and see how that works out.
> 
> you also mention that the TZ sound muddy and would recommend it for mahogany, i have to say that on paper I would agree, but I fitted one into one of my mahogany bodied guitars (a 7 string) and found them to be complimentary, bags of power and prescence but i do have a very very bright amp in the laney VH100R and of course it gets brighter the more you crank it..
> 
> top thread mate !


 
I have a lot of respect for you so feel free to send any reviews or critiques in forms of pms. A lot easier for me to read and sift thru as well as talk with you.

All of my pickup reviews are recommendations. Personally I don't like the tone zone in mahogany especially compared to a d sonic, steve's special, or evo. For me it just fits best in Basswood. But at the same time I use darker amplifiers to brigher ones generally and use a lot of mids. So the pronounciation of low mids in a mahongany guitar with my rig is entirely unsuitable (or a lot of rigs for that matter) but in a brighter amp such as Laney VH100r (or the TT for that matter) and properly compensated for in the eq it can really work well. Bit like the Duncan JBs in alder. One would think it would so way too bright but eqed right it sounds thick and has BKP levels of Harmonics.


----------



## Jaden

Tom, thanks mate - will do !
be warned that I use a pickup for about 4 weeks and its the greatest pickup in the planet, then I swap it out and suddenly the new pickup is the greatest


----------



## bulletbass man

blackrobedone said:


> Reads a little like the Dimarzio and Duncan website descriptions . . . And Gibson gets the shaft on detail - "Sound quality: sux ass".


 
my reviews are entirely unbiased by the manufacturers. They just sometimes are pretty much in spot on agreeance with me.

Also Shadey you got a PM.


----------



## Don-O-Mite

Konfyouzd said:


> hey... i have read many reviews about the dimarzio new 7's being kind of muddy in the lower registers. i was wondering if anyone has tried disconnecting the tone pot or changing out the pots to 500k or even 1M? and did this help w/ the muddiness?



I just put dimarzio d-activators in my S7320, I think the tone is awesome a little more mids than I thought they would have, but i left every thing else hooked up like the tone pots and they sound fine. (for what its worth )


----------



## Darth Nihilus

Don-O-Mite said:


> I just put dimarzio d-activators in my S7320, I think the tone is awesome a little more mids than I thought they would have, but i left every thing else hooked up like the tone pots and they sound fine. (for what its worth )


 
I've used active EMG's for years and switched over to Seymour Duncan Blackouts. Now I finally found what I've been looking for all along....

The Dimarzio D-Activators!

This is my dream come true. I get the full wood tone of my guitars with all the natural low end and picking dynamics one gets from passives with the high output, tons of pick attack and most importantly the thing no other passive pickup has done to my satisfaction, it has the elusive massive harmonics and Hi-Fi tone only found in actives.

I found my holy grail pickup, I suggest you try these too!


----------



## Iceblade

Darth Nihilus said:


> I've used active EMG's for years and switched over to Seymour Duncan Blackouts. Now I finally found what I've been looking for all along....
> 
> The Dimarzio D-Activators!
> 
> This is my dream come true. I get the full wood tone of my guitars with all the natural low end and picking dynamics one gets from passives with the high output, tons of pick attack and most importantly the thing no other passive pickup has done to my satisfaction, it has the elusive massive harmonics and Hi-Fi tone only found in actives.
> 
> I found my holy grail pickup, I suggest you try these too!



Are you saying that you had issues with the Blackouts in getting artificial harmonics (pinch squeals) or are you just commenting as to a perceived lack of harmonic overtones vs. the passive D-Activators, Darth?

Thanks,
Jeff


----------



## Werwolf999

While I've learned a LOT from this thread, I still notice a lot of people, like me, still have difficulty finding the specific info they need. Does anyone think it would be a good idea to make a simple chart that lists what pickups work best in what woods?


----------



## Konfyouzd

sorry if my bumping of this thread pisses anyone off... but i've read this entire thread and of the reviews i've seen for the blaze bridge, i don't recall the body wood being mentioned. if it was, it certainly wasn't mahogany (at least not to my recollection). at any rate, i have a maple neck-thru with mahogany wings in which i'm considering putting a blaze bridge. i also have a blaze custom, but i have ben warned against putting mahogany and the blaze custom together. 

so basically i said all that to ask if anyone else has tried a blaze bridge in a solid mahogany or maple neckthru with mahogany wings or anything like that?


----------



## MerlinTKD

I think the Blazes were designed with basswood in mind, really, but Korn used to play mahogany guitars with a Blaze neck pickup in the bridge position, so I don't know why a Blaze bridge wouldn't be just fine.


----------



## Konfyouzd

they played 7620s and UVs when they used blazes... those are basswood...


----------



## scottro202

great reviews. one small crit, I would like to see a little more on how the pickup works with the woods of the guitar it's in.

but all in all a great review


----------



## Neuraxiom

*EMG 707* on a cheap Dean Vendetta 1.7, with the 707 being the only pickup in the guitar at the time. I hear EMGs don't sound too different across different guitars. I run it through my POD XT Live using some of my own patches as well as some of the popular ones I downloaded from SS.org.
*
Bridge - 9V

*People complain about the sound being compressed and bassy. I like it because I originally played bass and I only play fast metal. I can see where the pickup might come shorthanded for some other genres. It gives riffs an 'epic' feeling to it, but after a while that epicness tends to die off. It's a good pickup if you are obsessed with low end.

*Bridge - 18V

*Hmm, I liked this a little bit more. To be honest, I didn't notice much of a difference when I first switched. After a while, I noticed that the pickup was hotter and it picked up my mistakes a little more. The mids are more prevalent, but the rest was pretty much the same.

*Neck - 9V

*It sacrifices some of the lows to get more mids and highs. I really liked the highs, but I'm not much of a lead player so I can't say much about that department. This is a good position for rhythm.

*Neck - 18V

*The mids were disgusting. In a bad way. I couldn't stand it. It sounded like stock B.C. Rich pickups but with more bass. The highs were completely fine, but everything else did not mesh well.

*Summary
*
I wish I had a pair of these so I could find the best 707 combination, but here's how I rank the sole pickup:

Neck 9V > Bridge 18V > Bridge 9V > Neck 18V


----------



## Valserp

*Seymour Duncan Blackout Metal*
Used in a Peavey Vortex basswood guitar.

The pickup is extremely hot, even with the jumper off(which is supposed to be a "normal-ish" volume setting).
It has a ton of mids, mostly lower-mid voicing, and I strongly suggest against using it in basswood bodies, unless you want to get lots of mud.
Did not pair well with my EMG60 in the neck. When the switch was in the middle position, I would only get the sound from the BOM, not both pickups combined.
I guess it would work well with 1-pickup cavity alder guitars, such as the RR24 or Alexi models. Has lots of chug and sounds fantastic on leads. Picks up harmonics like crazy.

Edit: Oops, was I supposed to review it only if it was a 7?


----------



## Jaden

Werwolf999 said:


> While I've learned a LOT from this thread, I still notice a lot of people, like me, still have difficulty finding the specific info they need. Does anyone think it would be a good idea to make a simple chart that lists what pickups work best in what woods?



I considered this myself, as an example I am roadtesting some PAF 36th anniversary pickups for about the last month or so, and I love them, others dont.. I wanted to write a decent review but found myself adding so many "if this" and "or thats" that it just ended up a jumble.. 
before that I had d activators great pickups in almost any wood but I can hear the strong magnetic pull affecting teh oscillation of the strings, some are worse than others, when I mentioned this to someone and played while desribing this effect I got laughed at a bit and basically told that these things cant be heard, well..... I can hear them so..

what im trying to say is that is just far too subjective, people hear things differently.

I quite like the sound of a tone zone in mahogany, most people dont because they look at the spec of the pickup and the dark sound of the wood and then make the assumption that the whole setup will be too dark, I think the other way around.
I think that you should (somtimes) try to fit pickups into a complimentary chassis, meaning that the natural frequencies of the wood are helping to get the most out of a pickup, having said that I wouldnt be in a rush to fit a humbucker from hell into an ash guitar  - once again, its subjective.

so, with such a subjective subject I wonder if its even possible to begin writing something that would be useable past what the manufacturers write..

I write a lot of reviews of the pickups that I sell on ebay, AFTER ive written a review i check the website to see what the manufacturer says, its normally very similar in a "general description" type of way..

anyway, im rambling now... some people look for clarity, some for raw power..
your amp makes a big big difference, you playing makes more of a difference.
your ear makes a big difference, sometimes we fill in the gaps we dont expect in sound with what we expect to hear - psycho - acoustics......

I suppose im saying that no matter if someone wrote a list, another would always disagree with many aspects of it...

J.


----------



## Yuri Landman

I just rotate the pickups.
If you want a seven string add one pickups and rotate it along with the bass or trebble section and give it a separate output.

Most Baritone guitars don't sound very well and too muddy when you play barre chords.
If you splitt the bass string (I use a Bass D string tuned as a B) and send this to the bass amp, you get a much better more deep and broad result than with a mono signal.

If you want deep metal, spilt it up and you'll notice the difference in sound when playing a regular barre chord.


----------



## BrainArt

Konfyouzd said:


> they played 7620s and UVs when they used blazes... those are basswood...



Early K7s have Blaze pickups. (The neck version for both positions.) Now they use PAF 7s.


----------



## Konfyouzd

IbanezShredderB said:


> Early K7s have Blaze pickups. (The neck version for both positions.) Now they use PAF 7s.



no freakin way! i didn't know that. i want an old K7 now...


----------



## BigMikeBass

Hey all,
I'm making a Fender Jazz clone 7 string and I need to find some pickups... I'm putting a bartolini soap bar in but I also want it to have two fender style jazz bass passives with the same style coils and poles you'd find on an average j bass... anyone have any info for me?

Thanks very much,
Mike

[email protected]
www.thejimmyswiftband.com


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## BrainArt

I have the X2N 7 in my 7321FM, and it is awesome! It's probably my favorite bridge pickup, right now.


----------



## BrainArt

DiMarzio X2N 7.

Bridge Position.
Ibanez RG7321FM
Other Pickups in this guitar are a Blaze Neck in the neck position (I'll get to it later).


Ok, first things first; I thought that this might be a little over the top and too powerful for me, but I was wrong. This pickup is amazing for anything in your face and heavy as well as shred. It has a nice balanced EQ and reacts to picking dynamics like many other passives.

The clarity of this pickup is better than any EMGs I've played (and I love EMGs as well), it also has a seemingly higher output than the EMGs I've played. It has a growling rhythm sound and is fat yet tight and not muddy what so ever.

I must have extremely good luck with gear, because I've read a lot of complaints on the clean sound of this pickup and when I play clean, it has a very single coil sound. Now, I'm not saying that it has the best clean sound, because when picking hard it tends to break up, but picked lightly it's really a nice sounding pickup clean. The series and parallel sounds from it are awesome, as well; though, they aren't as full sounding like the full humbucker. In the middle position with the Blaze Neck it sounds awesome, again a little thing but that's fine, I don't use the middle position all that much anyway.

