# Elysian pickups.



## Kyle Jordan (Sep 26, 2018)

A couple of days ago I was meandering about the Elysian pickups thread in the Dealer section here. While there, I happened upon what may perhaps be a discovery of incredible magnitude personally. I found the DI files Adam posted of the Obsidian pickups.

Nabbing the files, I threw them in my DAW and started screwing about with them. 

HO-LY SHIT!!!

I have a collection of pickup DIs I use to get an idea of of what a pickup will do in order to save time, money, and just general frustration. The Obsidian DIs HANDILY beat every other Di I have on hand with one exception, and the Obsidians still proved to be superior to my ears, but not a blow away like the rest. 

This experience has lead me to have a few questions for those who own or have a extensive time with Elysian pickups. 

1. Clarity and definition are the two things I look most for in a pickup. Many have stated elsewhere that the Elysians are excellent here. One thing I noticed in these DIs, is that running them in to the virtual amp with no EQ or level reduction going on, they have a very clear, tight, and defined sound, that seems to have a bit of grind with it. More than I'd like, but tossing an EQ plugin "before" the amp and dropping 2.5-3db takes most of the grind away. I like having the ability to play with that. Do you hear this grind in your Elysians? 

2. Do any of you own any of the lower output Elysian pups? I emailed Adam a couple of weeks ago or so, but some things changed in that time and I had nearly decided to abandon my 8 string. I originally inquired about the Arrow and Javelin pickups since i tend to prefer lower output pups. Adam suggested Javelins or perhaps Tridents. And if you do have lower output Elysians, do you notice the grind I mentioned above with them, or are they cleaner overall?

3. If you ordered some custom or customization to your Elysians, were you satisfied with what you received? I'm going to drop another very detailed email later today or tomorrow to Adam now that I've had a chance to collect my thoughts and regroup, but I'd love to hear from current owners on how they're enjoying the pickups. 

I'll probably have more, but for now, I'll just leave off with these few.


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## DudeManBrother (Sep 26, 2018)

You saw my Padalka thread that turned (kinda) into an Elysian thread. I got everything I could’ve hoped for with my custom order. I’ve been thinking about grabbing a set of Obsidian’s for my Kiesel AM6 as well. 

You have nothing to worry about as far as quality is concerned. You’ll have to work with adam as far as meeting your tonal expectations, as I’m predominantly a 6 string, D standard player; what I like in a pickup won’t necessarily translate to 8 strings and lower tunings.


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## KnightBrolaire (Sep 26, 2018)

1. Elysians have the best clarity of any passive barring the lace x-bar that I've ever encountered, especially in ERG form. The tridents definitely have some grind, but I find they snarl more than they grind. I've yet to find a better 8 string pickup for my tastes.
2. I own multiple sets of elysians, ranging from trident up to hellfires and goliaths. The tridents are basically the best middle ground since they're still aggressive and tight when pushed, but clean up exceptionally well (not that the hellfires/goliaths don't, they just have more output and different voicings that make them a bit less pristine). 
3. I ordered some hellfires with carbon fiber toppers, and a custom slanted Goliath set for my 8 string tele with ebony bobbins. Adam does excellent work and makes really great pickups. I've been consistently satisfied with every pickup I've tried from him, even the javelin neck (which has this weird chimey almost single coil like quality that I love). I highly recommend them, especially for ERGs.


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## Kyle Jordan (Sep 26, 2018)

KnightBrolaire said:


> I've been consistently satisfied with every pickup I've tried from him, even the javelin neck (which has this weird chimey almost single coil like quality that I love).



That, grabs my attention. 

I have wanted a great single coil option for 8 strings for some time now. That's one of the reasons I've been so focused on the Fluence Open Core Classics. I love single coils for high gain because I always run an EQ before the amp and it's easy to tame highs and add mids to a single in my experience. 

If Adam can wind up something that is part humbucker, part single coil, kind of like a bright mini humbucker, I may have found my forever pickups.


