Black Winter or SH-6

Iron1

Iron1

New member
I'm doing the OMB thing and have two guitars and a bass I'm trying to create a nice, matched broad sound with (think old school thrash/death metal).

The bass sound is very dirty (think Jo Bench), the first guitar is an Ibanez RG-470 loaded with a DP100 and the other is an LTD MH100QMNT that has horrible stock pups in it. I want to swap the stock LTD pups with something that compliments the Ibanez and bass sounds, but exists in it's own space to fill out the overall sound field. I don't want an Invader as it seems too similar to the DP100 from what I've heard. I started looking at the Nazgul, but it just seems too thin/flat for what I want. Then I started listening to the Blackouts, but don't want to deal with routing out a battery hole and having to buy 9volts all the time. That led me to the Black Winters and SH-6. I really think I'm leaning toward the SH-6s, but just read some posts on here where folks are basically saying the Black Winter is an SH-6 on steroids.

Anyone have experience with both of these pups in the older, extreme metal genres?

Thanks in advance for the advice!
 
Re: Black Winter or SH-6

If you dont want flat than you probably dont want the black winter, they are somewhat flat, they sound similar to the sh6 tho, they have sorta more of this grind on the high end, and a little more lower mids at least from what i hear... they are similar tho...I would get the sh6, it sounds like a not thin 81 with a passive sorta dynamic feel to it. and works well for old school thrash, maybe not death metal tho, death metal im pretty sure you want like a grind, not a crunch/scream
 
Re: Black Winter or SH-6

I personally think the Distortion has a tubbier feel than the Black Winter. The Distortion has more lows. The black Winter does not have a major bump in the EQ. Flat is not the right word though, balanced would be the word I would choose. The BW is a very cool pickup. (I own 7 BW pickups.) It sounds different in different woods, essentially letting your guitar's character to shine through. BW will work well for thrash, and death metal.

Think of a black winter as a tighter low end, more open sound with better string separation version of the distortion with no weird eq bumps.
 
Black Winter or SH-6

Gibson 1964 said:
I personally think the Distortion has a tubbier feel than the Black Winter. The Distortion has more lows. The black Winter does not have a major bump in the EQ. Flat is not the right word though, balanced would be the word I would choose. The BW is a very cool pickup. (I own 7 BW pickups.) It sounds different in different woods, essentially letting your guitar's character to shine through. BW will work well for thrash, and death metal.

Think of a black winter as a tighter low end, more open sound with better string separation version of the distortion with no weird eq bumps.
Click to expand...

+1

And I use BW with 250k pots. It reduces some of the extended high end. Just pure awesomeness.

Edit: I use one of those RS Guitarworks 280k pots.
 
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Re: Black Winter or SH-6

I am a fan of the Distortion. But from what I have read (no personal experience) if you need "that" sound - death/black/swedish/finish/power/black metal….go Black Winter. It is apparently "more" of what those guys want.

That said - for old school thrash like Metallica/Megadeth/Overkill/Nuclear Assault - I'd be all over the Distortion.
 
Re: Black Winter or SH-6

Gibson 1964 said:
Think of a black winter as a tighter low end, more open sound with better string separation version of the distortion with no weird eq bumps.
Click to expand...

So would you say it would compliment or compete with a DP100?
 
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Re: Black Winter or SH-6

You know, I haen't played a super distortion in quite some time and never in the same guitar I had a Black Winter in. (Most of my black winters went into new builds) Personally, the Super Distortion is not my cup of tea or wasn't back when I played it. (I have never really had a Dimarzio period in my 17 years of playing.) I really would say IMO, I would choose a black winter over most pickups produced today and not just for super high gain stuff. Surprisingly, they have very pleasing clean and low gain tones as well. I don't play extreme metal. I enjoy some of it, but I am not a black metal player. I do play some megadeth and metallica, and for me and with my amps they are a beautiful match.

Aceman, at some point you need to try a black winter. You love the distortion, and I am not certain you will love it, but it to me felt like the distortion got upgraded to a clearer, more modern voicing. (Tone is subjective and the reasons I love it may be reasons you would prefer a distortion for all I know.) It also, and I do not mean this as a slight in any way, shape or form, felt like I was playing something that was much, much more expensive. It feels to me like a fancy, high dollar, custom shop pickup to me. It was one of the few pickup upgrades that has forced me to be a better player.
 
Re: Black Winter or SH-6

Dimarzio Super 3.

Bill Steer of Carcass uses it. Nice and thick.
 
Re: Black Winter or SH-6

I play In Flames, 3 inches of blood, Slipknot and other modern stuff.
I've chosen the SH-6 versus the Black Winter for my alder Jackson Dinky and so far I've got no problems. The main problem I got was that the BW in Italy is (still) difficult to find at an affordable price.
 
Re: Black Winter or SH-6

Aceman said:
I am a fan of the Distortion. But from what I have read (no personal experience) if you need "that" sound - death/black/swedish/finish/power/black metal….go Black Winter. It is apparently "more" of what those guys want.

That said - for old school thrash like Metallica/Megadeth/Overkill/Nuclear Assault - I'd be all over the Distortion.
Click to expand...

I think I fall in between those two "extremes".

This is probably the closest to the sound I'm after: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIxvZvjeURU
 
Re: Black Winter or SH-6

Swyse said:
That clip almost sounds more like a dimebucker to me.
Click to expand...

It was recorded in 92, so I don't thin k is was a DB.

meldon said:
If I remember correctly, Bolt Throwers use BC Rich pickups in their guitars.
Click to expand...

I know they use BC Rich guitars. Not sure on the pups, and the two BCs I've had over the years have had truly awful pups in them.
 
Re: Black Winter or SH-6

Dahla said:
+1

And I use BW with 250k pots. It reduces some of the extended high end. Just pure awesomeness.

Edit: I use one of those RS Guitarworks 280k pots.
Click to expand...
^^^^^^What he said, I think the Black Winter is going to be much closer to what you are looking for, I also agree with the balanced comment Gibson made. The 250k pot will keep the shrillness away & if you find the pickup flat & not balanced a $40 E.Q. pedal will wake it right up! I'm not suggesting you buy a $40 E.Q., if you can buy a better one than do but even a crappy one will help you scoop out the mids if that's the Death/Thrash sound you're going for, beef them up if you want more growl & crunch? It's a tool we should all have in our box anyhow!!!!
 
Re: Black Winter or SH-6

Also, what are the stock pickups doing that you want to replace them? Are they too muddy? Too thin? What's the overall tone of the guitar? The amp will do most of your heavy lifting, a pickup is designed to amplify the sound of the guitar itself. Most of the time you want the pickup to give you a clear tone that you then distort and amplify. ;)
 
Re: Black Winter or SH-6

So, here's another question. If I go with the BWs, what's the best recommendation for a 250k pot? GC has Fender ones and DiMarzios, will either work/it doesn't matter, or is there a specific one to use?
 
Re: Black Winter or SH-6

dominus said:
Also, what are the stock pickups doing that you want to replace them? Are they too muddy? Too thin? What's the overall tone of the guitar? The amp will do most of your heavy lifting, a pickup is designed to amplify the sound of the guitar itself. Most of the time you want the pickup to give you a clear tone that you then distort and amplify. ;)
Click to expand...

The stocks ones are horribly muddy/lifeless. The opening post explains what I have/what I'm trying to achieve. My RG came with INF2/1 set up and it was okay, but very thin. Changed out the bridge for a DP100 and it sounds amazing. Now, I'm just trying to find a complimentary tone to replace the mudbuckers in the LTD.
 
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