Metal pickups

6stringerguy

6stringerguy

New member
I’m looking for a set of pickups to put into a ibanez Neck Through with maple walnut neck, ebony board and ash wings.
Hardtail bridge
Pickups need to be tight and articulate but still have some beef in the low end.
Guitar in question will he used for Drop B, C standard and Drop C
Open to either actives or passive by any brand.
Neck pickup necks to be good for lead tones and cleans.
So far I’ve seen Black winters, Nazgul/sentient, Pegasus/sentient, custom 5/59, BKP Ragnaroks, Dimarzio Titans
Will be using the guitar for death thrash metal and modern prog tones.
 
Re: Metal pickups

6stringerguy said:
I’m looking for a set of pickups to put into a ibanez Neck Through with maple walnut neck, ebony board and ash wings.
Hardtail bridge
Pickups need to be tight and articulate but still have some beef in the low end.
Guitar in question will he used for Drop B, C standard and Drop C
Open to either actives or passive by any brand.
Neck pickup necks to be good for lead tones and cleans.
So far I’ve seen Black winters, Nazgul/sentient, Pegasus/sentient, custom 5/59, BKP Ragnaroks, Dimarzio Titans
Will be using the guitar for death thrash metal and modern prog tones.
Click to expand...

Add Railhammer pickups to the mix - definitely worth consideration.


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Re: Metal pickups

I have a maple/walnut neck through with a rosewood board and mahogany wings that I had a hell of a time getting to a good metal tone. I tried a JB first, but it didn't have hard thumpy enough bass, and then the prominent vowel tone out of that specific newer production JB thing went on. Then I went to a Custom and the low mids mushed together and so did the fast palm muted legato stuff. Then I magnet swapped to the Custom 5, it wasn't bad, but I wished for more mids so that I could have a better lead tone, and because I am to lazy to turn my amp mid knob up when I switch from one guitar to another. The next step was Dimarzio Dominions, which sounded pretty good but were so tight that I wasn't getting the percussive thump that I wanted and I couldn't get the clean and bluesy tones that I like to have when I am not spazzing out and rolling around in gobs of gain. The next step was the Perpetual Burn which was pretty close to having everything, like good palm muted legato, good thump, and good versatility. But honestly the Perpetual Burn sounded better in my ash and all maple neck strat. All Duncans were run with a 59 neck, except this next set. The 59 neck was ok, but with 24 frets, the treble was a little obnoxious. I ended on the Pegasus and Sentient. The Sentient is great in 24 fret guitars and does pretty much anything one would want. The Pegasus worked like the Perpetual Burn, but with a slightly more aggressive hue to it and less annoying treble, it thumps, is articulate, can do AC/DC as well as my Pearly Gates equipped PRS through an el34 amp with the right settings. It handles dropped tuning and is pretty versatile. I don't know what to suggest for you, but I'm hoping my pain in the ass journey can give you some insight.
 
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Re: Metal pickups

I would say that it can for sure handle low B. It really picks up every note and has amazing string to sting clarity even with a tit ton of gain. If it didn't work out though you could always use Duncans 21 day return thing.
 
Re: Metal pickups

The 57/66 set from emg handles drop b very well in my experience. I have them in a maple neck through guitar, and they give me a tight, punchy tone that is very well balanced through my dual rectifier.

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Re: Metal pickups

InbredJunk said:
The 57/66 set from emg handles drop b very well in my experience. I have them in a maple neck through guitar, and they give me a tight, punchy tone that is very well balanced through my dual rectifier.

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Click to expand...
The 66 has an absolutely gorgeous lead tone and the cleans are really nice. Full bodied, chimey, and very playable. And that is through a less than stellar dual rec clean channel. It really is that good.

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Re: Metal pickups

6stringerguy said:
On the subject of actives how are the Blackouts for super low tunings?
Click to expand...
They were pretty good from what I remember. It's been 3 or 4 years since I had them. The bridge pickup was super hot, articulate, and full bodied. They had more bass in them than any other active that I tried, which to me didn't suit drop b as well. And they had a nasal quality that I didn't mesh with very well. I never got a good lead tone out of the neck pickup. I think it was just too hot. They were the original blackouts, I can't speak for any of the other ones.

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Re: Metal pickups

I think the Nazgûl is more one dimensional and fits into less musical scenarios. The Pegasus can cover way more musical styles and shows your perfected chops off better. That's just my opinion though. On the actives thing, I have tried EMG 81, 85, 60, 57, 66, and super 77's. I just can't get along with EMG's for anything other then high gain. The second I go to a slightly dirty blues tone on those it just doesn't feel right to me. They are lovely for high gain though. I took the preamps off of the Super 77's and used them passively for a bit, which just reminded me why I have traded/returned every active guitar I have purchased, they sounded so much better when turned into a passive pickup (still not as good as any Duncans I own though). But there is a reason that those EMG's are one of metal industry standards! I only owned a Nazgûl for about 6 months in a Schecter Banshee 7 though. I wasn't into wiring, experimenting, and soldering back then, so I ended up trading that guitar in since I just couldn't get as much diversity in tone as I would have liked. Even my music sight reading, piano playing grandma loved the way the Sentient sounded though, that thing is great in 24 fretters and super versatile.
 
Re: Metal pickups

6stringerguy said:
How does the Pegasus compare against the Nazgûl, the sentient necks looks great.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately I don’t have any direct experience with the Nazgul. But judging from what I’ve heard on youtube it’s basically geared toward a metal type tone.
I feel like the Pegasus can cover so much more.
It can do metal plus really any variety of rock.
 
Re: Metal pickups

Gtrjunior said:
Unfortunately I don’t have any direct experience with the Nazgul. But judging from what I’ve heard on youtube it’s basically geared toward a metal type tone.
I feel like the Pegasus can cover so much more.
It can do metal plus really any variety of rock.
Click to expand...

If the Pegasus’ can still do the brutal style of death metal while retaining that nice chord definition then it seems perfect.
 
Re: Metal pickups

6stringerguy said:
On the subject of actives how are the Blackouts for super low tunings?
Click to expand...
Meh.

Blackouts aren't as tight or focused as EMG's. They've got a lot more going on in the lows and low mids, and they're quite a bit hotter, so they're harder to control

Maybe it's me not liking the AHB-1B all that much, but I far prefer EMG's for clarity, focus, and tightness as far as actives go.
 
Re: Metal pickups

6stringerguy said:
If the Pegasus’ can still do the brutal style of death metal while retaining that nice chord definition then it seems perfect.
Click to expand...

I’m not really a metal guy, more of a hard rock guy so maybe somebody else could give you a better answer than I could.
The note clarity is good though.
I’m playing mine through a Quickrod if that gives you an idea of the type of tone I gravitate toward.
 
Re: Metal pickups

Okay so it’s between the nazgul and the Pegasus.
To refresh
It has to have chord definition, tight low end, and enough high ends to cut through.
Will be used in drop B/C standard and Drop C
Ebony board, maple/walnut neck through and ash body wings
Mainly be used for progressive metal and death metal.
 
Re: Metal pickups

I have both the Naz and the Peg. I dont tune down so low, but I think I would go Pegasus for versatility and Nazgul if you want BROOTAL
 
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