# "Metal" Pickup suggestion for all mahogany guitar.



## behemoth91 (Sep 10, 2010)

So ive decided im getting a custom carvin, and while the bridge pickup in it isnt that bad i do plan on replacing it a shortwhile after recieving the guitar. So my question is whats a good "metal" pickup for a all mahogany guitar. I play stuff like cannibal corpse, behemoth, job for a cowboy, emporer, immortal, black dahlia murder. And also no actives please. There will also be a poll, if you chose other state your opinion in the comment box please. Once again im only looking for a bridge pickup as i kinda like the neck pickup on the carvins.


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## Rev2010 (Sep 10, 2010)

Duncan JB rules king in mahogany.... I don't care what anyone says it's always been my favorite. 


Rev.


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## hiflyer (Sep 10, 2010)

EMG 707 or Dimarzio Evo...........


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## MaxOfMetal (Sep 10, 2010)

Why the active hate? At one time or another every band you listed has used EMGs in their guitars, and many still do.























Though, if you're absolutely dead set on going passive, check out the D-Activators by Dimarzio. They're great pickups and can easily do the tones you're talking about.


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## behemoth91 (Sep 10, 2010)

i know all of em use emgs, tried emgs and theyre definently awesome but i dont want to put emgs in my first custom. And besides i have emgs in my other guitar and d-activators in the other, and i prefer the passives but the d-activators arent ass bassy and ballsy as i want em to be though they are beast pickups regardless. btw beast pic of cannibal corpse. and as of right now im leaning towards the x2n


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## AvantGuardian (Sep 10, 2010)

I had a mahogany body S7320 with a Dimarzio D-Sonic in the bridge (with the bar on the bridge side) and it had a really nice metal sound, very big yet articulate with heavy distortion. I've heard the Crunch Lab is good too but I haven't tried one yet.


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## MaxOfMetal (Sep 10, 2010)

behemoth91 said:


> i know all of em use emgs, tried emgs and theyre definently awesome but i dont want to put emgs in my first custom. And besides i have emgs in my other guitar and d-activators in the other, and i prefer the passives but the d-activators arent ass bassy and ballsy as i want em to be though they are beast pickups regardless. btw beast pic of cannibal corpse.



If you don't think the D-Activators have bass or balls, then try the Drop Sonic 7 or Evo 7. The D-Sonic is really thick and has plenty of tight low-end still very articulate though, while the Evo 7 is super clear and aggressive. 

Honestly, stay away from the X2N. It's got tone of output, and on paper would be a great pickup, but every guitar I've put them in and amp I've then played through has been fairly harsh treble wise with weak/brittle mids and a little too much bass, enough so they can be muddy if you don't watch your settings. They're great pickups if you're looking for that very early 80's/90's Thrash or Death Metal tone. The kind that you typically play with SS gear. Maybe I'm just doing something wrong.


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## behemoth91 (Sep 10, 2010)

MaxOfMetal said:


> If you don't think the D-Activators have bass or balls, then try the Drop Sonic 7 or Evo 7. The D-Sonic is really thick and has plenty of tight low-end still very articulate though, while the Evo 7 is super clear and aggressive.
> 
> Honestly, stay away from the X2N. It's got tone of output, and on paper would be a great pickup, but every guitar I've put them in and amp I've then played through has been fairly harsh treble wise with weak/brittle mids and a little too much bass, enough so they can be muddy if you don't watch your settings. They're great pickups if you're looking for that very early 80's/90's Thrash or Death Metal tone. The kind that you typically play with SS gear. Maybe I'm just doing something wrong.


 i am trying to get 80s/90s thrash/death metal tone.


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## MaxOfMetal (Sep 10, 2010)

behemoth91 said:


> i am trying to get 80s/90s thrash/death metal tone.



Gotcha, there's just nothing 80's/90's Thrash or Death Metal about all but one or two of the bands you listed.


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## behemoth91 (Sep 10, 2010)

MaxOfMetal said:


> Gotcha, there's just nothing 80's/90's Thrash or Death Metal about all but one or two of the bands you listed.


 cannibal and behemoth theyre from the early 90s lol. and yea i listened to a few clips of the x2n and i agree it isnt exactly what im looking for. and i listened to the d-sonic and its pretty beast, that and the invader.


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## Triple-J (Sep 10, 2010)

I'd recommend the Duncan Distortion as I own two Schecter blackjacks (which are mahogany) and I dropped a Duncan Distortion in one of them about a month ago and I love it. 
There's a nice clear sound that's much much better than the JB that was originally in my guitar which provides a good solid percussive chunk plus it can cover a lot of ground tone wise as I tend to vary between Page Hamilton/Wes Borland style riffing/thrash/Black Sabbath/Type o Negative style sludge and it handles things so well I've just ordered another.


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## Solstafir (Sep 10, 2010)

Depends heavily on what amp ya gonna drive with it. 
I LOVE the JB, D-Sonic (absolutely fabulous my Mayones), CrunchLab sounds very deep and crunchy and full, too, Evos are also awesome, X2N7 is also amazing in mahogany bodies. Great pick attack on all of them too, essential for 80's-90's thrash style.
EMG's also sound great in mahogany guitars, just can't seem to get a good lead sound out of them, at least not as easy as with passives!