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## KnightBrolaire (Sep 26, 2018)

Kyle Jordan said:


> That, grabs my attention.
> 
> I have wanted a great single coil option for 8 strings for some time now. That's one of the reasons I've been so focused on the Fluence Open Core Classics. I love single coils for high gain because I always run an EQ before the amp and it's easy to tame highs and add mids to a single in my experience.
> 
> If Adam can wind up something that is part humbucker, part single coil, kind of like a bright mini humbucker, I may have found my forever pickups.


even the tridents/goliath variants have excellent spanky single coil esque split sounds. i have the goliaths in my 8 string and love splitting them. if you haven't already check out my demo of them. i can post more clips/DIs when i get some more free time


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## KnightBrolaire (Sep 27, 2018)

KnightBrolaire said:


> even the tridents/goliath variants have excellent spanky single coil esque split sounds. i have the goliaths in my 8 string and love splitting them. if you haven't already check out my demo of them. i can post more clips/DIs when i get some more free time


my demo of the goliaths through my f30: 
here's a DI I made with the goliaths/my Mk3:
https://app.box.com/s/8jya0dnctsmw4kllt14cte1mux5zniux
non DI version of that clip: https://app.box.com/s/rl6hiu5f8mo6wrnj21d0s23dlpn190hp
kemper clips:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/by1y6hs7ucxsnp7/goliath_archon.flac?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qlzgmiwe8g7fq1p/goliath_fortinjvm_od808x.flac?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/lows1v2kcchmeg3/goliath_rev120_rectocab.flac?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qlz22xcjwl5vkth/goliath_krankr1+.flac?dl=0


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## bostjan (Sep 27, 2018)

All of the guitar tracks on my latest release were done with Elysians:



I needed a very specific midrange profile to cut through a mix with a demented parrot, and I got exactly that.

My experience with customer service and turn-around time also greatly exceeded my expectations.


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## KnightBrolaire (Sep 27, 2018)

this is all of my trident clips as well:
https://soundcloud.com/skwisgaar-sandervaal/sets/elysian-tuned-aperture-8-bridge-pickup


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## Kyle Jordan (Sep 27, 2018)

KnightBrolaire said:


> my demo of the goliaths through my f30:
> here's a DI I made with the goliaths/my Mk3:
> https://app.box.com/s/8jya0dnctsmw4kllt14cte1mux5zniux
> non DI version of that clip: https://app.box.com/s/rl6hiu5f8mo6wrnj21d0s23dlpn190hp
> ...




Thank you very much for sharing these. I haven't had the chance to play much with the DI, but I'm looking forward to running it in to Wall Of Sound to see how the Goliaths and Mark III sound there.

The regular Mark III clip is very helpful too since my amp is a Mark IV. Gets me a ballpark idea. Thank you very much.



bostjan said:


> All of the guitar tracks on my latest release were done with Elysians:
> 
> 
> 
> ...




I'm digging the rhythm tracks tones you're getting on Track 3 here. And demented parrot was correct!


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## KnightBrolaire (Sep 27, 2018)

Kyle Jordan said:


> Thank you very much for sharing these. I haven't had the chance to play much with the DI, but I'm looking forward to running it in to Wall Of Sound to see how the Goliaths and Mark III sound there.
> 
> The regular Mark III clip is very helpful too since my amp is a Mark IV. Gets me a ballpark idea. Thank you very much.


the non DI clip is actually with Wall of Sound lol. I used ownhammer's Diezel v30 4x12 modern IR. The goliaths are the most extreme of the trident offerings in terms of output and they also have most midrange accentuation, but when properly tamed they're wonderfully brutal.


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## budda (Sep 27, 2018)

My buddy in harvey pekar (ohio HC) has a set in an LP. They'll be all over their new record.


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## KnightBrolaire (Nov 21, 2018)

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1929354880692782
Elysian pickups is offering a run of Trident I/II pickups in both 6/7 strings at 75$ shipped.
Hell of a deal imo.


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## lewis (Nov 21, 2018)

Im going to need to try these.
I want the djentiest/grind'iest/twangiest/highest output they do!?!!


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## KnightBrolaire (Nov 21, 2018)

lewis said:


> Im going to need to try these.
> I want the djentiest/grind'iest/twangiest/highest output they do!?!!


then you need goliaths, which are custom. 
trident ii are damn good for that as well though.


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## lewis (Nov 21, 2018)

KnightBrolaire said:


> then you need goliaths, which are custom.
> trident ii are damn good for that as well though.


im in UK. Are these a USA company?
Import tax just kills me normally. So high


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## mnemonic (Nov 21, 2018)

Bring on the USA / UK trade deal


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## KnightBrolaire (Nov 21, 2018)

lewis said:


> im in UK. Are these a USA company?
> Import tax just kills me normally. So high


yup USA based.


