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7-string Pegasus alternative

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  • 7-string Pegasus alternative

    Hi guys,

    After quite long juorney with my Pegasus I've deicided to swap it out. I've liked it enough to keep it in my fixed bridge Ibanez RGD2127 around 3 years but recently found it lack aggression and output I'm after with this instrument. Guitar itself is somewhat dark sounding with full lower midrange and relaxed pick attack. With stock A5 magnet the pickup is pretty dark/boomy and doesn't have much note separation when playing riffs, making guitar tracking quite challenging for even pretty experienced player. The pickup really benefits from A8 magnet, shifting the midrange upwards giving it nice roar under gain, getting rid of boominess and adding much needed note separation. While it definitely is an upgrade, it still feels too "slow" and relaxed to my taste. Ceramic magnet is too much overall and has annoying treble spike I cannot get rid of.

    Prior to Pegasus I was using Nazgul and ended up swapping it out due to it's snarly in-your-face midrange, stiff high end and overall cold tone. It was bit too much for me in every way. I didn't try magnet swapping with it since it was before I started modify pickups.

    I'm open to suggestions on what to try next. I'm currently using RCA5 Sentient in the neck and SSL-1 7S in middle. I've used Distortion in few of my previous guitars and really liked it, is it my best bet?

    Thanks for your help as always!
    Attached Files

  • #2
    Re: 7-string Pegasus alternative

    Have you tried the Omega? The other guitarist in my band has it in the trem'd version of that guitar, and he loves it (we actually have the A/O set in all of our live guitars).

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    • #3
      Re: 7-string Pegasus alternative

      I just put a DiMarzio Imperium in my RG 7 string yesterday. Love everything about it, it’s basically everything I’ve been trying to get in the last 20+ years of swapping pickups.

      It’s Dave Davidson from Revocation’s signature pickup. It’s medium-high output, very clear but still aggressive. Cleans and split are great, too. I’m planning on getting the neck pickup, and the 6 string version for my Schecter.
      “I can play the hell out of a riff. The rest of it’s all bulls**t anyway,” Gary Holt

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      • #4
        Re: 7-string Pegasus alternative

        Originally posted by bloughlin16 View Post
        Have you tried the Omega? The other guitarist in my band has it in the trem'd version of that guitar, and he loves it (we actually have the A/O set in all of our live guitars).
        I was going to suggest the Omega, too.
        Administrator of the SDUGF

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        • #5
          Re: 7-string Pegasus alternative

          Have you tried adjusting the polepiece height or switching the screws for hex poles? That can change things.

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          • #6
            Re: 7-string Pegasus alternative

            If the Pegasus with a ceramic is too treble spiked, then the Omega might be too. I like the omega but it’s so percussive and somewhat harsh on the high end that legato phrasing comes across as snappy. I’ve been looking for a middle ground between those two pickups.

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            • #7
              Re: 7-string Pegasus alternative

              Have you tried the Omega? The other guitarist in my band has it in the trem'd version of that guitar, and he loves it (we actually have the A/O set in all of our live guitars).
              I installed Omega to my friends PRS 7-string about year ago and have liked it overall. Fortunately he's kind enough to loan his guitar for this weekend for pickup swap test.

              Have you tried adjusting the polepiece height or switching the screws for hex poles? That can change things.
              I've tried pickup height/pole piece adjustment without success. I've tried hex pole pieces with A5 and gonna retest it now with A8, I'll post my findings shortly.

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              • #8
                Re: 7-string Pegasus alternative

                I’m interested in what youll find with the hex poles and the magnet swap.

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                • #9
                  Re: 7-string Pegasus alternative

                  Wanted to give you guys an update on this. I received the test guitar with the Omega yesterday and spent many hours testing it thoroughly, with all sorts of coil splits and middle single coil action. It's kinda funny that since I've been using pickups with only alnico magnets my ear has been tuned to them and just cannot get used to ceramic mag anymore, lol.

                  The Omega felt awesome to play on due to added output over Pegasus and had useful high gain lead tone. It sounds fine but has too much bass with my Ibby (similar to stock Pegasus) and very snarly and angry sounding upper midrange that sort of reminds me of Nazgul. Although there were plenty of aggressive highs that will cut through, it was pretty very well balanced overall. Nice pickup, just not suited for this guitar. It works wonders in my friends PRS 7 and mahogany guitar is where it belongs. I don't see reason to buy and mod Omega since it costs 165 euros here in northern europe.

