Alpha/Omega vs. Pegasus/Sentient for Metal?

Chuck_Norris

Chuck_Norris

New member
Hi everyone,

How would you compare the Alpha/Omega and Pegasus/Sentient sets for death metal? I'm looking for a tight but punchy and full low end for fast palm-muted riffs, clarity and articulation and an overall great lead tone, both in the neck and in the bridge. Nice cleans are a plus too. I like well-balanced pickups tone-wise and dislike an overly prominent mid-range grind (think SH-6). I also like a good low-end thump on palm muted riffs. Do you maybe have other recommendations as well?

Cheers
 
Re: Alpha/Omega vs. Pegasus/Sentient for Metal?

Chuck_Norris said:
Hi everyone,

How would you compare the Alpha/Omega and Pegasus/Sentient sets for death metal? I'm looking for a tight but punchy and full low end for fast palm-muted riffs, clarity and articulation and an overall great lead tone, both in the neck and in the bridge. Nice cleans are a plus too. I like well-balanced pickups tone-wise and dislike an overly prominent mid-range grind (think SH-6). I also like a good low-end thump on palm muted riffs. Do you maybe have other recommendations as well?

Cheers
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I have the Alpha/Omega set in my main live and recording guitars, and it sounds like they're exactly what you need. The Sentient is a great pickup, but the Pegasus is definitely one of my least favorite in the Duncan line. I found it a little muddy and not nearly punchy or aggressive enough under gain for my tastes.
 
Re: Alpha/Omega vs. Pegasus/Sentient for Metal?

Never played the Pegasus/sentient combo but yeah the alpha omega is just brutally great
Custom 5 alnico in the bridge with 59 in the neck is a great combo too
Also black winters are awesome for Death metal
What are you tuning to?
 
Re: Alpha/Omega vs. Pegasus/Sentient for Metal?

The tuning is usually somewhere between B and D standard. I heard many people rave about the Black Winters too but wasn't impressed by the clips I found on YouTube. To me it seems that they have some of that annoying upper mid-range grind that I dislike about the Distortion. What is your opinion on that?

The Alpha/Omega set is currently at the top of my list. Your impressions seem to further confirm my gut feeling.
 
Alpha/Omega vs. Pegasus/Sentient for Metal?

Chuck_Norris said:
The tuning is usually somewhere between B and D standard. I heard many people rave about the Black Winters too but wasn't impressed by the clips I found on YouTube. To me it seems that they have some of that annoying upper mid-range grind that I dislike about the Distortion. What is your opinion on that?

The Alpha/Omega set is currently at the top of my list. Your impressions seem to further confirm my gut feeling.
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The black winters can be sharp depending on how you dial your amp in and how close the pickups are to the strings but once you dial em in, wow they’re awesome, so clear and dynamic while still having that aggression required for death metal but also the capacity to do beautiful cleans
The alpha omega set is again very nice I have them in my Holcomb SE and I use that for every between E and Drop C and that remains tight without being harsh to my ears (perfect for the extreme metal vibe) the alpha neck isn’t exactly my thing, a tiny bit sharp as all I use my neck pickup for is solos and cleans however that’s why I have a tone knob
I use custom wound BareKnuckle for my Drop B/B standard and Drop A stuff and they sound massive
Alnico 2 bridge wound for a modern hi gain tone
Alnico 8 neck for low output PAF
The nazgul is also hella thick if you’re tuning low
The sentient neck pickup is lovely but haven’t played the Pegasus
 
Re: Alpha/Omega vs. Pegasus/Sentient for Metal?

The alpha omega set was a bit disappointing. Both pickups are all treble. Very tight, but the omega was very weak in the lows and mids. The alpha is not a neck pickup id really recommend at all. Its too bright on the high strings, doesnt smooth out for leads easily. I know nothing about the pegasus/sentient so i cant help you there, aside from the fact that an a5 bridge pickup wouldnt be my first choice for death metal
 
Re: Alpha/Omega vs. Pegasus/Sentient for Metal?

