Aftermaths are not for me.....

[TemjinStrife]

Originally Posted by djpharoah

BKPs aren't for everyone. It's okay man - you don't have to justify it. Sometimes shit just doesn't work and the defacto standards of DMZ and SD pups just work better.

I've yet to find a neck pickup better than the Duncan Jazz.

[MAJ Meadows SF]

Originally Posted by Konfyouzd

Cuz you can't put Aftermaths in basswood?

DiMarzio all day. (For all my basswood axes anyway...)

I agree. Some DiMarzios have a darker character and sit really well in Basswood. That's why I went with the C-Bomb bridge to replace an Evo. The PK was just to have a matching ceramic neck, and the Evo neck is ceramic anyways. I tend to dig that slightly compressed, fat, and loud tone ceramic necks give. I didn't think the Evo neck was bad, but this combo is stupid good. The RGs, JEMs, and JSs I've owned were all basswood and I really enjoyed the DiMarzio tone in them.

You can put Aftermaths in basswood. Misha Mansoor digs that tone. I think they sound very good in 7s and 8s, but in basswood 6s tend to be a little bit too sharp, like the PK. The Cold Sweat and C-Bomb work a lot better because of the lower mid EQ.

For me, I just like what BKPs do and sound like. I am not so polarized to think other brands suck, or these make your guitar better. To me they do, but to others maybe not. It's all up to your own ear.

I just realized Stan Hinesley is out of business (for now). F'ing sucks ! He made some pretty killer pickups. They can be heard on the last two Decrepit Birth albums. I hope things improve for him so he can take orders again.

[chubby-ol-gangster-core]

Originally Posted by Larrikin666

I've been curious about the X series. I modded all of my EMG equipped guitars to run on 18 volts in the past. That seemed to help added some dynamics and increase the headroom. The only issue with that was finding room for two 9 volt batteries. I'm mainly going to stick with passives at this point to avoid worrying about making room for a battery cavity. If I end up with another guitar down the line that has enough space to add a 9-volt, then I'd certainly be willing to give the EMG X7s or Blackouts 7s a shot.

Let me clear something up. I don't think they pickups are BAD. They don't suck. I stated very clearly that I absolutely understand what people like about them. I like Bareknuckle as a company. I think the construction of the pickup as a whole is excellent. It sounds like maybe some people are assuming I did this to bash the Aftermaths or Bareknuckle. That's absolutely not the case.

Two minutes after I posted this....I ordered two calibrated sets of Miracle Man pickups from Nick, so I still like the equipment....just not the Aftermaths.

Other suggestions are certainly welcome. I've long considered getting a Cold Sweat to use as a neck pickup. I play a few solos here and there, but the other guitarist handles the vast majority of that territory. I'm mostly the the guy playing 16th note riffs behind his shredding insanity.

I have blackouts in my guitar. they work better with dark-tone woods and not as much with bright woods. emg's are a safe option, but if your guitar is mahogany or an equally dark wood then get blackouts.

[asilayamazing]

Originally Posted by broj15

Basically if you pay for a budget level instrument (lets say $300-$500) then you will get a good, but less than stellar, guitar regardless of brand or species of wood involved. If you pay for a more high end instrument (about $1200-$1700) you'll get a nice high quality axe regardless of brand or species of wood involved.

my LTD h-307 "budget" guitar is the better than ibanez ive owned or played and my best sounding guitar atm. maybe they just used good wood for the first batch of guitars and production stopped before the 2nd.

haha lots of ibanez fans huh? i find midrange guitars of the same price from other manufactuers higher quality than that of ibanez. and yes theres a ton of "prestige" models but there is also jackson MIJ models from the 90's that are close to custom shop quality. IMO my jackson kv-3 basswood MIJ was better than any ibanez ive played (including prestige)
theres more to the world than ibanez just worth mentioning in my book, not to offend.

[wakjob]

Originally Posted by TemjinStrife

I've yet to find a neck pickup better than the Duncan Jazz.

Yep, the first time I tried the Jazz/neck I was blown away.

The Aftermath didn't work in my RGD/basswood either. That guitar just hangs on my wall looking pathetic and sad...I really should do something with it.

[MF_Kitten]

Try out some more maturely voiced BKP, dude. You've tried two of the most extreme-sounding BKPs you can find, only missing the Painkiller to complete the trifecta of extremeness. Try the medium output stuff. Black dog, Emerald, stuff like that. Ask around about those, see which of them suits you more.

