# Am I Nuts? Or does the Black Dog modern metal clip on the bkp site kill all others?



## sol niger 333 (Dec 10, 2011)

I've just been trying to decide between a cold sweat/rebel yell or holy diver bridge for my maple necked 1980 silverburst les paul custom for playing modern metal. My aftermath and ceramic pig have just become too gritty and fizzy for me so I THOUGHT I had it narrowed down to three.

THEN just out of interest for a clean low output neck option I took a look at the black dog...

lo and behold it had a modern metal clip. So I loaded it up against the cold sweat, aftermath, warpig, holy diver, and nailbomb. Do my ears deceive me? It sounds punchier, smoother, more aggressive, chunkier, tighter and clearer than all the supposedly "metal" contemporary pickups all together!! (holy diver came in my second favourite albeit slightly muddier and flatter sounding in the mix)

Did they alter the gain for the lower output pickups on the bkp site or what? Is it the same guitar for all of the different pickup clips? I'm trying to make sense of this.. 

I'm blown away by how much the black dog just seemed to jump out of the mix in comparison to the other more popular metal bkps. Especially the cold sweat, it sounded so hollow and fizzy compared to the black dog and I was nearly set to pull the trigger on one. 


Now I'm looking at a BD bridge VHII neck for my LP and I never would have expected it. 

Anyone else have this experience or am I aurally retarded?? Have a listen and compare for yourself. 

Load each pickup on modern metal to 0:22 seconds, click pause and play em one by one, let me know if its just me or not haha

Bare Knuckle Pickups, UK - Hand Wound Guitar and Bass Pickups


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## Camer138 (Dec 10, 2011)

A while back I was comparing all the pickups as well and preferred the black dog the most for the metal clips.. It's now on my list for if my full shred doesnt work out.. You are not Aurally retarded.. the black dog clip sounds FUCKING AWESOME!

my next pickup will be either a black dog, riff raff, or aftermath. I'm just scared as I have never tried a low output pickup for metal.


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## sol niger 333 (Dec 10, 2011)

Camer138 said:


> A while back I was comparing all the pickups as well and preferred the black dog the most for the metal clips.. It's now on my list for if my full shred doesnt work out.. You are not Aurally retarded.. the black dog clip sounds FUCKING AWESOME!
> 
> my next pickup will be either a black dog, riff raff, or aftermath. I'm just scared as I have never tried a low output pickup for metal.



Haha!! Good to know thanks dude. I realize a lot comes down to personal taste. Mine is pretty broad but man the BD just jumped out and bit my ass!!! I hope it's not just a better guitar and tweaked settings they used for the Black Dog. If anyone knows more please feel free to chime away.


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## Atomshipped (Dec 10, 2011)

I'm super jelly of your guitar! But yes I think the Black Dog sounds pretty awesome. My next 6 string guitar will have a set for sure.


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## Nile (Dec 10, 2011)

Fucking KILLS all others it does. That is the exact sound I like.


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## pearl_07 (Dec 11, 2011)

The Black Dog has been on my GAS list for quite some time now. Only reason I haven't pulled the trigger yet is because I don't think I have a 6 that's worthy yet I just might get one for the bridge in my recently acquired EC400VF though...


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## noname222 (Dec 11, 2011)

I've heard it few times live on Mahogany Les Paul.. now I'm wondering how would sound on Alder..


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## Quitty (Dec 11, 2011)

I agree on the Black Dog track, and i'm pretty sure they changed settings between clips.
Regardless, i'm a big fan of lower output pups for metal, as they tend to enhance some of the dynamics that overdrive tends to squash.
They are, however, significantly less forgiving of bad technique, which might end up making you sound worse.

While we're at it, i'd put my money on the Rebel Yells. Actually, i already have 
They are lower output than you'd expect and all the extra output goes to the higher frequencies - it's super-smooth with gain and very, very dynamic.
Haven't tried the Black Dog in person, though.


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## sol niger 333 (Dec 12, 2011)

Quitty said:


> I agree on the Black Dog track, and i'm pretty sure they changed settings between clips.
> Regardless, i'm a big fan of lower output pups for metal, as they tend to enhance some of the dynamics that overdrive tends to squash.
> They are, however, significantly less forgiving of bad technique, which might end up making you sound worse.
> 
> ...



I found this thread helpful 

Help me compare the Holy Diver and Black Dog


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## Konfyouzd (Dec 12, 2011)

Do they mention what guitar it's in?


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## Rayan22 (Dec 12, 2011)

It sounds huge, but thick mids usually always do. They sound quite similar to the painkillers, but not sure how fast the attack on it is. BKP explained to me that the best pickup in terms of machine gunning riffage (to get an equal and consistent tone through all notes at such speeds/picking strength) is the aftermaths. Not sure what metal you play but seem ideal for a metal core/OD distortion tone. Personally, the part that makes them sound fuller to me than the painkillers is the wee extra lows that come through. Need to get a 6 that deserves some black dogs...


