Black Winter vs Distoryion: When to use which?

[Aceman]

The Black Winter is getting a ton of love. I'm interested myself.

But - now that we have a Black Winter, the $89.97 question is: When and/or under what conditions do you use a Distortion, vs a Black Winter????

SImilar, yet different pickups…..
What type of guitar does each work best in?
What desired tone does each get?
What tunings for which pup?
What band is one or the other?
What about amps/fx, when to use which?
Critical B/M/T/Output differences?

Discuss

[Gibson 1964]

Re: Black Winter vs Distoryion: When to use which?

Black Winter has worked very well for me in both set neck and bolt on bodies. I haven't found a "Best."
The tone of the distortion when swapped in the exact same guitar with quick connects(in well under 5 minutes) was far boxier. It sounded like it had more piercing highs, more low end, and less mids, particularly upper mids. The Black Winter has a much more neutral eq IMO.
What desired tone? Distortion, for me would excel more at older styles of hard rock where a flabbier, looser low end was required. The black winter actually has decent cleans and sounds good with light grit all the way to as extreme metal as you can find.
Due to the tighter low end of the BW I think it would win on lower tunings.


I don't know about what band. I have used and loved the BWs with a 5e3/plexi clone(Frenzel Super deluxe), matchless/vox style (Frenzel HBWC30), soldano, engl, old gibson amps and more

I do know that I always felt the distortion was missing some mids, and didn't sound quite right. I went through the BKP lineup, looking for my sound, but ended up finding it with the BW. I own a fair number of black winters. (I think 5 bridge and 2 neck) They do allow the character of the guitar through.

I think the biggest thing with the eq is that the distortion can have a big booming bottom end, less mids, and a scream on top. The black winter is very, very balanced and clear. It sounds more modern and feels like it has a lot of everything, but in proportion. I would say that if I were to give it an eq curve, I would say B:4 M:6 T:6. That is not to say it is thin. It is just that your bass when preamp distortion goes up will not overwhelm your sound turning it into indistinct mud.

I am not the target demographic for the BW. I grew up on classic metal, hard rock, and old school punk and hardcore. I think it might be the perfect pickup for me.

However, I might not put it in a guitar that was naturally thin sounding.

[Farkus]

Re: Black Winter vs Distoryion: When to use which?

I wonder how these would sound in a thick Les Paul?


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[Gibson 1964]

Re: Black Winter vs Distoryion: When to use which?

I keep debating putting these in my LPC. But I like the stock look with the worn gold. (I have a wolfetone blisterbucker in there with the original polepieces and cover reinstalled.)

[Falloffthebonetone]

Re: Black Winter vs Distoryion: When to use which?

Ok so is the consensus now that this thing isn't like how it is in the Ola video? Like where it sounds a little more open in the highs and a bit brighter than the distortion? We are actually saying that the distortion is the more trebly pickup now right despite that video right?

[Aceman]

Re: Black Winter vs Distoryion: When to use which?

I find Gibson's choice of words interesting///

Flabbier and looser are not words I would associate with the distortion. It is a defacto choice for down tunbing. That said - the BW is perhaps even better….

[Farkus]

Re: Black Winter vs Distoryion: When to use which?

I have a set of these still in the box...really tempted to try them in my LP now.


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[Gibson 1964]

Re: Black Winter vs Distoryion: When to use which?

I find Gibson's choice of words interesting///

Flabbier and looser are not words I would associate with the distortion. It is a defacto choice for down tunbing. That said - the BW is perhaps even better….

Flabbier, not flabby. I would say that the distortion does have a bigger bottom end and a looser bass. That said, the BW could be too tight for some perhaps. Relative terms that really only have meaning by relation. As such, I would say that when I A/B'd them in the same guitar, that was my impression. I also should point out that I was using a set neck mahogany guitar for this test, but with a 25.5 inch scale.

I do disagree with the Ola video. I would say it perhaps has more highs, but with the distortion I feel like there is a big bottom, a lot of highs, but less high mids. I play with a ton of gain routinely and that video I thought may be the worst enemy of the BW as I almost did not buy it because of that. I would say it seems to me as if the eq curve of the distortion would have some peaks and valleys, whereas the BW seems much, much flatter to me. I would say it seems clearer to me, but not shrill. As if the distortion has a peak in the highs that the BW does not have. It is much more even across the spectrum at least to my ears. It does sound more open and airy.

I would say that the BW sounds more modern overall. I would pick the distortion for a slightly more vintage feel. I do think the BW would be absolutely perfect for down tuning and baritones. This is not to say the distortion does not excel at that, but I would think the less bass of the distortion could keep it from getting muddy.

To me it feels more open, but the biggest difference IMO is the mids. They feel more even and pushed. But then again, some people coax different tones out of their pickups through their technique. I would encourage players to try one. Best offer on ebay would be my advice.

[Letus]

Re: Black Winter vs Distoryion: When to use which?

The EQ is 666.

The best demo video I've been able to find is this. They sound absolutely beautiful, my #1 production model choice for my dream tone;

The big questions for me, though, are; what are the settings, and is he using the bridge pickup in the intro?