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## Disco Volante (Sep 11, 2010)

Rev2010 said:


> Duncan JB rules king in mahogany.... I don't care what anyone says it's always been my favorite.
> 
> 
> Rev.



+1 any day of the week if you're going passive. I have a Duncan JB in my all mahogany LTD Viper and it slays in that particular guitar.

Here's two of my songs that I recorded with the JB so you can get an idea of what it sounds like:

SoundClick artist: Single Unified Force - page with MP3 music downloads

SoundClick artist: Single Unified Force - page with MP3 music downloads

I also love the D-Sonic in my JP6, but am unsure of how it sounds in mahogany. The CrunchLab always gets rave reviews too.


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## afflictive (Sep 11, 2010)

Go Bare Knuckle instead. You won't regret.


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## MrMcSick (Sep 11, 2010)

I used to have my invader in my all mahogany gui and liked it but its a pretty dark pickup and mahogany is rather warm. Took it out and put it in my alder maple board gui since it was wayyy too bright and absolutely love it in it since invaders are low on the treble side.


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## cwhitey2 (Sep 11, 2010)

Rev2010 said:


> Duncan JB rules king in mahogany.... I don't care what anyone says it's always been my favorite.
> 
> 
> Rev.




 this pup is 100% pure awesome...love mine would not trade it for anything 


edit: mahogany + jb + my ear = orgasm


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## behemoth91 (Sep 11, 2010)

yea at this point im either getting the jb or the d-sonic.


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## Triple-J (Sep 11, 2010)

One thing to bear in mind is that the JB does sound great in a mahogany 6 string but the 7 string version of the pickup is a little different tends to lack tightness on the low B and can sound muddy, personally I spent a lot of time amp fiddling when I had the JB in my Schecters and I just got sick of it never being quite 100% in terms of tone.


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## Rook (Sep 11, 2010)

It helps to know what amp you've got.

Example: If you have a Mesa Dual Rectifier, these 'sag' in quite a characteristic way, generally. If you like the 'big' sound you get from them, but want a tighter gain, rather than the masses of fat compression you would normally get, go for something very hot and bright. The more voltage you put the the front, the tighter it gets. Something like an EVO or D-Sonic, or if you want a REAL boost, a D-Activator.

If you have something essentially the sound you want, or an amp that doesn't change its characteristic depending on the guitar like most Peaveys, go for something that's EQ'd more the way you want - in this case, something like a Blaze that has the ducked mids. This is the approach Lamb of God take with their Mark Series amps. The Marks don't need pushing to get that serious tight tone because that's what the bass, mid and treble controls do, so Mark can get away with using something, with lower output. Something clear and with a lot of mids - a '59.

As far as matching to the guitar, hot ceramic pickups don't really take a lot from the guitar, so you can concentrate a lot on the pickup's general 'EQ'. If you were going to go for a much lower output pickup because you think your amp's up for it, your guitar's construction will come into play. JB's are great with Mahogany, as are the PAF Pro's or PAF7's (how many strings?).


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## Rook (Sep 11, 2010)

It helps to know what amp you've got.

Example: If you have a Mesa Dual Rectifier, these 'sag' in quite a characteristic way, generally. If you like the 'big' sound you get from them, but want a tighter gain, rather than the masses of fat compression you would normally get, go for something very hot and bright. The more voltage you put the the front, the tighter it gets. Something like an EVO or D-Sonic, or if you want a REAL boost, a D-Activator.

If you have something essentially the sound you want, or an amp that doesn't change its characteristic depending on the guitar like most Peaveys, go for something that's EQ'd more the way you want - in this case, something like a Blaze that has the ducked mids. This is the approach Lamb of God take with their Mark Series amps. The Marks don't need pushing to get that serious tight tone because that's what the bass, mid and treble controls do, so Mark can get away with using something, with lower output. Something clear and with a lot of mids - a '59.

As far as matching to the guitar, hot ceramic pickups don't really take a lot from the guitar, so you can concentrate a lot on the pickup's general 'EQ'. If you were going to go for a much lower output pickup because you think your amp's up for it, your guitar's construction will come into play. JB's are great with Mahogany, as are the PAF Pro's or PAF7's (how many strings?).


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## MTech (Sep 11, 2010)

I'd say the JB but if you want it tight and no issue with harsh mids which you sometimes get with the JB I'd suggest the Duncan Custom and Duncan 59 otherwise get a Duncan Bro Bucker in the bridge (Like dude in Black Dahlia had in his M-II) w/ a 59.


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## NickDowe (Sep 11, 2010)

afflictive said:


> Go Bare Knuckle instead. You won't regret.




I second this... BKM MM7 or the Painkillers. I put them in a Xiphos.. sounds excellent.