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## yellowv (Dec 12, 2011)

Really good hot PAF style pickups are awesome. I had a set of WCR Godwoods which are similar to the Black Dogs and they were the best pickups I have played period. For any type of tone. The you need high output pickups for metal thing is BS.


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## sol niger 333 (Dec 12, 2011)

Rayan22 said:


> It sounds huge, but thick mids usually always do. They sound quite similar to the painkillers, but not sure how fast the attack on it is. BKP explained to me that the best pickup in terms of machine gunning riffage (to get an equal and consistent tone through all notes at such speeds/picking strength) is the aftermaths. Not sure what metal you play but seem ideal for a metal core/OD distortion tone. Personally, the part that makes them sound fuller to me than the painkillers is the wee extra lows that come through. Need to get a 6 that deserves some black dogs...




Yeah the aftermaths are very tight but there is this grainy fizz that annoys me. I have one in my baritone telecaster. The metal I play is this 

Paper Hearts by New Way Home on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

That was a ceramic warpig in a fender jaguar baritone. I have a painkiller in my other les paul custom and I really dig it. I'm still stuck between rebel yell, cold sweat and black dog.


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## sol niger 333 (Dec 12, 2011)

yellowv said:


> Really good hot PAF style pickups are awesome. I had a set of WCR Godwoods which are similar to the Black Dogs and they were the best pickups I have played period. For any type of tone. The you need high output pickups for metal thing is BS.



Yeah man I think you're right. Especially if that black dog modern metal clip is anything to go by. Nolly said it was the same settings for all the clips but does anyone know if it was the same guitar too? If so what type of guitar?? Cheers for the replies chaps


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## sol niger 333 (Dec 12, 2011)

Konfyouzd said:


> Do they mention what guitar it's in?



This is relevant to my intereeeeeeeestss.. Where for art thou Nollyyyyyyyyyyyyy????????????


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## cyril v (Dec 12, 2011)

^^From the stickied DI thread.



> "The guitar is a 80s Gibson Les Paul Custom, which is I guess what one might describe as medium-bright for an LP. There are two exceptions to this - the Aftermath is in my Blackmachine B2, and the Sinner is in a Fender Custom Shop Relic '62 Strat. Note there are a couple of lower output models in there too: the Riff Raff and Black Dog."


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## sol niger 333 (Dec 12, 2011)

cyril v said:


> ^^From the stickied DI thread.



Hmmm ok to me that reads that the black dog was in a relic strat not the 80s LPC?? Bummer. I'm now guessing the black dog will be too boomy in a les paul custom, even with the maple neck. Anyone had experience with the black dog in an 80s Les Paul custom or Zakk Wylde les paul custom??


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## yellowv (Dec 12, 2011)

I would venture the black dog would be awesome in an LP.


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## 0 Xero 0 (Dec 13, 2011)

These are both clips with black dogs:
Fat Metal mixtest by Nolly on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free
Rico 727 clip by Nolly on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free
Granted, Nolly has an axefx and is really good at producing and mixing so he can make good sounding material fairly easily. It is capable of those tones though. Right now he's using Emeralds in his daemoness cimmerian 7 and Periphery is tracking parts of their new songs using Nolly's blackmachine 2 burl which has mules in them. In case you didn't know, mules are replicas of original PAFs with scatterwinding and better potting.


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## -Nolly- (Dec 13, 2011)

Glad you're enjoying the BD clip, just to confirm we didn't change any settings between the different pickup clips - what you're hearing is very much the character of the pickups.


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## sol niger 333 (Dec 13, 2011)

-Nolly- said:


> Glad you're enjoying the BD clip, just to confirm we didn't change any settings between the different pickup clips - what you're hearing is very much the character of the pickups.




Thanks dude thats great to know. Much obliged for the test clips you've done too they've been such an enormous help. I'd love to hear the rebel yell playing the modern metal clip though, is that floating around or did you not want to trod on steve stevens toes?  Also last question, was the black dog in the modern metal clip in a relic strat or les paul custom?? Cheers again master Noll


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## sol niger 333 (Dec 13, 2011)

0 Xero 0 said:


> These are both clips with black dogs:
> Fat Metal mixtest by Nolly on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free
> Rico 727 clip by Nolly on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free
> Granted, Nolly has an axefx and is really good at producing and mixing so he can make good sounding material fairly easily. It is capable of those tones though. Right now he's using Emeralds in his daemoness cimmerian 7 and Periphery is tracking parts of their new songs using Nolly's blackmachine 2 burl which has mules in them. In case you didn't know, mules are replicas of original PAFs with scatterwinding and better potting.



Yeah I heard these clips too. Holy fuck..hospital


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## 0 Xero 0 (Dec 13, 2011)

Yeah, Nolly is awesome at mixing and production.


