SD Nazgul for other things then modern metal

P

Pumpkinspice

New member
Hey guys,

My buddy wants to trade me his Nazgul for one of my pedals, Boss BD2. He said it sounded too dark in his Les Paul and looking to buy something brighter. I generally don't need the pedal, but one of my guitars - a HSS MIM Strat, could use an bridge pickup upgrade from standard mexican.

I know the Nazgul is targeted at modern metal stuff. Stuff I do is everything from blues (Gary Moore, Billy Gibbons), through rock (Zeppelin, Guns'n'Roses, Alice Cooper), hard rock (AC/DC) and old school metal (Dokken, Motley Crue, Whitesnake, Iron Maiden, Scorpions etc) with some Black Sabbath thrown in. I have Custom in three of my other guitars and a Custom Custom in one, with an PGn in the neck, and I love the tones, very versatile. It's a ceramic pickup in 14kohm range, looking at Nazgul specs, it isn't far off the Custom.

How would a Nazgul fair in the more traditional music?
How does it compare to the Custom?

Also I understand Nazgul is also designed for drop tuning, but I usually play in standard, or flat E. How does it sound in Standard with 10s?


Lastly, did anyone tried a A5 magnet in Nazgul? How does it sound?


Thanks for the help,
Lucy
 
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Re: SD Nazgul for other things then modern metal

Hi and welcome! I have the Nazgul, I find it hard to believe your friend thinks its dark? I play many different styles( poorly) and I have found the Nazgul will work IF you roll the tone way down. I got some really nice tones from it that way, but many here dont use the tone knob much. For some rigs the Nazgul could sound thin I think. The matching Sentient is a great Pickup as well. Good luck and have fun
 
Re: SD Nazgul for other things then modern metal

Pickups are pickups. They have sounds. Hotness, EQ curves, response.

Try it an decide for yourself. Don't go in with preconceived notions. The only thing that matters is what your ears and brain tell you. Get it, put it in, spend some time dialing in the amp and fx and see if works or not!

I played all kinds of alt/pop/rock on a Distortion for years. And never underestimate the power of the EQ on a good dirt box/OD or an actual EQ pedal for really enhancing the range of a pickup. Also consider split and parallel switching.
 
Re: SD Nazgul for other things then modern metal

Ben1962 said:
Hi and welcome! I have the Nazgul, I find it hard to believe your friend thinks its dark? I play many different styles( poorly) and I have found the Nazgul will work IF you roll the tone way down. I got some really nice tones from it that way, but many here dont use the tone knob much. For some rigs the Nazgul could sound thin I think. The matching Sentient is a great Pickup as well. Good luck and have fun
Click to expand...

Sadly, I got no experience with the Nazgul personally, so I don't know if it sounds dark or bright. My friend said it's too dark sounding and he's looking for something brighter. It should be said he's into trash, speed metal and the like. I never tried the Sentinent either.

Well, it would be going into my HSS MIM strat, that's loaded with 250kohm pots, so I'd think it would be darker sounding then. I've got some 500kohm bourns around, it's easy to switch. I guess I just wanted to see if someone else played anything besides that chug chug modern metal on the Nazgul.

What tuning is your guitar with the Nazgul? Did you tried it out in standard? Is it too thin?

Hearing it's capable of other tones is good news for me, thank you!


Pickups are pickups. They have sounds. Hotness, EQ curves, response.

Try it an decide for yourself. Don't go in with preconceived notions. The only thing that matters is what your ears and brain tell you. Get it, put it in, spend some time dialing in the amp and fx and see if works or not!

I played all kinds of alt/pop/rock on a Distortion for years. And never underestimate the power of the EQ on a good dirt box/OD or an actual EQ pedal for really enhancing the range of a pickup. Also consider split and parallel switching.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I know what you're saying, I've been using the Custom, which is a ceramic, for like two years already for pretty much anything, and it delivers. That's why I wanted to double check with you guys on the forum, because it seems fairly similar in construction to the Custom, and that thing's versatile.

Thanks for your help!


Anyone else tried Nazgul for more traditional stuff?
 
Re: SD Nazgul for other things then modern metal

Your main concern with Nazgul shouldn't be its eq curve or darkness/brigthness. Those aren't decisive for what you're aiming at. Nazgul is a pure damn aggression. If it was the only pickup in the world, you'd be happy to play blues with it. But there are far better choices for versatility. I'd only recommend to get it if you wanted a one-trick-pony, i.e. mean mean metal machine.
 
Re: SD Nazgul for other things then modern metal

BleedingFingertips said:
Your main concern with Nazgul shouldn't be its eq curve or darkness/brigthness. Those aren't decisive for what you're aiming at. Nazgul is a pure damn aggression. If it was the only pickup in the world, you'd be happy to play blues with it. But there are far better choices for versatility. I'd only recommend to get it if you wanted a one-trick-pony, i.e. mean mean metal machine.
Click to expand...

