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 Thinking about changing pickups, need suggestions!, HELP

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TSnabzblitz
post Jan 30 2014, 01:02 PM, updated 7y ago

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Hey guys!

So I own an LTD Viper-10 and I was thinking of changing my pickups to play some heavier music. I was thinking of Seymour Duncan Invaders, but would it make a significant change? Should I even bother changing?

I'm gonna play stuff like Avenged Sevenfold (obviously), Killswitch Engage, Trivium, BMTH, stuff like that.

UPDATE:
Wow it's been 3 years and I still haven't changed my pickups.

So to recap, I'm looking to change the stock pickups on my LTD Viper 10. Lately I find that I've been playing a lot of djent music (Periphery, Veil Of Maya, Issues (I think they count as djent, just lighter)), and right now my setup is the guitar, to a TS9, straight to the Marshall MG250DFX on the distortion channel.

My main goal is basically to do a refurbish of this guitar, as this year is my 10 year anniversary with it. I plan on changing the pickups, tuners, bridge and pots to gold.

That being said, I'm strongly considering the Dimarzio Titans set. It's a signature set by Jake Bowen from Periphery, so pretty sure I can get some djent from it. Bonus is that it's gold lol. But what do you guys think? Is there anything I need to know about replacing pickups as well? Such as would the Titans fit in my guitar, and since the pickups can do coil splitting is there any other hardware changes I need to do? Like do I have to change the pots so it can split coils, or change the pickup switch to a 3 way to a 5 way?

Here are the specs of my LTD Viper -10:
- Agathis Body Material (I know in the newer models they use basswood, but I got mine circa 2006 so I'm sorta sure mine is agathis)
- Maple Thin-U Bolt-on Neck
- 24 Fret, Rosewood Fingerboard
- Two ESP LH-100 Humbuckers
- Tune O Matic Bridge and Tailpiece

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

This post has been edited by nabzblitz: Jul 5 2017, 12:04 PM
regiuseven
post Jan 30 2014, 02:06 PM

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QUOTE(nabzblitz @ Jan 30 2014, 01:02 PM)
Hey guys!

So I own an LTD Viper-10 and I was thinking of changing my pickups to play some heavier music. I was thinking of Seymour Duncan Invaders, but would it make a significant change? Should I even bother changing?

I'm gonna play stuff like Avenged Sevenfold (obviously), Killswitch Engage, Trivium, BMTH, stuff like that.
*
I would suggest to.. change the amp or any guitar with better pickups.
Changing pickup alone is quite experimental on an entry-level guitar, no guarantee it would sound significantly better.

Unless you're sure you're not planning to change the guitar for quite a time.

#heavymusicplayerhere #dropa #dropb #dropc
empire
post Jan 30 2014, 03:22 PM

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many guitarists have the mentality : ' Buy a cheap guitar ... change the pickups ... and you will have a great guitar!'

This is sooooo wrong.
regiuseven
post Jan 30 2014, 03:46 PM

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Change vs No Change dilemma. It all comes to..

- Budget ? Provide us and we will gladly help you spec your way

or

- Need ? Are you really going to take this further or just be contented with current gears

or

- Principle ? Do you believe in the sounds you're looking after

Complex process but not really mindboggling sweat.gif

Sorry if I made it look hard to you, peace mate \m/
Ulysses
post Jan 30 2014, 04:08 PM

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QUOTE(empire @ Jan 30 2014, 03:22 PM)
many guitarists have the mentality :  ' Buy a cheap guitar ... change the pickups ... and you will have a great guitar!'

This is sooooo wrong.
*
Not necessarily wrong.its dependant. In his earlier days, Jack Thammarat uses squier vibe series to play some of his song. He still manage to get his signature tone... even after he changed to yamaha
TSnabzblitz
post Jan 30 2014, 09:58 PM

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Haha thing is, I'm actually getting a Fender Tele to play my "normal" music (which is mostly alternative, indie rock) and then I wondered if I would even touch my LTD after that. So I thought maybe if I change the pickups I could play the more heavier stuff and leave it in maybe drop C tuning forever haha.

What you guys think? I shouldn't bother?

Also I guess I should mention I'm using a Marshall MG250dfx and I have an Ibanez Tubescreamer and EHX Big Muff Pi, but idk I kinda wish I could get it to sound heavier? Which is why I thought maybe it would if I change the pickups.

