Recommended pickups for Vh4

[steve_k]

EMG 81/85's

Duncan Jazz/JB

Motor City 2nd Degree Black Belts


I find that PU's in the 9-11 K-ohm range work well for actives.


Steve

 

[shadow070]

Best is to try before you buy.
I went with a set of BKP warpigs and they really arent my thing, lost 50% because the prices off BKP dropped in holland.

I Have a ibanez uv777, still with the stock pickups. They do their job but i would like more mids and less output would be nice. Now i lean more towords something like a dimarzio PAF.

Actually im waiting for the production of suhr, i guess their 7 string versions would match perfect with the herbert. I just got mail that they dont have them yet but that they are bussy with it.

 

[PBGas]

The other option is a couple of Dimarzio PAF 7s. A bit lower power but they have enough to keep things nice and even.

Personally, I have a Crunch lab and Liquifire 7 combo in my RG1527. They work amazingly well with Herb.

 

[racerevlon]

Dimarzio Blaze Set

 

[frantic77]

Poppa told me way back in 99', he prefers low output pickups. They make the amp work for it's money.
I tend to not go over 9K for clarity.

Bingo. Although I have some hefty output pups, the best sounding pups are my stock Gibby's and my Riff Raffs, and eve those have some balls

V.

this! i do really love my stock Gibson PU's in my LPC(490R-498T)
and PAF pro-Motor City Hell Baby combo

 

[Sinister 7]

I've compared the Blaze, Evolution and EMG 81-7 and the EMG comes out tighter and clearer so I've been using those for a while now for Metal.

 

[RaulTx]

Well, from my experience, the EMG 81 sounded very flat in my VH4. I realized about it since I've got a LP with stock pickups (498T), very rich sound compared to the EMGs! Also it depends on the guitar but..

 

[eonblue]

I believe they were recommended, but I use the Duncan Custom in my LP 58 Reissue -> VH4. Thats the Custom, not the Custom Custom.

https://www.seymourduncan.com/products/e ... ncan_cust/

I put a boutique pickup in for a while by Wolftone, but in the end, for my style my guitar and the amp I liked the SH-5 for the nice mid/low-mid characteristics and not being too bright or too high of an output.

EDIT: Blah, just noticed the OP was running a 7 string.......in which case a 6 string pickup won't do him much good

 

[slyvren]

I believe they were recommended, but I use the Duncan Custom in my LP 58 Reissue -> VH4. Thats the Custom, not the Custom Custom.

https://www.seymourduncan.com/products/e ... ncan_cust/

I put a boutique pickup in for a while by Wolftone, but in the end, for my style my guitar and the amp I liked the SH-5 for the nice mid/low-mid characteristics and not being too bright or too high of an output.

EDIT: Blah, just noticed the OP was running a 7 string.......in which case a 6 string pickup won't do him much good

As I said earlier in the thread.. Seymour Duncan makes 7 string versions of their popular pickups including the custom / 59 / custom-custom /JB etc.

 

[eonblue]

I believe they were recommended, but I use the Duncan Custom in my LP 58 Reissue -> VH4. Thats the Custom, not the Custom Custom.

https://www.seymourduncan.com/products/e ... ncan_cust/

I put a boutique pickup in for a while by Wolftone, but in the end, for my style my guitar and the amp I liked the SH-5 for the nice mid/low-mid characteristics and not being too bright or too high of an output.

EDIT: Blah, just noticed the OP was running a 7 string.......in which case a 6 string pickup won't do him much good

As I said earlier in the thread.. Seymour Duncan makes 7 string versions of their popular pickups including the custom / 59 / custom-custom /JB etc.

Well.....aren't they thoughtful.

 

[jsadctnfn1]

I'm not a fan of JB's usually. They've got a sort of high end cut that isn't pleasing to my ears. The best thing to do is use seymour's chart and see which ones suite your guitar's woods and what-not. I personally prefer the duncan distortion or my new favorite is the custom-custom.

Ya know... Everyone that is NOT a fan of the JB gives the same reasons. The high end is just NOT pleasing. What everyone who says this must NOT know is that the JB was made for 250k- 300k pots. Most guitars today come with 500k pots and thus with a JB will have too much high end. However, Gibson Les Paul Custom's to this day, still have a 300k volume pot for the bridge pickup. Fender uses 250k. Swap out the 498T in a Gibson or a humbucker in a strat and you're good.

I would suggest that anyone trying a JB also make sure you have a 250k - 300k bridge volume pot. Otherwise you'll be a hater for no other reason than you're trying the JB with the wrong pot.

 

[Mailman1971]

Suhr Aldrich sounds AWESOME thru the Diezel Vh4................

 

[Peter Diezel]

I tried over 50 sets of pickups over the years.
Low output pickups up to 10k sounds best.
The power should come from the guitar within
wood and hardware.

 

[van hellion]

i like the dsh+ and dsv at the moment

A Wood

 

[stonedawn]

Hi all,

I am currently using a PRS Tremonti in the bridge position with 15.42k and a 500k pot, which worked great with the Mesa Roadster I was using for a while. Now, after seeing Peter's recommendation to go below 10k for the VH4, would that be too high of an output for the Einy as well?
I did notice that definition in channel 2 gets a lot better with the volume rolled off.

 

[Peter Diezel]

I have also a Duncan SH6 set with 16k und 12k
but have not the best results. Don´t like 250k
pots for humbuckers. It decreases the attack in
my case.

 

[Oz Hofstatter]

I tried over 50 sets of pickups over the years.
Low output pickups up to 10k sounds best.
The power should come from the guitar within
wood and hardware.

I have good experience with my PAF Style Pickup: Throbak, Wolfetone and Sakashita.
Best,
Oz

 

[Ventura]

Well, from my experience, the EMG 81 sounded very flat in my VH4. I realized about it since I've got a LP with stock pickups (498T), very rich sound compared to the EMGs! Also it depends on the guitar but..

Agreed. I can't play my FR-II with the VH4S due to it sounding completely lifeless. If I get down with my '57 Classic or Burstbucker loaded Lesters, it rips... Same with my Riff Raff equipped Hamer, sounds awesome.

To each their own, but low output pups and Diezel heads do sound best.
V.