Downtuned Baritone Advice

[Podunker]

Hey Guys. I’m wondering what pickups you’re running in your drop tuned baritones these days. I’ve played a PRS MM with a distortion in the bridge and 59 in the neck and had decent results with it @ Drop A but that was a while ago (hard rock, groove metal). Wondering if there’s any more recent sets that have emerged or combinations I might be missing out on. I’ve discovered that you don’t really need super hot/high output pups to give a high gain baritone clarity. Looking forward to hearing what you’re all running.

Thanks!

 

[Mincer]

Welcome to the forum!

Baritones are tricky. I played a friend's Schecter the other day and it had the new Nazgul/Sentient Rails set which was positively evil. But if you don't want something as high output, look at the Jazz and Custom 5 which would be great for less brutalz and more dynamics.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I used to have a Mike Mushok as well in the past. It was a cool guitar.

I had a DiMarzio Dominion in mine, and I think that pickup fit that guitar well. The Dominion is kinda dry, tight, and clear, but it has a very forward midrange. It's also pretty mid output too. That is my recommendation.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

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[Masta' C]

If I was sticking with Seymour Duncan, it's tough to beat the Nazgul-Sentient or Black Winter set, as they were basically designed to handle lower tunings! I down-tune a Schecter A6 that came stock with the Nazgul-Sentient combo and it straight up rips!

I also have a Schecter C1-EX Apocalypse baritone and the stock "Apocalypse" pickups are truly stellar, very clear, very punchy, a touch aggressive. Not unlike the Sentient-Nazgul in some ways. You can usually haggle a decent deal on a used set if you look around.

I've also been really surprised at what P-90's can do in a baritone. For this, have a look at the little-known DiMarzio "Fantom P90" series, which are noiseless. They make a humbucker-sized version that would make a killer bridge pickup in a baritone (it's a touch too warm/thick for the neck, IMO). In fact, I'm thinking of doing a Warmoth baritone build with one of those in the bridge at some point.

 

[Cynical]

My recommendation for high-gain in low tunings is always the same -- Black Winter in a dark guitar, Bare Knuckle Ceramic War Pig in a bright guitar.

FWIW, I've actually played the "Black Winter in a PRS SE Mushook or 277" combination before, and I know from experience that it works great.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I love the Black Winter as well, and I think it sounds fantastic tuned low because it's very tight, has sort of a low end rolloff that contributes both to tightness and aggression, and has a very focused sound that stays very clear under tons of gain...

... but it's also VERY high output, and the OP says he doesn't want high output.

I will say, though, for being so high output, the Black Winter is also very clear.

 

[chadd]

Full shred is a little on the higher output side of things, but stays pretty articulate.You could always drop a neck into the bridge if you want to keep the output down. Screamin Demon with the FS neck would also be a good low-moderate output set.