Blackouts metal?

[JoeHammersmith]

I'm curious about the Blackouts Metal pickup.

Is it....

Muddy? Mushy? Clear/articulate? Tight? Toneful? Plastic-y?

It would go into a downtuned 24.75'' scale strat-style guitar with a maple neck (neck-through construction), alder wings, ebony finger board and a floyd rose trem.

If you think it sucks or isn't a good choice for that guitar, make suggestions for other pickups. I'll be playing rock and metal with this guitar.

Thanks!

 

[dave6]

Re: Blackouts metal?

bump.....

 

[JoeHammersmith]

Re: Blackouts metal?

buh-ump

 

[Fikealox]

Re: Blackouts metal?

Hey man, the guitar I had a blackout metal in was very different from yours, but I can describe the general character of the pickup without accounting for tonewoods etc. Honestly, it wasn't really my cup of tea, but it was totally wrong for what I play (Satriani, etc).

It has a huge upper-mid hump, and tamed treble, so if you're trying to play a ballad, instead of singing and screaming it sort of moans and sounds pretty a bit nasal. I imagine it would sound a lot better under more gain, playing chuggy stuff, or swept stuff, etc, as it is pretty tight and articulate, and it cuts nicely through the mix.

 

[SlowGroove]

Re: Blackouts metal?

I would try the BlackOuts over any EMG's any day, even if it is just for the fact that it is a Hell-Of-A-Lot quiter than any active EMG on the market !
That alone would be reason enough to go for the Duncans !


My 2cents
James

 

[blindedbysilence]

Re: Blackouts metal?

Installed a blackout neck/blackout metal bridge in a basswood schecter christmas eve. Finally got a chance to try it out tonight. I gotta say I like the sound. You aren't gonna be getting cleans with these, but I bought them for metal. They cut through the mix very well. With my catalinbread overdrive they rock. Wonderful pickups.

 

[Fikealox]

Re: Blackouts metal?

That's the same combo I had - I thought the BO neck actually was pretty nice clean, though

 

[frankfalbo]

Re: Blackouts metal?

If you're playing metal, AND you have a neck through, AND you have a short scale, the Blackout Metal will scream for you. The only interesting part is the drop tuning. The Blackout Metal will stay sharp and focused on the low end. If you're looking for big, heavy low end (almost muddy) then this is not the pickup.

How far down are you drop tuned? Is it just a drop "D" on the bottom string? If you're going down to a B, your biggest obstacle is the scale length, not the pickup. So yes, I guess I would recommend it, but I would caution you that no pickup can make it sound like a long-scale.

 

[JoeHammersmith]

Re: Blackouts metal?

That's a good point about the scale length. The tuning is drop C. I picked the 24.75 scale length for something different, plus it seems to be more comfortable to play. I know for this tuning, the longer the better, but a few players seem to be able to get away with this tuning or slightly lower with the short scale. Thanks for the great replies! Keep'em coming, as the more I know the better.

 

[pinto79]

Re: Blackouts metal?

I had a Livewire Metal which is what the Blackout metal is a redesigned version of. It was installed in a short scale strat, bolt on, maple/rosewood neck and poplar body. Loud and stinging, tons of articulation and all out brutal assault.

You'll love it.

 

[Petrovsk Mizinski]

Re: Blackouts metal?

I like what I'm hearing about the Blackout Metal in this thread.
Although I still need a clean tone for my sound:laugh2:

 

[JoeHammersmith]

Re: Blackouts metal?

I like cleans too. So Frank, is the BO Metal not good for the chugga chugga? Any chance we'll ever see any other active pickups?

 

[Fikealox]

Re: Blackouts metal?

IMO, it depends on what sort of chugga chugga you like. If you like it crunchy, the BO Metal will excel, but if you like it muddy and dark, it's not the best...

To put it a different way... the BO Metal will do "Distortion" tones, but it won't quite do "Invader" tones. Which might be a good or bad thing for your chugging.

You can always use the neck pickup if you don't want the crunchy, more articulate tones, though, so a BO metal bridge/ BO neck might be a good combo for you.

 

[JoeHammersmith]

Re: Blackouts metal?

IMO, it depends on what sort of chugga chugga you like. If you like it crunchy, the BO Metal will excel, but if you like it muddy and dark, it's not the best...

To put it a different way... the BO Metal will do "Distortion" tones, but it won't quite do "Invader" tones. Which might be a good or bad thing for your chugging.

You can always use the neck pickup if you don't want the crunchy, more articulate tones, though, so a BO metal bridge/ BO neck might be a good combo for you.

Thanks for the suggestion. That's interesting that it doesn't do invaderish tones, considering it is eq'ed more like the invader than the distortion.

 

[Fikealox]

Re: Blackouts metal?

Sorry dude, doon't want to lead you astray. To my ears it doesn't /really/ sound like either, generally speaking. But in terms of chugging, it's got more of the tight low-end, crunchy high end, and articulation of a distortion than the looseness, darkness and grind that an invader has.

 

[JoeHammersmith]

Re: Blackouts metal?

ahhh k, gotcha. I'm not particularily interested in the invader anyway, so that's cool. It does sound like something I'd be interested in though. Does it have more organic tone than emg's?