All in all I have to say this a really good pup and my favorite bridge pickup for the time being. On to...


DiMarzio Blaze Neck
RG7321FM
Neck Position


I'm glad I got this pup for the neck position, it's warm and fat but not muddy and has a remarkable clean sound.

I use my neck pickup for cleans and distorted leads, and this covers them all. I would like it to be a little more liquid sounding, but other than that it's a great pickup.

DiMarzios site EQs it with Bass 6.5, Mids 4.5, and Treble at 5.5; I can definitely hear a a scoop but it isn't mushy sounding at all (but I run my amp EQ with more mids and treble than bass). I have the pup wired in parallel, and it sounds great! It's hard to describe the sound of something, especially since sound is subjective. Some like it, some hate, some love it, and some tolerate it, but would prefer something else.

All in all, I have to say it gets the job done for me...... For now.


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## SlipknotKoRnfan

IbanezShredderB said:


> Early K7s have Blaze pickups. (The neck version for both positions.) Now they use PAF 7s.


 
Are you sure? I have an '01 K-7 (first year run) and I'm pretty damn sure there are Paf-7's in it


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## BrainArt

SlipknotKoRnfan said:


> Are you sure? I have an '01 K-7 (first year run) and I'm pretty damn sure there are Paf-7's in it



Yeah, Munky and Head use(d) Blaze Necks in the bridge position of their UVs and put them in the very early K7 models, before they moved to the PAF 7s.


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## onefingersweep

*Carvin C26-T (Bridge pickup)

*I'm doing this review for the *neck* position. Most people complain about these pickups, that they don't have clarity, tightness and warmth etc. Which I can understand but I tried this one in the neck. I thought, why not try since there's other people that have highpower passive pickups in the neck, Michael Romeo (Dimarzio ToneZone) Michael Angelo (Dimarzio Superdistortion) for example.

I sounds really good, very warm, and of course very powerful but if you have it a little bit longer from the strings than normal it doesn't get muddy, it sounds very warm, liquid with alot of attack and definition, surprisingly very clean also. Running my guitar into a Fryette Pitbull 100 CL (no clean channel) but I can still strum as hard as I want without any breakup.

If you like liquid shred tones for the neck this pickup is really a must try in the neck. Reminds a bit of Michael Angelo's sound without the high mids, lots of definition, sustain for weeks. It's also tighter than I tought it would be, if you have a bright guitar, try it in the neck!


----------



## Darth Nihilus

Iceblade said:


> Are you saying that you had issues with the Blackouts in getting artificial harmonics (pinch squeals) or are you just commenting as to a perceived lack of harmonic overtones vs. the passive D-Activators, Darth?
> 
> Thanks,
> Jeff



Hi Jeff,

Sorry I just now saw your question. I never had any issues with getting harmonics on the Blackouts or EMG's. That's something I've been looking for in a passive pickup for so long, I WANTED a passive to have those qualities like the actives. I want a passive pickup do all the things I love about actives but with the woody, uncompressed dynamics and pick attack of a great passive.

I found that in the D-Activator! I still use the Blackouts and don't see that changing due to it's insane power and tone but I get all the power I need in the D-Activator with all the problems I had with actives (EMG's not Blackouts) like compressed, thin tone and virtually no wood tone eliminated!

I also like the D-Activator in the neck but I would love to see Dimarzio make a Humbucker From Hell7 or a PAFpro7 because I like those for the neck a bit more, especially the HFH.


----------



## dis89

Carvin C26 (neck and bridge)

I have these stock pickups in Carvin DC 727.
The best IMO description for them is to compare the C26 to a PAF pickup of some kind. They give you clarity, dynamic, uncompressed sound, sound very well tapped, but with over the top high gain have lack of definition and have a muddy low end.

GOOD - verstatility, dynamics, high tonal range, clean sound`s great
BAD - very demanding to your picking due to lack of compression you get in DiMarzios, for example. Wont go for extreme styles of music, only if boosted with an active preamp.

will go for fusion as a dream


----------



## AngryGoldfish

Does anyone know whether Bareknuckle make the Nailbomb or Painkiller (or anything for that matter) in colours other than black? I want to stick a white one in the bridge of my Apex.


----------



## BrainArt

AngryGoldfish said:


> Does anyone know whether Bareknuckle make the Nailbomb or Painkiller (or anything for that matter) in colours other than black? I want to stick a white one in the bridge of my Apex.



PM Zimbloth and ask him, or email Tim at BKP.


----------



## cronux

been using the 707 but i'll switch it up soon


----------



## Soubi7string

DiMarzio Evolution 7

replaced the RG7321 stock pickup
wanted lots of mids
and I got that
also want considerable amounts of Bass and Treble but mids mainly for sustain and loudness
I got everything
its definitely a hot pickup
very pleased with it, its clear as day on both Distorted and Clean.its also a very unforgiving pickup.If you have sloppy playing and want to know what to improve upon this is your Pickup.Its very bright as well, great for taps and sweeps and chugs and pretty much everything.Strongly suggest it for Metal, Death grind, grindcore and experimental players blues and Jazz players I recommend it as well just be sure to cut back on the bass and treble a bit for the warmth of the pickup to shine through.

Pros-bright,clean,high gain.Play with it and you get alot of different tones.Very versatile

cons-if you don't set up your amp just right, it can get a bit muddy on the low end
also if your amp isn't set up right for it, it sounds kinda plastic like, why Idk

Outcome-better.If anyone says this pickup is bad they haven't experimented with it long enough.I just got mine and I'm still finding out different tones with it.


----------



## BenInKY

DiMarzio X2N 7

Replaced the stock RG7421XL pickup.

I was looking for something similar to an EMG 81 without having to route the guitar. Don't care for the SD Blackouts. I've heard for the longest time that the X2N is really similar to the EMG 81, only passive. I paired it with a D Activator 7 Neck.

It's way too much everything for me. 

I've had a DiMarzio Evo 7 in a 7620, and I liked it other than the low B getting mushy. I'm thinking maybe the extended scale of the XL fixed that problem and an Evo 7 would rock in a 7421XL, but the X2N 7 is just LOUD.

Definitely hotter than any bridge pickup I've played through, be it an Evolution 7, EMG 707, Blaze, EMG 81, Tone Zone and random stock pickups.

It's just sharp and unpleasant-sounding to me. I tried dialing down the volume and tone knobs and trying different amp settings, lowering the gain, etc., and it's just shrieky to me. Not to mention much louder than the D Activator 7 neck I paired it with.

I'm going to call DiMarzio today and see if I can trade it for a D Activator 7 Bridge, being that I like the D Activator 7 Neck and these are supposed to be DiMarzio's latest attempts at sounding like active pickups.

Pros: If you have an amp that doesn't have enough gain for you, this pickup will gain it up!

Cons: If you have a great-sounding rig already it's just too much output.

I know my review is contrary to most peoples' here, but I'm sticking with it!


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## grape juice

i was looking into putting a lundgren into a custom guitar, i listened to some videos on youtube. They seem verrrrry dark and high output amazing metal pickups from what i have heard, but how versital are they? can they play other types of music well besides metal, such as blues and jazz. if not what about emg 707s?


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## BenInKY

DiMarzio D Activator 7 Bridge

This was a 30-day replacement for the X2N 7 I tried in my 7421XL. The X2N 7 sounded like somebody went to a mixer board and moved every slider up to 10. No matter how much I tried to dial it down with knobs or whatever I believe it clipped my amp to make a very unnatural, unpleasant attack that was all percussive noise.

Anyway, The D Activator sounds like an active such as the EMG 81 but with the dynamics of a passive pickup on cleans, and has a much nicer clean tone than an active. I can get artificial harmonics out of it no problem, and the notes really ring out well regardless of the amount of gain. The output isn't overwhelmed by percussive picking noise like the X2N 7 was. I'd compare this pickup to the DiMarzio Evolution 7 with tighter low end. 

For a 7-string bridge pickup, for what I like, and not routing the guitar, I deem it the perfect pickup. My search has ended! I recommend it all day long.


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## maxoom

Would have been a nicer read if people would have stuck to pickup reviews and not start asking PU advice and making random questions and comments.A Moderator should be able to clean it up?


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## Konfyouzd

^ There is a "search this thread" utility. Use it. 

Btw... BUMP. Some ppl don't seem to know this thread exists.


----------



## metalmankam

After much deliberation and asking around on here which way to install it (as there is much debate over where the bar should be) I purchased the crunch lab 7 thinkin it'd be the cats pj's. WRONG. I have it with the bridge facing the neck (the most common recommendation) and it sounds like i'm missing high end. My guitar is a Schecter Revenger 7 with a basswood body. Ever since the crunch lab was installed, it sounds like my amp is in a tin can or somethin. If i crank up the treble knob on my amp (peavey vypyr 75) it doesn't fix it. It's like it's compressed all the time and i can't turn off the compressor. The low B sadly is very muddy. If i turn it up loud, it's like it still sounds like i turned it down. 

This sounds weird but it's like the tone is turned down but the volume goes up as i crank the master? It's not very loud. I've found it to be the opposite of what everyone else has said about the pickup. 

I want some chug and crunch and some good low-mids. I'm lookin for 7 string chug and crunch like divine heresy and the CRUNCH lab is not it. I think i'll try turning the pickup around and have the bar facing the bridge before i decide to sell it or trade it, but so far i'm very disappointed.

EDIT: I intsalled a push/pull to coil tap it and i must say that the stock neck pickup and the tapped crunch lab in parallel is EFFING BEAUTIFUL. It just doesn't do it for me for a heavy metal crunch sound


----------



## stuglue

Ok, this is part 1 of my pickup review as im currently in the process of having a 7 string built (more on that later)
Here is a review of the dimarzios in my 6 string alder yamaha.

X2n bridge - I agree with the other x2n reviews. This pickup is perfect for low chug, i use Voxengo Span to see the frequency that it covers and it goes right down to 20hz!, for beef and meat its great. Where it lacks is high mids and treble, on the frequency graph there is nothing after 4khz and you can here this as it quite dull. I have recorded a riff with this pickup and a friends EMG 81 and blended together they sound fantastic as the emg doesn't have the bottom end but its got way more upper mids and treble (right up to 10khz). Pinch harmonics are very easy to get from the x2n and it cleans up nicely. If it had the midrange of a tone zone it would be a fantastic pickup.
Dimarzio Evolution - I have this in the neck position and its very loud, a lot louder than the x2n, i think i need to drop the pickup from the string.
Tone wise I love it, perfect for leads it got that smooth buttery tone, and bags of middle, and again like the x2n not much treble (but it is in the neck position), its very bass heavy so rhythm playing is a no no as its too muddy but for fast shred its great.

Ok, my next review will be in a couple of months as im having my first ever 7 string built. As a fan of the x2n ive gone for the x2n7 in the bridge ( i hope it does sound different from the 6 string version as i want more mids!), in the neck ive gone for the liquifire. 
Body wood will be alder, i contemplated basswood but with the x2n I desperately need to get some treble! 
Neck wood will be all maple (again to try to get brightness)
Pots, well ive gone for one megohm so as to try to let my high end through.
Its also going to have a 7 string floyd rose on (the ibanez Korn whammy) and a 3 way pickup selector so it'll be interesting to see what the x2n/liquifire sounds like in combo.


