Motor City Pickups and pickup help

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the rossness

the rossness

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Part A: I'm not too familiar with Motor City Pickups and had someone mention them to me on the Seymour Duncan forums. I can't find many sound clips either. What have been your experiences with the different models? I'm interested in maybe checking out the Solution, angel dust and afwayu. Or maybe someone could recommend me something else?

Part B: I have 2 charvel's I want to replace the bridge PU's on both. One is a Tone Zone and the other is a Gravity Storm. The TZ sounds muffled and too dark, while the GS is very shrill- ok for solo's, crap for chords. Both need to be replaced and I'm looking into MCP's. I'd like to try more boutique pickup makers instead of doing the Duncan or Dimarzio thing. I've already had the Fishman Fuence classic and BKP Miracle Man in these guitars and didn't like either.

I want a tone that's very articulate. I want a pickup that has a tight low end, over-the-top (sweet/ singing) high mids and a high end that has a nice cut to it. At the same time, I'm looking for the clarity of a single coil pickup without the typical harshness. The Duncan JB is ok (I love the high mids), but not tight enough on the low end. Doing a ceramic magnet swap gets me some of the qualities I want but takes away the sweetness that makes a JB a JB. The Screamin' Demon (my favourite SD pickup) is close but feels like it needs more power. If I do an A8 magnet swap, it loses that single coil-esque quality. A Suhr Aldrich is great if you throw tons of gain at it, but for mid gain, it sounds too harsh for my ears. I want two pickups- one that's on the brighter side of things and one that's darker. What should I look at?

Thanks~
 
I have a 2nd Degree Black Belt in my Les Paul Standard and it is outstanding. Last year I thought about putting some Seymour Duncan "Slash" pickups in and was like "What am I doing? Why would I mess with this great tone?". :)

This is the only Motor City Pickups pickup I have ever owned so can't compare with the others but I have owned a ton of other pickups over the years and this holds up alongside them. It is articulate and doesn't compress the sound like some other pickups do. Can do heavier stuff no problem (obviously not going to replace an EMG-81 though). Over the years I've had the following pickups just to name a few:

Tony Iommi
Dimarzio Tone Zone and Super Distortion
Seymour Duncan JB, '59, Distortion, RTM (DeMartini)
Gibson Burstbucker, 500T, 498T, 496T
Suhr Aldrich
EMG-81
 
From what you're describing - Angel Dust.
The 2nd Degree Black Belt is pretty cool too just a bit lower output and less compressed.
 
I'm *this* close to taking the plunge into MCP Black Belts and Afwayu's, as well as some custom winds from Arcane.

First time stepping outside of the BKP domain :scared:
 
I've been using MCP's for a few years now and they are outstanding pickups.
I tend to gravitate towards lower output pu's, and let the amps do the heavy lifting, so I'm using 2nd Degree BB's and Detroiters in my Les Pauls. The BB's measure around 8.4k @ the bridge, and the Detroiters are 9.2K I think. The Detroiters have a touch more push in the mids than the 2nd Deg BB's, which I find to be well balanced in the Pauls. Not sure if that's enough juice for what you're looking for, and a Les Paul don't sound like a Charvel, but goddamn that Lester with the Detroiters sounds absolutely mind-blowing. The one with the BB's ain't to shaby either...
I tried Afwayu's in the Pauls, but thought they were a little too thick sounding in those guitars. They measure around 14.5 - 15k and sound JB-ish to me, with great mids and a smooth high end. I ended up putting the Afwayu's in an Ibanez 26.5" scale guitar that I keep tuned to drop B. It's an ash body, maple neck, and ebony board, and the Afwayu's are amazing in that guitar. Very articulate, but heavy as hell.
Also had an Afwayu in the bridge of an SG, and that combo really rocked too. It's all about getting the right pickup for the sonic attributes of the particular guitar.
My suggestion would be to take exactly what you wrote in your first post and email it to Wade and see what he says. He may take a day or 2 to get back to you, but his recommendations for matching his pickups to your guitars are usually right on the money.
Also be aware that he may be operating with some lead time that could be a few weeks or more. Don't sweat it, cause the wait is definitely worth it.
The guy is a wizard and his pickups are freakin amazing :rock: .

