Metal pickups

[6stringerguy]

Re: Metal pickups

go ragnaroks. Just cause even the highest output bare knuckles tend to be super clear, super versatile, and have that airy top end that cuts without being super bright.

Fair enough, every play-through I’ve seen of them has sounded awesome they’re pretty pricey but I know they are worth the cost.
Ragnaroks are what I’ll go for if the blackout doesn’t work well.

 

[Zheddar]

Re: Metal pickups

go ragnaroks. Just cause even the highest output bare knuckles tend to be super clear, super versatile, and have that airy top end that cuts without being super bright.

I had no idea that Bare Knuckle Pickups were so good, usually high output starts to get muddy with most manufacturers. Now I am wanting to try a set of theirs!

 

[dxlxntxxlxr]

Re: Metal pickups

Fair enough, every play-through I’ve seen of them has sounded awesome they’re pretty pricey but I know they are worth the cost.
Ragnaroks are what I’ll go for if the blackout doesn’t work well.

blackouts r decent when it comes to actives. They kinda sound like an invader but less boomy and clearer. Crazy high output, not as tight as emgs, but also not as dry and ****ty as emgs. If ur gonna go active with super low tunings (lower than drop c), id avoid blackouts

 

[SrDeMaFp]

Re: Metal pickups

blackouts r decent when it comes to actives. They kinda sound like an invader but less boomy and clearer. Crazy high output, not as tight as emgs, but also not as dry and ****ty as emgs. If ur gonna go active with super low tunings (lower than drop c), id avoid blackouts

Agreed with everything but “****y EMG’s”

 

[Reigner]

Re: Metal pickups

thanks to this thread now i know that i want the black winters for my jackson js22-7

 

[Mincer]

Re: Metal pickups

The Balck Winters are remarkable for many different tunings and gain levels.

 

[Van Noord]

Re: Metal pickups

blackouts r decent when it comes to actives. They kinda sound like an invader but less boomy and clearer. Crazy high output, not as tight as emgs, but also not as dry and ****ty as emgs. If ur gonna go active with super low tunings (lower than drop c), id avoid blackouts

Agreed with everything but “****y EMG’s”

I recently pulled the Blackouts out of my LP in favor of EMG 81/85 set. The Blackouts weren't as clear, and had a more blunt attack. They were also too hot, and I like hot pickups. They also added extra lows, which I don't need and likely contributed to their more blunt attack. My guitar, amp and cabinet already sound fat, I don't need it from my pickup too. I like EMGs much more, but I'm sure Blackouts would sound better in the right guitar though.

 

[Cynical]

Re: Metal pickups

Re: the topic of "Pegasus vs. Nazgul for brutal death/thrash/black metal", I'd go Pegasus over Nazgul for oldschool downtuned death metal any day. The Nazgul is all top-end grind, no bottom-end chunk. The Pegasus has the body you need for the early-to-mid '90s sounds.

 

[EDX]

Re: Metal pickups

i would go with a dimebucker on the bridge and a pearly gates bridge on the neck slot, i do play thrash and death, specially SODOM and Death, but i also love the texas spice on my chainsaw, so for people less attached to such tone and with your guitar specks i would narrow down reccomendations

bridge pickups worth looking at are:
Lace Deathbucker, Duncan Distortion, Railhammer Anvil, Duncan Black Winters, DiMarzio Dactivator, Lundgren M6, DiMarzio Dactivator, duncan parallel axis distortion

neck:
Duncan Jazz, Duncan 59, Duncan Pearly Gates (the bridge model is raunchy and bright, the neck model is sweet and deep), BareKnuckle Riff Raff, Wilde L90 (2.8H inductance), railhammer cleancut (it's a split p90 and it's full humless), Lundgren heaven 57, lundgren black heaven, Duncna parallel axis original neck


active pickups you can go get a set from any of the main guitarists of the big 4 (except scott, he uses passive pickups) mustaine, hetfield, king (his set is just a normal emg set with a booster but still a sig set...)

 

[6stringerguy]

Re: Metal pickups

i would go with a dimebucker on the bridge and a pearly gates bridge on the neck slot, i do play thrash and death, specially SODOM and Death, but i also love the texas spice on my chainsaw, so for people less attached to such tone and with your guitar specks i would narrow down reccomendations

bridge pickups worth looking at are:
Lace Deathbucker, Duncan Distortion, Railhammer Anvil, Duncan Black Winters, DiMarzio Dactivator, Lundgren M6, DiMarzio Dactivator, duncan parallel axis distortion

neck:
Duncan Jazz, Duncan 59, Duncan Pearly Gates (the bridge model is raunchy and bright, the neck model is sweet and deep), BareKnuckle Riff Raff, Wilde L90 (2.8H inductance), railhammer cleancut (it's a split p90 and it's full humless), Lundgren heaven 57, lundgren black heaven, Duncna parallel axis original neck


active pickups you can go get a set from any of the main guitarists of the big 4 (except scott, he uses passive pickups) mustaine, hetfield, king (his set is just a normal emg set with a booster but still a sig set...)

Out of the bridge pups you mentioned I’ve only had extended play with the dactivors and hated them to be honest, never tuned them lower than d standard though, never had an balls or low end.
The only bridge pups you mention I’m interested in is the black winters and the lundgrens, the Pegasus/sentient set looks rad as does the BareKnuckle Ragnaroks set just hoping someone whose had experience with this pups in the drop C, C standard and Drop B range chimes in a let’s me know.