----------



## SirMyghin

Rebel Yell pickup in a Mahogany bodied Contour (carvin)

A very nice pickup with extremely tight bass, and good mids/highs without sounding harsh. I play metal to classic rock with it easily. Very versatile. The pickup has a lot of presence, and is definitely in your face. What shocked me was the low amount of string pull. I have the pickups up pretty high and it doesn't matter, my sustain is huge. The old pickups must have had monstrous pull. Pinch harmonics are no problem with either pickup and the sound is pretty rich. The presence and harmonics are some of the bigger +s, when you slap on the gain and hit a big chord, you know it. 

The get the classic rock tones , at least the cleaner ones you should probably throw the pickup in parallel mode as it does not really jangle outwise. The bottom end is not huge but there is more than enough there, bass is for basses either way.


----------



## Nuke

As you've probably read by now in one of the other threads (  ) I got the 7-string Warrior which I mentioned way earlier back this week (alder body, maple bolt-on neck, ebony board, Floyd).

I've taken some time to really scrutinize pickups and what they bring to the table over the last couple of years, as well as expanded my outboard gear somewhat.

The guitar currently has a Duncan Custom 7 and Jazz 7. In our last episode, it was a Distortion 7 and Custom in the neck. IIRC, I did have a JB7 in it just before I sold it. Can't recall now.

First off, I'm now favoring a Digitech 1101 over my ADA/TSR-12 combo. This is a fairly recent change, though I've had the 1101 for about a year or more. I'm digging through the amp sims and taking clues from the "real amp" world as to how to set up patches in it (i.e. a pedal in front of a JCM800, for example).

This is leading me to build what I feel are useable patches. How close they are to "the real thing", I have no idea. It sounds good enough to me. By comparison, I'm noticing the ADA preamp has a bit more "fuzziness", and less clarity. Could just be my EQ settings in the TSR.
At any rate, I'm finding the 1101 to work better with the 7-string than the ADA does.

Now on to the pickups:
The Custom is a really beefy pickup in this setup, getting a vintage Black Sabbath type of tone - slightly farty on the low strings, but not too flubby or mushy, with biting, punchy leads that don't exactly sound as smooth as a violin quartet pulling a long sustained note. It's not one Michael Angelo Batio could do his hammer-ons-only shtick with. Picking is required most of the time, which is fine with me.
Clean, it's nothing to write home about, but then, it's in a BloodDrip Warrior 


The Jazz is really glassy and articulate with a JC120 patch, as you would expect. The lows are a bit boomy, but some EQ work will fix that. For distortions (JCM800+TubeScreamer, Mesa Mark IV, Legacy VL100, etc) it gets a nice raspy rhythm tone (think the intro to Into The Void, but with more bass) and has a glassy, almost Stratty tone on the solos. Might work a bit better than the Custom on those MAB-type hammer-only runs, but you'd still have to pick frequently.


I do notice the low E and B sound kinda "flatwound", even acoustically. There's no punch. However, this could be due to the strings being used, though they don't feel cruddy.
I'm hoping Floyd Rose/Schaller didn't cheap-out and use a low-quality pot metal for the 7-string trem parts, as that's what it sounds like. 
Usually when strings sound like that on my 6s, the strings feel cruddy/sticky. These do not. Pick scrapes are nice and bright, even with a Dunlop JazzIII (which is also an indicator of cruddy strings IME - dirty/dead strings have a hard time with scrapes).

Also, I've rewired the Jazz in parallel (green+bare+white to ground, red+black to switch), which gave it the added clarity. Before, wired in series (red+white together, black to hot, green+bare to ground), it sounded closer to Joe Pass on the same JC120 patch - kinda muted with no bite on the high strings.
Might try that on the Custom and see what happens.

I'm also contemplating a magnet swap with the Custom - maybe replace the ceramic magnet with an A5 from a Duncan Designed 7-string I've got lying around to make it a C5.

Then there's the Invader-7 I've got in another guitar (Jackson DX7). Might put that in for a bit.


----------



## SW Davion

I have experience with three pickups in thier respective guitars...

First, I play in a band that sounds similar to Lacuna Coil.
My rig is a Peavey JSX head on top of an 80's Mesa Boogie open/sealed back cab loaded w/ Black Shadows. I use the head on clean only and front load all sounds from an old school Boss GT3.


PAF7: In a 2001 Ibanez K7. Mahogony body. Bridge and neck. Set about halfway between the body and the strings.
Great sounding pickup. Pretty even output across the spectrum of Low's to High's. Easy to control, very quiet and dependable. Love's lots of overdrive. Clean's are nice, like a bassier fender strat if that makes any sense... Smoothe sound, but not great at pinched harmonics. 

EMG 707: In a 2001 Korean Ibanez 7321. Basswood body. Bridge and neck. Set just a bit lower than half between body and strings.
I agree with the previous post about the 707's. These pickups do in fact add an EPIC sound to the music. It is a wonderful mix of crushing lows and mid range bark. Highs are good, not as steril sounding as the 81-7. Harmonics come thru easily. Where this pickup excells is when you hit a four or five string chord, just sings with harmonic overtones.

BC RICH Warlock 7 Factory PU's. 

I saved this for last... 
In 2005 I purchased a Warlock 7. Basswood body. The guitar itself was so-so... neck was horrible.

But the Pickups were AMAZING. They were loud like an active, but still had all the tone of a big alnico passive. Lows were about a 7/10 mids were an 8/10 and highs were probably a 6/10.

The best description I can give is this guitar is it had a open piped Harley Davidson sort of tone. In your face. No joke.
Should have put some aftermarket pickups in the guitar before I sold it just to use these on a higher quality quitar.


As a side note.. when recording, the K7 w/ the PAF7 and the 7321 w/ the EMG 707's work fantastic together. When I dual track my guitars for that thick sound, the two guitar tones sound HUGE together.
The tones don't cancel each other out at all... 
If you ever have the chance, this combination works fantastic.


----------



## edtemple

Hey all!

Quick question...

I just ordered a Dean Vendetta 7 from Amazon ($142) cheap, and I already know I need to replace the pickups. I usually use a Fender Strat HSS with DiMarzio Dual Sound humbucking pickups (same basic sound as Super Distortion), and I want to get the Vendetta to sound somewhat similar. Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks everyone!

www.edtemple.com


----------



## SW Davion

To update my previous post I have added a Dimarzio X2N7 to the bridge of my Ibanez K7.

The X2N7 is a LOUD pickup. 

It is just a touch louder than the EMG 707 mounted in my 7321. Just a touch. 

The X2N7 has WAY more bottom end than the 707. I am using a Peavey JSX head behind a Boss GT3. The GT3 is programmed for the EMG. The Dimarzio sounds killer using the same patches, but had to turn the bass knob on the amp down from the 12'oclock position down to about 10'oclock. Otherwise the tone was overall very comparable with the EMG707.

While the EMG has a slightly "HiFi" sound, the Dimarzio has a slightly more raw sound. More edge would be a better way to describe it. Good highs, powerful mids, immense bottom end, but very easy to tame and control.

And for the d'gint crowd... this pickup is_ VERY_ precise and pronounced. I was very surprised. 

I could easily switch from guitar to guitar using the EMG in one and the Dimarzio in the other, the only change would be an adjustment in the bass frequency.

If balls is what you are looking for and are not interested in cutting your guitar, than this pickup should be considered. All the power of an active, but the tone of a super high output passive.

Best of both worlds.

 TWO THUMBS UP FOR THE DIMARZIO X2N7!!


----------



## TaylorMacPhail

Hey guys, I'm new to the forums so don't be sassy haha , anyways, I have a couple questions for y'all, and the first one involves a 6 string and not a 7. I have an ESP Horizon NT-2 (brown burst) with a mahogany body and an ebony fretboard. I currently have a Seymour Duncan Distortion in the bridge and I don't feel it has enough balls. I have a JB sitting around at home, and I would have to pay to get pickups installed so I was just wondering if the JB would have more balls (I play a lot of metal) before I go ahead and pay to put them in. I also have a distortion in the neck too, and I have a SD Jazz sitting around home too (JB & Jazz set came extra with my ESP), would that be good for smooth metal solos and nice thick cleans (with my coil-tap of course)? 

I have ANOTHER decision to make, and that is finding a good set of pickups for my Stephen Carpenter basswood 7 string (sc-607?). I kind of have my mind set on the Air Norton in the neck and Blaze in the bridge. I play mostly metal (with both guitars) and I like a modern metal sound (mesa rec, engl fireball, peavey 5150, etc.) and I am mainly a lead player, but I always like playing those groovy Drop G djenty riffs (who doesn't right?). A huge thing to keep in mind, is the clarity of the low B string, because the stock pickups in there now muddy things up a fair bit. Any and all suggestions are welcome, and thanks a lot for your help in advance!


----------



## noname222

I expected more Bare Knuckleshttp://www.google.hr/url?sa=t&rct=j...DnudaLJNg&sig2=c2XcV2e97Z3KU_JdYDEfGA&cad=rja here.


----------



## Throat Hole

i've only used a handful of 7string pickups as i've not played 7 string very long but heres my rig and the pickups i've used

amps are a peavey XXX, Mesa Dual Rec, peavey 5150II and a Sunn Model T 

far as cabs i have 2 peavey and 2 mesa 4x12s and 2 emperor cabs forgot what speakers config its either 412 or 410 


the pickups i've used are 

X2N-7
Blaze neck
EMG 707
EMG 81-7
Duncan blackout set 7 string 

lets start with the dimarzios 

i had them in a 7321 with 1meg pots and i ran the guitar through the mesa dual rec into a mesa cab with a tubescreamer in front of it just to tighten things up a lil bit and the guitar sounded pretty damn good 

the stock pickups were awful they lacked pretty much....everything the X2N7 i put in the bridge sounded great like an EMG81 does in a 6 string but with more balls and less sterile sounding then i would start riffing on it when i had it cranked up i had a really heavy tone think "Born" by nevermore but i obviously wasnt playing that good 

blaze neck wasnt horrible it was great for cleans and for leads but it lacked the output and for my taste was a little bit muddy 


next would be the 81-7/707 combo

i have this set in my Damien 7 and i really like it i have the 81 in the neck and the 707 in the bridge 

the 707 is really powerful and quite versatile if your playing metal. i can go from playing a groove metal riff like a Korn riff to playing nevermore or meshuggah riffs and it will work quite nicely and the 81 in the neck works great as well it has nice clean lead tones where you can hear every note 

next would be the blackouts 

i just recently got these in my jackson DR7 and i really really like them they are my favorite 7 string pickups i have tried everything about them is awesome IMO 


the bridge model is well balanced has a great fat tone no matter the amp i play it through i can crank it through the peavey XXX, 5150 or the mesa and get a killer metal tone or crank it through the sunn and get a nice fat stoner rock tone 

the neck version is very clean sounding i can get great lead tones and great clean tones and if i combine it with the bridge i get a real nice clean tone 


and i have also installed the X2N/Blaze in a BCrich virgn P-7 and they pretty much do the same thing 

thats my 2 cents grant it i'm no expert but thats what i have had in my experience with the pickups i've used in my 7s


----------



## unfnknblvbl

*Guitar:* Ibanez RG7321 ('06 model)
*Pickups:* Q-Tuner GL7 High-Z (neck), Super High-Z (bridge)
*Strings:* GHS Heavyweight Boomers GBZWLO 11-70

I installed these a couple of years back, and my guitar instantly became the most amazing axe I've ever heard. Well, for the price, anyway.

