[Dave Simpson]

Just got this in. The stock pickups aren't great. I'm trying to decide between a Crunch Lab/Liquifire set or a D'Activator set.

Going for NWOBHM Metal to Justice For All Metallica tones. Any opinions are much appreciated.

[corypheus]

Hi there,

You're on the right track with CL/LF, it'll do the tones you want it to, and then some. I used Evo set (and Evo2 which I like better in the bridge) for some NWOBHM, and it sounds legit. Evos will also do speed/power metal sound really good. D'As will do the Metallica tones but I found them too bright and slightly plonky for my likings, and I think they won't sound right for the more british stuff, way too modern. Now pretty much every medium output and higher DiMarzio can do metal (and even some PAFs, with the right amp), but some sound better at it then others.

HTH,
Cory

[jazzfromhell]

NWOBHM and Justice tones are pretty much polar opposites in terms of midrange content so I'd pick a pickup that is pretty flat. I haven't tried the CL/LFs so I cant comment on those but I think the DActivators are actually pretty versatile and as long as you tweak your amp/pedals to fit the music they would do the earlier tones quite convincingly.

But I'd actually go Super Distortion (or Super 3 if the guitar is very bright) in the bridge and a PAF Pro or Super 2 in the neck.

[Dave Simpson]

Thanks for the replies. I think I'll try the Crunch Lab set first and see what if it lacks anything tone wise.

[daenius]

What do you play more often? NWOBHM or Thrash?

If you play mostly NWOBHM and play some Thrash every now and then, get a Super Distortion. Every NWOBHM band used a Super Distortion and it'll nail that tone. The pickup works just fine for thrash too, just pull back the mids on your amp, up the bass, and you should be good to go.

If Thrash is what you do most of the time then you'd probably want something sharper sounding with not too much mid focus. Steve's Special comes to mind. D-Activator might do OK. Crunch Lab is very mid focused so it'll give you a thick fat tone, not very Metallica-like at all.

Honestly though, if you want something that's most middle of the road and 50 50 when it comes to NWOBHM and thrash, you can't go wrong with the Seymour Duncan JB or the Dimarzio Super Distortion. Both pickups are widely used in a wide variety of metal genres over decades from old school to modern.