Pickup question

[guitardeam0n]

Well I'm making a custom guitar (rhoads body) with one pickup in the bridge. I'll be running it through a MTS so there will obviously be plenty of gain. But I'm not sure which pickups to get. I'm debating over:

-bill lawrence 500XL

-Dimarzio Evo's

-EMG HZ H4 or 81 active

-carvin m22 or allan holdsworth

-or maybe some Seymour duncans

So since the amp will have more then enough gain i wont need a really high output humbucker. I play heavey music styles, but not the really scooped kind. More along the lines of Children of Bodom, Sinergy, Imperanon, and jason becker stuff. But I want something that has great articulation of the notes and long, smooth sustain. Can anyone help me out please. Thanks.

[Maiden69]

By MTS do you mean the Carvin MTS ( Master Tube Series) or what? any way, I had a few SD's and for my taste I don't like them, I had the SH-10 and SH-6, and the HR-1 on my strat, and the sound is OK, but thats about it... I will advise you to use the EMG 81. If you want sustain you can't beat this one because the magnetic field is so small that it doesn't pull the string and let them vibrate as long as the guitar will let them. I thought that this was BS when I read about it, but I change the pickguard on my Cheap plywood strat, for the KH-21, which is loaded with 2 81's and the sustain increase noticiably... I had the HR1 and 2 fender lace sensors. And if you are using the Carvin MTS the 81 will make it growl like crazy, that's the set up that a friend have back home, and he has a Jackson DINKY with 2 81's he plays hardcore Metal, (even though he plays religious music) and the sound is awsome, the day I went to his rehearsal in the Church he didn't raide the vol past 3 and you could feel the chords on the whole place... The HZ's I haven't used, but like I said the magnets on passive pull the strings... Is up to you!

[guitardeam0n]

You are correct, by MTS i mean master tube series.

Im kinda iffy on getting a active pickup with such high output becuase I'm only going to have one pickup in the bridge. I play ALOT of sweeps so I want something that will let all the notes ringout clearly. I havent had too much experience with active pickups or any aftermarket pickups becuase around here all the stores carry stock ibanez's, fenders or gibsons and epiphones. So call I can do is rely on peoples opionon. Ive also heard that the Dimarzio Evolutions clean up nicely when roll back on the volume. Do the 81's do that as well?

[Nalo1022]

I have a BL l500XL in my rhoads at the bridge adn i think its the best pickup ever, but bear in mind there is not alot of low end with this pickup but its screams like a banshee and is one of the clearest most articulate pickusp ive ever heard. Now ive used this setup through my cappy zoom pedal adn peavey bandit adn with a few tweaks to you effects and amp you can get a low sound and it will retain clarity, so if you cant tell im suggest the Bill Lawrence pickup

[guitardeam0n]

How does the 500XL clean up when you roll back off the volume? And hows the sustain? I would probably get the 500L since it has a lower output. Would there by any sonic differnce besides output?

[Nalo1022]

wen rolling back thwe volume the 500XL remains bright adn clear until the voluem is at 0, but. Also as the volume is decreases a little bit of the treble is taken off and it gets a bit of a subtle muffed sound but in a good way I think it has a nice bluesy sound to it

[Maiden69]

Yes they do, and I will have to say better than the passives becaouse of the 25K pot, the roll in resistance is much smoother than in the 250-500K ones. Got to www.emginc.com they have all the details and their customer service is pretty good in answering all the questions you may have if you don't find the answer on the FAQ section.

[Librero]

I believe the Bill Lawrence L-500L is a better choice since you can make it sound like an XL when you use a 250K pot for it. At least that's what Becky said.

I myself am working on getting a pair of L-500's. It's quite a challenge when you live outside the US, though.

[Nalo1022]

once you hear Bill Lawrence pickups your hooked

[Maiden69]

Check this month Guitar World, there Zack explains that he needs to use a pedal to attain more distortion out of the JCM800, that tells you that event with the active pickup is up to the rest of the equipment that you have... and by experience, with the pick up and the Amp that you have I can tell you that you will not regret the combination, they will compliment each other.