The frequency response is completely flat and the output very high. You can fiddle with the pole pieces to get a different response range, and there's a lot of options in there - each string has three poles, with another three shared with the next string.

I've set mine up to be fat on the low end, and I've lowered the poles for the three high strings. This is because the magnets are far more powerful than you might expect, and actually dampen string vibration a little.

The sound just walks all over the stock RG7321 pickups - not that this is a difficult thing to achieve, of course! Even through my crappy Behringer amp & quadbox, the guitar sounds.. I dunno. Delicious. The clean tones are thick and... I hate to make food analogies, but it's just thick and creamy. Harmonics ring out like church bells, and every single note is thick and rich with a delicious honey-like texture, especially with the neck pickup selected. I've always struggled with getting a nice clean tone out of my guitars, but not with these pickups!

Continuing the lame food analogies, with distortion (be it amp distortion or through any pedal I've tried), it's like the difference between a Jalapeño chilli and a Habanero. Jalapeño is nice and fruity and all, but the Habanero turns it up to 11 and punches you in the face with your own sweat. I'm hearing harmonics screaming like banshees, and for the first time ever, I'm able to pull off pinch harmonics every single time I want one.
Soloing on the neck pickup through distortion is a thing to behold as well. Normally I avoid the neck position, but this one gives solos an interesting, somewhat wooden quality.

All up, the Q-Tuners have proven to be a fantastic investment for me. They actually make me sound like the guitarist I want to be, rather than some punk kid who's just discovered Korn and bought his first 7-string.

The interesting thing is I bought them because they looked unusual. They also looked awesome in the pictures (and indeed, they look amazing in the guitar). I figured that anything would be an upgrade from the stock pickups. I was right on that count, but I didn't expect them to sound _this_ good!

I like them better than the active pickups on my RGA7 - and thus, I like the actual guitar better, too. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to anybody... except that they've stopped selling them


----------



## ASoC

EMG 81-7

Bridge position.
Installed on a Schecter Damien Elite.

This pickup has some serious power, distorted, it really pushes your amp and enhances your pinch harmonics. Palm mutes are very thick, and it usually won't get muddy. I recommend adding bass to your sound to make it nice and thick. On the other hand, it doesn't sound so nice when its clean, the sound is bright, really bright. 
String noise can be a problem, as this thing pickups up everything. The feedback is nice and loud but it won't happen unless you want it to.

Bottom line: If you're sound gets muddy and you don't plan on playing clean tones in the bridge position, this is the pickup for you.


----------



## TheXaviJ

For those with using Dimarzio Evo 7's and finding its not that great for prog metal and djent, perhaps check this out and let me know what you think? Tone chasing... =]

Im using an Ibby Rg7321 through Podhd500 through usb into Reapah!


----------



## Haliphron

Seymour Duncan Jazz 7 (neck) & Crunch Lab 7 (bridge)

in a

Agile Septor Pro 727


----------



## TheWarAgainstTime

Lundgren M7 bridge and neck
Ibanez RG7620 (11-68 strings) 

I've been using these pickups for about 6 months now, and I still love them just as much as day one. High output, definitely loud but still controlled. I've got mine mounted to the body of my guitar, so I can't tell you how much the sound would change by adjusting the height. 
The good: lots of clarity on big chords, very dynamic, neck and bridge levels are well-balanced, love the cleans in neck humbucker and combined split-coil mode, doesn't sound muddy unless you dial in a lot of low end on your amp or you tune too low for the gauge of strings you use
The bad: cleans in bridge humbucking mode are a little harsh, some more midrange wouldn't hurt (just personal preference) high strings/frets on the bridge pickup are kind of thin-sounding, especially when compared to how big the lower strings sound. 
Overall these are fantastic pickups, and I'm sure that all of the negative things I listed could be easily fixed with some quick eq-ing or pickup height adjustment. Hope this helps.


----------



## russmuller

noname222 said:


> I expected more Bare Knuckleshttp://www.google.hr/url?sa=t&rct=j...DnudaLJNg&sig2=c2XcV2e97Z3KU_JdYDEfGA&cad=rja here.



I know, right? For all the hype that the Aftermath pickups get, I'd expect someone here to post about it. Anyone?

[Edit: after noticing how infrequently this thread gets updated, I felt like a jerk for posting a comment with no review so below are my experiences.]

My 7 string is an RG 7620 from 98. I have a Pittbull 50/CL that I usually play through straight; no pedals or effects. Doesn't seem like I'm really adding anything new at this point but I should have some more stuff to contribute in the coming months.

*Blaze (Bridge):* _Great bridge pickup for a rock/rhythm player. Not a trace of mud in the low end but the harmonics and lead tones don't particularly jump out either. Output is modest, not hot. Split coil tones are agressive but rolling off the volume offers a wide range of tones from strat-y to acoustic sounding. Very versatile but ultimately was replaced because after 13 years I wanted something that would have more midrange cut for leads. I plan to use this in a future project guitar._

*Blaze (Neck):*_ It's a perfect balance with the Blaze Bridge. When the two are combined in split-coil mode, you get some very beastly tones (in a good way). In parallel, this thing is amazing for clean chords and tapping. In series, it's got a full and balanced tone and sounds warm when overdriven. Like the Blaze bridge, it doesn't have an overzealous output so if you're looking to get a lot of pick attack and glassy top end on your solos, you'd better have some kind of boost going into your amp. While I love this pickup and plan to use it with its mate in a future axe, it was time for a change and I wanted something to better match the new bridge pickup._

*Blaze Custom (Bridge):* _The Blaze plus some extra mojo! I felt like this thing was exactly as advertised. It's tonal balance definitely sounds like it's in the same family as the Blaze but there's a lot more presence and clarity. Oddly I think that when split, it sounds more subdued than the original Blaze but I usually found myself rolling off the volume for that position anyway so I like the way this works for me better. It's still not a total screamer, but I'd definitely call it high output. I'm much happier with the lead tones from this one. Some people feel that the mids are a bit much for rhythm and chords, but I find that the extra harmonics and response there helps retain definition either when you're playing notes clustered together or whether the tension is spread out across all 7 strings. I'm very happy that I ordered this._

*Air Norton 7 (Neck):* _Back in the 90's, I installed a Steve's Special and an Air Norton in my Epi Les Paul because I loved John Petrucci's tone. That guitar is long gone but I really liked the sounds I got from it so I decided to partner it with the Blaze Custom. This was a wise decision. I've been totally happy with it. It's fatter and more chimey than the Blaze neck was but still not over the top with pick noise. When rolling the volume off on the lead channel, you get a nice dark, warm body to the notes that blooms nicely as you roll back up. Sounds great in both series and parallel. I think it's a great pair with the Blaze Custom._

DiMarzio technical support has always been prompt and super helpful so I highly recommend sending them an email if you have any questions. I've always been a DiMarzio guy and custom ordered the BC/AN7 in black/green because I wanted to swirl the guitar some day. With Out Of This Swirled going out of business, I couldn't resist buying a GMC body from him and once it gets clear coated, these pups are going in it. Now I need to fill a single-coil slot in the body but the Blaze single is uninspiring to me. I emailed Bare Knuckle Pickups and they said they can build a single coil 7 string pickup for me based on any of their single coil specs, so I ordered a Slow Hand to put in the middle. Once that project comes together, I'll post a review.

The existing RG body will be getting a 27" conversion neck and a set of Aftermath pickups installed so that is on the horizon also.


----------



## BabUShka

*EMG 81-7
Guitar: Schecter Hellraiser w/mahogany body and neck
Position: Bridge*

This is a great pickup for dark sounding guitars. It's very bright, tight and agressive pickup. I mostly like it for everything between standard B to drop tunings. Suits mostly for agressive type of metal, such as thrash and power metal. Its got a great attack, it cutts very well in band situations and overall its a good live pickup. The pickup seems to have very low output distortion though. I have the pickup high almost up to the strings to make is sound punchy and thicker. 

As most active EMG's, imo this pickup is a raw metal pickup. It does crystal cleans, but to me it sounds too modern and cold for other stuff tham metal. But for metal, its great. 
It also handle high gain better than crunch.

*EMG 707 TW
Guitar: Schecter Hellraiser w/mahogany body and neck
Position: neck*

This pickup is very dark, powerful and punchy. The TW is splittable, which actually sounds very cool. I prefer to have it splitt all the time because it delivers crystal clear cleans and nice n twangy distortion. 
Unsplitted mode with volume down 7/10 it delivers very thick and powerful clean sounds. But when the pot is at 10/10 its just too muddy and too powerful sounding for a mahogany guitar. 

In distorted mode, I dont really care that much for this pickup in a dark sounding mahogany guitar. Its way to fat and flubby sounding. Usually I prefer good cutting neck pickups for lead, thats why this pickup doesnt fit me that good. But I can imagine that it's a monster pickup in bright sounding guitars. 
+1 for the split, i really dig that function. 

My overall opinion of the 707 is that its a very powerful and good pickup, but it sounds best for bright type of guitar wood. 
And it sounds better with cleans than distorted in neck position.


----------



## Konfyouzd

SSO Run Seymour Duncan Blackouts

These are the custom run blackouts some of the folks here contacted SD to make--the ones with the EMG81x/85x preamps in them. 

Guitar: I currently have them in my Franken-7620 which is a baswood body, 3pc maple/wenge neck with a birdseye maple board.

Style: Melodic Thrash/Prog/80s weedly weedly

These things absolutely rock. I don't have any experience with regular Blackouts so I can't compare them there, but these things are just amazing. They're incredibly easy to dial in and it's almost impossible to get lost in the mix.

They sound HUGE. Definitely a lot of mids w/o getting that weid honk you'll get sometimes when you EQ in too many mids. They also take gain very well and don't get that nasty "crunchiness" to them you sometimes get with really hot active pickups. The dynamic response is excellent as well. They respond--to me--the same as passives to changes in pick attack.

If you can get your hands on a pair I'd highly recommend them.


----------



## Konfyouzd

russmuller said:


> I know, right? For all the hype that the Aftermath pickups get, I'd expect someone here to post about it. Anyone?



Yea... All those ppl are too busy posting "What pickups do I get for teh djentz?!" rather than looking for a few more seconds before clicking "New Thread" to realize this one already exists...

The ones that have them already are too busy djenting... Or thalling or whatever the hell it is you kids do these days...


----------



## Gram negative

Dimazio Blaze Neck

Dimarzio Evolution 7 bridge

Guitar: Ibanez Premium RG 7 string. 
Basswood body. 
Edge Zero Vibrato system.
5 way Ibanez pickup switching system.