 

[Cynical]

Re: Metal pickups

Out of the bridge pups you mentioned I’ve only had extended play with the dactivors and hated them to be honest, never tuned them lower than d standard though, never had an balls or low end.
The only bridge pups you mention I’m interested in is the black winters and the lundgrens, the Pegasus/sentient set looks rad as does the BareKnuckle Ragnaroks set just hoping someone whose had experience with this pups in the drop C, C standard and Drop B range chimes in a let’s me know.

If you thought the D-Activator had no balls in the low end, avoid the Ragnarok bridge or the Nazgul.

I mostly play six strings in B standard tuning. Pegasus works great down in that tuning.

Another option that's been discontinued but you can find used on EBay or Reverb on the cheap is an old Carvin M22SD. Loads of beef, high output, good clarity.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1i4tLeMc3cw2GAXOnXcZWoUGOL1AGHv15 -- here's some comparisons a friend and I did through my Twin Jet with his Ibanez loaded with a Pegasus in the bridge and my Kiesel with an M22SD in the bridge. Sorry for some of the awful playing (his Ibby fell out of tune right after I started on the "channel 2" track and I didn't feel like restarting the recording; also, I was having a hard time finding the bridge for palm mutes since I'd never played that guitar before and it was sitting a bit weirdly on me), but it should at least get you a tonal idea. Full signal chain was guitar -> Ibanez TS9 -> Bogner Twin Jet -> Bogner Uberkab -> SM57, direct mic'd, at edge of dustcap.

 

[6stringerguy]

Re: Metal pickups

I suppose my other settings would useful, main gain tone at the moment guitar->horizon devices precision drive ( volume maxed, attack maxed, drive minimum, bright 60%)->Engl Ironball Head ( gain:6, bass: 7, mids:8, treble:6, presence:8)
Again favourite pickups in my collection is the Alpha/Omega set In Drop C and Custom Wound BareKnuckles in Drop A.

 

[Cynical]

Re: Metal pickups

According to folks on SSO, the Pegasus is very similar to the Omega, so that should probably be high on your list.

I'd recommend turning the attack on that PD waaaaay down and the bright to about half of where you have it now (or just switching to a TS9...) if you want the sound to be beefier on the low-end. The PD isn't really ideal for old-school thrash or death metal, it's tuned more for modern "djent" nonsense, and it's much too aggressive about stomping on the bottom and low-mids; keeping the brightness low and the attack at near 0 will help with this some.

 

[6stringerguy]

Re: Metal pickups

According to folks on SSO, the Pegasus is very similar to the Omega, so that should probably be high on your list.

I'd recommend turning the attack on that PD waaaaay down and the bright to about half of where you have it now (or just switching to a TS9...) if you want the sound to be beefier on the low-end. The PD isn't really ideal for old-school thrash or death metal, it's tuned more for modern "djent" nonsense, and it's much too aggressive about stomping on the bottom and low-mids; keeping the brightness low and the attack at near 0 will help with this some.

I went from a TS9 to the PD because I wanted something more modern and tight, I do enjoy that djent tone but also love modern death metal tone so am looking an amalgam between the two, basically looking for something that will achieve a similar sound in Drop B/C standard and Drop C that the Omega achieves in Drop C.
I’ve really been tweaking all the settings around the Omega and Custom BareKnuckle as they’re in my main Guitars.

 

[Cynical]

Re: Metal pickups

Define "modern death metal tone"; with the revival of the Incantation sound and the Finnish-style death-doom stuff, that term can mean anything from "Super-tight Necrophagist stuff" to "sludgier than 'Onward to Golgotha'".

 

[6stringerguy]

Re: Metal pickups

Define "modern death metal tone"; with the revival of the Incantation sound and the Finnish-style death-doom stuff, that term can mean anything from "Super-tight Necrophagist stuff" to "sludgier than 'Onward to Golgotha'".

Feared, necrophagia, Veld, Shylmagoghnar
https://youtu.be/GRPE-9P6Anw
https://youtu.be/FHM_FR7yEn8

 

[Cynical]

Re: Metal pickups

For that sort of stuff, I think you're barking up the wrong tree by going for a pickup with a ballsy low end. On almost all of those, the guitar tone is all midrange, and the kick and bass hold down the bottom end. I don't know if you're just playing in your bedroom or if you're playing in a band/recording; that will change things a bit, but for that sound, having almost no low end is exactly what you want.

Also, since you mentioned Feared, when Ola demo'd the PD, he went into a much looser amp than yours (a Dual Recto Rev G), and his settings on attack and bright weren't nearly as aggressive as what you've got (he had both at about 60%). Roll back on that attack knob.

 

[6stringerguy]

Metal pickups

I mainly play at home but also do some recording and tracking with a friend of mine.
What pickup do you think is good for that sort of tone?

 

[Cynical]

Re: Metal pickups

If you want to record/track that kind of thing, go Nazgul/Sentient or Black Winter set, and get your ears used to having less bass than you think you "need" when playing by yourself.

 

[6stringerguy]

Metal pickups

If you want to record/track that kind of thing, go Nazgul/Sentient or Black Winter set, and get your ears used to having less bass than you think you "need" when playing by yourself.

I use the PD to crush the bass frequencies so it really blooms and pops when i hit complex chords and gets really grindy when I pick hard,
Again a lot of different info, here so from I can tell I’ll probably go Ragnaroks.
I use the d-activators in D standard and they don’t have all the low end I want but raises the pole pieces helps alleviate that. But in E Standard it’s so thin.
The omega is my favourite bridge pup I’ve played so far.
There isn’t much bass in my tone which causes it to be flubby, but the bass that’s there is to help it be punchy and reasonable thick without sounding like bees in a jar.