[BabUShka]

How about Lundgren pickups? Never tried one, but they seem interesting..
Btw, those are some sick n awesome tunes you've got, really dig your band. Subscribed!

[Larrikin666]

Originally Posted by MF_Kitten

Try out some more maturely voiced BKP, dude. You've tried two of the most extreme-sounding BKPs you can find, only missing the Painkiller to complete the trifecta of extremeness. Try the medium output stuff. Black dog, Emerald, stuff like that. Ask around about those, see which of them suits you more.

Chuck (the other guitarist) has been harking me throw a Black Dog in one of our guitars to play around with. That seems to be right up his alley. I haven't ever really given the Emerald much consideration, but I can certainly do that. Are either of those two particularly picky about woods?

[MF_Kitten]

Originally Posted by Larrikin666

Chuck (the other guitarist) has been harking me throw a Black Dog in one of our guitars to play around with. That seems to be right up his alley. I haven't ever really given the Emerald much consideration, but I can certainly do that. Are either of those two particularly picky about woods?

i have no clue, i've only heard them sounding awesome in awesome guitars so far. Nolly's clips (check his soundcloud) is always a good place to check things. Ask Nolly, Zimbloth, or email BKP and ask them directly.

[blackrobedone]

One wonders if the guy behind BKP is such an expert pickup maker, why are his recommendations for woods and styles that match his pickups so far off base? He makes several metal pickups for metal players, and yet the best one for metal is something made for classic rock? Really?

I think BKP would benefit from some testers to try the pickups before they hit the market.

[FrancescoFiligoi]

To each one his own, besides trends, the Aftermath in my JPXI-7 and B2 is the tightest, most pissed off, in your face pickup I've ever tried, and I adore it.

[Metalus]

Originally Posted by Adam Of Angels

It could be the fact that you have them in Basswood - Aftermaths + Basswood is a really really weird combo.. Basswood is already insanely mid-rangey, and already has a strange low end. Most pickups act strangely in basswood

This

I had an Aftermath in a JP7 that I owned, and all i got out of it was djent. The midrange on that pickup was so strong, it seemed impossible to dial out. I turned the mids to 0, used a parametric EQ and dialed out the mids there too to no avail. I can definitely understand why djent players dig them.

I could see the Aftermaths kicking ass in Mahogany

[toiletstand]

i have an after math bridge in my slsmg. wasnt very happy with the sound i got at first. they felt very ...compressed? after working with it though i feel they are very responsive. might take another persons suggestion and toss it in my RR3.

[guy in latvia]

Even tho this is the most expensive option, I have to say that Lundgren M8 + RG2228 is one of the best tones I have EVER heard! Keep in mind its a little thinner than most people would expect, but that's what makes it so articulate, also cleans are going to be a no go. For crushing distortion and sweet sweet leads in basswood, I have no heard a better option! Totally worth the 200 euros I spent on the bridge model!

[Larrikin666]

Originally Posted by blackrobedone

One wonders if the guy behind BKP is such an expert pickup maker, why are his recommendations for woods and styles that match his pickups so far off base? He makes several metal pickups for metal players, and yet the best one for metal is something made for classic rock? Really?

I think BKP would benefit from some testers to try the pickups before they hit the market.

I imagine recommending pickups isn't the easiest thing in the world.

1.) People really know what they want
2.) If someone actually DOES know what they want...then they are usually terrible at describing our articulating the tone they're looking for


Tim and Nick often have to make recommendations without knowing a general style that someone plays and possibly the guitar the pickups are going into. They often don't get to take anything else into consideration. Considering how subjective tone is, I don't envy being put into a situation where I need to decide where someone spent their $300 to get them the right pickups first try.

I think both guys do a great job help customers find their tone. I think the Black Dog anomaly is just that. I don't think Tim set out to make that modern metal pickup from the start, but it ends up fitting that application really well for some people.

[guy in latvia]

Originally Posted by Larrikin666

I imagine recommending pickups isn't the easiest thing in the world.

1.) People really know what they want
2.) If someone actually DOES know what they want...then they are usually terrible at describing our articulating the tone they're looking for


Tim and Nick often have to make recommendations without knowing a general style that someone plays and possibly the guitar the pickups are going into. They often don't get to take anything else into consideration. Considering how subjective tone is, I don't envy being put into a situation where I need to decide where someone spent their $300 to get them the right pickups first try.

I think both guys do a great job help customers find their tone. I think the Black Dog anomaly is just that. I don't think Tim set out to make that modern metal pickup from the start, but it ends up fitting that application really well for some people.

QFT! I don't think EVH and Peavey set out to make the ultimate metal amp either.