Music I like to play: Rock, Prog rock/metal, Instrumental rock/metal, Blues


Just to get an idea of how I use these pickups, I generally use the bridge pickup for rhythm/chords. I use the neck for leads usually..

HOWEVER,

This pickup combo is very unique, because you can get several solid lead tones from it. The bridge by itself is clear, and treble-y. The neck is smoother, and more full. The pickup selector in the middle of both, presents a very distinct and different lead tone!

Lots of tone options here!
----------------------------------------------------

Blaze Neck: For Cleans, this pickup is awesome. Bright and clear tone. In phase, it sounds very much like a Stratocaster/ telecaster. Doesnt lose much volume in phase. 

If you turn down the tone knob, you can even get some great clean Jazz sounds.

Distorted, is where this thing shines. You can get a very smooth lead tone. Sounds great with pull offs/legato. The notes all come out very clear and full. I dial in a lot of mids usually on my amps/Line 6 POD. I have to back off a little, it seems. Full without bite!

Works well when you are recording multiple guitar tracks/parts. Its tone/sound shines through on all of my settings/amps. It has its own sound, and while you can manipulate that, you cant change it, lol.

----------------------------------------------------

Evolution Bridge: The tones I get out of this thing are just plain amazing. Its bright, its hot, its full of character. It also goes perfectly with the Blaze ( with the pickup selector on both pickups).

Coil split, I hate to say this....is useless. Too thin for anything practical in my opinion. But, on to the good!

This pup works great for rhythm playing. Every single note comes through. Even chords that utilize all 7 strings. Its very tight, and very responsive. Which is a good thing right?

Not if your technique is sloppy! If you are sloppy at all, that shit will show through. The clarity of the pickup not only makes your achievements shine through, but it highlights any and all of your ....-ups. 

It really cuts through the mix. Both on recording, and when you are playing live.

I dont care for the clean sounds on the Evolution, but I dont like bridge pup cleans usually.

Does it " Djent"? Well for people who are wondering that...sure it does. But that snappy tone everyone seems to love comes more from your fingers than any equipment.... Just sayin!


----------



## warlock7strEMG

-EMG 707 

-Several different woods and guitars(all bridge position)

I'm not sure if you would call what I have to post here a good review or even a review at all for that matter. I just wanted to give some input regarding the EMG 707, which for the most part, is my favorite 7 string bridge pickup so far. 

With having said that this pickup is my fave, I also must first and foremost point out that while it sounds great in any guitar I've played on that had a 707, I personally have found that it sounds it's absolute best in basswood.....which I'll elaborate more on in a bit....

Most of you on here are familiar with the tonal qualities and voicing of the 707. However for those of you who aren't let me give you a run down. Sharp strong treble(like most actives) but not a ton of it unless u go crazy with it on your amp. Can get fizzy if that's what u are going for. Alot of midrange but mostly in the low mids area which makes most people think it's scooped sounding at first listen, that along with the pretty big low end that it has. Bumping up the mids on your amp and/or using an amp with a lot of mids will counteract this. Fairly compressed for sure so any kind of harmonics are super easy to pull off and sound great(pinch harmonics can be super squealy or just really thick and powerful, depending where how close to the bridge you hit them), single string notes swell and sound huge and on the low strings they are super bouncy. But overall also pretty round and full, especially compared to the EMG 81-7. The 707 is very similar to the 85. I also find that the notes in chords don't smear together nearly as much with 707 as with most other actives. Maybe due to not having quite as much output as most of them(but still more than enough) and having an alnico magnet rather than ceramic. And for those of you who think EMG's sound the same in every guitar....well....just keep reading.....

The reason I believe it sounds best in basswood is that basswood, tho looked at as an inferior tonewood by a lot of the guitar community, is quite ballsy and midrange heavy. Not much on the treble or bass side of the things but with a pickup like the 707 this ends up being a good thing. In my roommates RG7 with a 707 in the bridge, the pickups huge low mids+basswoods very strong all-around midrange=thick and cutting tone in any setting for any type of heavy guitar tone that you may be going for. The rolled off bass and treble of basswood balances out the overwhelming(to some) bass and treble of the 707, giving you a nice tight but ballsy sound. The basswood taming the treble of the 707 makes it come off as less compressed and almost sound less "active" in a way. So in summary, what does all this mean?? Growling aggressive bouncy 7 string tone that will cut thru anything!! Once again, the 707 in a basswood body is, to me a match made in heaven!! 

I've also played a 707 in 2 ESP SC607's, one of which was maple and the other mahogany(both with maple neck thru body construction) and it also sounded good in both of them!! In the maple guitar, the 707 added some much needed low end and low mids that complimented the natural maple brightness and high mids nicely. I would have thought that the brightness of maple along with the 707 compressed treble(or the sharp compressed treble of any active pickup really) would have been too much. But that wasn't the case. Instead it actually made for a nice articulate tone with very strong and mean but not harsh attack(at least not harsh thru my friends 6505+). The low mids of the 707 along with the overall warmth of the maple I believe also factor into keeping the 707's treble in check. Also further confirms what I stated earlier about the 707's treble while still being very sharp and strong is no where near as over the top as most other actives. 

In the 607B(mahogany), the 707 takes on a tone more similar to that of the 707 in basswood. Subdued treble that sits in the lower treble frequencies than that of basswood, but the amount of treble may be just a bit more than basswood. The difference? The lower register treble of mahogany "shines" whereas the higher frequency treble of basswood "sizzles" more. Therefor the 707 in mahogany is a tad rounder than that of the 707 in basswood. The mids of mahogany, while plenty, sit in the lower registers so the 707 doesn't quite growl like in basswood. But with mahogany the mids are more open sounding than in basswood so not only does this help keep the low mids from being overbearing between the pickup and the guitar, but it also makes them somehow more open and articulate than with basswood. May not have the quite the cut of basswood but still more than enough mids to sit nicely in the mix and cut where needed. The low end, while still tight, is pretty powerful with the 707 in mahogany. Maybe a little too much for some amps(recto users, I'm referring to you!! Proceed with caution!) but I find that with the lows on the amp turned down enough to compensate, that this isn't an issue at all. 

I hope this can help some of you!! On a side note I know that my user name implies that I use a Bc Rich Warlock 7 string with an EMG 707....which is true!! It's my main guitar. But I have recently come to the realization that my 707 is not at all wired up properly so is not performing to its full potential. Once I get that straightened out, I will add a section for it in this review I have posted. I believe my Warlock is alder, so that will give you guys a rundown of how the 707 sounds in alder in addition to the aforementioned woods.


----------



## HanShock

Lundgren M7

I have put these monster on several guitars,like Schecter,Ibanez,Agile,Strictly 7 Guitar,ESP...and more.

Bad: 

1.It's "not" a insane high output pickup.Some people may think they need more output if you do like high output like Active EMG or Blackout.

2.They only have one ring spec.
So,if you have JP or Dimarzio small ring,you can't use it without caving.

3.It has some phase problem if you combine it with BKP or other brand pickups.You get a weird sound when it sounds with other in split mode.(But it's easy to fix,just change the hot to other color.)

4.It responses appropriately what you guitar likes...so I don't recommend this pickup to install in cheap guitar , or the guitar sounds not really good.

5.It's expensive.(most of important or all??haha...but..come on! it's Swedish XD)


GOOD:

1.It's almost the first pickups brand which makes passive pickups with phase II in 7 Strings. (But it's normal now,so...)

2.You will got a lot of clarity ,great dynamic, more headroom...that you can't find in other pickups!

3.Don't worry to tune down your guitar , it's almost the best pickups for drop!!

4.It responses appropriately what you guitar likes(Hmm...that may be great,but sometime just show your guitar's bad...)

5.Some people,once you use it , you won't have interest with other pickups anymore...(Like me..)


----------



## TheWarAgainstTime

^I have a similar love for the M7's, but ended up taking them out of my guitar to experiment with something darker and less of the razor-sharpness, which led me to the BKP Warpig. 

Good: 
-It's by far the most thick sounding pickup I've used, but doesn't get muddy or lose clarity

-It's very focused on lows and low-mids. I generally like darker sounds (more of a djunt ) 

-Second only to the M7, it's the most aggressive sounding pickup I've tried. Again, this doesn't have the sharp, awesome high end of the M7 bridge. 

Bad: 
-Again, it's a tight pickup, but feels slightly "slower" or less immediate on really low tuned stuff. Sort of like having your OD level at like 7 instead of 10

-I got a good deal on mine used, but I guess I can still mention the BKP price. Not even the worst thing in the world haha

I've had the C-Pig installed in my other 7620 running through a normal OD/gate setup into a Triple Rectifier/Orange 4x12 and now have a Mark V/Mesa 2x12 and it sounds great through both setups. It definitely has a unique voice and I hope to get one for at least one of my 6 strings soon


----------



## Mike

DiMarzio D Activator 7 (Bridge)

Guitar: ESP LTD AW-7 (Mahogany wings, Maple neck-through, flamed maple top)

To date, this is my favorite 7 string pickup. It's a very tight and clear pickup with what I believe to be more of a medium-high output. The low end refuses to get muddy and the the top end is very smooth, never brittle. I would say there's a slight bump in the mid range that gives the tone a nice presence. The pickup is very very sensitive to height adjustments. Depending on how close or far from the strings the pickup is really effects the output feel if that makes sense. I prefer mine relatively close as it seems to have a quicker/sharper attack and much better sustain that way.


----------



## Mikeitloud

The Rx Elite said:


> Seymore Duncan SH-4 7 String Humbucker
> Installed in Ibanez UV777, (2) RG-7620's
> 
> I was looking for some different pickup besides the Blaze, mainly something with a little more clarity. I decided to go ahead and try out a Seymore Duncan. This is by far my favorite pickup I have ever had.
> 
> The sound quality is awesome. Its not over the top "metal" like the EMG's are, but just the clarity and overall sound of the pickup is amazing. The low end on the pickup is very full sounding. The high end is very clear and distinct. I would compare it to a Dimarzio Evolution in a 6 string.
> 
> After installing it in my 7620, I immediately had one installed in my other 7620 and one in my Universe. In the studio, they are great distortion and have a great clean sound, especially if used with tweaking the tone and volume knob a little bit.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The only downfall on this pickup for me personally would be before, I had 2 Blaze II neck pickups (Neck pickup in the bridge position). I used a 3 way pickup selector and with the switch in the middle, I could get some really cool "slap" tones out of the guitar. The output and treble on the Seymore Duncan has kinda eliminated that sound. Other than that, I strongly advise anybody with a 7 to give the JH-4 a shot. If you dont like it, email me, I'd prolly buy it.


 

I just picked one of these for my Kramer striker 7 for $50.00, I can not believe the difference, the muddiness of the stock pickups in the low end is no longer, the tone is so much clearer, brighter highs....I will eventually have these pickups in all my guitars


----------



## ducer

Recently changed AHB-1 7 in Schecter Blackjack C-7 ATX Diamond and what I can say - it's like heaven and hell. EMG 81-7 vouch!


