I’m thinking about upgrading the pickups on my Jackson Dinky JS22 and I’m curious if the Seymour Duncan Hot Rodded set would work well for downtuning. Or would the Distortion Mayhem set be a better choice for lower tunings? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
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I’ve used the Hot Rodded set before, and while they sound great for a lot of things, they may not be the best for downtuning. I feel like they’re more geared toward classic rock and hard rock tones. If you’re planning to play in lower tunings often, you might want something with more bite like the Distortion Mayhem set.
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I’ve used the Hot Rodded set before, and while they sound great for a lot of things, they may not be the best for downtuning. I feel like they’re more geared toward classic rock and hard rock tones. If you’re planning to play in lower tunings often, you might want something with more bite like the Distortion Mayhem set.
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I think it also depends on how low you’re tuning. If you’re going just a half-step or a full step down, the Hot Rodded set could still hold up well. But for really low tunings like Drop B or C, you’ll probably appreciate the extra aggression and tightness of the Distortion Mayhem set.
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I had the same dilemma when I was swapping pickups on my ESP. I eventually went with the Distortion Mayhem, and I don’t regret it. They keep everything really tight and defined even in Drop C. Plus, they can handle both rhythm and leads nicely.
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Don’t forget about the amp settings! No matter what pickups you go with, your amp and pedal setup will play a huge role in shaping your sound. Make sure you dial in some nice mids and experiment with distortion pedals if needed.