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Tools for the Task: Humbuckers for the Heavy

Inject your guitar with newfound fury by dropping in a new humbucker or two.

If you’re a player on the heavy side of the genre fence and need more gain and aggression in your sound, consider the simple solution of swapping in new humbuckers for a big-boned tonal makeover. Following are just 10 of the multitude of options out there.

Aftermath

Designed with the modern-metal guitarist in mind, this alnico-5 humbucker is voiced for fat and powerful tones, as well as fluid vocal-like sustain when driven hard.

BARE KNUCKLE
$140

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The alnico-5 magnets in this popular active ’bucker deliver a muscular growl and smooth lead tones that fly with anything from blues to the most extreme metal.

EMG
$99

Super Distortion

Designed to kick a tube-amp into total overdrive, this pioneering pickup offers a balance of big lows, fat highs, and thick, boosted mids.

DIMARZIO
$79

Fluence Modern Ceramic

This humbucker offers a choice of two distinctive—and switchable—voices: a high-output ’bucker tone made for distortion, and a modern, active pickup with tight bass and crisp highs.

FISHMAN
$129

Chisel Neck

This aggressive neck pickup is engineered for a fast attack and superb clarity—ideal for drop-tuned modern metal and djent tones.

RAILHAMMER
$99

Frankenstein Humbucker

For the many chasing Edward’s tone, this direct-replacement humbucker is reported to achieve all of it, from the stinging highs and snarling mids, to the all-important "brown" sound.

EVH
$149

Classic+

Wound hotter than the company’s Classic Humbucker cousin, this alnico-5 pickup has a crunchier sound in higher-gain environments while still promising articulate tonal clarity.

FRIEDMAN
$129

\m/ (Metal)

These high-output pickups use ceramic magnets for crystalline cleans, and when cranked, are designed to deliver fat, snarling, and aggressive tones with crisp note articulation.

PRS
$170

Dimebucker

Built to Dimebag Darrell’s exact specs, this ceramic-bar-magnet pickup strives for crunchy pick attack, scooped mids, and the ideal amount of saturation.

SEYMOUR DUNCAN
$105

D3 Signature D’Agitator

Conceived with metal in mind, these humbuckers require no electronics, circuit boards, or batteries, and can be split into single-coil mode without any loss of output level.

LACE
$129

Stompboxtober is rolling on! Enter below for your chance to WIN today's featured pedal from Peterson Tuners! Come back each day during the month of October for more chances to win!

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This four-in-one effects box is a one-stop shop for Frusciante fans, but it’s also loaded with classic-rock swagger.

Great, lively preamp sounds. Combines two modulation flavors with big personalities. One-stop shop for classic-rock tones. Good value.

Big. Preamp can’t be disengaged. At some settings, flanger effect leaves a little to be desired.

$440

JFX Deluxe Modulation Ensemble
jfxpedals.com

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MayFly’s Le Habanero Boost and Fuzz pedal, designed with input from Trevor May and Lucas Haneman, offers a wide range of tonal options from clean to scream. Responsive to player touch and guitar volume, stack the Boost and Fuzz for endless sustain and harmonics. Perfect for exploring your inner David Gilmour.

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Darkglass introduces the Luminal Booster Ultra for bass guitar, combining the Harmonic Booster with adjustable frequency range parallel compression, 6-band EQ, gain reduction meter, and 7 custom Impulse Responses. With versatile controls, including a +/- 20dB BOOST and CHARACTER selection, this pedal offers precision and unmatched tonal control for bass players.

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