Black Winter owner.... Feedback so far????

[Lucy Diamond]

Re: Black Winter owner.... Feedback so far????

@OMG81

There are a lot of pickups that clean up your amp with the volume know. Isn't is amazing though how the winters act differently at the various volume settings.

They are little magnetic chameleons

[LazNovak]

Re: Black Winter owner.... Feedback so far????

I might have to put a set of Black Winters in my Charvel with triple shot rings.

[BigOrra]

Re: Black Winter owner.... Feedback so far????

Hi guys! I was thinking of replacing the EMG 81's in my kh (alder body, maple neck, bolt on, floyd) because they were kind of a one trick pony. Would the black winters be a good choice? I play mostly 80s thrash and with occasional blues.

[omg81]

Re: Black Winter owner.... Feedback so far????

For 80s thrash, notably the high-gain tight stuff (Metallica), the EMGs are a bit better imo, because the BWs are pretty harsh at high gain. More black than thrash metal. For rawer Slayer sound, I think Distortions are best and BWs still much better than the EMGs. But as you said, the EMGs are a one-trick pony. The BW is the opposite, it's fantastic for clean/blues sounds, while the EMGs can only do very high gain and nothing else imo. As I said earlier, after installing a pair of BWs in my Epi SG, I'm mostly playing blues now. In the SG with its mid-heavy, dry hard rock sound, it can be tricky to tame the BW at high gain. In my Jackson, it (bridge) absolutely destroys at high gain too, for any style, but it's not quite as great for blues as in the SG. Just depends on the guitar's characteristics, I guess.

I have a switch in the SG that puts both pickups in series. Seemed like overkill, but it gives me fantastic, lovely, crunchy, fat old-school blues sound on my valve amps at low gain.

I almost never used neck pickups because they always were too mushy for my liking. With the very bright BWs, I use neck and middle position a lot now and I even started using the tone control. I don't know how a pickup could be any more versatile. They are that good.

[BigOrra]

Re: Black Winter owner.... Feedback so far????

Thanks omg81! From my experiences with the 81, I have learned to use the volume and tone controls to their full extent, trying to get versatility. With what you said about the black winters, I'm sure getting versatility won't be a problem. You also said they were very bright, so would it be too bright if I used them with a marshall boosted with a tubescreamer?

[kie.rocking]

Re: Black Winter owner.... Feedback so far????

To be fair all the clips I heard & reviews read I was expecting a lot more when I had them installed in my Gibson V, my other V with the 500t's sounded a lot crunchier & heavier so was a little disappointed. I think they're a good pickup but not for me. To be fair the Distortion would have been a better option.

[Lucy Diamond]

Re: Black Winter owner.... Feedback so far????

Hi guys,

The thing with using The Winters with high gain is that you can now back off your gain a bit.

They can do anything...you just have to find the settings that mesh between your amp, your pedals and your Winters.


\m/,


~LD

[omg81]

Re: Black Winter owner.... Feedback so far????

Thanks omg81! From my experiences with the 81, I have learned to use the volume and tone controls to their full extent, trying to get versatility. With what you said about the black winters, I'm sure getting versatility won't be a problem. You also said they were very bright, so would it be too bright if I used them with a marshall boosted with a tubescreamer?

Can't say anything about the tube screamer because I'm pretty purist, I use very few effects and only the amp's overdrive. I have a Marshall JVM (2-channel version), and on the high gain amber/red OD channels, the brittle Marshall can be tough to control with the brittle SG and the brittle BW. For high gain, I now prefer the OD green (similar to an overdriven JCM800), and it kicks arse. Most of the BW demo videos I found on YT were using metal guitars with Randall or other 6L6 valve amps, which may compensate for the brightness. I'm a great friend of bright sound, mind, and even for me my combo can be a bit over the top with some gain if I'm not careful.

[omg81]

Re: Black Winter owner.... Feedback so far????

To be fair all the clips I heard & reviews read I was expecting a lot more when I had them installed in my Gibson V, my other V with the 500t's sounded a lot crunchier & heavier so was a little disappointed. I think they're a good pickup but not for me. To be fair the Distortion would have been a better option.

Fair enough, I mean it depends on your amp, your guitar, your music preference, your playing style etc., so a BW isn't the perfect solution for everyone of course. A Distortion does some things better than a BW, most notably 80s thrash, but in contrast I think the Distortion is very limited. **** for clean, **** for blues etc., but in the end this is my taste.

[BigOrra]

Re: Black Winter owner.... Feedback so far????

I think I'm still going to to with the black winters because I still need a good clean tone.


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[Lucy Diamond]

Re: Black Winter owner.... Feedback so far????

I'm finally going to put a set of Winters in my Blackout Strat in the next couple of months. I'm working on a middle pickup for them. It's gonna be sick!!!

[BloodRose]

Re: Black Winter owner.... Feedback so far????

I dunno.. Looking for a pickup set for one of my charvels and have been torn tween the black winters or pegasus/sentient set. I start leaning toward the pegasus cuz based on some threads where Ive asked, sound like it may be a better choice for what Im looking for, but keep hearing RAVE reviews for the BW set... Wouldnt be so bad if I needed black pups. I could try one set and sell em if they arent ticking the boxes.. But I need red, so need to be pretty sure before I order

[Lucy Diamond]

Re: Black Winter owner.... Feedback so far????

I dunno.. Looking for a pickup set for one of my charvels and have been torn tween the black winters or pegasus/sentient set. I start leaning toward the pegasus cuz based on some threads where Ive asked, sound like it may be a better choice for what Im looking for, but keep hearing RAVE reviews for the BW set... Wouldnt be so bad if I needed black pups. I could try one set and sell em if they arent ticking the boxes.. But I need red, so need to be pretty sure before I order

Hi,
[waves]

"The Black Winter" is just a name.

You can order them in any color.

Enjoy.

~LD

[Gibson 1964]

Re: Black Winter owner.... Feedback so far????

I dunno.. Looking for a pickup set for one of my charvels and have been torn tween the black winters or pegasus/sentient set. I start leaning toward the pegasus cuz based on some threads where Ive asked, sound like it may be a better choice for what Im looking for, but keep hearing RAVE reviews for the BW set... Wouldnt be so bad if I needed black pups. I could try one set and sell em if they arent ticking the boxes.. But I need red, so need to be pretty sure before I order

I would be interested in a red standard spaced black winter if you decided you needed to move it along.

[omg81]

Re: Black Winter owner.... Feedback so far????

Just put some red tape on them