6 string pickup shootout. No bull, no frills.

[KnightBrolaire]

Same idea as my 8 string thread. Same guitar, same amp, same pedals, same riffage (or as close as I can get it). Guitar is my PRS mike mushok (27" scale, all mahogany body/neck, ebony fretboard).
Just like in the 8 string thread I'll be adding clips/impressions as I test pickups. Once I figure out how to make DIs I'll include those as well.

Parallel Axis Distortion: Very warm cleans, borders on muddy at times. Quite high output, percussive/tight and has a good kind of metallic grinding sound with a good amount of cut. Works really well for early CoC, Clutch, Mastodon and Gojira/Morbid Angel. It can do Priest/Maiden too. Not the most versatile pickup overall but I really dig the voicing for metal.

(sorry about the flubs/feedbacking)
more clips: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/u3iw7thzq6423at/AAA4wBW5BKbnfzG23JX0B_kVa?dl=0

 

[KnightBrolaire]

Dragonfire Screamers: 1. Dirt cheap 2. They sound really good, especially for the price 3. They really do scream. I was surprised by how much I liked these pickups, I was expecting garbage given the price and the fact that budget metal pickups tend to sound like ass but these are relatively clear and feel surprisingly tight. The bridge feel nice and muscular in the mids while staying tight on the low end. The bridge voicing has a bit of a snarl to it but not to the same extent as say an omega or black dog. The neck is awesome imo, warm but still pretty clear, fluid sounding, and able to get screaming lead tones and warmer eric johnson esque violin/flute like tones.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

Super Distortion 3 . The SD3 is a very beefy pickup that excels at hard rock/sludgier metal tones imo. It can do more modern tones like Lamb of God but isn't the best choice for a super cutting djenty tone or death metal tone. It cleans up really well and has a nice warm jazzy sound if you roll of the volume knob. It's not the most fluid sounding bridge pickup and feels a bit stiff for sweep picking or other techniques that rely on a liquid-like sound, though with some reverb/delay it'll do the job just fine.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

tentative list of pickups I'll be testing eventually :
d-sonic
bkp impulse
guitarmory patriots
guitarmory atlas
liquifire
elysian hellfires
railhammer chisel
railhammer anvil
oil city black knight
oil city scrapyard dog plus
bkp a-bomb
bkp miracle man
bkp supermassive hp90
blk/tri crone
lace finger burners

 

[KnightBrolaire]

d-sonic: I really like this pickup. it's very beefy sounding in this guitar. It's tight on the low end and still has a pretty clear midrange/high end for how thick it sounds. It has more than enough cut to play stuff like gojira or morbid angel, while being thick enough for down/crowbar/sludgier riffage. I've currently got the bar towards the bridge so it's bright but not horribly so in this guitar. video will be up tomorrow.

 

[Alex79]

I found the D-Sonic a bit soulless, too processed and smooth. It really reminded me of Linkin Park a lot, ironically.

 

[KailM]

d-sonic: I really like this pickup. it's very beefy sounding in this guitar. It's tight on the low end and still has a pretty clear midrange/high end for how thick it sounds. It has more than enough cut to play stuff like gojira or morbid angel, while being thick enough for down/crowbar/sludgier riffage. I've currently got the bar towards the bridge so it's bright but not horribly so in this guitar. video will be up tomorrow.

Looking forward to hearing this clip. I sold a Les Paul and the D-Sonic I had in it a long time ago -- and regret it. I loved that pickup for Lamb of God-style riffing in drop-D/D Standard.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

D-sonic video is up!

 

[Bearitone]

Do you prefer the Parallel Axis Distortion to the standard Distortion? What differences do you notice?

 

[KnightBrolaire]

Do you prefer the Parallel Axis Distortion to the standard Distortion? What differences do you notice?

It's more rounded off on the high end and feels like it has a little bit more balanced eq. Still a pretty high output pickup with a good grinding tone, but the voicing is slightly different. Great for death metal or sludgier stuff. I'd say the parallel axis version is closer to the black winter in feel/tone than anything else duncan makes.

 

[neotronic]

D sonic sound good to me.

I am looking forward to hearing the a-bomb. I have it in one my favorite guitar. I wonder how it sounds in yours.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

next up is the bkp impulse set. Should have em installed tomorrow, will report back with initial thoughts on the tones.
updated list of pickups I'm going to try :
bkp black dog
bkp ragnarok bridge
bkp blackhawk
guitarmory patriots
guitarmory atlas
elysian hellfires
liquifire
railhammer chisel
railhammer anvil
oil city black knight
oil city scrapyard dog plus
bkp a-bomb
bkp miracle man
bkp supermassive hp90
blk/tri crone
lace finger burners

 

[elkoki]

How do you think the D sonic and Crunch Lab compare? I have a Crunch Lab right now in an alder body, it's not bad in there.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

How do you think the D sonic and Crunch Lab compare? I have a Crunch Lab right now in an alder body, it's not bad in there.