Ouch. "Pure damn aggression" doesn't bode well to the music I play. So basically it's not very versatile pickup at all, and caters heavily to the high-gain modern crowd. I guess you can't dial this "aggression" down?

Well, so far, it seems I might take a pass then. :34:
 
Re: SD Nazgul for other things then modern metal

Pumpkinspice said:
Ouch. "Pure damn aggression" doesn't bode well to the music I play. So basically it's not very versatile pickup at all, and caters heavily to the high-gain modern crowd. I guess you can't dial this "aggression" down?

Well, so far, it seems I might take a pass then. :34:
Click to expand...

use the volume knob. the nazgul is super high output, its probably the hottest pickup ive ever played. Its a bit like a distortion with some eq adjustments to make it sound less 80s. i found it a bit lacking in chord clarity under super high gain, so if u play a lot of big dissonant chords id pass on it. But otherwise, get it and if its too hot then put a weaker magnet in.
 
Re: SD Nazgul for other things then modern metal

dxlxntxxlxr said:
use the volume knob. the nazgul is super high output, its probably the hottest pickup ive ever played. Its a bit like a distortion with some eq adjustments to make it sound less 80s. i found it a bit lacking in chord clarity under super high gain, so if u play a lot of big dissonant chords id pass on it. But otherwise, get it and if its too hot then put a weaker magnet in.
Click to expand...

That's not a bad idea, changing the magnet. Only thing is, I read it's thick ceramic, and I'd think a smaller alnico 5 would have some extra space inside. :P
I see you have both the Nazgul and the Custom, how do they compare? I mean both the sound and the output? Is Nazgul considerably more compressed, less dynamical?

I think I'll make a swap, but by this time I'm not really expecting to like it.

Thanks for the help so far, folks!
 
Re: SD Nazgul for other things then modern metal

You can easily use a standard sized magnet to make a template for a wooden spacer to keep the A5 in place.

Just a side note, you can do the reverse by flipping the spacers on their side so that a pickup built around a single thick can fit a double thick magnet.
 
Re: SD Nazgul for other things then modern metal

Pumpkinspice said:
That's not a bad idea, changing the magnet. Only thing is, I read it's thick ceramic, and I'd think a smaller alnico 5 would have some extra space inside. :P
I see you have both the Nazgul and the Custom, how do they compare? I mean both the sound and the output? Is Nazgul considerably more compressed, less dynamical?

I think I'll make a swap, but by this time I'm not really expecting to like it.

Thanks for the help so far, folks!
Click to expand...

Custom is more scooped and the nazgul has more output. Clarity-wise they're about the same. The difference between them is mostly in the overall voicing. The custom has a definite paf vibe while the nazgul is kinda its own thing. Both very tight, the custom is a bit more smoothed out and the nazgul is really pissed off, but in a good way. Neither would be my first choice just cause im really bothered by chords muddling together under high gain. I dont know about considerably more compressed though. Its hard for a passive pickup to kill your dynamics in my experience. More compressed yes, but not overly so. The nazgul is obviously designed for metal, but that doesnt mean it cant do anything else. If u dont need the bd 2, just make the swap and experiment. New pickups are fun, especially when u start ****in around with magnet swaps
 
Re: SD Nazgul for other things then modern metal

dxlxntxxlxr said:
Custom is more scooped and the nazgul has more output. Clarity-wise they're about the same. The difference between them is mostly in the overall voicing. The custom has a definite paf vibe while the nazgul is kinda its own thing. Both very tight, the custom is a bit more smoothed out and the nazgul is really pissed off, but in a good way. Neither would be my first choice just cause im really bothered by chords muddling together under high gain. I dont know about considerably more compressed though. Its hard for a passive pickup to kill your dynamics in my experience. More compressed yes, but not overly so. The nazgul is obviously designed for metal, but that doesnt mean it cant do anything else. If u dont need the bd 2, just make the swap and experiment. New pickups are fun, especially when u start ****in around with magnet swaps
Click to expand...

Well, that doesn't sound bad actually. Will go and make the swap. Will see how it behaves and how I like it.

Thanks alot for the help!
 
Re: SD Nazgul for other things then modern metal

Pumpkinspice said:
Ouch. "Pure damn aggression" doesn't bode well to the music I play. So basically it's not very versatile pickup at all, and caters heavily to the high-gain modern crowd. I guess you can't dial this "aggression" down?

Well, so far, it seems I might take a pass then. :34:
Click to expand...

