Currently …
Tone zonenin my Ibanez
Fishman in my Charvel
I’m looking for a replacement for my
New ESP e-II HORIZON
I’m considering the SD parallel axis distortion
@ $100.
Any others you’d recommend in this range?
Saturated, thick mids, 80s 90s sound.
For something a little off the beaten path, guys chasing that sort of sound have generally raved about the Suhr Aldrich. Never played one myself, though while the humbuckers of theirs I’ve played in the past have generally been good, but their singlecoils have always been the real star of the show for me.
Thanks Drew. I heard that they were good pickups, funny they aren’t listed as high output…
I only use active pickups, but they have very high output; I don’t know if you like the EMG 85, but it might be worth considering.
The Aldrich? Suhr describes it as the highest output pickup they make. It’s not in, like, Lundgren territory or anything, and I think “hot” is very much in the eye of the beholder, but it’s at least up there with a Tone Zone.
Another alternative that isn’t uber hot but has a very thick midrange is the Dimarzio AT1 - I love this pickup for vocal lead work, personally - I mean, it’s Timmons’ bridge pickup - but it doesn’t have a particularly thick, punchy bass, so if you want something for rhythm work maybe this isn’t it.
Duncan Custom is pretty cool too, VERY percussive but still full low end, and a lot of upper-mids that actually (in ash, anyway) made for a surprisingly good lead sound. I’ve had a Custom 7 in my Suhr Modern for a couple years now, though I have a PAF Pro/Blaze pair ready to go for when I have a free weekend.
Maybe I was mistaken on the Aldrich pup
I decided to go with the SD parallel axis distortion TB, for my new ESP Horizon.
It’s the 2nd highest output pup they make.
I think it’ll be a good fit.