----------



## aclstrat

Hey guys, just received my new Ibanez a couple of weeks ago. It's actually my first 7-string, and thus far been quite a fun guitar to play! Any recommendations on pickups? Was considering SD Blackouts, but more of a Petrucci fan than Death Metal style guy...love sustain, but not overly distorted...comments welcome! First playthrough in video below:




Rock,
Adam


----------



## Bownze

noname222 said:


> I expected more Bare Knuckles here.



And the truth comes out...

Who can afford 'em?


----------



## Chansen

Dimarzio Dactivators

-I've heard a lot of people love these pickups, so I was surprised that I didn't care for them. I have them in a Jackson DKA7 with an Alder body and bolt on Maple neck. I personally prefer to get a sound out of my guitar that has a decent amount of bass to it, and playing through an Orange Jim Root Tiny Terror (Based on Rockerverb's dirty channel) and Orange 2x12 I could just not get nearly the amount of bass and chunk that I wanted, but I think the guitar is also naturally quite bright. 
-I also do not care for the neck pickup because it seems to almost have a buzz to the tone. If you want an example of the kind of sound I'm talking about it is similar to the neck pickup sound in this video of Jake Bowen's Titans:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2KCFBKlho4

As for clarity; especially for larger distorted chords, I have to say they are somewhat subpar sounding to me. Then again I'm used to using Bare Knuckles which have excellent clarity on all strings generally, so I might not be giving them the full credit they are due, because they were somewhat clear.

-I did however, quite like the cleans from these pickups, probably because I do generally prefer my cleans to have a brighter character, which these definitely had, and were quite clear. As for breakup on the cleans go, I don't really try to get any, but I also played them very quietly with a clean tone, so I doubt these would be able to get the same clean tone if you needed to play with any decent amount of volume.

All in all I think they just don't suit what I look for, but are nonetheless quality pickups that some people will absolutely LOVE if they are put in the right guitar. Just brighter than what I look for.


----------



## sevenstringedfox

Dimarzio PAF-7
Installed on Ibanez j.custom 7
These pickups are extremely versatile pickups, I have them installed in both bridge and neck positions. The bridge pickups lacks a bit of gain but is very clear and pronounced. The neck pickup though is a little too warm for my taste. I've been using these pickups for over a year and if you're looking for something really versatile, these are probably the pickups for you.
These pickups lack gain for my taste, so I'll be swapping them out for bare knuckle aftermaths.


----------



## lelandbowman3

I'm debating on dropping a sentient/nazgul set in my ibby rg927 hardtail.
Thoughts? I'm not a toneisseur. I wish I had the cash to drop on an Axe FX and a badass cab, but I'm using a spider 4 212. Not the best rig, but it works.
I guess my next question is will that set beef the tone up so I don't have to scoop the mids to "cut" through a mix?


----------



## GiveUpGuitar

Dimarzio Air Norton 7 (Neck position) - RG1527M

I was originally put on to the Air Norton pickup from having the single coil in my RG3xxv. I really enjoyed the smoothness, even from the single coil, so I figured I'd give the 7 string version a try.

The Good:
Extremely clear. I was able to utilize the single coil and switch to the full humbucker and retain clarity, all while warming up the tone. In the single coil position, you'll find it easy to develop a twang sound if you pick a little harder than usual. When in the humbucking position, I was able to retain an extremely smooth, warm lead tone, even with my noise gate still on. Sweeping feels effortless because of how well the sound is developed. By far my favorite neck pickup.

The bad:
This pickup made me dislike so many neck pickups. I have D'Activator necks, Liquidfire necks, and a boat load of other pickups, and I end up switching them out for the Air Norton. It suits my needs, so the only bad is it made me a biased hater.

Overall I'm sticking with it until I find a pickup that can suit my needs more. And I really could care less if this was my end all be all neck pickup, because I really, really enjoy it.


----------



## 9Lives

EMG 57/66 (soapbar) 7 string

I've always been hardcore seymour duncan fan. Always loved the process of researching endless combos with whatever guitar I had my hands on. Favorites being blackouts, 59/custom hybrid, jb, custom blah blah I could go on. 
I got my hands on a schecter omen 7 active, and my first thought was the pickup adventure I was about to go on. When I heard about this combo I was intrigued. Not wanting to betray duncan I went ahead and forked out the 275$ for a fresh pair of emgs having never tried a single emg in my life. 
57-7: mainly playing metal, modern style rhythm thumping chuggas. This pup is amazing. Has amazing flavor. Can't think of a better way to describe. Was able to tune out the clipping while keeping the pup fairly high. This is a problem I hate with blackouts. Had a nice crisp tone with just enough mid range w/o honking me to death. When in the bridge position it cuts just enough lows to really tighten up In drop Bb. Incredible string to string clarity when chording even with loads of gain. All the things I've read about emg being over compressed just isn't true.. With these alteast. It's really perfect for my style. I can blend from metal to clean sounds a lot easier than with my be loved blackouts. I always loved the alnico v mag in the bridge position. That's one reason I was drawn to these. The pole pieces are very interesting touch for an active pickup. In my mind I feel like that adds some of the flavor. Like I said. In my mind atleast. 
66-7: I've always had trouble fitting neck pickups into my sound. I've just had trouble making good use out of this sound. But I've caught myself flipping that switch a lot more with these. Specially since I wired to to have 2 vol no tone control. Being able to flip to center pos and roll the vol back a tad on the neck really gets some nice grooves when I'm looking to add a little low end to whatever I'm playing. When distortion goes off this pup really sounds great. Lots of low end w/o getting muddy. One comparison I can give is that it's not as "jazzy/blues " sounding as almost every neck pup I've ever encountered. With distortion back on it still gives a really meaty tone that I'm sure I will use a lot. The two together at full blast are incredible. There's just so much diversity between all positions. I really can't comment if they hit the nail on the head for the paf but I'm really enjoying these. Probably one day move them to a better guitar. 
I must admit that every time I install a set of blackouts I always secretly hoped for this tone. (Sorry duncan!!, u still have the passive game on lock down by far. ) anyone looking try something different I recommend these. You won't be disappointed. I hope this was as informative as I meant it to be.


----------



## GiveUpGuitar

Dimarzio D'Activator 7 Bridge

First let me say that I am NO WAY a fan of the D'Activator neck pickup. I feel it sounds extremely stale and brittle compared to many of the other Dimarzio choices.

The Good:
Extremely tight, all while retaining note clarity. I can't really get along with any pickup that isn't as tight as this, seeing as actives don't get the sound I want. I've used the term "Shark Bite" to describe D'Activators, because of how quick they attack and release. Muting in various forms seem really dynamic. I can get quiet and loud and anything in between all with a little articulation. Clear, tight, sharp, and dynamic.

The Bad:
Despite making them seem extremely dynamic, one thing I can say is there isn't enough smoothness on the high end. It adds a bit of bite, which is good in a lot of ways, but it's too quickly gated to make higher notes sustain. This really isn't any sort of problem to me, seeing as I get those tones from my neck pickup.

Overall, I've purchased a bunch of these to throw in my guitars, strictly for how hard they bite. No complaints with it picking up the high end at all. You can riff on the high end no problem, but find a smooth neck pickup to retain that silky milky lead tone. I recommend the D'Activators, and I can't see myself straying away from them for a long time.


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## russmuller

Well here I was 2 years ago complaining about there not being enough Bare Knuckle reviews, and I've been sitting on a pair of Juggs for 9 months without giving a proper review. Let's fix that...

Bare Knuckle Pickups
Juggernaut set (Bridge and Neck)
7 string, Burnt Chrome covers
Installed in an RG7620 with a 27" scale.

When I ordered these, I opted for the burnt chrome covers. I asked them in the comments to burn the covers as much as they could without warping them. I'd say they did an incredible job!







Juggernaut Bridge:

"...I can attest that the Juggs have incredible clarity. I've had other pickups where the low and high strings sound like they're fighting each other for audio bandwidth, and you lose a lot of definition or attack. Not so with the Juggs. Go as crazy as you want with chord voicings across all 7 strings and each note rings clear with great attack and articulation." ~ me in another thread.

I love this pickup. It's tight, responsive, focussed, but still very natural sounding. It definitely avoids the "ice pick" sound high up on the fretboard, and the low end is present but not hyped-up or muddy at all. For chords and solos, it's a killer pickup. It always sounds balanced and clear to me.

The only thing I don't like about this pickup is coil splitting. When split, it still sounds great but much more like a humbucker than a single coil. I imagine this is due to the effect of the alnico flankers that accompany the ceramic bar magnet. If you want something that can sound like a hot strat when split, this won't do it for you. But if you just need a hint of that flavor, it'll do you just fine.

Juggernaut Neck:

The Jugg neck, like the bridge, sounds very balanced and focussed in every circumstance I try it in. It's a little round and a little warm, but always very clear. There's no hiding sloppy picking in the flubbiness like you can on a lot of other neck pickups I've played.

Like the bridge, I think the splitting isn't its best attribute. It sounds good, but it's not that wide-open-single sound. Unlike the bridge, this pickup doesn't have any extra magnets so it may just be the way these are designed/wound.

While it's a great neck pickup, I like my neck pickups to sound a little less "together" and a little more "open" (whatever the hell words like that mean in a discussion like this). I think I said it a little better in another thread:

"I actually like the Air Norton 7 a little better than the Juggernaut. The Jugg neck has a more focussed and articulate sound that pretty much any other neck pickup I've heard. I think the Air Norton is a little rounder and glassier, but still with good definition."

Summary:

These pickups friggin' rule. I really love them, especially for low tunings. It's got that incredible BKP clarity, and it sounds very natural through all different kinds of setups and musical contexts. I like the versatility of really open/glassy split-coil settings, so the lack of that is my only real disappointment with these. I think these would probably be best suited to Petrucci-style wiring with the inner coils connected in the middle position of a 3 way switch (sounds killer on these for cleans).


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## Fiery Red XIII

DiMarzio 7 Illuminators Bridge and Neck. Passive, but very hot and work fine in a guitar w/o a pre-amp. The neck pickup sings. It is a bright sound, and very clear. Harmonics sound amazing. The bridge sounds brittle, harsh and biting when played through a high gain amp. New out of the box I had to send it in for repair, so maybe it needs more repair work. As for lower gain and volumes, I like it. The mids really come through, and even on a tuned-down 7 string, when all strings are played as a chord, you can hear every note.

ETA: installed in a SGR C-7, Ernie Ball cobalt strings.

Red


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## Fiery Red XIII

Fiery Red XIII said:


> DiMarzio 7 Illuminators Bridge and Neck. Passive, but very hot and work fine in a guitar w/o a pre-amp. The neck pickup sings. It is a bright sound, and very clear. Harmonics sound amazing. The bridge sounds brittle, harsh and biting when played through a high gain amp. New out of the box I had to send it in for repair, so maybe it needs more repair work. As for lower gain and volumes, I like it. The mids really come through, and even on a tuned-down 7 string, when all strings are played as a chord, you can hear every note.
> 
> ETA: installed in a SGR C-7, Ernie Ball cobalt strings.
> 
> Red



To add, the bridge pickup only sounded that bad when the tone knob was set at it's brightest. It sounds better now that I realized what happened.

