Metal pickup for downruned frankenstrat

[Orange]

Hello everyone,

Lately i've been updating some of my guitars that sounded "good enough but not quite what i want".

My superstrat (EsP George Lynch) only has one bridge humbucker.

It's heavy as hell and tuned to drop C# with 11-52 strings.

Currently it has a Lace Dually Red/Silver.
Great pickup, It sounds perfect for Doom/Stoner.
Unfortunatley that isn't what i play !!!

I tried a ScreamîNg Demon which i liked in my Jem, but it sounded very harsh and dry in this one.

I want a fat and brutal metal tone. precision and clarity.
Not too hard or dry i need some "fat" to offset the brightness of maple.
This guitar is mostly dedicated to play dropped tuning metal riffs, Pantera, system of a down, deftones, Metallica....

The guitar is all maple and has a very bright and "hard" sound.
It's not muddy and handles downtunings with utmost precision.
has a LOT of "growl" (it sounds savage really).

Since there is only one pickup, a little versatility in the split coils / clean sounds department could help.

So far looked at the following:
- Invader
- Lace Deathbucker
- Nazgul
- Pegasus (seems great for clean sounds)
- Alternative 8

If you have feedback from pickups in downtuned guitars let me know your experience is very valuable to me !!!

 

[Demanic]

Re: Metal pickup for downruned frankenstrat

I've used both the Alt8 and Deathbucker in guitars tuned to D or C and they work great. The Deathbucker is the brighter of the two.

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[Mincer]

Re: Metal pickup for downruned frankenstrat

I kinda think the Black Winter can do it. It is fat, and great for lower tunings, as well as cleaner styles. It sounds massive.

 

[Orange]

Re: Metal pickup for downruned frankenstrat

I kinda think the Black Winter can do it. It is fat, and great for lower tunings, as well as cleaner styles. It sounds massive.

I read great things about it but i was affraid of it being too bright/harsh in that particular guitar ?
How does the tone roll off ? Does it have more of a string definition or fat chords profile ?

 

[weepingminotaur]

Re: Metal pickup for downruned frankenstrat

I read great things about it but i was affraid of it being too bright/harsh in that particular guitar ?
How does the tone roll off ? Does it have more of a string definition or fat chords profile ?

The tone rolls off wonderfully on the Winter bridge. Dime it for metal, but roll it back and you'll get surprisingly nice cleans that are also pretty versatile.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Metal pickup for downruned frankenstrat

The tone rolls off wonderfully on the Winter bridge. Dime it for metal, but roll it back and you'll get surprisingly nice cleans that are also pretty versatile.

Yeah, this is pretty much it. Get used to using your volume knob, as it is the key to using this pickup for many things.

 

[Orange]

Re: Metal pickup for downruned frankenstrat

Yeah, this is pretty much it. Get used to using your volume knob, as it is the key to using this pickup for many things.

Sounds good to me.
Plus i love swedish death metal and finnish melodic that pickups seems to be designed for these types of tones.
I don't have a volume just a single 300K tone with a custom cap !!!
But i could always add a concentric pot i guess.

How do they sound with split coils ?
I have been watching videos on youtube and the Pegasus seems very nice and articulate as well.
I love Dream Theater and Porcupine tree, it seems to be very balanced and tight.

 

[weepingminotaur]

Re: Metal pickup for downruned frankenstrat

Sounds good to me.
How do they sound with split coils ?

Both the Winter bridge and neck split extremely well. The bridge will give you all kinds of lovely and usable split tones both clean and dirty. I can dial in funk if I want to on the Winter bridge, and blues too, besides whatever pop cleans or light rock OD you might be after. The Winter bridge is one of the best pickups I've ever tried. It can do whatever monster metal you need but also a wide variety of other genres.

 

[Orange]

Re: Metal pickup for downruned frankenstrat

Thanks guys.
I read a little bit and saw a few demos of the black winter and it seems like the perfect heavy metal pickup.
Most notably i've seen someone say it's just in between the pegasus and the nazgul, having both the clarity and articulation and extreme in your face riffing brutality,
But also cleaning up very nicely.

At the moment i can't order it the delivery services in my country are restricted,
But i'm very excited i'm confident it will turn my already good guitar into the ultimate heavy metal machine )!!!
I've never tried a Seymour Duncan pickup i didn't like. Some worked better than others for my needs but they all sounded good.

 

[Orange]

Hi everyone.
a little update after quite some time....

Soni finally found the PERFECT pickup for my downtuned 1 pickup guitar.

what i wanted: heavy brutal metal pickup but also very nice clean sounds.

i thought it was bot possible. I was wrong.

I was looking at way too complex options.

In the end the Invader was just waht i needed.
it emphasizes and even amplifies my guitars heavy sound, massive and fat but not muddy.
the highs are smooth and VERY pleasant.
it can deliver powerful open chords that ring and don't turn to complete mush,
And very percussive and powerful powerchords that "punch" hard.

BUT it also has that nice almost "les pauly" ringing clean sound that actually sounds really good.
in fact it does sound very much like the intro of "all the small things" which uses an invader pickup as well.

Splits quite well, not "night and day" but definitely nice single coil sound.

My tone quest ends here.
All my guitars finally have their "right" pickup, which means i got to the point where swaping pickups will not improve my sound. I haven't bought a guitar in 11 years and i bought my amp in 2005. My pedalboard is good too.

I'm actually happy with my gear.
Thanks Seymour Duncan everything i bought from you sounded great: Jb, Custom 5, Screaming Demon, and now the Invader. These pickups are classics for a reason and i suggest everyone to start with these before trying more obscure amd specific options.

 

[Demanic]

I've always wanted to try an Invader. Glad that it fits the bill.

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