Hard to Choose (pickups)

[The Edge Of Darkness]

I onw a LTD Mh-100 and I really love it, perfect for my style and for my twice broken wrist (martial arts incident) but I understand that the pickups are not the best (actually it's the only thing that I don't like in the guitar)
yesterday I was at the guitar shop here in my city and I decided to try two different guitars, no well...they were LTD EC 1000 but with different pickups. One with EMGs and one with SDs
the Emgs are great pickups, but since my guitar was born with passives, well, I don't want to leave it to a luthier for 4weeks to have the battery slot done, even if I love the sound...the seymour duncan sounded pretty nice, not as thick as the EMGs, but I still loved them. smooth and soft for clean tones and angry for the distorted ones (I was playing through a Peavey JSX Mini Colossal and I used a Boss mega distortion pedal, the set was already there)
and here in italy the price is quite good, 88€ is the average price for a SD, and the EMGs are about 99€
I play in a folk band (Ensiferum like), a power (Blind guardian, Nightwish and sometimes Children of Bodom covers) one and a symphonic black/death metal one (emperor and dimmu borgir style)...
what would be the best choice?

[Thrash]

don't want to leave it to a luthier for 4weeks to have the battery slot done

You dont need to do that. You can just have the battery in the (english not my first language so I dont know that word for it) routed thingy on the back of your guitar where all the electric shit is.

Also even though im a Duncan fan and I love the crunchy Custom and the Distortion and Jb in neck position, I would recommend EMG's if you plan on using this guitar forever. Thats what I did with my crappy m200 and now it's actuly playable compared to before. I dont know how it sounds though your m100. Some ltds turn out amazing and some is just dead like my m200.

[Rex Rocker]

you wouldn't need to route the guitar for actives... you can fit 'em in the control cavity (as the guy before me said)

honestly... I would save up for an MH-400 if I were you rather than buying new pickups for your MH-100

[The Edge Of Darkness]

you wouldn't need to route the guitar for actives... you can fit 'em in the control cavity (as the guy before me said)

honestly... I would save up for an MH-400 if I were you rather than buying new pickups for your MH-100
I would have bought a 400 instead of a 100 if my parents would have agreed...that's my main problem. they pay, and they are not quite willing to pay more than 1000 for a new guitar, even if I dig the 400...the finish is simply fantasmic (sorry, big nightwish fan). once I have my own job I think I'll save for a real Esp horizon, and use the mh-100 back up. that's why I want to change the pickups

[N3rdAl3rt]

i got emg installed into my pasive h400 and it took them an hour, no batery slot needed

[The Edge Of Darkness]

i got emg installed into my pasive h400 and it took them an hour, no batery slot needed

ok, that's about 400 euros lesser than what I thought...is it too risky to install them myself?

[Gabaj]

wait. an mh-100 costs a 1000 dollars?

[The Edge Of Darkness]

wait. an mh-100 costs a 1000 dollars?

no, my mh100 cost 540 euros, the fact is that here in italy since you have to import the guitars they cost a bit more than in US, so the MH-400 costs 1000€, about the same in dollars. for a LTD deluxe, like the EC-1000 I tried last saturday the price is 1120 euros. for an original ESP the cost is about 1500 euros. so, buying a new guitar in the near future is something stupid, since I don't have the money and my family is messed up enough to keep this one now, since my parents are divorcing

[idpmofo]

OUCH!!!!!!!! Those prices are awful. I was gonna jump in and say upgrade the whole guitar (Mahogany over Agathis body)... with those prices I'd go ahead a put in EMGs. You said the EMGs sounded great and the SD sounded "pretty nice", but those were in the EC1000. They wont sound as good in your 200, imo. So expect the EMGs to sound "pretty nice" and the SDs to sound ok.
I think the EMGs will work better.

[capoeiraesp]

dude active emg's a less 'reliant' on the wood quality in terms of improving your sound so go with them.

[TheDevilHimself]

http://www.thomann.de/it/search_dir_BF_esp.html?sw=ltd+

Save some money!

[andrei]

i'll subscribe to what the others sayd:
a 400 series is far better: wood, hardware, build.

but i also undersand if you dont have the $$ and just want to upgrade the pickups.
so i add to the above post my two options:

http://www.thomann.de/it/emg_81.htm
http://www.thomann.de/it/seymour_duncan_ssh8b.htm

i'm not quite shure what i'd choose now.
my last pickup choice for a low end guitar was invader/59 (sounds pretty fat, i'm satisfied).
i've just installed in a friends guitar a dimebucker last weekend.

so the pickup itself is your option.
they aren't hard to install yourself if you're familiar with soldering.
just read carefully the wireing diagram and... use your head! (not a joke! think twice, act once)

are you planning on changing bouth pickups or just one?
if you're just gonna change one, then forget about using the other one, cose the sond (quality) difference will be huge.


good luck!

[The Edge Of Darkness]

i'll subscribe to what the others sayd:

they aren't hard to install yourself if you're familiar with soldering.
just read carefully the wireing diagram and... use your head! (not a joke! think twice, act once)

good luck!

my father is...fortunately...

[andrei]

there shouldn't be any problems then.

let us know how it turned out!

[The Edge Of Darkness]

there shouldn't be any problems then.

let us know how it turned out!

wait christmas...I have to gather the money... (thank god my grandparents are quite generous when it comes to festivities like christmas and easter...)

[Duffy]

I'm sure you can do the pickup install with no problem and it will actually be fun.

There is room for the battery in the control panel in the back and someone said you should velcro it or tape it off to the side for a better installation. That should make a big difference in the sound of your guitar. You might want to research it a little more and see if some different capacitors would help improve the sound more. They are like two dollars US each. The soldering is easy. Be sure to heat up the parts really well first, before adding the solder, this way you can avoid cold solder joints that will cause problems later.

Sounds like you can stay within your money restraints by doing the work yourself and wind up having a great sounding guitar without having to spend a lot of money at a difficult time in your life. There is nothing like a nicely upgraded guitar that you did yourself. It will give you something fun to do at a time when a great hobby can be a big help.

The enchantment of playing guitar is a great thing and any guitar is better than no guitar. Tone and a lot to sound is in your fingers and soul. Somebody can make some awesome music with a reasonable guitar.

Duffy
Winfield, Pa. USA
Two cheap new agathis LTD's that look and sound great
through some decent amps.
Plus other much more expensive guitars that also sound good,
but I play the LTD's more frequently, maybe because they are new, but not as new as my Fender Highway one, blond.

[svt4cobra6]

I just picked up a new mh 400 with a hardshell case for $600 plus tax. I think there is one on ebay now as well.

[Gabaj]

he's italian ... so ebay isn't an option for him.

I know his situation well, I live in Malta, an island, so shit's even worse for me.

[The Edge Of Darkness]

got them! EMG ZW Set for 174 $, about 149 euros. ebay is a great place!

[jm1681]

You'll love'em :)

[The Edge Of Darkness]

he's italian ... so ebay isn't an option for him.

I know his situation well, I live in Malta, an island, so shit's even worse for me.

oh ebay was my first option, since here in italy it would have cost about 235 euros...