I haven't used the crunch lab so I can't really compare them. From what I've read the d-sonic has slightly less output and tends to be brighter, with more midrange grind and a cutting sound while the crunch lab is rounder and slightly more flat across the eq, with warmer cleans.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

Initial thoughts on the impulse set: Both the neck and the bridge stay suuuper clear and have excellent dynamics/response to how hard you pick. The low end is nice and tight/percussive like the d-sonic in this guitar. Chords have a nice big thick growl to them regardless of if I use a tubescreamer with em or not. Basically think of the song "A dying god coming into human flesh" by Celtic Frost and how massive the rhythm guitars sound in that. That's kind of what the impulse feel like but tighter. The neck pickup has a nice vintage esque chime to it and sounds quite nice when sweep picking or doing legato. It can go from a relatively smooth bluesy sound to ripping pinch harmonics just by digging in a little bit harder. It has a slight vocal quality/strat like spank to it and the low end is a fair bit darker/rounder than the bridge. Video will be up tomorrow.

next up is the bkp ragnarok bridge.

 

[Marked Man]

Parallel Axis Distortion: Very warm cleans, borders on muddy at times. Quite high output, percussive/tight and has a good kind of metallic grinding sound with a good amount of cut.

I'd say the PATB2 does more than border on being muddy! I always have to adjust my amps (reduce lows) to compensate for using it. It is very wooly! But I must say that it makes me feel like a hero for leads! It makes me feel like I'm a better player because everything just flows out of the guitar! Very hot, full lead sound that can pummel even a mildly goosed amp into overdrive. I wouldn't pick this one for very fast/technical metal due to the low end being a bit soft compared to the regular Distortion. But that hot/fat sound is what makes it so inspiring for leads.

For technical metal, I think it's hard to beat the BKP C-Bomb. It's like a next gen regular Distortion---tighter, quieter, and a bit more hi-fi sounding. Some of the tightest tracking I've ever heard in a passive. The lead sound could be a little fatter, but it definitely cuts through the mix!

 

[KnightBrolaire]

I'd say the PATB2 does more than border on being muddy! I always have to adjust my amps (reduce lows) to compensate for using it. It is very wooly! But I must say that it makes me feel like a hero for leads! It makes me feel like I'm a better playing because everything just flows out of the guitar! Very hot, full lead sound that can pummel even a mildly goosed amp into overdrive. I wouldn't pick this one for very fast/technical metal due to the low end being a bit soft compared to the regular Distortion. But that hot/fat sound is what makes it so inspiring for leads.

For technical metal, I think it's hard to beat the BKP C-Bomb. It's like a next gen regular Distortion---tighter, quieter, and a bit more hi-fi sounding. Some of the tightest tracking I've ever heard in a passive. The lead sound could be a little fatter, but it definitely cuts through the mix!

Personally i didn't really like the PATB that much for anything other than metal riffage. I found it held up fine for fast trem picking and other fast/technical riffs but the clarity and output of the pickup isn't to my tastes, at least through my guitar/setup. I agree that it's got a lot of output that pummels the front end of an amp. I'll look into the a-bomb and c-bomb at some point. Always good to hear other experiences .

 

[KnightBrolaire]

BKP Impulse video is up, these pickups kick serious ass:

 

[KnightBrolaire]

Initial thoughts on BKP Ragnarok bridge: Has a somewhat similar voicing to the juggernaut (ie that distinct vocal/cocked wah sound) though it's not quite as present and is easier to dial out than it is with the jugg imo. I find myself having to pick pretty hard/crank the gain a bit more to really get it to the level of distortion I prefer. It doesn't really feel like a high output pickup, even with the pickup quite close to the strings and the gain pumped up, it still stays very clear. Clarity is really great and the low end is percussive/tight. It makes sense given lightbulb's preferences for sound and his picking technique but I find it at odds with what I like. After running it through some profiles on my kemper (krank rev1, prs archon, peavey 5150, dv mark triple 6, mesa dual recto rev f and triple recto) I can say that I prefer the sound of it with the archon and triple recto. It obviously sounds good with the 5150 (which the invective has some dna from) but it's a little bit more metallic and bright with that particular sound (regardless of if i boost it or not). It has plenty of cut even through darker sounding amps like the krank or rectos. It's a great choice if you want a punchy modern sounding pickup that can take an absolute fuckton of gain before distorting and didn't really dig the juggs or the aftermath's very specific voicings.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

Ragnarok vid is up. Blackhawk bridge is up next