Good luck with the pickup search!
 
fusedbrain":ppikgdlh said:
I've been using MCP's for a few years now and they are outstanding pickups.
I tend to gravitate towards lower output pu's, and let the amps do the heavy lifting, so I'm using 2nd Degree BB's and Detroiters in my Les Pauls. The BB's measure around 8.4k @ the bridge, and the Detroiters are 9.2K I think. The Detroiters have a touch more push in the mids than the 2nd Deg BB's, which I find to be well balanced in the Pauls. Not sure if that's enough juice for what you're looking for, and a Les Paul don't sound like a Charvel, but goddamn that Lester with the Detroiters sounds absolutely mind-blowing. The one with the BB's ain't to shaby either...
I tried Afwayu's in the Pauls, but thought they were a little too thick sounding in those guitars. They measure around 14.5 - 15k and sound JB-ish to me, with great mids and a smooth high end. I ended up putting the Afwayu's in an Ibanez 26.5" scale guitar that I keep tuned to drop B. It's an ash body, maple neck, and ebony board, and the Afwayu's are amazing in that guitar. Very articulate, but heavy as hell.
Also had an Afwayu in the bridge of an SG, and that combo really rocked too. It's all about getting the right pickup for the sonic attributes of the particular guitar.
My suggestion would be to take exactly what you wrote in your first post and email it to Wade and see what he says. He may take a day or 2 to get back to you, but his recommendations for matching his pickups to your guitars are usually right on the money.
Also be aware that he may be operating with some lead time that could be a few weeks or more. Don't sweat it, cause the wait is definitely worth it.
The guy is a wizard and his pickups are freakin amazing :rock: .

Good luck with the pickup search!
Click to expand...

I sent MCP an Email.
 
I have mcp pickups in 4 of my charvels. Two are alder body maple neck. The other two are same but have ebony boards. The detroiter would be my pick if you play a lot of different ground musically. If you are more high gain most of the time I would say angel dust or Garuda but the solution to me is all out assault like an active but still not sterile. The best advice I would say is email him. His stuff is the best in my opinion.
 
Wades Pups are killer I have an Awayu and an Angel dust love that combo I also have a set of Bks,Duncan's,suhr aldrichs all in Les Pauls but the MCP is my favorite though
 
Ventura":2hzh767g said:
I'm *this* close to taking the plunge into MCP Black Belts and Afwayu's, as well as some custom winds from Arcane.

First time stepping outside of the BKP domain :scared:
Click to expand...
I've tried lots of pickups by those 3 brands (especially bkp and mcp) and liked Arcanes best of those 3, but motor city's were also good. I found motor City and arcanes to be more raw and organic than bkp, but they're all good. Honestly though, I prefer wolfetone and a few others to those 3 brands
 
Hey Ross,

I have Solutions in one of my LPs and they're very powerful, articulate, and responsive...Wade is a good guy to deal with and while you may have to wait a bit longer as opposed to ordering a Duncan, it's worth it IMHO...

Cheers,
Mattfig
 
Search our Rig-Talk member "firejack". He has a serious comparison video of some of the more popular MCP. I think, he did the detroiter, hotheads, dragon suite and black belts. He used the same guitar and amp settings for his comparison.

Beside, ask Wade what he recommends. Just tell him what kind of guitar (wood), amp and type of music your playing and just make you decision from there.
 
Iirc the pickup shootout James Lugo did a while ago had a couple of well recorded MCP as well as other top brands
 
Angel Dust or Detroiter.....I have the AD in 4 of my SuperStrat style guitars and they kick ass in IMO. The Garuda is another option.
 
I went crazy looking for pickups for my Charvel San Dimas (MIJ)

I ended up with a set of Afwayus, and I've been really happy with them. They cut well for solos with a little boost (I'm using a JCM800) and sound great for rhythm. I find myself rolling back the volume a lot more. They clean up really well too.
 
Mattfig":3j35frsc said:
Hey Ross,

I have Solutions in one of my LPs and they're very powerful, articulate, and responsive...Wade is a good guy to deal with and while you may have to wait a bit longer as opposed to ordering a Duncan, it's worth it IMHO...

Cheers,
Mattfig
Click to expand...

