New Pickups for Muddy Bullseye?

Joined: 20 Nov 2012 Posts: 2

Hey been lookin to switch my picksups and i don't know much about them.

Here's what's going on:
- Guitar is a Muddy Bullseye
- Tune to C# standard
- 12 gauge bright strings
- Factory pickups (whatever they are)
- Crate Excalibur Head
- Peavey 6560 cab
- Play Melodic/Technical Death Metal

Basically I love the way the guitar plays but i'm looking for some more clarity without losing the crunch and ballsy sound that the guitar already has.

Any suggestions on what i should go with as far as pickups? I'm content with the lows but they could be improved. The highs are disgusting when i switch to the neck pickup though.

Joined: 10 Feb 2006 Posts: 1370 Location: Lutz, Fl.

I'm the guy who will usually jump on any pickup thread. However, after reading your post, the pickups are not exactly what you need to replace. You could have a custom would set by any number of luthiers, it's not going to sound good through a Crate Excaliber head and a Peavey cab.

I know a lot of guys on here are big Peavey fans, but they have always sounded muddy to me. And I think Shefield speakers are just awful. I haven't kept up with the new Peavey stuff, but if you have Shefield speakers in your cab that's half of your problem. Simply put, with your set-up you are not going to get the sound you want.

I'm not saying to get a tube amp, but for what you want to do, you have to do better than a Crate Excaliber. You would actually do well to find one of the old SUNN solid state amp heads, and use pedals to your liking.

A lot of guys will say to get EMG's or the Seymour Duncan Blackouts for melodic death metal. I would say that's not a bad idea, but do that down the road.

I'm not trying to trash your equipment. I just don't want you to spend a lot of money on pickups, and then wonder why you aren't getting the sound you want. I've seen guys go through all sorts of pickups when what they really needed was to use a different amp or speakers.

Good luck in whatever you decide to do.

Joined: 19 Aug 2008 Posts: 4622 Location: UP of Michigan

Is that Matt's old guitar?

Joined: 20 Nov 2012 Posts: 2

[quote="synzzzer"]I'm not trying to trash your equipment.[/quote]

yo no offense taken... only reason i bought the crate head is because i needed a head at the time, found that for $100 and went with it, never got a new one... i don't like the thing at all, its complete garbage

never heard of SUNN amps but i'm gonna check it out. Was lookin at emg's but didn't know which ones to go with, hopefully i wont have to get them now though hah

Thanks alot for the reply and pointin me in the right direction!

Joined: 03 May 2008 Posts: 6627 Location: Minnesota

This is my old guitar.

At least I think it is?

Anyways, I had a JB and a 59 in it when I sold it.

It sounded AMAZING with those in it.

However, a ZW set of EMG's would be appropriate as well.

Post some pics. I miss her.

Joined: 10 Feb 2006 Posts: 1370 Location: Lutz, Fl.

If I were to suggest EMG's for you to try out, I would suggest the 81/60 set. It sounds more like what you want. Go to a music shop that sells ESP guitars, and check out one of their guitars that have that set in it. A lot of their models use that set.

SUNN Amps are now vintage amps that aren't made anymore. However, people either love or hate them. They were started up in the 60's, and went out of business in the late 70's/ early 80's. They were the first hi powered amps. The solid state versions gained favor with the doom metal crowd in the early 80's. (Remember, a lot of the hi-gain amps we have now didn't exist back then.) Namely, they have a super wide EQ, so you could really scoop the mids. If you put the gain to 10, you could get a metal sound like scooped Big Muff Pi.

Slash said his first really good amp was a SUNN Beta Lead. Despite the metal guys liking them, they are an extremely versitile amp. If you cut the gain back, and turn the volume up you can get a very loud clean sound out of them. Check out this link for more info on them.

http://www.richbriere.com/The_Sunn_Shack.htm

I know normally we don't post links to other manufactuer's sites or fan sites for other brands, but SUNN has been dead ever since Fender killed them off in 2000. So I think everyone will be okay with me posting that link.

Here's a picture of my SUNN Alpha 212R:

It's 120 solid state watts, and is freaking loud. I have trouble playing it in the coffee shop I play in, cause it's so freaking loud. I can't turn the volume/gain knobs. I have to tap them because they are so sensitive.

But I would encourage you to keep asking questions. It's the only way we learn.

Joined: 13 Feb 2004 Posts: 5603 Location: phoenix az.

I had a split tail it sounded really thin I dropped a duncan invader in it it helped thicken the guitars tone alot but it still sounded like a razorback i ended up selling it.