EMG ALX Alexi Laiho Signature Pickup Set

This review covers the EMG Alexi Laiho Signature Pickup Set. For those who don't know, Alexi Laiho is the lead guitarist and vocalist for the melodic metal band Children of Bodom. The set includes a surprising amount of stuff in the box. You get a single EMG ALX pickup, which is a hybrid of active and passive. You also get all wires needed for several different installation configurations. Also included are the ABQ push-pull volume control with equalizer and booster on board, an EMG tone pot, and an EMG control bus used for installing multiple pickups. As a bonus, you also get an EMG/Children of Bodom wrist band (for wiping sweat away while playing), and EMG sticker, and several different wiring diagrams.

Above is the pickup installed in my Epiphone Custom Shop Les Paul Special II Plus Top. It goes in the bridge position, and due to the ABQ push-pull volume control, it can make a surprising amount of tones all by itself. It's tone is a thing of beauty. With no changes to my equalizer settings on my amp or distortion pedal, it was able to create everything from smooth distinctive clean tones to bright and shimmering cleans and punchy powerful distorted rhythms to screaming boosted leads. String definition and clarity are superb. The pickup is very sensitive and conveys your picking style and your left hand style very clearly. There is literally nothing about this pickup that I don't like.

In the picture above, you can see that I might have picked a better guitar to install it in. The cavity in the back of the body has absolutely no room for any additional wiring or controls. The one control you can see is the ABQ active EQ and push-pull booster. The equalizer on the ABQ is adjustable so that when it is pushed in (turned on), it boosts both a specific frequency band and the volume output of the pickup. The amount of boost is adjustable from +0dB to +20dB with +10dB being the default setting. With all of these options available in a single pickup, there really is no need for a second. The pickup you see in the neck position in the picture above is not hooked up to anything and is the stock Epiphone 690 neck pickup.

I love everything about this pickup, and when I get around to building a custom guitar, this will be the only pickup I need. I do look forward to trying at some point in the future the new EMG JH James Hetfield Signature Set, but for now, I am absolutely thrilled with what the EMG ALX Alexi Laiho Pickup.

Seymour Duncan '59 Pickup (Neck)

This is a brief review of the Seymour Duncan '59 pickup in the neck position of my Washburn Dime 333.  It sounds beautiful, and is actually made on the same machines that were used in 1959 to make the originals.  Compared to the Dimebucker in the bridge position of this guitar, it is much warmer, smoother, and has a little less ouput.  It is quite versatile, and the tone can only really be described as classic.  I love it!  It is a great counterpoint to the agressive nature of the Dimebucker. 

Valkyrja - Tyr

Valkyrja is the latest album from Tyr.  For those unfamiliar with Tyr, the band is named after the Norse god of war.  The members are all Norse Heathens from the Faroe Islands, and they are very proud of their heritage and religion.  Their beliefs come through very clearly in some cases ("Hold the Heathen Hammer High" and "By The Sword In My Hand" from By The Light of the Northern Star) and less subtly in many other cases, but it is always an underlying theme.  As a Heathen myself, I find this band particularly fascinating.  I can relate to the lyrics in a very meaningful way, but by and large I think they appeal most to Heathens because the content is solidly based in the few records we have left from the original Heathens.  Norse Heathenry (also called Asatru - literally translated "faith in the Aesir") is relatively uncommon where I live, but when I went to see Tyr live (one of the best shows I've ever seen), there were at least 150 other Heathens there.  Super cool!  Tyr is a metal band, but with the religious undertones, one could sort of compare it to Christian heavy metal.  Tyr is way cooler (and better) than any Christian metal band I've ever heard, but I guess that's beside the point.

Back story aside, this whole album is fantastic.  The music is melodic while being appropriately heavy at the right times.  The vocals are clear and I really like Heri's voice.  It has the perfect tone and range for the type of music that they play.  There is no filler on Valkyrja.  Every song carries the theme of the album while being varied enough that the listener never gets bored and is left wanting more.  This album is actually a story being told.  The album is about a warrior who is called to battle and torn from the ones he loves (check out the video for "The Lay of Our Love").  He dies in battle and is carried away by a Valkyrie to be selected by either Freya or Odin to serve in their halls until Ragnarok (the end of the world to Heathens).  I can't think of a better word than amazing to describe Valkyrja.  As a bonus, the deluxe version includes a couple covers.  One of them is a cover of "Cemetery Gates" by Pantera, and it is remarkable.  It is highly recommended that you listen to this album beginning to end. The story is engrossing and compelling, and the music is beatiful and heavy.  An amazing mix!  Highly recommended for fans of metal, Norse Heathenry, and fantastic music!