Howdy Matt,

Yea, I've been waiting a while already. More wait shouldn't hurt. The TZ loaded guitar gets a little play here and there and the guitar with gravity storms is WAAAAAAAYYYYYY too bright and gets no real use. It gets tiresome listening to clip after clip of different pups. I had thought of doing Fishman's again, but decided against it. Thought about doing a BKP Black Hawk out of curiosity, but didn't totally bond with the clips I've heard. Its been about 2 months of listening to sound clips. Oy oy oy.
 
lotsalemon":371y0xy2 said:
I went crazy looking for pickups for my Charvel San Dimas (MIJ)

I ended up with a set of Afwayus, and I've been really happy with them. They cut well for solos with a little boost (I'm using a JCM800) and sound great for rhythm. I find myself rolling back the volume a lot more. They clean up really well too.
Click to expand...

I've had 10 Charvel Pro mods at one point or another. If its any indication, I kept the MIJ ones, sold the rest. There have been many different pickups in these guitars. The JB is hot in some guitars and dead in others. The demon sounds great in my mahogany Charvel star, but feels like a work in progress. I had it in an old alder cheapo Dean Custom Zone and it was shrill. I've done the SD "Custom" with every mag swap. Currently it resides in my Gibson SG with an A2. The AH3 blackouts were cool for a while. I wasn't a fan of the EMG 85 (with the exception of the Suhr Reb Beach model) and I never much cared for the 81 in any guitar. I like the SD Jazz much better than the 59' as a neck pup. For hard rock, which is my main style, the Texas hot antiquity is too vintage as a neck single coil- though it does John Fruchantae' (I might have butchered his last name) tones well. On the Dimarzio side, I used to like the TZ but now I hear it as muddy and muffled. The Super Distortion was cool in a LP but not in a charvel- again, muffled. The Super3 is my favourite Dimarzio pup. Its a workhorse but not inspiring to play. I never seem to write music on a Super 3. The PAF pro is ok and works as a neck pickup also. The Crunch zone works well. I wasn't crazy about the EJ Custom. The fred is too honky, Steve's special and Norton weren't my thing, I played an AT1 the other day and kind of shrugged my shoulders at it. I think Andy should go back to the JB. I'd also love to hear a Danger Danger Album with both him and Rob Marcello but that's another topic all together. The Dimarzio PU's in my EBMM Axis are insane, but they're not available apart from that guitar- and my Axis is my #1 guiatr and I have no plans to rip them out of it. The Chopper is interesting for in between tones. The Area 67' IS a good pickup and will stay in my charvel. The Injector neck sounded ok but didn't have the right feel. The Anderson H3+ didn't do it for me. The Suhr Aldrich only sounded good with megatons of gain thrown at it and the rest of the time, I didn't like it. the BKP miracleman and Fluence gave me a headache. Somehow, I think they sound so hi-fi my head doesn't like it. I'm probably forgetting a few pickups, but I've had lots of charvels and lots of pickups.
 
I wasn't going to reply because you're looking for a Motor City option, but I was looking for the same thing for my Charvel So Cal. Tried a lot of the same pickups you've mentioned, felt the same way about a lot of them. I ended up with an EVH Frankenstein in the bridge and a SD 59 in the neck. I usually prefer the SD Jazz as well, but a 59 neck just worked better in my particular guitar.

The Frankenstein pu (not Wolfgang) is an interesting beast. It's got a high DC, but it doesn't sound like a super hot pickup. To me it has a scatter-wound vibe and it sounds like one coil has a lot more windings on it than the other. It has that clear, hot single-coilish thing to it. I love the MM Axis and Peavey Wolf stock pickups and the Frank is definitely in that ballpark. I think it's an A2 mag, so the low end might be a little looser than what you're looking for (it's plenty tight for me), but after trying so many options in my Charvel, it was an immediate "hell yes!" My tech who put it in had never heard one before and he was gushing over how great it sounded too.
 
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I sent MCP an Email.[/quote]

I'm curious if he replies, let us know...I sent an email about 2 weeks ago, to try to buy some pups and have not gotten a response.
 
I sent money to purchase an Angel Dust this past Monday (4 days ago) and haven't gotten any kind of response yet either.
 
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