"lovely"? We talkin death metal?
 
Re: Alpha/Omega vs. Pegasus/Sentient for Metal?

dxlxntxxlxr said:
The alpha omega set was a bit disappointing. Both pickups are all treble. Very tight, but the omega was very weak in the lows and mids. The alpha is not a neck pickup id really recommend at all. Its too bright on the high strings, doesnt smooth out for leads easily. I know nothing about the pegasus/sentient so i cant help you there, aside from the fact that an a5 bridge pickup wouldnt be my first choice for death metal
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What kind of rig did you try them through when you got to play them?
 
Re: Alpha/Omega vs. Pegasus/Sentient for Metal?

dxlxntxxlxr said:
The alpha omega set was a bit disappointing. Both pickups are all treble. Very tight, but the omega was very weak in the lows and mids. The alpha is not a neck pickup id really recommend at all. Its too bright on the high strings, doesnt smooth out for leads easily. I know nothing about the pegasus/sentient so i cant help you there, aside from the fact that an a5 bridge pickup wouldnt be my first choice for death metal
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That kinda reminds of the Full Shred. I always found the FS neck terribly trebly, especially on the highest string. The bridge was really nice for Thrash Metal and leads, but lacked in low end thump.
 
Re: Alpha/Omega vs. Pegasus/Sentient for Metal?

Out of the two I would have recommended the Omega due to its tightness but I'm not sure it has the 'full' low end you would want.

The Pegasus is pretty versatile and has a relatively full low end but isn't really punchy as it is a medium output pickup. If you throw some gain on it and an OD pedal then you can get a punchier tone though, of course.

For 'Death Metal' I'd consider the Black Winter.
 
Re: Alpha/Omega vs. Pegasus/Sentient for Metal?

Has anyone compared the Alpha/Omega pickups to the DiMarzio Titans and the BKP Juggernauts?
 
Re: Alpha/Omega vs. Pegasus/Sentient for Metal?

Chuck_Norris said:
Has anyone compared the Alpha/Omega pickups to the DiMarzio Titans and the BKP Juggernauts?
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Not sure if ur talking about in a video/audio clip, but i can give u descriptions. Ive played the titan bridge, the alpha omega set, and the juggernaut set. The titan is kinda a "you get what u pay for" type thing (at least thats my opinion atm). Just a bit meh, too middy. The alpha omega disappointed me greatly. This is one of the few situations when i'll say duncan eq charts are accurate, the alpha/omega are basically all treble. The omega has no low end girth or midrange grind, it just cuts. It'll work if ur playing in drop xyz. The alpha was even more disappointing, same treble problem. If ur trying to get a liquid lead tone, good luck. After those i tried juggernauts expecting much the same as the alpha/omega. I was completely wrong. I had played the dmz illuminators the previous day, and they were my gold standard at the time. The juggs blew them outta the water. Bridge is full and clear, not djent all the time, but it can be if ur picking is "djenty". Itll do anything from sludgy, smooth killswitch tone to super tight periphery/haunted shores/monuments type thing. The neck pickup was awesome too. Nicely rounded on the top, tight on the bottom, full in the mids, super clear. The juggernaut set basically took everything i thought was wrong with every other pickup ive tried and fixed it. Then like an idiot i bought a titan cause its cheaper. Im getting juggs asap. They are by far the best pickups ive ever played in my life.
 
Re: Alpha/Omega vs. Pegasus/Sentient for Metal?

i got a 7 string but play mostly rock 90s-00s early modern metal. what pups should i be looking at
 
Re: Alpha/Omega vs. Pegasus/Sentient for Metal?

Shadownight5150 said:
RATM, Tool, Breaking Benjamin, Collective Soul, Avenged 7, Him, Seether etc.
mostly 90s 00s metal/ grunge/alt.
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on a 7 string?! Ive heard good things about black winters, also look into bare knuckles. Ive heard good things about pretty much all of it, just figure out what suits u or email them, theyre very helpful. I ordered juggernauts off reverb yesterday
 
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