TC Electronic Gravy Chorus/Tremolo Pedal

Another sideways picture, but you'll be fine.  Probably.  To the item at hand, we have the TC Electronic Gravy Chorus/Tremolo pedal.  I've been extremely impressed with TC Electronic products.  They are a beautiful hybrid of analog tone with digital control.  The Gravy has 4 potentiometers and 2 switches.  One switch is on/off, while the other changes the pedal from chorus to Tone Print to tremolo.  Addressing the most intriguing of the three, Tone Print is the name of a piece of software from TC Electronic that can be downloaded for free.  It allows you to assign up to 4 parameters to each potentiometer, set their maximum and minimum levels, create totally new forms of modulation, and download pre-sets from famous musicians.  The level of versatility that this program gives to this pedal is astounding.  Literally any modulation sound can be created (tremolo, flange, chorus, etc.) and edited down to the smallest detail using the Tone Print software.  Things like the shape, depth, and length of the wave for just one form of modulation are all adjustable and assignable to any of the 4 potentiometers.  And with an analog tremolo and triple chorus circuit, the possibilities are endless.  Any sound from light chorus/reverb to crazy outer space ducks on fire are easy to create.  Another fantastic feature of the Gravy is that once you have a tone, you can get it to the pedal using either the supplied USB to microUSB cable, or put the tone on your smart phone.  Using the Tone Print software on your smart phone allows you to transfer any stored tone to the pedal by holding the phone up to the pickups and pressing a button on the screen of your phone.  I have no idea how it works, but it is incredibly cool and very handy if you have a few tones you tend to use regularly.  Moving on to the analog effects, the triple chorus is also very versatile.  The tone pot actually affects how the EQ of your guitar comes through (which is something I've been disappointed with in other pedals).  I tend to use a very deep, slow sweep with medium tone and lots of chorus in the mix.  With three chorus circuits, the creates a somewhat shimmering yet calm and controlled smoothness.  This setting tends to work very well for almost all of the clean playing I do.  The tremolo does exactly what its name implies.  It takes whatever note/chord you are playing and modulates the frequency up and down.  The amount of modulation is controlled with the depth pot and speed by the speed pot.  The FX Level pot determines how much of the modulated audio gets sent into the main mix.  Pretty straightforward.  Honestly, I don't use tremolo by itself very often, but this one is definitely among the best I have ever played with.  Overall, the Gravy is mighty impressive both in quality and verstility.  I don't need to own any other modulation type pedals because this one can do anything I want.  Highly recommended for people looking to downsize, people looking for versatile tone, and people looking for amazing value.

TC Electronic PolyTune 2

Sorry about the sideways picture.  I'm doing this post from my iPad and I don't feel like figuring out how to rotate it.  Anyway, the TC Electronic PolyTune 2 is a truly remarkable tuner pedal.  For the same cost as a standard tuner pedal, you get a huge array of features.  It has the ability to tune individual strings, or up to six strings at a time.  It is a chromatic tuner, so any note within at least 8 octaves of A-440hz can be tuned to.  It works great for checking intonation due to its wide tonal range.  The tuning is adjustable +/- 5hz for those oddballs out there who don't like the A 440hz refence tone.  It features true bypass when it is not activated, and when activated, it kills the guitar signal.  This is a nice feature between songs.  Additionally, it can be set to numerous popular tuning for multi-string tuning mode.  A few common open tunings (open G and open D) as well as standard tuning +/- 3 whole steps.  This allows for great tuning versatility and convenience.  It has the ability to power another pedal via a separate cable as well as a microUSB port for firmware updates.  Another cool feature is that holding the on/off switch for a few seconds automatically changes the tuner from standard to drop-D.  Simply hold the switch again to change back.  The PolyTune 2 also has an ambient light sensor so it can automatically adjust the brightness of the LED display to any environment.  The display has a few different settings as well, but I only use the standard mode which can tune individual strings or multiple strings.  The other modes have some neat visual things, but they don't really appeal to me any more than a standard tuner.  My pedal got a little beat up during an airplane ride, but a little quick surgery fixed it right up.  I could send it in for warranty repairs, but why bother?  It works great!  Highly recommended for players of any stringed instruments.