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## Deathmetal94564 (Sep 11, 2010)

I say Seymour Duncan Custom


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## Sepultorture (Sep 11, 2010)

i know alot of people say BAREKNUCKLE right off the bat, but if you want bass and balls, and amazing metal in mahogany, Bareknuckle Pickups Warpig with ceramic magnet brother, you won't be disappointed, i'm still not


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## Knossos (Sep 12, 2010)

If you like Nile, that distinctive grind they have is just an SH-8 Invader into a Marshall DSL. If you listen to Sacrifice unto Sebek, you'll get me.


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## abstract (Sep 17, 2010)

Sepultorture said:


> i know alot of people say BAREKNUCKLE right off the bat, but if you want bass and balls, and amazing metal in mahogany, Bareknuckle Pickups Warpig with ceramic magnet brother, you won't be disappointed, i'm still not



That was my thought right away. The C-Pig is the most ballsy, crunchy, aggressive pickup I've ever used. Duncan has a pickup that's described as "PAF on steroids". If that's true, the 'Pig is like a "PAF with the power of the gods, descended from it's realm to destroy you with a single blink of it's eye". The ceramic version (which I have) is actually very tight.

Although everyone talks up how insane it is, it's not to the point where it isn't versatile or dynamic either. My friend who plays blues rock thinks they're great as well. I had to talk him down from ordering a set because there are BKPs much better for his style.


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## emperor_black (Oct 10, 2010)

Triple-J said:


> One thing to bear in mind is that the JB does sound great in a mahogany 6 string but the 7 string version of the pickup is a little different tends to lack tightness on the low B and can sound muddy, personally I spent a lot of time amp fiddling when I had the JB in my Schecters and I just got sick of it never being quite 100% in terms of tone.



It is muddy and not quite as hot as the 6 stringer. I have been playing 6 string Jackson's with JB's for almost 4 yrs now. I can get the clip indicator on the AFX to light up at 3/4 input level. However for the Schecter, its maxed out and it still doesn't light up. IMO its a weak pup compared to the 6 string version. It doesn't sound quite full either.


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## Mordacain (Oct 10, 2010)

MaxOfMetal said:


> Though, if you're absolutely dead set on going passive, check out the D-Activators by Dimarzio. They're great pickups and can easily do the tones you're talking about.



^1. This is my recommendation as well.


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## whosdealin (Oct 11, 2010)

You know what ,..... The C-pig is kinda what a Blackout might sound like if it was passive. 

I liked the blackouts a bit but they were to hot and a tad muddy on the lows for me. I know some would argue this but this was my experience with them in several guitars.

The C-pig is like a perfect blackout.... It has the thick low mids and bass but its surgically tight and clear and even though it is really high output it doesnt seem to be over aggressive sounding. The Blackouts made some amps sound like ass because it was just pushing to hard and the tone would become overly aggressive.

Big thumbs up on the Warpigs if you want a kinda active like tone but much more organic and real sounding\feeling.


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## Trivium KN (Oct 12, 2010)

Blackouts are the way to go they kill and bury EMGS EMG=BIG SHITTY FLAT TONE PIECE OF CRAP!!!


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## Bruiser (Oct 12, 2010)

I switched from an X2N 7 to an Evo 7 and it sounds great.


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## zurdo (Dec 14, 2010)

Bareknuckle's painkillers
Nick from the axe palace recommended me those and installed them on my ibanez rg7420.
Best pickups ever!


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## myampslouder (Dec 14, 2010)

BAREKNUCKLE AFTERMATH


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## TheMasterplan (Dec 14, 2010)

Second-ing DA7's - they're actually quite nice but to my disappointment I've hated my X2N 7 since I dropped it in :/


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## Sullen (Dec 15, 2010)

behemoth91 said:


> cannibal and behemoth theyre from the early 90s lol. and yea i listened to a few clips of the x2n and i agree it isnt exactly what im looking for. and i listened to the d-sonic and its pretty beast, that and the invader.


But Behemoth didn't play Death or Thrash Metal in the early 90's


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## b7string (Dec 16, 2010)

I have to agree with some earlier comments suggesting the D-sonic or the JB. I have a mahogany guitar with a JB, and it sounds just reckless, it has great mids and makes for a well rounded semi-tight, powerful high-gain sound. I say semi-tight because emg's and other actives are much tighter, but this pickup is more organic sounding than the actives. I also have a walnut guitar with a D-sonic, which sounds a little harsh when clean, but overdriven, it is a killer pickup. It would sound even better in mahogany imo.

The JB is great, but I think a D-sonic in mahogany with bar towards the bridge will give you a cataclysmic overdrive tone, and might satisfy what you are looking for.


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## TheDjentlman (Dec 18, 2010)

What about a Lundgren Model M-7? More on the expensive side but, I think its exactly what you're looking for.


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## FadexToxBlack81 (May 3, 2011)

well ill give it to you straight. I have a carvin with a mohagany body as well. Mohagany is naturally a very dark wood so your going to want something bright with high end to even it out. EMGS will work. personally, i prefer passive. right now i have a d-sonic 7 but im going to switch it out for a x2n 7


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