Also, the tones you often like on recordings and not necessarily ones that work for you. When I've used tone spectrum captures to capture an image of tones from popular recordings most of the time I find the tone totally unworkable for me, Petrucci uses too much bass, Korn is too scooped, etc, while when I listen to it, I think it sounds amazing.

Tone is subjective, what works for some will not work for others. The reason why I think the Black Dog is such a great metal pickup is because its an excellent all rounder, which is something I've always liked. Btw, in mahogany, BDs slay!

[Larrikin666]

So I think I might be going crazy......

I think I should stop posting immediate impressions about pickups. I need to learn how to wait out honeymoon period and let me ears really break things down.

As I've been using the Miracle Mans in my Ibanez RGR1570 and BRJ Hesperian 727, the super prominent highs really started to get to me. I think this was compounded by the fact that a lot of the high gain sims on the Axe-FX II are a little ice picky too. Chuck has been using the Aftermath bridge in my mahogany Xiphos, and that sounds pretty great. I didn't want to try that exact route again, so I went Painkiller.

We started (kinda) tracking guitars of Memorial day weekend. Well, we got about 30 seconds into tracking guitars. LOL. We ended up screwing around with tone for 4 hours and getting nowhere. I'm not sure if it was the basswood or the Miracle Mans, but the bass just seemed boomy. As I'd EQ things out....it would go straight from boomy to thin. I couldn't find a happy middle ground.

I got two Painkiller bridges off few ss.org gear whores...both arrived today. I only installed it in the Rico today, because I don't want to spend all night screwing with pickups. Short description: It's tight. I can add a lot of bass into the mix and still maintain clarity.

I also have a Kemper arriving tomorrow, so we'll see what kind of effect that has on the tonal equation.

Rant over

[Greatoliver]

^Did you mess with the pup height too? MMs are definitely a good match for the Ibanez, and I just wonder that you mentioned the high bass if it was too close to the strings. BKPs are very picky with height.

[Larrikin666]

Originally Posted by Greatoliver

^Did you mess with the pup height too? MMs are definitely a good match for the Ibanez, and I just wonder that you mentioned the high bass if it was too close to the strings. BKPs are very picky with height.

Yeah. The bass was still a bit boomy with them far away from the strings.

[broj15]

Originally Posted by asilayamazing

theres more to the world than ibanez just worth mentioning in my book, not to offend.

Your right. There is more to the world than Ibanez. That's exactly why the majority of my instruments are fender and I'm currently on the hunt for a white peavey Impact 1

[Larrikin666]

So for anyone who plays modern tech death style riffs in the realm of bands like Gorod.....the Painkiller is awesome. Part of this back and forth tonal journey is related to my changing tastes in tone. The 13 year old inside of me who wants to palm mute an open A and peel flesh from bone really clashes with the 27 year old who wants exceptional definition and clarity.

For now....the 27 year old is winning. I love how tight the Painkiller is. I do not djent....ever. I can certainly understand how this pickup makes that easier though. The huge mid spike actually helps counteract my bassy picking technique.


Who knows how long this will last with a set of Deathbuckers next to me just begging to be installed. I have serious tone ADD.

[Levi79]

Glad you got it sorted. I've had Aftermaths twice before and wasn't a huge fan. I got some Black Battleworns from a friend for a crazy price, so I couldn't say no to them. They're going in a Mahogany axe quite soon. I'm pretty stoked about it after reading this thread. I've loved almost every other Bareknuckle I've tried.

[Najka]

I know you said you disliked EMG's. I was never a fan, but they came out with the X series. They have a ton more headroom than the older models. You might like the EMG 81-7X. I highly reccomend it, I was in a similar boat and these ended up comming to the rescue. You could also try the 18V mod with the EMG's

[Larrikin666]

I've done the 18volt mod a few times. I definitely like the difference. My biggest beef with EMG is the pickup size. I typically don't buy guitars routed for EMGs, so I need to widen the cavities. It's usually a pain finding room for one 9 volt battery in a passive built guitar, so fitting two is usually quite a task.

If/when, EMG releases their passive size pickups, then I'll probably give them another shot.

[TankJon666]

Interesting you say that you went off EMG's because of the lack of dynamics ...for me that IS the reason I used them for death metal

I'm not saying death metal lacks dynamics because it does. But I loved the EMG's unwavering predictability when it came to tone. It was either balls out or off with nothing in the middle.

For me that sterility gives them an edge for death metal.

Having said that I used a stock SG special for years in death metal bands and that punished!