EngineerMetalPlayer
New member
Hello forum users,
I have a lot to say here, please bear with me. Currently I am running my Schecter 6 String guitar with a mahogany body, 3 piece maple neck, an EMG 81 in the bridge and an EMG 85 in the neck. I recently had an accident with my guitar that caused my input jack to break & messed up one of my pots (Config: 1 volume, 1 tone). Instead of replacing the broken parts, I have decided to take out all of the electronics, start fresh & add in new pots for a passive set of pickups. Like many others, I did not care for the sterile/compressed sound of the EMG 81/85 combo. If I haven’t already made it clear, I am a metal player that is looking for a passive pickup with clarity, dynamics, mid-range (No scooped mids) & versatility for the tunings drop D and D standard. In addition, I wish to have a pull push pot for split coils. After hours of research, I’ve narrowed it down to 3 pickup sets: Black Winter, Nazgul/Sentient & Pegasus/Sentient. Mainly I chose each one of these pickups after YouTube demos (Keith Merrow & many others), forum posts & blogs. Honestly, it was difficult to find 6 string demo reviews in drop D & D standard since a lot of the reviews were oriented for the low tuning 6 string, 7 string & 8 string players, but I managed to find some. Anyway, here is the information I have gathered for each of the 3 sets of pickups:
Black Winter: Out of all the pickups, this one seems to have the most popularity (At least on the internet) out of all of the choices. I have read these pickups are great for mahogany bodied guitars like the one I currently have. Read also that they are more versatile than the Nazgul/Sentient (Again, don’t know how true this is). In addition, this set has the hottest output of all of them. Could be wrong on this, but I noticed in a demo that the Nazgul’s had a bit more clarity than the Black Winter’s. Could very well be how they eq’d their amps though. Also, don’t know how well these pickups do with Drop D & D standard instead of drop B & drop A#.
Nazgul/Sentient: I’ve mainly read that these pickups are great for low tunings such as drop B and drop A#. However, I read they don’t sound as tight and precise with the tunings I’m currently playing with (Drop D and D standard). Also read that this set is to be paired with ash and not mahogany, although some people have a different opinion.
Pegasus/Sentient: After a couple of demos on YouTube, they seem to have a round/thick sound (Unique sounding pickups I might add). But the general consensus I have read on these pickups is they are great for string separation & chords. They didn’t seem to have the same aggression/tightness/compression the others had, but again they have an alnico magnet and not ceramic magnet like the 2 other sets. In addition, they have the lowest output compared to the others. Never read anyone mentioning if they do well in mahogany guitars or how well they do with the tunings I play.
My main question is what set of pickups should I go with based on my specs? I’m leaning towards the Black Winters (Based on all of the positive reviews) & the Pegasus/Sentient (Because of the versatility & the string separation), but I’m still unsure whether either set would be a good choice for my current setup.
Just to clarify some information…
Current rig: Schecter C-1 with a mahogany body, 3 piece maple neck, 25.5 scale & stop tail bridge. Running this guitar through an audio interface into Reaper with VSTs.
Tunings: Drop D and D standard.
Music Groups I prefer: Lamb of God, Tool, Strapping Young Lad, Gojira, The Haunted, etc.
Playing Style: Fast articulate riffs (For example, Redneck by Lamb of God) with the occasional reverb & delay clean sounds (Think of Tool). I generally play thrash metal, groove metal & progressive metal (No black or doom metal).
Perhaps I may be wrong with some of the information I have obtained. Generally speaking, your money is best spent upgrading your amp/cab for a better guitar sound instead of your pickups. However, due to the unfortunate circumstances of my current situation, I have decided to spend my money to fix my guitar. I am trying to make the best consumer choice as possible. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
I have a lot to say here, please bear with me. Currently I am running my Schecter 6 String guitar with a mahogany body, 3 piece maple neck, an EMG 81 in the bridge and an EMG 85 in the neck. I recently had an accident with my guitar that caused my input jack to break & messed up one of my pots (Config: 1 volume, 1 tone). Instead of replacing the broken parts, I have decided to take out all of the electronics, start fresh & add in new pots for a passive set of pickups. Like many others, I did not care for the sterile/compressed sound of the EMG 81/85 combo. If I haven’t already made it clear, I am a metal player that is looking for a passive pickup with clarity, dynamics, mid-range (No scooped mids) & versatility for the tunings drop D and D standard. In addition, I wish to have a pull push pot for split coils. After hours of research, I’ve narrowed it down to 3 pickup sets: Black Winter, Nazgul/Sentient & Pegasus/Sentient. Mainly I chose each one of these pickups after YouTube demos (Keith Merrow & many others), forum posts & blogs. Honestly, it was difficult to find 6 string demo reviews in drop D & D standard since a lot of the reviews were oriented for the low tuning 6 string, 7 string & 8 string players, but I managed to find some. Anyway, here is the information I have gathered for each of the 3 sets of pickups:
Black Winter: Out of all the pickups, this one seems to have the most popularity (At least on the internet) out of all of the choices. I have read these pickups are great for mahogany bodied guitars like the one I currently have. Read also that they are more versatile than the Nazgul/Sentient (Again, don’t know how true this is). In addition, this set has the hottest output of all of them. Could be wrong on this, but I noticed in a demo that the Nazgul’s had a bit more clarity than the Black Winter’s. Could very well be how they eq’d their amps though. Also, don’t know how well these pickups do with Drop D & D standard instead of drop B & drop A#.
Nazgul/Sentient: I’ve mainly read that these pickups are great for low tunings such as drop B and drop A#. However, I read they don’t sound as tight and precise with the tunings I’m currently playing with (Drop D and D standard). Also read that this set is to be paired with ash and not mahogany, although some people have a different opinion.
Pegasus/Sentient: After a couple of demos on YouTube, they seem to have a round/thick sound (Unique sounding pickups I might add). But the general consensus I have read on these pickups is they are great for string separation & chords. They didn’t seem to have the same aggression/tightness/compression the others had, but again they have an alnico magnet and not ceramic magnet like the 2 other sets. In addition, they have the lowest output compared to the others. Never read anyone mentioning if they do well in mahogany guitars or how well they do with the tunings I play.
My main question is what set of pickups should I go with based on my specs? I’m leaning towards the Black Winters (Based on all of the positive reviews) & the Pegasus/Sentient (Because of the versatility & the string separation), but I’m still unsure whether either set would be a good choice for my current setup.
Just to clarify some information…
Current rig: Schecter C-1 with a mahogany body, 3 piece maple neck, 25.5 scale & stop tail bridge. Running this guitar through an audio interface into Reaper with VSTs.
Tunings: Drop D and D standard.
Music Groups I prefer: Lamb of God, Tool, Strapping Young Lad, Gojira, The Haunted, etc.
Playing Style: Fast articulate riffs (For example, Redneck by Lamb of God) with the occasional reverb & delay clean sounds (Think of Tool). I generally play thrash metal, groove metal & progressive metal (No black or doom metal).
Perhaps I may be wrong with some of the information I have obtained. Generally speaking, your money is best spent upgrading your amp/cab for a better guitar sound instead of your pickups. However, due to the unfortunate circumstances of my current situation, I have decided to spend my money to fix my guitar. I am trying to make the best consumer choice as possible. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
