Sounds nice and articulate to me.
Yes, i listen and play metal for decades now

 

What pickups are you using?

 

Last edited: Jul 3, 2026 at 9:57 AM

I used EMG 81 for decades. Very nice and very cheap second hand.
But i was bored by batteries, couldn't mix passive pickups ...

Now my absolute fav for being powerful AND balanced is the Petrucci Crunch Lab.
I use the 7 string version in reverse mount (bar bridge side) to reduce bass.
This pickup is a little noisy (being asymetric).
But a pure gem.

D Sonic and Crunch Lab rules.
On seymour duncan side, JB SH-4 JB and SH-10 Full Shred are good candidates.

The error i will not make is using so called "metal pickups" with too much output (yes, too much like X2N), totally unbalanced frequencies, scooped mids ... and more troubles.
To get an amazing metal tone, you just need good MIDS to push distortion, average output (good noise ratio AND not overloading your inputs) and freq balance to have enough material to tweak afterward.

Everything else just create more troubles than solutions.
That's only my experience ;D

And if i want to mount dirt cheap pickups, i buy Aliexpress clones Invader or D Sonic/Crunch Lab.
Less than 20 bucks and sound better than most cheap factory ones.

Second hand market is loaded with ppl swapping pickups at half price
Can get a Crunch Lab for 60 euros.

 

Retired metalhead, present and accounted for!

Retired? Yeah, 'cos I went to college for classical music (talk about a plot twist!!!) and expanded my hustle into music education and composing for multimedia. As a bonus, I even unlocked the Dad Mode achievement (family man, here I am!)
But I still cradle my beloved black 1994 Jackson JDR Concept (Detroit-made, thank you very much) with all the tenderness of a guy who misses his glory days. It's rocking DiMarzio Evolution pickups—Bridge F-spaced and Humbucker, both in that obnoxious neon green that screams I love 90s music!, plus a sleek black Gotoh GE1996T tremolo to keep things classy.
I do bust it out occasionally to compose with a MIDI pickup, but I'd rather just strum my acoustic or get this actually write directly on sheet music! like the nerd I've become... The Fractal Audio dream? Oh, that's light-years away, man. My wallet is currently busy funding essential items...
But I'll confess: my Laney LV100, teamed up with my Satchurator, Boss DS-1, Boss SD-1, Zoom 8080, Morley Bad Horsie 1, and good ol' AmpliTube 5, still get the job done and keep this old dog wagging his tail (occasionally!)

 

Last edited: Jul 3, 2026 at 6:02 PM

I didn't even know Fractal makes software plugins.
And the guy in the video, holy shit can he play

 

This new release looks like a lot of fun.

 

They made a Fullerton suite earlyer this year those where Fender amps
https://shop.fractalaudio.com/produ...a4Z4s4Rn0GHgLdClSZlkVxc8l1GAi056URDYCvhyFKSdy
Now its Eddie Van Halen amps he used in his career.
And there is coming Marshall and Mesa amps if you buy all suites (over 200 amps) it will cost you easely over 2000$

 

It sure does. Now, about CPU usage, it's probably gonna be very high. And, well, understandably so.

That's right. I looked its website after @Zenarcist created this thread and I saw there was already a Fender software amp-sim from them. Their first I guess

 

I'm fucking hard-core!!

 

Well, that's "metal" all right lol
Reminds me this album cover:



BTW, it's actually an amazing album. Blew my mind ages ago

 

I had given beginning guitar lessons to a family friend's kid, and within a year he was covered in tattoos and was blazing (I don't blaze, lol) on guitar. He turned me onto that album...ages ago.

 

@Mynock
I still have a Jackson Fusion SS pro with EMG81
The fastest neck on planet earth.

Scale Length: 24.75 inches (not 25.5)
24 jumbo frets
Nut Width: 1-11/16 inches (43 mm)
Fretboard Radius: 12" to 16" compound radius
Heel Width: 2-3/16 inches (approx. 56 mm)
So thin and playable.

If i remember well, those Japan models necks were "hand finished" for the final radius.

When i got my first 7 string in 26.5 scale ... it was almost unplayable to me compared to it