This post has been edited by nabzblitz: Jan 30 2014, 10:02 PM
lky88
post Jan 30 2014, 10:38 PM

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Bareknuckle pickups then you can dj0nt, chug chug chug chug .
But seriously, wrong pedals for metal, you need a compressor, something like a metal muff, Eq pedal , noise gate (?) .


regiuseven
post Jan 31 2014, 12:28 AM

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I used to believe and still - the tonality of 'heavy' should come from the 'body' or the amp

Which i dont think your viper is suited/specced optimally - amp change is a better idea but i'll leave that to you

Teles also can growl metal and still play the twangs if specced correctly
empire
post Jan 31 2014, 04:24 PM

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A TELE can really ROCK big time if you know how. You can see vids of how tele players play metal...Hard Rock etc
DT89
post Feb 1 2014, 12:36 AM

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It's always good to have humbuckers and single coils. If one doesn't cut it, pick up the other one to do the job. That is why many of us will never stop buying right ?

Personally I think, a great high gain tone really really depends on the amplifier + speaker combination. Provided you have decent pickups that are commonly used for high gain.
TSnabzblitz
post Feb 1 2014, 05:08 AM

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Got it. Thanks for the suggestions guys!
empire
post Feb 1 2014, 12:27 PM

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If you always play with dirty tone 90% of the time... go for humbuckers...cos it sounds really 'juicy' played dirty. If you play Clean most of the time....Single coils are the way to go.

Since you are into the 'dirty' zone ... no need to bother with single coils.
TSnabzblitz
post Jul 5 2017, 12:03 PM

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Hi guys! Bringing up this old thread.

So to recap, I'm looking to change the stock pickups on my LTD Viper 10. Lately I find that I've been playing a lot of djent music (Periphery, Veil Of Maya, Issues (I think they count as djent, just lighter)), and right now my setup is the guitar, to a TS9, straight to the Marshall MG250DFX on the distortion channel.

My main goal is basically to do a refurbish of this guitar, as this year is my 10 year anniversary with it. I plan on changing the pickups, tuners, bridge and pots to gold.

That being said, I'm strongly considering the Dimarzio Titans set. It's a signature set by Jake Bowen from Periphery, so pretty sure I can get some djent from it. Bonus is that it's gold lol. But what do you guys think? Is there anything I need to know about replacing pickups as well? Such as would the Titans fit in my guitar, and since the pickups can do coil splitting is there any other hardware changes I need to do? Like do I have to change the pots so it can split coils, or change the pickup switch to a 3 way to a 5 way?

Here are the specs of my LTD Viper -10:
- Agathis Body Material (I know in the newer models they use basswood, but I got mine circa 2006 so I'm sorta sure mine is agathis)
- Maple Thin-U Bolt-on Neck
- 24 Fret, Rosewood Fingerboard
- Two ESP LH-100 Humbuckers
- Tune O Matic Bridge and Tailpiece

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
LeaSe*lineR
post Jul 5 2017, 03:39 PM

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My 2 cents "Djenty" 010101 riffs mostly rely on effect, eq'ing, crazy gating/compression and sweet spot for gain/drive smile.gif
Try checkout popular 6 strings pickup detuned hardrock/metal band using too for wider choice
TSnabzblitz
post Jul 5 2017, 05:52 PM

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QUOTE(LeaSe*lineR @ Jul 5 2017, 03:39 PM)
My 2 cents "Djenty" 010101 riffs mostly rely on effect, eq'ing, crazy gating/compression and sweet spot for gain/drive smile.gif
Try checkout popular 6 strings pickup detuned hardrock/metal band using too for wider choice
*
I'm also experimenting on getting djent tones with Guitar Rig and Amplitube, so I'm not just limited to my physical pedals and amps smile.gif
Everdying
post Jul 5 2017, 06:30 PM

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well, on the other end u have mark morton who used to use normal SD '59 / JB...and still sounded heavy.

as everyone knows, tone is subjective...
so i guess ask urself what is lacking in the stock pickups...i guess they're quite crappy...so maybe some 'farting sound' from it? tongue.gif
guess any good pickup should have better string definition etc...then just play all the usual compressor / gain / chorus etc.
quarantined
post Jul 6 2017, 10:28 AM

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QUOTE(LeaSe*lineR @ Jul 5 2017, 03:39 PM)
My 2 cents "Djenty" 010101 riffs mostly rely on effect, eq'ing, crazy gating/compression and sweet spot for gain/drive smile.gif
Try checkout popular 6 strings pickup detuned hardrock/metal band using too for wider choice
*
Not a Djentleman by all means but I think this is quite true. You have to get the distortion, effects and amps right before looking at pickups, which is usually like final tweak for me. I also never really hated any LTD stock pickups I tried, unlike Epiphones bangwall.gif bangwall.gif

But if you already got that settled the Titans would be one of the best pickup for that genre, I own a set and find it quite versatile for what it is promoted for. I has a certain tightness and clarity under loads of gain, but still sounded pretty good clean. Not a uber high gain pickup like the Invaders which can be poor on cleans. Sounds best on higher gain, not good for any kind of blues licks kind of jam.

