[apoplexia]

Greetings.
I would like to ask for some pickup recommendations.
The guitar I try to save, is Ibanez Darkstome, a massive guitar, sapele body and neck, on the heavy side like LP. The problem I have with this one, is it sounds dark to my years, somehow mid heavy. I have tried different combinations form SD, Bare Knuckle, House of Tone pickups, but this quest to buy and try starts to get somehow expensive at the end.

Would you recommend some all-round pickup set or combination? Good cleans and overdrives, some distortion tones. Standard tuning.
This probably will be the last try before go into actives, so hopefully some ideas will come.

Thanks in advance 

[nienturi]

Greetings.
I would like to ask for some pickup recommendations.
The guitar I try to save, is Ibanez Darkstome, a massive guitar, sapele body and neck, on the heavy side like LP. The problem I have with this one, is it sounds dark to my years, somehow mid heavy. I have tried different combinations form SD, Bare Knuckle, House of Tone pickups, but this quest to buy and try starts to get somehow expensive at the end.

Would you recommend some all-round pickup set or combination? Good cleans and overdrives, some distortion tones. Standard tuning.
This probably will be the last try before go into actives, so hopefully some ideas will come.

Thanks in advance

For the neck "Humbucker from Hell" and for the bridge PAF Pro or Fred

[gregr]

Duncans tend to run brighter than DiMarzio. Which ones did you try?

[apoplexia]

I had in the drawer JB/Jazz , so I tried them. Never liked JB by the way.
Of course , I have in mind also from SD Custom 5, and Parallel Axis PATB-3, just looking on the used marked to find a deal.
I have been always curious about Dimarzios, that's why would like to try some.

I will check the recommended, Thanks

[gregr]

The Humbucker from Hell is similar to a Jazz in that it is very clear sounding. It is quite bright but also has some prominent bass, so in that sense it sounds bigger than a Jazz. It is also very clean sounding. It requires a fair amount of gain if you want a saturated tone.

In the bridge, the PAF Pro sounds sterile to me. That said it is very versatile.

I haven’t played a PATB-3 but I have no doubt that I would really enjoy one. The Custom 5 is a great pickup but I don’t know if it will give you what you want for that guitar, though it would be a marked improvement over a JB.

The Screamin’ Demon is bright pickup and is my go-to bridge humbucker. I had paired one with a Humbucker from Hell for a while but the HFH was replaced with a 59 Neck loaded with an A3 magnet. I tend to swap out neck pickups regularly, but I think the 59N with an A3 is a keeper. The Screamin’ Demon also pairs extremely well with a Full Shred Neck but that pickup doesn’t provide enough low end to suit my taste for cleans.

The 59 Bridge is a very bright pickup as are any of the other vintage output Seymour Duncans, including the Screamin’ Demon (which is also a vintage output pickup). I think the Perpetual Burn may also be a good candidate if you want something a tad hotter than vintage, perhaps on par with the PAF Pro, but I haven’t done any proper comparison. Between the two I prefer the sound of the Perpetual Burn over the PAF Pro in the bridge position.

[nienturi]

I had in the drawer JB/Jazz , so I tried them. Never liked JB by the way.
Of course , I have in mind also from SD Custom 5, and Parallel Axis PATB-3, just looking on the used marked to find a deal.
I have been always curious about Dimarzios, that's why would like to try some.

PATB-3 is a great kindo bridge pickup. One of my favourite Duncans for bridge. It has lows and good on highs.
https://www.tonejourney.com/post/seymour-duncan-parallel-axis-trembucker-3-patb-3-review

59/Custom Hybrid: It is kindo bright but nothing like Screamin’ Demon.
https://www.tonejourney.com/post/seymour-duncan-59-custom-hybrid

If you can find, my favourite Dimarzio bridge pickup; Virtual Hot PAF;
https://www.tonejourney.com/post/dimarzio-virtual-hot-paf-dp214-review

And on of my latest achievements; Mojotone '59 Clone Hot.
https://www.tonejourney.com/post/mojotone-59-clone-hot-review

Tonally those humbuckers can be considered similar. But! If you like to have more power but still bright, it is Steve Morse Bridge, DP200. As powerful as Super Distortion but much brighter. I have installed it on my full mahogany set neck guitar with 25" scale and totally nailed it.

[greenlion]

Well, the PATB-3 isn't going to fix your problem. Probably not the Custom5 either. If you want brighter tone, the Duncan Jazz Set, or Full shred set. In Dimarzios, the Fred, or Paf Pro for the bridge and a Humbucker from Hell for the neck.

[gregr]

Just to be clear, the PATB-3 is the lowest output version of the three bridge models. The published specs show 9.8k DCR (42AWG) and 6kHz resonant frequency (same Fr as the SH-1 59B).

[nienturi]

Just to be clear, the PATB-3 is the lowest output version of the three bridge models. The published specs show 9.8k DCR (42AWG) and 6kHz resonant frequency (same Fr as the SH-1 59B).

Hey buddy, PATB-3 has more output than 59. Okay not the double of '59 but still has more meat than the '59
There was once a project at Duncan about achieving output values in milivolts;
https://www.tonejourney.com/post/output-levels-of-seymour-duncan-in-milivolts
According to the values published (which i accept the result table is not all okay) TB-59 has 593 milivolts and PATB-3 has 694 milivolts.

And in search for a bright pickup, lower the DCR, higher the res. freq., better the results

[gregr]

I remember that chart and all of the Nazgûls being 666 mV. I also remember questioning the Full Shred Neck at 709 mV. I don’t have much confidence in any of it, to be honest. I’m not confident about SD’s published resonant frequency specifications either.

With that in mind I’m willing to believe that the PATB-3 is warmer than the SH-1 (and the TB-59 as well). I can’t believe it is less suitable than a Full Shred, however, especially considering the OP is interested in the cleaner end of the spectrum.

The magnet, wire, and wind are far more critical than DCR. DCR needs to die a slow painful death.

[HeyNorton!]

Full shred set, most definitely.

I bought a set that was useless to me until I tried it in my rg520qs (sapele body), and my ltd ec256.

The fuller and fatter mahogany signature balances with the full shreds nicely. 

You'll not be happy with them until you boost the bass at your amp a bit.  Doing this makes them thump and be super tight as the same time.

This is a great set of pickups.

[nienturi]

I remember that chart and all of the Nazgûls being 666 mV. I also remember questioning the Full Shred Neck at 709 mV. I don’t have much confidence in any of it, to be honest. I’m not confident about SD’s published resonant frequency specifications either.

The list is not something you can trust fully. But it still is moething at least Nothing more.

The magnet, wire gauge and TPL are far more critical than DCR. DCR needs to die a slow painful death.

If it dies, pickup companies can't give any data. That's all they serve, unfortunately even for Dimarzio.

[gregr]

Good luck making an educated purchasing decision based on DiMarzio’s DCR specifications. Thankfully they provide really good and reliable product information. Seymour Duncan should take notice. 

[JohnnyGtar]

Duncan SH2n Jazz neck model or SH10n Full Shred neck model

DiMarzio DP153 FRED.

Boom. Done.

[nienturi]

Good luck making an educated purchasing decision based on DiMarzio’s DCR specifications. Thankfully they provide really good and reliable product information. Seymour Duncan should take notice. 

I agree with Duncans. In the timeline they change some specs or re-calibrate, i'm not sure what it is but the values may change. The real problem is inconsistancy. I have seen many DCR values in a huge range, especially overwound humbuckers like JB. On the other hand i have seen Dimarzios from 80s, 90s or 2000s and specs are in a much narrower range and totally understandable.