Cynical
Active member
Re: What is IYO the tightest-sounding passive?
Black Winter.
BWs in a guitar that's in baritone tuning are an absolute revelation. I find they've got more bass response than they're frequently given credit for (more than a Distortion IME), but it stays *so* punchy and fast, it's unbelievable. Despite the name, I'd say its more of an aggressive/percussive death metal pickup than a black metal pickup; I'd rather have something with more "blur" to the notes and more "hair" on the top for black metal.
The Pegasus isn't far off in terms of tightness, but it doesn't have the same kind of punch and power IME.
With all of the above said, I'm a death metal guy not a djent guy, so I haven't tried all of the stuff designed to make your guitar quack like a duck. I suspect that most Bare Knuckle high-output pups, the DiMarzio Titans/Illuminators/etc., or the Duncan Nazgul or Omega might slaughter the BW in terms of raw tracking speed, but it's not even close to what I'd want to sound like.
Black Winter.
BWs in a guitar that's in baritone tuning are an absolute revelation. I find they've got more bass response than they're frequently given credit for (more than a Distortion IME), but it stays *so* punchy and fast, it's unbelievable. Despite the name, I'd say its more of an aggressive/percussive death metal pickup than a black metal pickup; I'd rather have something with more "blur" to the notes and more "hair" on the top for black metal.
The Pegasus isn't far off in terms of tightness, but it doesn't have the same kind of punch and power IME.
With all of the above said, I'm a death metal guy not a djent guy, so I haven't tried all of the stuff designed to make your guitar quack like a duck. I suspect that most Bare Knuckle high-output pups, the DiMarzio Titans/Illuminators/etc., or the Duncan Nazgul or Omega might slaughter the BW in terms of raw tracking speed, but it's not even close to what I'd want to sound like.