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## -Nolly- (Dec 14, 2011)

sol niger 333 said:


> Thanks dude thats great to know. Much obliged for the test clips you've done too they've been such an enormous help. I'd love to hear the rebel yell playing the modern metal clip though, is that floating around or did you not want to trod on steve stevens toes?  Also last question, was the black dog in the modern metal clip in a relic strat or les paul custom?? Cheers again master Noll



We didn't record a Modern Metal one with the Rebel Yell, but it's certainly capable of it. We used Rebel Yells in 6 and 7-strings for my band's metal record, which you could check out for free here if you're interested: Red Seas Fire
Also, you might notice the BKP site recently got a modern metal clip for the Emerald, which is another great vintage-hot pickup for metal stuff - super tight and aggressive. 

The Black Dog was in a 70s Les Paul custom, as were all of the other humbucker metal clips.


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## TRENCHLORD (Dec 14, 2011)

My favorite modern tone on their site is the aftermath, and on it's death metal sample I like it even better.
Black Dog sounds great as well, as does many others.
My favorite lead tone I think is the emerald on it's modern sample. It really sounds like a single coil on roids. Awsome.


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## rippedflesh89 (Dec 14, 2011)

how would the black dog sound in a basswood guitar? it seems like there might be too much midrange for the already extremely midrangey tone that basswood has


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## Rayan22 (Dec 15, 2011)

I've just received my BKP package. I got Aftermaths for my 7, and nailbombs for my 6. However, I'm curious to know how much better the pickups will sound after i replace the pots and capacitor with the BKP ones? I've been told it makes a hell of a difference, so fingers crossed! 

Nolly, do you use the BKP pots and caps in your guitars too? How much do they enhance the signal quality?

Black dogs sound better as I listen to them more. Are they part of the newer or older product range of BKP releases?


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## rug (Dec 17, 2011)

Those sound really, really good. For my money though, I think the alnico Warpig clip at around 9 seconds, with the 3 palm muted chords, is some of the gnarliest fucking tone ever. 

I did like that tone a lot though. Enough to really want one now.


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## BadSeed (Oct 5, 2016)

I apologize for necro bumping this thread, but I've searched this a couple times and this is the most relevant to my question, but still doesn't contain the answer im looking for.

I just want to know if the Black Dog still remains relatively tight under gain/lower tunings? The modern metal clip on the site sounds amazing and this would be going into my LP Standard. I tend to play thrashier stuff in E Flat and the 57 classic + in my traditional plus is just too soft on the low end. I tend to lean towards low-mid output pickups with an open character, so I figured the Black Dog would work well here.


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## Alex79 (Oct 5, 2016)

I am a big fan of the Black Dog and had two of them. My post on the BKP thread comparing HD and BD is under my name there ("Alex"). It refers to the first one I had, which was in an SG and it sounded awesome. Very rich and detailed mid range which made it very crushing for metal, but what made it so great was that it sounded incredibly toneful for every style, not just metal. I sold the guitar later in 2012 though, I think.

I had a second one which I used in my ESP Eclipse, it sounded also good, but unfortunately my Eclipse is a rather dark-sounding one; it has quite a lot of bass and lower mids acoustically and with the BD lower mids it was a bit too much/made it bit too "big" on the low end" - I have since gone back to the brighter EMGs 81x. 

The neck pickup doesn't get a lot of praise, but it is very nice as well.

It is a great pickup and you can disregard its low output as an issue. The only thing I would recommend is to NOT use it in a dark-sounding guitar, as you can struggle to get the tightness then. 

Three extra things: (1) single-line notes on leads have a lot of roundness and weight behind them - very nice!
(2) It does sound more on the "modern" than on the "vintage" side of PAFs. If you are looking for the more "vintage" side the usual BKP recommendation is the VHII.
(3) It does not track the low end as fast as a ceramic pickup, so please don't expect that. 

If I ever get a new guitar again (I really shouldn't given that between work and family I don't have the time to play) the BD will be one of the main contenders for a pickup swap.


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## Lorcan Ward (Oct 5, 2016)

I had a black dog set for a while, far from my first choice for metal but they do a very good job with the right rig/signal chain. Their clean tones are where they shine obviously so they are very versatile.


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## MAJ Meadows SF (Oct 7, 2016)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YAm91Ivl8w


These guys have a few videos with Nolly's old BRJ 7 that was equipped with a Black Dog set. That lead me to trying them out and I really like their sound for Opeth style music and the 7 string version definitely sounds thick as hell under gain. Definitely worth a shot.


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## FourT6and2 (Oct 12, 2016)

I have Black Dogs, Holy Divers, and Nailbombs in my LP Customs. Black Dogs are my favorite. They sound great for modern high gain. They are looser in the lows, though. I bet a Ceramic Black Dog would sound interesting.


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