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## Seabeast2000 (Nov 21, 2018)

mnemonic said:


> Bring on the USA / UK trade deal


USUKTA


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## KnightBrolaire (Dec 11, 2018)

adam got some DIs of the trident/trident 2 made:
http://www.elysianpickups.com/Hades...LnP8evp5i_2GXy-stgG_qO4IxcSsszJnEWugfDJYTGFbg

I ran the DIs through fortin nameless for lolz.
order is Alnico 2 trident 2 7 string bridge, then 6 string version, then 7 again, then the hades 6 string bridge, then trident 7 string bridge, and the last two clips are also hades
https://app.box.com/s/mexhv5gt0h4ipvxlfxp5yvgbvpu7fmj5


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## KnightBrolaire (Dec 18, 2018)

So I finally made some actual DIs of the Goliaths, just straight into my interface/DAW.
https://app.box.com/s/okeevixig918nufy0y0y4trsmugqxv43


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## Emperoff (Jan 23, 2019)

KnightBrolaire said:


> I own multiple sets of elysians, ranging from trident up to hellfires and goliaths. The tridents are basically the best middle ground since they're still aggressive and tight when pushed, but clean up exceptionally well (not that the hellfires/goliaths don't, they just have more output and different voicings that make them a bit less pristine).



I'm in need of a soapbar sized set for my soloist, and until Adam replies I'd be happy to hear more from your experience on sets not on the website (Goliath, Obsidian). So leave your summon sign!

I currently have an A8/A5 Trident II set in a neckthru ash + ebony baritone Jackson and it sounds tits. Now I need one for my soloist which is pretty much all maple (brightest guitar I've ever played). I don't like ceramic magnets so are Hellfires, Obsidians or Goliaths with alnico magnets an option for a bright guitar such as this one?


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## BrutalRob (Jan 23, 2019)

Hellfires are darker sounding than Tridents ( Adam has a nice comparison clip on his homepage, this should hwlp you to get an idea).
Therefore i got an trident II for a sevenstring and a hellfire for a six stringer tuned not lower than C#. 
If you don't like ceramic magnets and the guitar is really that bright, i would get the hellfire with an a8 magnet.


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## KnightBrolaire (Jan 23, 2019)

Emperoff said:


> I'm in need of a soapbar sized set for my soloist, and until Adam replies I'd be happy to hear more from your experience on sets not on the website (Goliath, Obsidian). So leave your summon sign!
> 
> I currently have an A8/A5 Trident II set in a neckthru ash + ebony baritone Jackson and it sounds tits. Now I need one for my soloist which is pretty much all maple (brightest guitar I've ever played). I don't like ceramic magnets so are Hellfires, Obsidians or Goliaths with alnico magnets an option for a bright guitar such as this one?


 I'd say go with hellfires. I have alnico hellfires and they're definitely warmer than the tridents or goliaths. They're still quite clear sounding with great cleans but they're smoother in the high end than the tridents/goliaths. If that guitar is super bright then you might have to swap out the capacitor on your tone pot to something a bit bigger just for extra help.


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## cardinal (Jan 23, 2019)

Is this just a general Elysian pickup thread? I'm looking into available 8-string single coils, and Elysian's offering are at the top of the list right now.

Anyone have experience with them or with his single coils generally? Are they "true" single coils? I'm not looking for a high gain pickup in a single-coil form factor. I would want typical single coils, just for an 8-string Strat type thing. I suspect the Dimarzio Ionizers are not what I'm looking for.


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## Casper777 (Jan 25, 2019)

Just ordered some custom Trident for my Boden 7!! Can’t want to try them!


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## Emperoff (Jan 25, 2019)

KnightBrolaire said:


> I'd say go with hellfires. I have alnico hellfires and they're definitely warmer than the tridents or goliaths. They're still quite clear sounding with great cleans but they're smoother in the high end than the tridents/goliaths. If that guitar is super bright then you might have to swap out the capacitor on your tone pot to something a bit bigger just for extra help.



Adam suggested me an A2 Hellfire set. It's something deffinetely unorthodox which peaked my interest, however A2 "softness" in the lows makes me a bit reluctant. I'm still on the fence on this.


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## KnightBrolaire (Jan 25, 2019)

Emperoff said:


> Adam suggested me an A2 Hellfire set. It's something deffinetely unorthodox which peaked my interest, however A2 "softness" in the lows makes me a bit reluctant. I'm still on the fence on this.


a2s aren't that much softer in the low end than an a5 ime, plus the slightly warmer high end is well worth it in a very bright guitar


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## Emperoff (Jan 25, 2019)

KnightBrolaire said:


> a2s aren't that much softer in the low end than an a5 ime, plus the slightly warmer high end is well worth it in a very bright guitar



What made my head buzz was a quote from Tim @Bare Knuckle regarding maple guitars:

_"Maple has this rep for being super bright but in my experience a solid maple guitar is very stiff and can sound quite hard in the mids which is what would happen with a Holydiver-the mids would get over emphasised. The MM is smoother in the mids and there is a cut in the highs but I don't find it overly aggressive. Maple has a hard mid and lowend that only reacts well with ceramics"._

So the man at BKP recommends ceramics for maple guitars, which sounds totally contradictory yet I suppose the guy knows his stuff. Anyway I'm opening a new thread as I don't want to derail this one.


