: Which one of these has better overtones and harmonics? I’m trying to choose a bridge pickup for my ESP M-II because i really don’t like the Invader pickup that’s in it now.

I like my super distortion. Nice harmonics, tight sound, without being too harsh. the X2N is a little to over the top for my taste. The Super Distortion is a classic. Good luck.

Iron Maiden’s tone has alot to do with their recording. You may want to try an active pick up like an EMG. Part of the reason why you will get a muddy sound is due to the strong magnetic pull of the pick up. Any high output passive pickup has strong magnets. The EMG’s do not have a strong magnet. They make up for it with the active circuit.
In my main guitar, I have an EMG in the neck and an X2N in the bridge. The EMG is not muddy at all but the X2N can get muddy. I adjust the amps tone to eliminate this. I play with about as much gain one can get. I think the X2N sounds great for high gain situations. The EMG is clearer and more articulate, but I like the sound of a passive much more.
Your amp will have much more to do with the overtones. A high gain pick up will "hit" your amp with a lot of juice but if the amp can’t handle the signal, you will lose those harmonics.

Jj

i heard the tone zone is really muddy when using lots of gain. i heard it’s real honky and undefined. is this true? have you used it?

here’s what i’m trying to get

lead: adrian smith’s lead tone on iron maiden’s "somewhere in time" cd. songs think "wasted years", "deja vu" and "lonliness of the long distance runner".

rhythm: clear, defined, very percussive, beefy. no mud.

i want a lead tone like adrians, one that gets excellent overtones and harmonics. i want to be able to milk notes and listen to them change overtones and harmonics, this is real important. i like sharp pick attack too. i play alot of harmony/melody stuff so clarity is needed. i want a percussive, clear rhythm tone that won’t get muddy using lots of gain. something that sounds good with staccato palm muting and triplets. the x2n sounds like it might work, but i don’t know how the overtones and clarity are with it. listen to adrian’s lead tone on "somewhere in time" to get an idea of what i’m trying to get.

Hi,

The X2N is higher output, therefore more gain. It scoops the mids a little more than the super distortion.
What kind of sound are you trying to get?
The Tone Zone and Air Zone are cool high output pick up. These have very nice mids. Especially the air zone.

Hope this helps!

Jj