Epiphone Les Paul Special II Custom Shop Limited Edition

This guitar was quite the bargain. Only $149.99 for the Custom Shop Limited Edition! The mahogany body and neck create very deep sounds, and the Epiphone 690T (neck) and 700T (bridge) carry the tone surprisingly well. The fretboard is rosewood, and the 700T is overwound to produce a little extra output. The neck is bolt-on, but sustain is incredibly good.  It did have a couple teething problems.  It came out of the box with a loose wire, so the neck pickup didn't work until we did a little soldering.  Could have sent it in for warranty repair, but it was really very simple to fix.  Additionally, the strings that come on low cost guitars are always garbage, so they were immediately replaced with Ernie Ball .10s. The controls are simple.  Just a three-way switch, a volume pot, and a tone pot.  With my current rig, this guitar sounds really good.  Playability is quite good.  The neck is smooth and relatively quick.  The frets are the right size for the curvature of the neck, and the action is just right out of the box.  If you can find one of these, it is a highly recommended budget guitar.  Even the standard Les Paul Special II is a good budget guitar, but this one is a lot prettier and a bit unique.

Seymour Duncan SH-13 Dimebucker

Another recent install was the Seymour Duncan Dimebucker. Naturally, it went into my Washburn Dime 333. Having the pickup designed by Dime in the guitar he played before Dean came back to life seemed like a good choice. Having tried the Bill Lawrence custom pickups that Dime used before the development of the Dimebucker, I can say that they are basically identical. They have the same tone, the same output, and the same personality. If you want to capture the groove metal tone pioneered by Dime, you can easily do it with this pickup. The pickup has very strong magnets and bars instead of individual pole pieces. These features lead to amazing tone with great string definition in any tuning from standard all the way down to C or below. Output is remarkable for a passive pickup. The EQ of the pickup provides great lows and highs, while the mids are very distinctive. Normally when one goes for a metal tone, the mids are scooped quite a bit. This pickup is unique in my experience because the personality of the tone changes pretty dramatically when you adjust the mids on your amp, distortion pedal, or EQ. I have found it nearly impossible to get a bad tone out of this pickup, clean or distorted. You can make it a screaming, powerful, mid and treble lead machine or a thick, smooth (almost creamy) rhythm pickup. Even just playing with the volume and tone pots can net some really cool results. Palm mute, and this pickup chugs along with the best. The responsiveness of this pickup means that every subtle nuance of your playing comes through. Your picking style, where you hold your palm mute, where you hit a harmonic, and so much more come through even under the heaviest distortion I can get. Add in the Floyd Rose bridge and dive bombs or screaming artificial harmonics really shine. The tone when you pull an artificial harmonic up with the tremolo is exactly what you hear at the end of Cemetery Gates. A cool feature of the Washburn itself is that the wiring is set up so that turning the bridge volume all the way down lets a little of the neck pickup audio through. This lets you achieve a tone exactly like the outro to Floods. Just listen to some Pantera, Damageplan, or Rebel Meets Rebel, and you will hear what this pickup can do. I love everything about it!

Stay tuned for a review of the Seymour Duncan '59 that is now in the neck position of this guitar (completing the setup used by Dime). It's all awesome!

Seymour Duncan Invader Pickups (both bridge and neck)

The Seymour Duncan Invader pickup was designed for extreme output while retaining string definition and great tone. It does exactly that. I recently installed both the bridge and neck versions in my limited edition BC Rich JR-V. Starting with the clean tones, the bridge is bright and powerful. The EQ of the pickups (as designed with the magnets, pole pieces, and winding) provides plenty of bass under any circumstances while retaining just enough mids and clear, sparkling treble. The neck pickup's clean tone is punchy, powerful, and has very well defined lows and mids. When you kick on the overdrive, the pickups begin to show what they can really do. Harmonics (both artificial and natural) are a breeze to hit, the overdrive is smooth, and the sustain and tone are fantastic. When compared to the stock BC Rich pickups they replaced, the Invaders have much more power, tone, and personality. They accomplish all of this without being muddy, which I've found to be a bit of a rarity with extremely high output pickups.

When you crank the distortion all the way up, you get what these pickups are really for. Running them through my BOSS MT-2 Metal Zone pedal creates some amazing results. String definition is retained, but the power, punch, and strength are remarkable. Palm-muted riffs shake the house while still being distinct in any position on the neck. Open notes and leads are very distinct. Either pickup gives a great lead tone for solos and no matter how fast your picking or sweeps are, the pickups will deliver. I love these things for all things metal, but they are versatile enough for any style of music. Play with the volume and tone pots, and you can discover a whole range of tones suitable for whatever you could want. Additionally, they are 4 conductor pickups, so you can coil split or coil tap with the proper wiring. What's not to love?