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## KnightBrolaire (Jan 25, 2019)

Emperoff said:


> What made my head buzz was a quote from Tim @Bare Knuckle regarding maple guitars:
> 
> _"Maple has this rep for being super bright but in my experience a solid maple guitar is very stiff and can sound quite hard in the mids which is what would happen with a Holydiver-the mids would get over emphasised. The MM is smoother in the mids and there is a cut in the highs but I don't find it overly aggressive. Maple has a hard mid and lowend that only reacts well with ceramics"._
> 
> So the man at BKP recommends ceramics for maple guitars, which sounds totally contradictory yet I suppose the guy knows his stuff. Anyway I'm opening a new thread as I don't want to derail this one.


it really depends on the guitar imo. basically don't worry too much about the magnet configuration or the woods, think more about what problems you're trying to solve with your current guitar, and how the pickup's overall sound can help solve the problem.

ceramics in brighter guitars can work but it's pretty fatiguing to listen to ime


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## BigViolin (Jan 25, 2019)

Which Elysians would you put in a RG2228 as a good all around set?

Not a lot of experience with 8 string sets but liked the pegasus/sentient in my RG8 quite a bit.


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## KnightBrolaire (Jan 25, 2019)

BigViolin said:


> Which Elysians would you put in a RG2228 as a good all around set?
> 
> Not a lot of experience with 8 string sets but liked the pegasus/sentient in my RG8 quite a bit.


trident 1 set is a great do it all set imo. 
https://soundcloud.com/skwisgaar-sandervaal/sets/elysian-tuned-aperture-8-bridge-pickup


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## Kaura (Jan 25, 2019)

Gotta love how the CEO/whatever of the company is so busy defending the guy who fucked Abasi guitars that he doesn't even have time to make one post in the thread concerning his own business...


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## cardinal (Jan 25, 2019)

Kaura said:


> Gotta love how the CEO/whatever of the company is so busy defending the guy who fucked Abasi guitars that he doesn't even have time to make one post in the thread concerning his own business...



Dude, he reaches out directly to the folks asking questions in here and gives nicely detailed answers and advice. (At least that’s what happened when I asked a question a few days ago).


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## Kaura (Jan 25, 2019)

cardinal said:


> Dude, he reaches out directly to the folks asking questions in here and gives nicely detailed answers and advice. (At least that’s what happened when I asked a question a few days ago).



Fair enough.


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## diagrammatiks (Jan 25, 2019)

That escalated quickly.


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## mnemonic (Jan 26, 2019)

I think the mods are pretty strict about having a vendor account if you want to talk about your own products on the forum. 

He had a thread in the dealer section but it’s locked now so maybe he didn’t bother renewing it. I can get that if it’s expensive. 

I’d like to see where this goes though


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jan 26, 2019)

cardinal said:


> Dude, he reaches out directly to the folks asking questions in here and gives nicely detailed answers and advice. (At least that’s what happened when I asked a question a few days ago).



Yeah he's really good with keeping in contact with customers. When I was looking for a pickup, he helped me pick out the Trident, which was pretty killer.

And yeah, I imagine the Vendor account rules are why he's inactive here. 

If I went the passive route again, I'd be curious about trying another Elysian. Which actually reminds me I need to ask him a couple of questions.


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## KnightBrolaire (Jan 26, 2019)

mnemonic said:


> I think the mods are pretty strict about having a vendor account if you want to talk about your own products on the forum.
> 
> He had a thread in the dealer section but it’s locked now so maybe he didn’t bother renewing it. I can get that if it’s expensive.
> 
> ...


He straight up told me back when they bumped up vendor accounts from 25$ to 250$ a year that he wouldn't post here as a vendor anymore. That's the main reason other small vendors like knightro, agape, quit posting here as well.

