Guitar Stuff » EMG

Schecter C-1 Hellraiser FR Guitar

Matt — Sat, 08 Apr 2006 13:53:45 +0000

Schecter is another popular manufacturer of guitars used by metal guitarists. The C-1 model is one of their nicest aesthetically. As of late I have been really thinking about purchasing a second guitar. I currently own an Epiphone Les Paul standard which is a great guitar. However, sometimes I feel limited with its classic design. I am looking for a guitar that has 24 frets and a tremolo bridge. Also the design of the neck is very important, something with better access to the higher frets is important. This is one of the guitars that I have been looking at.

The C-1 Hellraiser FR (Floyd Rose) model is one of many in the C-1 line. This guitar has many features that set it apart and that appeal to me. The first and most apparent is it’s bright red semi-transparent finish on a quilted maple top bordered with an abalone binding. It really is stunning to look at, but if red is not your thing it also comes in a black on black finish. The body is made of mahogany and the neck is mahogany on the backing and rosewood on the fingerboard. As for functionality it has that too.

This guitar has all the sound qualities a metal guitarist would want. It comes with an EMG active 81 pickup in the neck and an 85 in the bridge. This is the same setup that Zakk Wylde and many other players use. The bridge is an Original Floyd Rose Tremolo System complete with a locking nut for the headstock. The pickups are controlled using two volume knobs and one tone knob with a 3-way toggle for pickup switching.

The neck has 24 X-Jumbo frets for those extreme metal bends. The frets are decorated with gothic cross inlays. The neck is constructed using Ultra Access design for great accessibility on the high frets.

Feature Summary

Mahogany body/Quilted maple top/Mahogany & Rosewood neck
24 X-Jumbo frets with gothic cross inlays
EMG 81 pickup in the neck and EMG 85 pickup in the bridge
2 volume/1 tone/3-way toggle switch
Original Floyd Rose Tremolo
Grover tuners
Red or black finish with black hardware

Basically, this guitar covers all of the features I was looking for in a metal guitar so I will have to add it to my list of hopefuls. As an added bonus it is backed by Synyster Gates of Avenged Sevenfold.1

Gibson Les Paul Zakk Wylde CAMO Signature Guitar

Matt — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 13:00:12 +0000

The Zakk Wylde Signature Les Paul is one of the most popular signature guitars from Gibson. The original features a stunning black on antique white bulleye trademark paint job and a raw oiled maple neck. The Zakk Wylde CAMO is an alteration of that 80’s Les Paul using a black on camouflage for the bullseye.

The body is a 1 piece mahogany back under a carved maple top decorated with gold hardware. For sound it sports the signature EMG ZW (81 neck/85 bridge) active pickups for playing those heavy screaming Black Label Society riffs. I have the ZW set in my Les Paul and I couldn’t imagine another pickup for playing metal. Active is the way to go if you ask me. The sound of the overdrive is unmatched and the sustain is infinite.

The fingerboard is where this guitar differs from Zakk’s original Bullseye. This guitar has a 22 fret unfinished maple fingerboard with pearl inlays. The unfinished neck and fretboard is a little much for me. Personally I’m a heavy finish kind of guy. It could be something that takes getting used to, but at first it just didn’t feel natural. Just like every other Les Paul the guitar includes two volume knobs and two tone knobs. It also has the standard 3-way pickup selector switch.

Feature Summary

Carved maple top/Solid mahogany back
Multi-ply white/black binding on top and back
Gold Hardware
Nashville TOM bridge/Stopbar tailpiece
Unfinished 3-piece maple neck
22 fret maple fingerboard with a rounded profile
Pearl inlays
Metal tulip tuners
EMG ZW Signature pickups (EMG-81/EMG-85)
0.10 gauge strings

If you want to sound like Zakk Wylde, there is no better way than with a Zakk Wylde Signature Les Paul, a Marshall amp, an MXR ZW-44 Wylde Overdrive Pedal, and a Dunlop ZW-45 Zakk Wylde Signature Wah. Now, if you can’t buy all of that, the Les Paul is a great start.

Read the other posts in this series:

Zakk Wylde EMG ZW Pickups Review

Matt — Wed, 15 Feb 2006 22:11:29 +0000

I have been a huge Zakk Wylde fan for at least 5 years now and I have always been fascinated with his playing style. He plays with blistering speed and has some of the most unique sounds I have ever heard. By far though, his signature is the heavy chunky riffs filled with screaming pinch harmonics. It’s pretty frustrating when you are trying to learn a song or style and just can’t get it to sound the same as the original. This happened to me when I started learning Black Label Society riffs. So why couldn’t I make it sound the same as Zakk did? Well most of it had to do with my gear; I needed some EMG ZW Set active pickups.

The major difference is active pickups use a battery to re-amplify the sound before it even gets to your amp. That’s what gives you that extra chunk, scream, and sustain that Zakk is famous for. The EMG ZW pickups are a set of 2 EMG pickups, 1 EMG-81 for the neck and 1 EMG-85 for the bridge. As soon as I put them into my guitar and powered it up I could tell the difference, and if you really want to hear it, try tuning your guitar down to D tuning. Nothings better.

The EMG website describes the pickups as “With scorching riffs and remarkable stage presence, Zakk Wylde has earned his reputation as heavy metal’s premier lead guitarist. From Ozzy Osbourne, Pride and Glory, and now Black Label Society, Zakk has always used EMG Active Pickups. The Zakk Wylde model features the EMG-85 and EMG-81, as used on his signature bullseye Les Paul.”

BMusic reviews the EMG ZW Pickups and says ” The EMG-81 is a high output pickup designed especially for the lead guitarist. It was actually developed in 1979 along with the EMG-58. Like most EMG’s, it wasn’t heavily advertised until 1981. The EMG-81 has the familiar U-shaped humbucking structure but replaces the pole pieces with steel bars and a smaller ceramic magnet. The EMG-81 is at its best for high volume overdrive. It has become the choice for metal and extreme players alike, Kirk Hammett from Metallica and Kerry King of Slayer as well as the subject of this review, Zakk Wylde.”