High-gain passive recommendations

[ProgMXCnerd70]

Hey guys, so I've been looking for a while for a very specific humbucker sound. I want a pickup with tight lows and present top-end, but with a nice vowelly high-midrange and chord clarity under distortion. I've got a few of references here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWg87y_4Eg8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MggsM1H1EiE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kq4EBL_aEpY

I'd really like the chords to ring out clearly under high gain with a kind of "bwah" sort of sound. Any recommendations?

[Mincer]

Welcome to the forum!
Listening to the clips, my thought with this kind of sound would be a Pegasus/Sentient set. If the guitar naturally has a brighter sound, I might go with the Black Winter.

[Securb]

I am on my 2nd Black Winter guitar. I have a single in my Strat and HH in my SG. A friend of mine played the Strat on Friday and said he might have to kill me if I didn't gift him the Strat. Keep in mind this is a very hard rock/classic metal kind of guy, not a death or black metal guy in any way. The interesting thing was he turned off the distortion and started playing The Trees by RUSH. Even though it is my guitar, I was blown away by the cleanliness of the BW bridge. Shamefully I must admit that 99.9% of the time I am playing the BW I am playing something heavier. Outside of the day I installed it I haven't really heard that pickup clean.

[Mincer]

The Black Winter can do clean better than most metal-focused pickups.

[ProgMXCnerd70]

Sounds cool! I've thought about those two before, but didn't go in-depth with them. I'll definitely look into them more.

[Rex_Rocker]

I would look into the Nazgul/Sentient, Alpha/Omega, And Black Winter sets from the Duncan range!

[Securb]

Sounds cool! I've thought about those two before, but didn't go in-depth with them. I'll definitely look into them more.

Interesting you have PROG in your user name. In the review I wrote of the BW I suggested it would make a tremendous prog-rock pickup for the heavier styles of prog. Here is the review.

http://www.tmrzoo.com/2013/55930/guitar-gear-review-seymour-duncan-black-winter-one-trick-pony

[Demanic]

It's killing me right now that I don't have a BW set in not even one of my guitars.
******.

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[Securb]

It's killing me right now that I don't have a BW set in not even one of my guitars.

One of us has to move closer to the other. You could come over here and grab any guitar you wanted.

[Demanic]

One of us has to move closer to the other. You could come over here and grab any guitar you wanted.

Not a fan of winter in the Valley of the Sun.
And winter in NH is pretty close to winter in MN. Which I am even less of a fan of.
Wyoming?
And that exchange would work in either direction.
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[TNTales]

Another vote for Black Winter. I found the Pegasus to be very compressed and nasally. BW are very crisp and tight without sounding sterile, imo

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[ProgMXCnerd70]

Another vote for Black Winter. I found the Pegasus to be very compressed and nasally. BW are very crisp and tight without sounding sterile, imo

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Thanks, dude! I appreciate your input.

[Masta' C]

Yup, Black Winter can cop pretty much all those tones with the right amp settings

[beaubrummels]

My first thought was Black Winter. In a Les Paul type, it's the most 'active' sounding pickup I've experienced, very tight, even; though it might not have the upper mid vowel character you are looking for. It's the one pickup where I got the character out of the amp instead. In a super strat, IME, it's a slightly different animal. Has more warmth and mids, Tight and bright like a Duncan Distortion, but a more modern cleaner/clearer version and a slight mid-peak. I don't know how much the guitar body/neck itself contributed to those differences, however.

What kind of guitar is this going in?
What amp/cab are you using?

Outside of the suggestions already made, I'd have to wonder if another brand might have something, like a DiMarzio model (I'm less familiar with their line.)

[ProgMXCnerd70]

My first thought was Black Winter. In a Les Paul type, it's the most 'active' sounding pickup I've experienced, very tight, even; though it might not have the upper mid vowel character you are looking for. It's the one pickup where I got the character out of the amp instead. In a super strat, IME, it's a slightly different animal. Has more warmth and mids, Tight and bright like a Duncan Distortion, but a more modern cleaner/clearer version and a slight mid-peak. I don't know how much the guitar body/neck itself contributed to those differences, however.

What kind of guitar is this going in?
What amp/cab are you using?

Outside of the suggestions already made, I'd have to wonder if another brand might have something, like a DiMarzio model (I'm less familiar with their line.)

I would be using a Triple Rectifier model on my Firehawk FX with a Precision Drive in front to tighten it up. I have it running through a V30 type IR.
I've also thought about the Bare Knuckle Juggernaut or the DiMarzio Illuminators, as well as the SD line. It's going into a super strat-type 6 string tuned to Drop A#.