If you guys don't follow elysian on fb, he's been working on a rail version of his hellfire winds which @mnemonic posted. Should be cool if it ever makes it past prototyping.
Here's some clips of it: 
https://soundcloud.com/elysianpickups/riff-1-comparison-hellfire
https://soundcloud.com/elysianpickups/riff-2-comparison-hellfire


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## FitRocker33 (Jan 26, 2019)

KnightBrolaire said:


> He straight up told me back when they bumped up vendor accounts from 25$ to 250$ a year that he wouldn't post here as a vendor anymore. That's the main reason other small vendors like knightro, agape, quit posting here as well.
> 
> If you guys don't follow elysian on fb, he's been working on a rail version of his hellfire winds which @mnemonic posted. Should be cool if it ever makes it past prototyping.
> Here's some clips of it:
> ...



Forgive me, but my lord those two clips sounded utterly horrible. What was he playing through a peavey bandit with a ripped speaker?

I know I’ve heard better demos of these pickups...


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## KnightBrolaire (Jan 26, 2019)

FitRocker33 said:


> Forgive me, but my lord those two clips sounded utterly horrible. What was he playing through a peavey bandit with a ripped speaker?
> 
> I know I’ve heard better demos of these pickups...


yeah they're very rough, I think DIs would have made a bit more sense honestly. I think he said he was using a gsp1101. I made a demo of the hellfires through my mesa f30 a while back if you're interested: 

I also just got another set for my jackson star, so I'll post up comparison clips and DIs later.


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## KnightBrolaire (Jan 27, 2019)

So like I said in my previous post, I got some alnico hellfires for my jackson star. They sound pretty sick imo, especially when I tune down to around c or b.
very unpolished demo of the hellfires through my peters fsm (download for best quality): https://app.box.com/s/9w0zfzw7d1y7xwv74j3qiv04skxd9hpd


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## BrutalRob (Jan 27, 2019)

While those two clips most certainly didn't have the best quality, they still served a purpose to me: getting the idea how those rail pickups differ to the hellfires.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jan 27, 2019)

Off topic, but when the fuck did you get a Gus G Jackson?


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## KnightBrolaire (Jan 27, 2019)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> Off topic, but when the fuck did you get a Gus G Jackson?


ages ago. I made an ngd back when I got it.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jan 27, 2019)

KnightBrolaire said:


> ages ago. I made an ngd back when I got it.



Ah, I mustve missed it. Looks cool as all fuck, though.


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## Emperoff (Jan 27, 2019)

KnightBrolaire said:


> So like I said in my previous post, I got some alnico hellfires for my jackson star. They sound pretty sick imo, especially when I tune down to around c or b.
> very unpolished demo of the hellfires through my peters fsm (download for best quality): https://app.box.com/s/9w0zfzw7d1y7xwv74j3qiv04skxd9hpd



Which alnico magnets have those? have you tried them in B tuning?


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## KnightBrolaire (Jan 27, 2019)

Emperoff said:


> Which alnico magnets have those? have you tried them in B tuning?


alnico 5. around 6 min in til the end of the demo is all in drop b and c#standard


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## Emperoff (Jan 27, 2019)

KnightBrolaire said:


> alnico 5. around 6 min in til the end of the demo is all in drop b and c#standard



Sounds very pissed off. Not what I'd expect being alnico. There's more gain in there than I'm used to, but sounds cool.

How would you compared these to the BKP Juggernauts or Miracle Man? Those two sets are also in my mind besides the alnico Hellfires


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## KnightBrolaire (Jan 27, 2019)

Emperoff said:


> Sounds very pissed off. Not what I'd expect being alnico. There's more gain in there than I'm used to, but sounds cool.
> 
> How would you compared these to the BKP Juggernauts or Miracle Man? Those two sets are also in my mind besides the alnico Hellfires


hellfires are higher output than the juggs, warmer high end, snarlier midrange. miracle man would be more scooped in the mids with worse cleans.


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## KnightBrolaire (Feb 1, 2019)

Made some DI files of the hellfires. There's cleans, standard/drop d and some drop c/D standard riffage. Between these and the other clip I made it should give a pretty good idea of how they sound.
https://app.box.com/s/65yq75fjyggr4dbf184sp1kx7uh0m19j


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## KnightBrolaire (Feb 5, 2019)

Here's a clip of the hellfires through my mk3. Clip is in d standard/drop c and agcfad at the very end. download for best quality yadda yadda: 
https://app.box.com/s/y0hha4zm40jcqu09kphh9c7416c3canu


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## Casper777 (Feb 19, 2019)

My birdseye covered Trident Set (Cer8 / Alnico V) is almost ready for one of my Boden 7.

Should replace a Juggernaut set that I like but lacks a bit of bite in that specific guitar.

Any other user of the Trident set?


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