I would slightly prefer Alpha/Omega over Titans though as it has even more clarity to my ears, but they're expensive and can be bright in a wrong guitar. Not a super BKP fan.
LeaSe*lineR
post Jul 6 2017, 04:12 PM

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The only pickup i'm familiar with when jamming drop D to B were SD blackouts and EMG 85.81 smile.gif
Good enough to do arch enemy, black dahlia murder, lamb of god, the agonist and bodom
Theoretically it could give juicy djent sound if you excel at tweaking pedal/eq/stuff.
TSnabzblitz
post Jul 6 2017, 05:11 PM

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QUOTE(quarantined @ Jul 6 2017, 10:28 AM)
Not a Djentleman by all means but I think this is quite true. You have to get the distortion, effects and amps right before looking at pickups, which is usually like final tweak for me. I also never really hated any LTD stock pickups I tried, unlike Epiphones  bangwall.gif  bangwall.gif

But if you already got that settled the Titans would be one of the best pickup for that genre, I own a set and find it quite versatile for what it is promoted for. I has a certain tightness and clarity under loads of gain, but still sounded pretty good clean. Not a uber high gain pickup like the Invaders which can be poor on cleans. Sounds best on higher gain, not good for any kind of blues licks kind of jam.

I would slightly prefer Alpha/Omega over Titans though as it has even more clarity to my ears, but they're expensive and can be bright in a wrong guitar. Not a super BKP fan.
*
I'm going to be experimenting with the setup on Guitar Rig and Amplitube, as I plan on plugging in the guitar straight to the interface and record, and maybe post online hahaha.

I was considering the Alpha/Omega as well, but somehow just based on what I've heard I think I prefer the Titans. Of course this is just judging by listening to Mark's tone on it's own vs Jake's, as well as playing with the Ibanez Titan at Bentley lol. And the BKP Juggernauts well.. Let's just say that's overbudget haha.

I think my main issue is that my guitar body is agathis, and quite frankly I have no idea how it will turn out after switching the pickups. I've heard that tone wise it is quite similar to basswood, which I guess is a good thing but who knows.

Just a question, Jake's Ibanez Titan has a 5 way pickup switch, while my Viper only has 3. Would this be a problem? Or can I use the 3 way switch but letting go the coil splitting modes. Also the Titans with the cover should fit in the guitar just fine right?

QUOTE(LeaSe*lineR @ Jul 6 2017, 04:12 PM)
The only pickup i'm familiar with when jamming drop D to B were SD blackouts and EMG 85.81 smile.gif
Good enough to do arch enemy, black dahlia murder, lamb of god, the agonist and bodom
Theoretically it could give juicy djent sound if you excel at tweaking pedal/eq/stuff.
*
Hehe I dont think I wanna go for EMGs, active pickups seem like a pain to install. But SD Blackouts seem interesting..
quarantined
post Jul 6 2017, 10:46 PM

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QUOTE(nabzblitz @ Jul 6 2017, 05:11 PM)
I'm going to be experimenting with the setup on Guitar Rig and Amplitube, as I plan on plugging in the guitar straight to the interface and record, and maybe post online hahaha.

I was considering the Alpha/Omega as well, but somehow just based on what I've heard I think I prefer the Titans. Of course this is just judging by listening to Mark's tone on it's own vs Jake's, as well as playing with the Ibanez Titan at Bentley lol. And the BKP Juggernauts well.. Let's just say that's overbudget haha.

I think my main issue is that my guitar body is agathis, and quite frankly I have no idea how it will turn out after switching the pickups. I've heard that tone wise it is quite similar to basswood, which I guess is a good thing but who knows.

Just a question, Jake's Ibanez Titan has a 5 way pickup switch, while my Viper only has 3. Would this be a problem? Or can I use the 3 way switch but letting go the coil splitting modes. Also the Titans with the cover should fit in the guitar just fine right?
Hehe I dont think I wanna go for EMGs, active pickups seem like a pain to install. But SD Blackouts seem interesting..
*
warning.. bucket of cold water ahead..

honestly if your intention is to use a software rig, forget about it. Unless the pickups you're using now are total muddy crap, most software processing wouldn't show the nuances of pickups as much as real amps do. You're better off tweaking the gazillion number of options in the software instead. If you're using real amps recording, or playing live, that's another story.

I also didn't have a good experience changing pickups in a agathis guitar, it was an LTD horizon model, and yes it was bland like a basswood no wonder which pickup i put into it (tried JB, Custom 5, Custom --> gave up) tongue.gif

the switch would not be an issue, just thst with 5 ways you can wire with more options. But you can use push pull pots instead etc.

cover fit should be no problem.

this is by no means to put you off buying the pickup you desire. It it doesnt work for you you can always swap the pups into another guitar, sell them, go for trades... etc

This post has been edited by quarantined: Jul 6 2017, 10:49 PM

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