Pickups for a HSS setup

[mwbjr13]

Any suggestions for a good HSS setup for rock tones. I want something that can go from classic rock to almost metal tones.
Thanks

 

[Strat Avenger]

Duncan Screamin' Demon or JB in the bridge position, and Dimarzio Area-67 for middle and neck position.

 

[rockskate4x]

I find that any moderately hot pickup can do metal tones. It has more to do with your amp, distortions, and overdrives than your pickups. I bet a GFS VEH would sound wonderful, and it would be easy on your wallet. http://www.guitarfetish.com/VEH-Vintage-Extra-Hot-Black-The-BROWN-SOUND-Bridge-Position_p_786.html

 

[Scuffcakes]

I would second the vote for GFS.  I like the Crunchy Pat for the neck.  Good round tone with great clarity.  More that you'd expect for under $30.

 

[Cagey]

I'll pile on for the GFS parts. Very nice stuff. I also agree with rockskate4x re: nearly anything can do metal tones, as it has much less to do with the pickup than how thoroughly you destroy the signal before you feed it to the amp. Metal is defined more by it's lack of tone than anything else.

 

[crash]

Has anybody here tried the GFS VEH pickups? 

Dimarzio FRED is another to consider.  That is one I would like to have in a future project guitar.

 

[mwbjr13]

I've got GFS' in some of my other guitars and I love them. So you're telling me that as soon as my Orange arrives I should be able to run anything through it and get what I want  :laughing7:

 

[Patrick from Davis]

I'll pile on for the GFS parts. Very nice stuff. I also agree with rockskate4x re: nearly anything can do metal tones, as it has much less to do with the pickup than how thoroughly you destroy the signal before you feed it to the amp. Metal is defined more by it's lack of tone than anything else.

Sorry Cagey, in this case you are just wrong, and rather ignorant.  The pickups have a lot to do with it, along with the rest of the rig.  Just like every other style of electric guitar.  If you don't like it, that is fine, but try not to spread misinformation.
Patrick

 

[Cagey]

Oh, yeah? Well, I think you're wrong. So, there. And since we both can't be wrong, I must be right  :laughing7:

 

[alterbridgefan]

I'll pile on for the GFS parts. Very nice stuff. I also agree with rockskate4x re: nearly anything can do metal tones, as it has much less to do with the pickup than how thoroughly you destroy the signal before you feed it to the amp. Metal is defined more by it's lack of tone than anything else.

And this has been decided by Emg pickups, also known as tone repellent. Every single friend of mine with a guitar has or wants Emg's... I don't get it.
If you want versatile tones, I would go for a PRS Tremonti in bridge, unless you're on a budget, then I would go for gfs. Don't have much experience with single coils, except that I love the Fender lace sensors.

 

[AutoBat]

I have EMG 81x & 85x, they're wonderful. They're so nice a friend played it once and then got a set for his RG.

 

[Patrick from Davis]

I have forever been spoiled by Ken's Roadhouse Pickups.  Even through the incred-o-gain of today's modern amps, they are distinct and allow a load of depth.  The bridge pickup has the growl that I want in a humbucker, and the neck is not muddy, but has the thick and slanky tone I like.  The loads of depth and it makes it easy to get what dynamics I want.  The pickup does matter, so I maintain I am right Cagey.  And ever since I have checked with myself, I have always been correct about that.  I can't argue with that evidence.

I have never been able to make EMG's sound right.  They don't sound bad, they just don't do what I want, or have what I am looking for.  So I use what I know will work for me.  EMG's record well, I know that, but they don't have what I want.  For me is it all sizzle, no bacon.  But others make it work, and love em.  To each their own.  However, Ken makes a mean pickup so it is good to chat with him before deciding.
Patrick

 

[alterbridgefan]

I've always thought blackouts sounded more natural and chunky than emg's. I've just never understood why people love them so much.

 

[Jumble Jumble]

I got a set of SAs in about 2001, and they were incredible. I set about putting EMGs in all my guitars. Now I still have the set of SAs in a Strat, and all my other guitars are back to passive. The SAs are a really great thing to have, so long as you also have an ordinary Strat. All the others were OK, but just not that exciting.

 

[Kadmium]

I'll also back up the support for EMGs. The hatred against them seems to be mostly cork-sniffing, in my opinion; they just sound like regular pickups, only a little clearer and less noisy. They're not only useful for metal, either; Steve Lukather of Toto is using an 85/SA/SA in this performance of Rosanna.

 

[Jumble Jumble]

Yup. When people say they sound sterile, I think they're really hearing their own playing completely clearly for the first time. You get out exactly what you put in, and you don't have a frequency response curve like a profile of the Andes spicing it up for you.

 

[Patrick from Davis]

For me they were one trick ponies.  They did one sound, it wasn't bad, but I had learned how to make passives work for me.  EMG's didn't jive with that.  I also don't like batteries, and the idea of a pre in there is another thing to go wrong.  After going through the 500 series of mic pres, it is easy to see that they can make a lot of difference.  Their pickups work for some people, but not for me.  They were not sterile, they just did one sound, very little dynamic range.  I have also played passives with crappy dynamic range, but they always had more.  That suits my playing better.  So no battery, more dynamic range, and no pre. 

After I got in touch with Ken, and got to play with one of his sets of pickups, I had found my brand.  That was a revelation, they are passives, but there is a whole different world of depth to them.  Makes it fun to mess with picking, volume, and details that seem to get covered up more by other pickups.  Not to say that those things are not there with other brands, there is just so much area to play in with Kens pickups.  And on top of that, they are not absurdly priced, they are very reasonable.
Patrick

 

[KaiserSoze]

I've been thinking about that same setup for a while and considered just having all roadhouse pickups or using the Andy Timmons Dimarzio configuration (Two Dimarzio cruisers and an AT1 humbucker).  I have an AT1 in the bridge of my guitar and am in love with it.

 

[Johnfv]

Has anybody here tried the GFS VEH pickups? 

Yes, I have them in multiple guitars (bridge only) and like them quite a bit. A nice sounding vintage PAF style pickup, actually not that hot in output (I think the fact they call it "extra hot" has more to do with trying to get the EVH initials in there somehow).  I've had a couple GFS pickups that were duds but the VEH sounds great, also sounds good split/parallel. My "Raven" here currently has VEH in bridge (series/parallel/variable split on tone pot), Area '67 middle and Area '61 neck - makes a nice HSS set.

A couple of other quick comments: Lollar Imperials are probably the best sounding humbuckers I have ever played (not cheap). Probably my favorite HSS set (although the H is Strat sized) is Duncan Hot Rails (parallel mostly, series is muddy) with Area 67 middle and Area 58 Neck. I like it so much I have 2 Strats that way

 

[Strat Avenger]

EMGs do not respond the same way that passive pickups do. It's not "cork sniffing". The harmonics are not the same. Although the single-coils produce some mighty fine tone (Gilmore, Lukather), the humbuckers do sound sterile compared to a good passive one.

I also find the need for a battery in a guitar to be ridiculous.

I had a set of 81s in one of my guitars, and after 2 weeks, yanked 'em out and gave 'em to a friend, in favor of some Duncans and never regretted it.