# BKP Aftermath vs Painkiller



## iRaiseTheDead (Oct 30, 2012)

Hey guys, I'm working towards a custom and I've been looking into trying out some new pickups.
I want your opinions on both of these pickups: BKP Aftermath and the Painkiller.
I play technical metal (Veil Of Maya, Within The Ruins, Apostate)
I'm basically looking for a mid-heavy tone. I'll either be going with a mahogany body or swamp ash.

Any help or opinions would be awesome


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## Ill-Gotten James (Oct 30, 2012)

I have aftermaths in my one guitar. I find them to be quite versatile for a few different types of metal. You can definitely acquire the tone you are looking for though with the aftermaths. Painkillers are pretty sweet too.

My suggestion is to buy one set, painkiller, or aftermath. If you don't like it, pull them out, sell them on here, or another site, and purchase the other set. At least then you might get a chance to form your own opinion about the pickups, instead of having to rely on others opinions. 

My personal opinion though, is that aftermaths, with the correct amp settings, can be very articulate pickups; capturing the individual notes in chords, while still having the distortion cranked. I also love the cleans that I get with the neck aftermath.


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## iRaiseTheDead (Oct 30, 2012)

You know what man, I think you're right! Thanks!
So cleans sounds great, eh?


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## Scattered Messiah (Oct 30, 2012)

I've got painkillers in a 6er (Schecter Blackjack from 2006) and an aftermath bridge in a 7string (Agile Septor Pro 727), so it's two different guitars with different scae lengths in different tunings, however:

I find the painkiller to be more saturated and aggressive (probably due to the highmid bump it seems to have).
while they still are pretty damn tight, the aftermaths have a slightly thinner, faster bass, feel slightly more compressed maybe and have a much clearer (as in "not as saturated") sound ...
Both hold and convey compex chords nicely (even though the aftermath would be a tad better here) and have nice singlenotes (here I'd prefer the painkiller slightly)

If you don't tune like an octave below or so, I'd take the painkillers, as they are a bit more brutal imho ... However I bet both pickups are totally suitable for your style.

Another candidate I'd look into would be the black dogs, lower output and more open than the painkillers, seemingly nicer cleans and capable of getting br00tal as hell! If i were to buy any bkps soon, it would be those.


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## illimmigrant (Oct 30, 2012)

Like the above post, I too have a Painkiller in my 6 (Ibanez RGA121) and a set of aftermaths that I just put in my carvin 7-string. Though they are very differrent guitars the painkillers seem to have a thinner bottom end and a strong high mid-range, whereas the Aftermaths are more balanced at either end of the spectrum with maybe some more emphasis on the low mids. I don't think I'd put painkillers in a swamp ash body (assuming bolt-on construction) because I'd be afraid of it being too bright. Both pickups are very, very clear, but I find the aftermath a better all around pick-up.


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## Stimpo_7 (Dec 12, 2012)

illimmigrant said:


> Like the above post, I too have a Painkiller in my 6 (Ibanez RGA121) and a set of aftermaths that I just put in my carvin 7-string. Though they are very differrent guitars the painkillers seem to have a thinner bottom end and a strong high mid-range, whereas the Aftermaths are more balanced at either end of the spectrum with maybe some more emphasis on the low mids. I don't think I'd put painkillers in a swamp ash body (assuming bolt-on construction) because I'd be afraid of it being too bright. Both pickups are very, very clear, but I find the aftermath a better all around pick-up.



Hey illimmigrant,

Knowing what you do now, if you had to pick a pickup for the RGA121, would you choose the Painkiller or the Aftermath? Which do you feel suits the guitar better? I'm trying to pick between them at the moment...


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## Sleazy_D (Dec 14, 2012)

Id love to try ANY bk, how does one decide which one suits them best? buy all of em? hah


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## maxoom (Dec 14, 2012)

I`d def pick a Painkiller for mahogany.I simply do not like the aftermath period.


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## HOKENSTYFE (Dec 22, 2012)

I had this video up for another thread, I thought I'd share it here. A friend and an endorsed artist of Etherial Guitars, Kim Forbes of ONAN has a Warpig in the neck and an Aftermath in the bridge, of his custom Etherial. Take a look.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iIQeqTQEbo&feature=youtube_gdata_player


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## wakjob (Dec 22, 2012)

Well, just for the heck of it I tried the Aftermath ceramic 7 in my 7421 seeing as how I had the V8-7 pulled out for a SH-6b DD-7 that didn't fit.

... still don't like it. 

I'm gonna have to side with Lass Lambert on this one. It's f*%$ing great for crunchy/purr palm mutes and djenty stuff. But for traditional metal with lots of gallop picking, it's not smooth, saturated or compressed enough.

I put the V8 back in and it was like coming home again. But it did make me notice some of the shortcomings of the V8. Then Aftermath was definitely crispier which is perceived as clearer. The AM didn't have the quack/vowel sound that I actually like in the V8, but it had its own mid-range thing going on that was very cool. I wouldn't call the V8 muddier than the AM per say, maybe fuller. But with a boost pedal it gets close to the AM. Both have a nice snappy pick attack FWIW.

My 

Better isn't always necessarily better.

You read all these reports during the honeymoon phase of a pickup swap to some kind of expensive, boutique, handmade PU and you expect a aural nirvana like change. Like going from a Sony boombox to a full on Mcintosh stereo system. When in reality, the change is more subtle. I think there is a lot of misconceptions and mumbo jumbo to the mystical pickup choices out there. So many people are buying guitars and without even getting or playing it first, are plotting what aftermarket PU's they are going to spend their money on for it. YMMV.


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## Duke318 (Dec 22, 2012)

I prefer the painkiller myself, never was that impressed with the aftermath, but I'm not into super tight dry tones.


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