You can of course give it a try although I don't buy "use the volume knob" argument. First, it doesn't work for me. Second, my guitar luthier told me that he already installed Nazguls for other guitarists and they then brought their guitars back because it couldn't even "handle" classic heavy metal. Maybe a magnet swap is what you need. But I have no experience with it.
 
Re: SD Nazgul for other things then modern metal

BleedingFingertips said:
You can of course give it a try although I don't buy "use the volume knob" argument. First, it doesn't work for me. Second, my guitar luthier told me that he already installed Nazguls for other guitarists and they then brought their guitars back because it couldn't even "handle" classic heavy metal. Maybe a magnet swap is what you need. But I have no experience with it.
Click to expand...

Well, I went in with a swap, I don’t really need the BD2 since I’ve got my OCD which does the same thing, only better.
I installed it in my HSS Strat without changing anything, with the original 250kohm pots, and double checked everything that I didn’t botch up the wiring job. The pickup is connected to 250 kohm vol pot without any tone pot. AFAIK this should be the same sound wise as connecting it to a 500kohm volume and 500kohm tone pot.

The pickup is also standard spacing, and the pole pieces doesn’t align perfectly with the strings. Ohm meter reads 13.7 kohm if someone’s interested.

Only tried it at bedroom volumes before the job, for like half an hour.
First impressions :

Definitely NOT what I expected. I expected loud compressed trebly pickup.
As you said, the pickup is far from being loud. I’d say it’s there with the custom, definitely not the super high gain monster.
Another thing... its actually dark sounding. It has a really strong bold bottom end that’s quite prominent and compressed but driving low mids with a nasty somewhat fuzzy character, clear high mids and quite chopped treble. There’s definitely lots of treble content missing as compared to a custom.

The audible volume of the pickup is less then a 498T on my Gibby LP Special, for example.
Mind you all, I’m using fairly bright set up, an DSL50 head into a 1936 cab.

I can hope it would sound brighter with the 500kohm and that’s what I’m gonna do later today, swap the volume pot and see how that changes the sound.

I think the pickup is wrongly marketed for what it’s not, a super loud high gain pup . At the same time there’s something with its low mids voicing that doesn’t quite gel with me, it’s as if it’s disonant a bit. Weird thing going in that freq range that’s for sure.

I’ll need more time but so far, I heavily dislike the pickup, it’s dark, fairly compressed but moderately loud, have a chopped off treble and nasty low mids.
 
Re: SD Nazgul for other things then modern metal

Pumpkinspice said:
I think the pickup is wrongly marketed for what it’s not, a super loud high gain pup.
Click to expand...

That's just true of a lot of SD's new pickups. Nazgul, Sentient, Pegasus, and Black Winter are all seen as "metal only" pickups. This is of course not the case, the Black Winter set can do just about anything and the other three (especially the Sentient) are stellar for even low gain genres.
 
Re: SD Nazgul for other things then modern metal

I started to dislike Nazgul a bit after I tried Black Winter. Although I still like it with melodic death or core stuff. You should definitely hassle a bit with pup height and pole pieces.
 
Re: SD Nazgul for other things then modern metal

I'm loving these "pissed off" and "Pure aggression" descriptions. Cracking me up....
 
Re: SD Nazgul for other things then modern metal

Pumpkinspice said:
Hey guys,

My buddy wants to trade me his Nazgul for one of my pedals, Boss BD2. He said it sounded too dark in his Les Paul and looking to buy something brighter. I generally don't need the pedal, but one of my guitars - a HSS MIM Strat, could use an bridge pickup upgrade from standard mexican.

I know the Nazgul is targeted at modern metal stuff. Stuff I do is everything from blues (Gary Moore, Billy Gibbons), through rock (Zeppelin, Guns'n'Roses, Alice Cooper), hard rock (AC/DC) and old school metal (Dokken, Motley Crue, Whitesnake, Iron Maiden, Scorpions etc) with some Black Sabbath thrown in. I have Custom in three of my other guitars and a Custom Custom in one, with an PGn in the neck, and I love the tones, very versatile. It's a ceramic pickup in 14kohm range, looking at Nazgul specs, it isn't far off the Custom.

How would a Nazgul fair in the more traditional music?
How does it compare to the Custom?

Also I understand Nazgul is also designed for drop tuning, but I usually play in standard, or flat E. How does it sound in Standard with 10s?


Lastly, did anyone tried a A5 magnet in Nazgul? How does it sound?


Thanks for the help,
Lucy
Click to expand...

Perhaps you can swop the Nazgul for a Pegasus. It will give you more versatility and stay hot but not be as hot as the more aggressive Nazgul. You may need to use your tone control more on the Nazgul if you're gonna play it in E with 10's. Might be too trebly on the more gained out stuff you might play. Just a thought. I'd personally use the Nazgul in my drop B and sometimes A tuned guitar. It should excel there "in the depths" ;)
 
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