High-gain passive recommendations

I think one of the most under looked/under-discussed aspects of the Black Winter is how well it responds to the VOLUME knob. I cannot remember a pickup that responds to the VOLUME knob better. When using high gain, if you roll back the VOLUME it is like a time machine. The pickup gets less compressed, and the voice moves from modern to classic. It is as if there are 2 - 3 distinctly different pickups in the guitar.
 
Have to check out the Black winters from so many here saying they respond well to touch and the guitar volume. This is something most high gain ceramic mag sets flat wont do,
The Sentient is if not my absolute favorite Duncan neck pickup certainly one of them. Just wish it came in something other than just the matt black with black polls without having to order a floor custom. I personally like pairing the Sentient with the Alt 8 or the Perpetaual Burn in particular. The Alt 8 / Sentient in the right guitar is just pure magic! They match very well in tone response and output and also sound really good when split together.
Here is a Alt8/ Sentient combo in my 93 solid KOA Carvin DC 127 through my Boogie Subway.
 
Hey guys, got the Black Winter and installed it. I like it a lot, but I’m finding it to be pretty bassy. It seems to take a lot to get the percussive lows that I like. The mids are there, but the highs and lows seem muddy. I installed it in a Peavey Rockmaster as my mod guitar and I’ve lowered the bass side a good amount, so could it just be my guitar?
 
Could be the ax. I am not going to hash on your instrument, but a Rockmaster is a very entry-level budget guitar. The stolen tone could be the pots or anything between the pickups and the amp. The bridge and hardware could also be having a significant effect. I would try wiring the pickup directly to the jack and see what you get.
 
ProgMXCnerd70 said:
Hey guys, got the Black Winter and installed it. I like it a lot, but I’m finding it to be pretty bassy. It seems to take a lot to get the percussive lows that I like. The mids are there, but the highs and lows seem muddy. I installed it in a Peavey Rockmaster as my mod guitar and I’ve lowered the bass side a good amount, so could it just be my guitar?
Click to expand...
Does the Rockmaster have the bridge pickup kinda faraway from the bridge?

The Black Winter is anything but bassy.
 
It could also just be the drop A# tuning also. What string gauge are you using? Once you get into that low of a tuning, you have to consider more than just the pickups in your guitar. From your description in seems it might be time to experiment with a 7 string.
 
Thanks for all the advice so far! The Rockmaster has the pickup pretty close to the bridge. I’m currently using 13-62 gauge strings and have previously used 11-56 gauge and still found the bass to be a problem. I do have a 7-string, but it’s also an entry level and has the same issue with the Bare Knuckle Impulse. I’m leaning more towards this being a cheap electronics issue, but I’ll have to test it out
 
xxxplorer said:
This post is making me want to try some black winters in my Les Paul Classic lmao.
Click to expand...

I am freaking loving it! My next move might be to have MJ wind me a gold-covered set of BWs to bring the guitar back to its original esthetics...but the sound, my friend, is out of this world.

GIz12_UWgAAqhbo
 
xxxplorer said:
This post is making me want to try some black winters in my Les Paul Classic lmao.
Click to expand...

If you have the 500T in the Classic, then it's not worth the swap, IMO. I'm not saying they sound the same, but they're kind of in the same family of pickups, and I personally like the 500T just a tiny tiny bit better. The 500T is a little bit rawer and dirtier. The BW is a tad tighter and more mid-focused, but I wouldn't say it's a night and day difference.
 
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a .047 cap is a very normal value for a tone cap. some people will use a .1 others will use a .022 or even .015, but .047 isnt uncommon at all
 
Install nightmare! I got a pair of Blackouts and wouldn’t fit. I then grabbed the pair of Black Winters I got off Marketplace awhile back and just realized that the set isn’t a trembucker set. Does anyone know if the neck pickup is the same in the trembucker set and humbucker set?
 
Bandkpwf said:
Install nightmare! I got a pair of Blackouts and wouldn’t fit. I then grabbed the pair of Black Winters I got off Marketplace awhile back and just realized that the set isn’t a trembucker set. Does anyone know if the neck pickup is the same in the trembucker set and humbucker set?
Click to expand...

Neck is always the same spacing
 
ProgMXCnerd70 said:
I installed it in a Peavey Rockmaster as my mod guitar and I’ve lowered the bass side a good amount, so could it just be my guitar?
Click to expand...

For what it's worth, and it sounds like you got your problem worked out, the Rockmaster is a 7/8 th's size body. I have one, with a Perpetual Burn, and love it.
 
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