                  I’m interested in what youll find with the hex poles and the magnet swap.
                  For me the stock Pegasus has ton of low midrange and is 'polite' in the highs, wrapped around creamy soft playing feel. A4 magnet is really well defined with over-the-top string separation, gets rid of low mid spike and adds more highs compared to stock version. It has more aggressive tone but drops a bit of output. A4 version has easily the best clean tone from all mags I've tested and superior split coil capabilities.

                  With A8 the pickup is faster, louder and everything you want tone-wise if A4 isn't giving you enough oomph. A8 has ton of awesome mids that sound ace with distortion and single note tracking is fast and accurate due to added output. It losts some string separation over A4 but is much more accurate than stock A5 version. With cleans it's not as nice as A4 but coil splitted it has tele-ish vibe going on. Take into consideration that A8 is my most favorite bridge pickup magnet so I'm biased, ofc.

                  Ceramic magnet is over the top. It has similar low mids to stock A5 but with sharpest highs that aren't pleasing by any stretch of imagination. This variant has most output and very in-your-face tonality. Only suited for shredding and other high gain applications.

                  I guess I'm gonna stick with A8 Pegasus until I got more guitar repairs to expand my pickup budget. Curious how A8 would work with 7-string Custom, might be my next experiment.

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                  • #10
                    Re: 7-string Pegasus alternative

                    How do you feel about the A8 Pegasus now after a bit of time playing it? Do you have any sound bites of it?

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                    • #11
                      Re: 7-string Pegasus alternative

                      Based on what you've said here, I'd say Bareknuckle Alnico 5 Nailbomb.

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                      • #12
                        Re: 7-string Pegasus alternative

                        Originally posted by Bowtomecha View Post
                        How do you feel about the A8 Pegasus now after a bit of time playing it? Do you have any sound bites of it?
                        I really do prefer Alnico 8 Pegasus over stock one. To me, with A5 it has too much low mids that are overpowering EQ structure of the pickup. A8 balances the eq and also gives faster picking response that is desirable when down tuning. It also adds nice high-mid roar when playing with gain.

                        I'm about to do magnet shootout with my Pegasus 7 when I've time. Feel free to ask questions prior to that.

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                        • #13
                          Re: 7-string Pegasus alternative

                          Originally posted by Cynical View Post
                          Based on what you've said here, I'd say Bareknuckle Alnico 5 Nailbomb.
                          I've tried Nailbomb in a friends guitar that I liked. Not sure whether it had A5 or Ceramic.

                          Dimarzio Titan would fit the bill. Very chewy balanced mid/high gain pup.
                          I've played Titan in number of guitars and it tends to have similar low mid spike to A5 Pegasus that I don't like.

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                          • #14
                            Re: 7-string Pegasus alternative

                            I just put 5/8 hex pole pieces in my lower strings and it makes a bit of difference so far for me. I’m considering doing all of them. I’ve been looking for something in between the Pegasus and the Omega; the Pegasus needing more attack and high end and a bit less congestion in the midrange, and the Omega needing more dynamics, bass, and less brunt with light picking and legato phrasing. I had to really dig into the Pegasus to get brutal before swapping the pole pieces. I wish the Hyperion pickups were a regular release because they’re exactly like the Pegasus and Sentient but just a touch more output that gives it just enough drive. I spent months a/b/c-ing all these bridge pickups at guitar center and wished for a 7 string Hyperion as a happy medium. I’d consider the omega if I could hear it with an Alnico 5 and a row of fillisters to tame it a bit. I’m going to keep playing with the pickup and polepiece heights in the meantime because my Pegasus 7 seems pretty particular about this. Maybe I’ll disconnect the tone control and see if a no load tone control is an appealing option.

                            I wanted a pickup that wasn’t effortless, where you have to put some deliberate work into your playing to get your voice (as opposed to something like the dimarzio crunchlab which sounds amazing but a damn monkey could sound good thrashing away at it) and the Pegasus as is, can be a bit of a chore at times. But I like that I can rely on the amp to provide more of the gain and compression aspects and I just need to find a happy compromise.

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                            • #15
                              Re: 7-string Pegasus alternative

                              I know what you mean. Pegasus don't hide your mistakes and makes you work harder to play tighter.

                              Sounds like you've relatively similar tonal goals and I recommend you to swap the magnet to A8. It gives you a bit more drive and faster picking response and I like it enough to keep it for now. It's cheap and easy experiment, go for it!

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