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Tony Iommi sig pickups: Worth it?


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I played an Iommi signature model the other day (granted it was the epiphone, not the expensive one) and LOVED the tone... I need a new axe and thought about just buying a solid SG, like a $600 faded sg or something, and tossing some Iommi pickups in there.

 

Would i be better off with somethin else? are there different pickups in the epiphones that the 2 grand versions?

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Ive heard that they are noisy and hard to dial in, but you seem to like them, so anyway, yes they do use the same pickup in both models.

 

A real gibson with those pickups would be killer. You would just have to try a bunch of them first cuz they vary sonically (sg's) like you wouldn't believe.

way more variance than Les Pauls

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coulda been a fluke, i guess... i just really loved the tone i got. sat in the damn chair like an idiot for what seemed 20 minutes straight. I'm just a big fan of thickness in my tone. I do a lotta heavy, big chord type stuff and that seemed to work really well. But the last thing i wanna do is be accused of coppin someone elses tone...

 

And at like $150+ per pickup.... i don't know. Would i be better off just tryin out SGs til i found one that felt good? or do they vary too much to just buy em and switch the pickups?

 

i suppose i could search for a cheaper (or more versatile) alternative to iommis...

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Kevin Bond's (Superjoint Ritual) Jackson signature model has one Iommi pickup in the bridge.

 

 

Kevin plays SG standards now. He is a fulltime slinger in Artimus Pyledriver now as well. Hell of a guy and hell of a tone as well. Hes running a 1974 50W Marshall. Very different than his Superjoint days

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maybe i'm lettin the childhood idol thing run a lil too far, i was almost tempted to bust out the main riff from iron man in that store... I mean, it ain't that dimebag darrel humbucker guitar center always tries to shove in my bag, but i'm heavily debating the cost here. It could be an investment, but it could be bigtime buyers remorse as well...

 

I play big chord style stuff, not usually fast, but not super slow and stonery. Like somewhere between Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dream album and Thrice's Artist in the Ambulance, but with more of an emphasis on songwriting. I always cite Pist.On's second album $ellout as a refernce, but no one ever knows that one.

 

Can i still get doomy and thick with a JB/jazz or JB/59 combo in a mahogany body?

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If you want Smashing Pumpkins get a cheap Strat. I like the 59/JB or Custom combo. Go EMGs with a 60 in the neck and an 81 in the bridge on mahogany guitars. 85 in the bridge on ash and adler. Many will argue the 85 in mahogany too, but to me it is too bassy.

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man, i always forget that billy corgan mainly used single coils, the fatness must come from the combo of him and james... I really don't like single coils, and i've only played a couple of active-pickup-guitars that felt right...

 

maybe i should start saying "somewhere between newer thrice and older helmet"

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I played an Iommi signature model the other day (granted it was the epiphone, not the expensive one) and LOVED the tone... I need a new axe and thought about just buying a solid SG, like a $600 faded sg or something, and tossing some Iommi pickups in there.


Would i be better off with somethin else? are there different pickups in the epiphones that the 2 grand versions?

 

I'm told these are the same pups as the Gibson versions,, I bought the Iommi Epiphone off ebay and love the guitar!! Its a smokin guitar!! Personally, I love the pups,, they clean up nice when rolled back,, they are expensive if you buy them outright though,, if you gotta have a Gibson,, it would be a costly guitar to add the pups

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I like the Iommis. They have a lot of top end grind and harmonics, so be prepared for it to "seem" very bright. It's like he built in that old-school "fuzz" right into the pickup. It has thick mids and a big bottom end that's a bit loose, but not flabby. They are pretty resistant to squaling and feedback, so you can crank the gain like a mofo and if you have a pair of them in your guitar, and use the middle position on the pickup selector, they have a cool 'vowel' tone, like you left your wah pedal on in a middle spot. Oh, and they kill for drop tunings.

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good question!


well....?

 

 

I thought they did pretty well for cleans, not the most sparkling single-coil cleans, but pretty damn good IMO.

 

The magnet structure is pretty neat. It has both a AlNiCo 2 mag and Ceramic mag, so it's pretty tight, but still has a 'sweetness' in the highs and mids.

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man, i always forget that billy corgan mainly used single coils, the fatness must come from the combo of him and james... I really don't like single coils, and i've only played a couple of active-pickup-guitars that felt right...


maybe i should start saying "somewhere between newer thrice and older helmet"

 

 

They pick ups Billy used weren't really true singles though. plus on the album he had a {censored}load of extra guitars to thicken it up.

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They pick ups Billy used weren't really true singles though. plus on the album he had a {censored}load of extra guitars to thicken it up.

 

 

the main guitar he used was always a Strat with ust about the whole rainbow of Lace Sensors in it, i want to say he had a Blue in the bridge.

 

but on the record he did have things like a bunch of amps and a bunch of fuzz pedals.

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