Red


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## maizorin

I have a question, i have a LTD M-17 and i want to put on it a EMG 707tw can i do? because i think that the size of the pickups is diferent, can i adapt them?


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## russmuller

I recently ordered a Carvin DC7X. I have a set of white Ionizers ready to be installed, but I wanted to spend some time with the stock D26 pickups before I swap them.

Spoiler alert: I am sincerely impressed with these pickups. I think they're right on par with the major 7-string aftermarket pickups like DiMarzio and Duncan.

*D26 Bridge:*

This pickup has a ton of clarity. The bottom end is appropriately tamed for a baritone guitar. I am tuned down to a low G on the 7th string and IT WILL NOT MUD, which makes it great for most super-detuned and djenty material.

The flip side of that is if you're looking for something super thick in the low end, this isn't the pickup for you.

The high end has a nice amount of harmonic bite to it and seems to cut through nicely without sounding brittle or abrasive. It also cleans up nicely when the volume is rolled off (though Carvin wires in a treble bleed cap, so that plays a role there).

If I had to plot this pickup's tone on a chart, it would be about half way between the DiMarzio Blaze Custom and the Bare Knuckle Juggernaut bridge. It's got a lot of the balance and composure of the Jugg, but with a little bit hotter top end and a hair less bottom.

*D26 Neck:*

This is a really good neck pickup. It maintains clarity up and down the neck, notes sound nice and full, and pick flutter comes through nicely.

For my tastes, I don't think it's exceptional, but it's really good. It reminds me a lot of the Juggernaut neck with its composure and clarity. I tend to prefer a little bit more of an open and single-coil-esque tone in the neck, but as an all-purpose neck humbucker, this thing is awesome.

*Splitting:*

In a split configuration, I don't think either of these pickups are particularly impressive. Splitting the bridge or the neck gives you pretty much the same tone as the humbucker - some output level + a little bit of top end noise.

While I can't get the spanky and sparkly tone I was hoping to find from splitting the coils, putting these humbuckers together in the middle position gets me right there. It's a beautiful blend of the neck pickup's roundness with the harmonic bite of the bridge.

*Overall impressions:*

These pickups are really good. With just a 3-way switch, you've got a great sounding and versatile pallette of tones. I'll be honest that if I didn't already have a vision for the aesthetics (white bobbins) and specific split-coil tones and combinations, I wouldn't bother replacing these. I will definitely be keeping these to install in a project guitar at a later date.


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## varjao

GiveUpGuitar said:


> Dimarzio Air Norton 7 (Neck position) - RG1527M
> 
> I was originally put on to the Air Norton pickup from having the single coil in my RG3xxv. I really enjoyed the smoothness, even from the single coil, so I figured I'd give the 7 string version a try.
> 
> The Good:
> Extremely clear. I was able to utilize the single coil and switch to the full humbucker and retain clarity, all while warming up the tone. In the single coil position, you'll find it easy to develop a twang sound if you pick a little harder than usual. When in the humbucking position, I was able to retain an extremely smooth, warm lead tone, even with my noise gate still on. Sweeping feels effortless because of how well the sound is developed. By far my favorite neck pickup.
> 
> The bad:
> This pickup made me dislike so many neck pickups. I have D'Activator necks, Liquidfire necks, and a boat load of other pickups, and I end up switching them out for the Air Norton. It suits my needs, so the only bad is it made me a biased hater.
> 
> Overall I'm sticking with it until I find a pickup that can suit my needs more. And I really could care less if this was my end all be all neck pickup, because I really, really enjoy it.



Isn't the liquifire very based on the Air Norton?

I recently bought a JPX 6 strings and from the reviews I thought I would love the liquifire but I'm not falling in love to be honest, I have another guitar with a Paf Joe in the neck and man, those are amazing. It's curious that the Crunch Lab I'm enjoying more, and usually people love the liquifire and are kind of meh regarding the CL.

I have another JP, 7 strings, with Bare Knuckle, bought it this way, I have the original dimarzios and I'm curious to listen them, Dimarzios says it's the same thing (6 and 7 string version) but in my mind they can't sound the same because the 7 string version is ceramic and the 6 uses alnico.


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## russmuller

So I think it's time to do another pickup review. This time it's the DiMarzio Ionizer 7's.

*Ionizer 7 Bridge:*

I love this thing. It's not a high output pickup, but it's got the midrange focus and harmonics of something really hot. It cuts very nicely. The low end is very natural and dynamic; not hyped or flubby.

When split, this thing sounds like a Strat bridge pickup (to the ears of someone who has never owned a strat). It feels like a Blaze Custom that's traded a tiny bit of low end for a lot more harmonic content. The Ionizer bridge has a lot of personality to it.

*Ionizer 7 Neck:
*
This is everything I was looking for in a 7-string neck pickup. It's clear, glassy, dynamic, and sounds wonderful when played in split or parallel configurations. I wanted an Air Norton 7 that was glassier and had more personality; this is the answer.

*Overall:*

These things are killer. Any way that I split or combine them, I love the tone. The Ionizer pickups are definitely a big part of Tosin's sound, and the 7-string version is pretty true. I really hear the similarity clearly when I compare the tone on The Joy of Motion.

I have these in my DC7X and I'm 100% pleased with them. These pickups will be staying in this guitar.

I think that the Blaze Custom bridge pickup paired with the Ionizer 7 neck would probably be my ultimate H-H pickup pairing.


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## Unburdened

Bareknuckle Covered Warpig Ceramic (Bridge)
Bareknuckle Covered Warpig (Neck)
Installed in Schecter KM-7 (Swamp Ash body)

*BKP WP Bridge*
Tone Overview
-Absolute power. The ceramic bridge Warpig has immense power and clarity, with an absolutely savage low end. Great midrange growl is present as well. Highs are cutting, with certain amp equalization providing too much treble. I've used this pickup with an Ampeg VH-140C, an AMT Stonehead, a Marshall 15W practice amp, and a Splawn Quick Rod. The tone is incredibly consistent and always crushing. Thick, powerful, low end emphasis destroyer of a pickup. The Ceramic Warpig performs well for clean tones, but the neck Warpig really has the superior clean tone.
Pros: TRUUU POWAHHH. Very powerful pickup, excellent clarity, amazing bass tone. Very high output with little noise. Lightning in a pickup.
Cons: Can make treble shrill if amp settings are already emphasizing treble. Expensive. Longer build time than other factory pickups.
Would I recommend this to someone else? Yes! My goodness, go buy one now!

*BKP WP Neck
*Tone Overview
-The thickest, smoothest, highest output neck pickup I've ever used. I'm always searching for a neck pickup that is as rowdy as the bridge, and the Warpig finally matches the bridge pickup's performance in terms of output. Excellent clarity throughout the whole frequency range, with a pronounced low end emphasis. Leads are as smooth as a sub-micron etch. Just like the bridge, the neck Warpig is immensely powerful, while remaining quiet. The clean tone is immaculate; this pickup has fat, smooth, silky clean tone. A true Jekyll and Hyde!
Pros: Does everything, and does it well. Always stays musical. Very, very well balance tone. High output without noise. Excellent low end emphasis and clarity. Superb clean AND distortion tones. Thunder in a pickup.
Cons: Expensive. Longer build time than other factory pickups.
Would I recommend this to someone else? Yes x 10^12 (that's a terayes for those counting).

The Intangibles: Long leads from pickups (really helps in installation and removal/reuse), excellent build quality, excellent finish, great mounting hardware included (namely the mounting screws...a true life saver!).


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## MrEzzyE

*LUNDGREN "Inferno 7"* BRIDGE

I just replaced Seymour Duncan Custom 7 with Lundgren "Inferno" (this is a new model
and the name might still change before it hits the market) and it really brought my 
Jackson SL2H-7 on a new level. More punch, clarity and definition yet singing, smooth lead tones... 
all that I could ask for. I contacted Lundgren pickups directly and they suggested me this pickup 
after my explanation of what I was looking for. "Inferno" has a bit less output and low end than 
Lundgren M7 used widely on metal axes which would have been too dark sounding for my guitar. 

I was told from Lundgren that "Inferno" is pretty much the same pickup than *The One*
but with ceramic magnet: Humbucker | Lundgren.se | Guitar Pickups - Stratocaster® - Telecaster® - P-90® - Humbucker - Bas

In my experience Lundgren´s tend to bring the quality of the instrument in important 
role as they are somehow very transparent. The guitars with big sound become 
incredible but you can´t save a bad guitar with them.

Shortly: This is the best metal pickup I have ever had. At least it works ultimately well 
in my Soloist --> 5150 III --> Mesa Boogie Road King 2x12" setup.


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## JMT

Seymour Duncan Pegasus7 (bridge) and Sentient7 (neck)

Guitar Ibanez RG 1527z (basswood body + maple wenge neck with rosewood fingerboard)

Old pickups (V87 and V77) = lack of sustain and gain

Style of music: from Hendrix to Jeff Loomis 

Seymour Duncan Pegasus7 (bridge): finally the sustain from the pickup match the acoustic from the wood  The sound is distorded but the notes are separated. I would describe it as an organic version of a Dimarzio super distortion probably due to the alnico V. The lower strings growls/purr and the higher string sings a lot with a good response to the pick attack

Sentient7 (neck): a lot of clarity with single coils overtones without ever sounding thin (a bit like old time Iron Maiden's Dave Murray). I can play sweeping fast arpegios and never sound blurry

My goal was to have a 7 strings version of the perpetual burn but not as much highs since I don't like a lot of fizz in my sound.


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## Kryss

how do the Dimarzio Evolution 7s compare to the BKP juggernaut. man i'm in love with the sound of the juggernaut now but not sure it's that big of a difference. was curious if anyone had both and what they think. I keep moving back to the evolutions with everything else although i'm very impressed with the SD livewire. it's like a more percussive evolution with slightly less low end. juggernauts are pretty pricy but wow everything I see online for them sounds incredible so i'm tempted to blow some coin on a set for an Ibanez RG 7.....also considering throwing a kahler 7 on same guitar if I do that.


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## Lace Music Products

Lace Pickups is introducing the SC7 and SC8 single coil Alumitone for extended range guitars.


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## Wolfos

varjao said:


> Isn't the liquifire very based on the Air Norton?
> 
> I recently bought a JPX 6 strings and from the reviews I thought I would love the liquifire but I'm not falling in love to be honest, I have another guitar with a Paf Joe in the neck and man, those are amazing. It's curious that the Crunch Lab I'm enjoying more, and usually people love the liquifire and are kind of meh regarding the CL.
> 
> I have another JP, 7 strings, with Bare Knuckle, bought it this way, I have the original dimarzios and I'm curious to listen them, Dimarzios says it's the same thing (6 and 7 string version) but in my mind they can't sound the same because the 7 string version is ceramic and the 6 uses alnico.



I just want to say I currently own an EBMM JP7 with stock DiMarzio Crunch Lab and Liquifire pickups and I'm not really that impressed. 

Both Pups don't seem to pack the punch I was expecting, this is coming from a long time DiMarzio user and lover. I'm not saying that the pickups are bad at all but they don't stand out the Crunch Lab wasn't as defined as I was expecting chords seemed a tad muddy and riffing didn't stand out during band practice etc. The Liquifire was nice a solid rhythm pup but nothing special a bit of a hollow tubey sound if that makes sense.

Sadly what bugs me is spending all this money on a Guitar I've dreamed about for years and then wanting to swap out the pickups... I didn't expect that but I've seen online there are 2 beautiful sets of pickups I now want to buy and all reviews have been amazing of the SD - Pegasus and Sentient & BK - Juggernaut Pickups.


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## oceanrose

*Bare Knuckle Pickups Ceramic Nailbomb 7 & Cold Sweat 7
*
Guitar: Ibanez RG2527ZA Prestige
Amp: ENGL Special Edition 670 (6L6 tubes)

Model: BKP C-Bomb 7
Position: Bridge

Tightness, aggression, clarity, musicality, responsiveness, this pickup delivers it all in spades! When it comes to hi gain tones, the c-bomb really delivers in a way that just makes me not want to put down the guitar. The bass is quite prominent, but not overwhelming and booming at all, making low end chugs and palm mutes such a joy to play on. There is a slight hairiness to the high frequencies which makes it sound very aggressive in a good way, sort of like a pleasant sizzle that is not harsh, brittle or piercing, but just lively and raw. Being a ceramic model, the mids on these are a little more scooped, however i find the overall frequencies quite balanced. I currently use them on my basswood Ibanez prestige tuned to A# standard, with a 64 gauge through to 11 on the high side, and with this setup i have no problem nailing (or getting close to) Jeff Loomis's kind of tone. I used to have Dimarzio D Activators, and while those were also really good, i find that the voicing of the nailbomb to be more aggressive and in your face and rebellious if you know what i mean, and it also feels like there is more output on the nailbomb and has an easier to play kind of feel to it. Speaking of feel, these pickups are very responsive to the touch and dynamics of your picking, and for the first time after trying these, i really understood what people meant when they say a pickup sounds and feels musical. The tone has a really distinct character that i have not found in other brand of pickups and for once in a very long time, have made me not want to put down my guitar. Cleans are also surprisingly good and bright without being too trebly and harsh. 

Model: BKP Cold Sweat 7
Position: Neck

I was really skeptical about having the cold sweat 7 in the neck position, as i had a hard time finding a detailed review about it in the neck position other than people simply saying that you cant go wrong them. After being able to try them out, i really understand that there really is nothing much to say about it. For some reason, it just works! But for the sake of those who may be thinking of spending their hard earned money on trying these in the neck position, here are my thoughts. I find it quite difficult to describe the characteristics of this pick up, but in terms of sound, the cold sweat really has such great single note definition emphasized by a perfect amount of treble which makes soloing, sweeping, legatos sound very distinct and articulate. It does not sound mellow or dull at all, but rather clear and ringing, and sustaining, waiting for your next move on the fretboard. Playing on the lower register also does not muddy up like some of the other pickups i have tried from other manufacturers, which makes passages and runs very fluid and pronounced. The overall output and feel matches really nicely with the nailbomb, and they feel like they stick under your fingers in a good way. Definitely worth checking them out.


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## Edika

*EMG 81-7 bridge and 707 neck*
Guitars: Jackson SAT3-7 and ESP LTD EC407BFM

EMG 81-7
I never though I would hear this much difference on an EMG pickup but I did. It sounded nothing like an EMG 81 in the Jackson. Quite muffled, tame and undefined with a strange bass response. Not what I expected from this pickup, having played it's 6 string counterpart. One one hand it sounded shrill but adding bass and cutting mids and treble made it sound boomy.
When I played this pickup on the LTD however I really felt it was quite close to the EMG81 sound, crisp, clear, punchy and quite balanced. No overbearing frequencies. I'm not sure if this works better with the construction of the LTD vs the Jackson (woods, fixed bridge, baritone scale) but it's not going anywhere soon from this guitar.

EMG 707
Similar experience between the Jackson and the LTD but I still am not to fond of it in the LTD either. I did tried it in the bridge position on the Jackson but it was way too muddy and undefined. I can tolerate it on the LTD especially for clean sounds but the lead sound with distortion is not my thing especially in the lower register.

*
Seymour Duncan Blackout Retribution set*
Guitar Jackson SLAT3-7

SD bridge
An improvement over the EMG81-7, increased clarity, tighter bass response and better crunch sound. I was a bit disappointed as I was expecting a sound closer to the regular Blackouts but the sound is quite close to the EMG 81-7. I didn't see much response from the tone knob as I expected and had with the EMG's. I replaced with a new one that came with the pups as well as the cap suggested by SD. Not much effect either so there might be other issues with the guitar electronics. I'm thinking of giving it a go on the LTD but I'm afraid I might not want to put the EMG back lol.

SD neck
A lot tighter than the EMG 707 it replaced but a bit too bright for a neck pickup. Really crunchy though and not anemic at all. It is too hot for most applications though and the clean sound is not that much better than the bridge pickup.


Dimarzio Ionizer 7 bridge and Liquifire neck
Guitar: ESP LTD BS-7

Ionizer 7
I was expecting a lot from this pickup from all the sound samples I've heard and the Dimarzio tone chart but has come to the realization that it really matters which pickup you put in which guitar. The only thing I'm getting from this thing is higher mids and treble, almost no lower mids and no bass response at all with a single sound sound. For a hot output pickup though the distortion is quite anemic. I had to get it really close to the strings for it to have some life in it. I did test both coils to be sure there wasn't any issue and even introduced a 500k resistor with a 22 uF cap to emulate the tone knob. It did help a bit but not that much. I played with the height but getting it further away from the bridge makes the sound even thinner. I raised the screws one one poll and took them down on the other which again helped a bit but not enough.
In this guitar it's a shrill mess. It is super clear and tight but I really don't want a single coil sound from a humbucker. My favorite position so far is the Liquifire and Ionizer together as the sound is meatier and still clear and tight. I'm planning to go through the whole circuit as this doesn't really make sense but you never know.

I can see the appeal and how it would work well with other guitars but not with this one it seems (maple neckthrough with alder wings, maple cap and maple fretboard).

Liquifire 7
A great neck pickup for this guitar with nice cleans. I still prefer the Airnorton 7 over this, as it's smoother and sounded better on clean sounds, but I much prefer this from the other two guitars equipped with actives in terms of a neck pickup. It's full sounding but clear at the same time for quick runs.


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## mnemonic

Edika said:


> EMG 81-7
> I never though I would hear this much difference on an EMG pickup but I did. It sounded nothing like an EMG 81 in the Jackson. Quite muffled, tame and undefined with a strange bass response. Not what I expected from this pickup, having played it's 6 string counterpart. One one hand it sounded shrill but adding bass and cutting mids and treble made it sound boomy.
> When I played this pickup on the LTD however I really felt it was quite close to the EMG81 sound, crisp, clear, punchy and quite balanced. No overbearing frequencies. I'm not sure if this works better with the construction of the LTD vs the Jackson (woods, fixed bridge, baritone scale) but it's not going anywhere soon from this guitar..



I was doing a bit of research on their seven string pickups a while back, and it does seem the soapbar EMG 81-7 is indeed different from the 6 string version. The resonant frequency, dc resistance, etc. is different on the spec sheet too. 

However, the passive-sized seven string EMG 81 (EMG 81-7H) does have the same specs on paper as the 6-string 81. I looked high and low, but I couldn't find any direct comparisons between the two in the same guitar, which I guess is understandable as they're different shapes. 

Just something to keep in mind for someone who likes the 6-string EMG 81, and wants the same in their seven string. They'll probably have to get the passive-sized one.


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## Edika

mnemonic said:


> I was doing a bit of research on their seven string pickups a while back, and it does seem the soapbar EMG 81-7 is indeed different from the 6 string version. The resonant frequency, dc resistance, etc. is different on the spec sheet too.
> 
> However, the passive-sized seven string EMG 81 (EMG 81-7H) does have the same specs on paper as the 6-string 81. I looked high and low, but I couldn't find any direct comparisons between the two in the same guitar, which I guess is understandable as they're different shapes.
> 
> Just something to keep in mind for someone who likes the 6-string EMG 81, and wants the same in their seven string. They'll probably have to get the passive-sized one.



That's what I read myself and that's what I heard on the Jackson too. However the on the baritone ESP LTD it is quite close to the sound I remember of the 6 string EMG81 I had on one of my 6 strings. It has been a few years since I had sold my 6 string with the EMG's and haven't played one with them since so I might not remember the sound all that well. 

The sure thing is that the EMG81-7 sounds great in the LTD but it didn't sound that great in the Jackson. This mostly to counter the argument that EMG's sound the same in all guitars and that only the pickups are responsible for the sound of a guitar.


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## Marked Man

I play primarily through a Mesa Boogie Mark amps, specifically, the Quad/2:90, MKIII and MkIV.
*
Blaze Custom: * I was not initially satisfied with the Blaze Bridge in my original Ibanez UV7BK because it lacked mids, although the fundamental tone was excellent. Without a doubt, the Blaze Custom is a case of More = Better. I am a lead oriented player and think of Petrucci's sound on the Black Clouds.... album as an example of the kind of tone and playing I strive for, and it can easily give you that on a silver platter. The Blaze Custom has an incredibly rich and satisfying, full lead tone, one of my favorites of all pickups I've heard. You can always adjust EQ (get an outboard graphic EQ if you need it) to get a more scooped crunch, although the Blaze Custom is not really the ticket for fast, ultra-precise Nevermore style riffing. I think that is where actives or newer specialized passives come in to play, as well as 26.5" scale or more, all of which are part of the evolution of the 7-string. 

*Blaze Neck: * Again, one of my favorite lead tones of all. Produces some of the best lead tones on Passion and Warfare, and I've never even thought of replacing it on my Universe after owning it many years. Makes 24-fret guitars have a round, full sound that is strikingly similar to what you get from 22 fret guitars. Cleans up nicely, especially in #4 with a Blaze Middle.

*Blaze Middle: *I don't know why they left this as a non-hum cancelling design. The technology has existed for a long time to make bright stacked singles that ape traditional single coil tone well enough. There is nothing particularly special about this pickup with gain, but it does deliver mildly twangy traditional single tones. I almost never use the middle single on any guitar except in combination with the bridge or neck pickups for cleans (#2 and #4) anyway. For that, the sound is excellent. Glassy and bright. 

*Evo7: * They wanted edge, and they got it! Much brighter and has a sharper attack than the Blaze Custom, but the lead sound is harsh and thin in comparison. This would be a fast rhythm player's choice over the BC, but not a lead player's first choice. I was fortunate to be able to play two similar guitars with the Evo7 vs BC on the same amp, same day, and concluded than the Blaze Custom was the better choice for everything other than all-out metal riffing. Very tight and angry sounding!


----------

