6 string pickup shootout. No bull, no frills.

[TheBolivianSniper]

just wanted to drop a +1 for the accuracy of this thread, lundgren m6s (in my case m7s) sound EXACTLY like he says they do

it's a really niche sound but I totally understand what everyone means by cold with lots of bass, it's just such an odd tonality and I'd be more hesitant to recommend them after dropping a set in

gonna post a thread sometime this week comparing them to the Javier set bc hoooooly shit

 

[KnightBrolaire]

distortion bridge is in. clips/DIs will be up in the next few days.
initial thoughts: It's been like 10 years since I've had a distortion in a guitar. It sounds a lot like the black winter, but slightly less broad mids and a bit clearer in the low end. Also feels a bit more relaxed in terms of responsiveness. Slightly lower output from what I can tell. Similar high end character, with a bit of hair on top. Split sounds are unremarkable, whereas the black winter has pretty solid splits. Cleans are serviceable.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

an interesting trend I'm noticing with all the duncan pickups I've tried, is that many of them sound better in parallel mode imo. The omega, distortion and black winter all open up much more when run in parallel. The distortion in particular sounds more aggressive in parallel and a tad more responsive too.

 

[jyym]

Do you have access to an old Jackson pickup : https://www.axebition.com/pickup/jackson-j-50bc ? I realize this is best paired with the onboard preamp in the Charvels, but I was curious if you have an opinion on a fully passive pick up that can get a similar sound.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

Do you have access to an old Jackson pickup : https://www.axebition.com/pickup/jackson-j-50bc ? I realize this is best paired with the onboard preamp in the Charvels, but I was curious if you have an opinion on a fully passive pick up that can get a similar sound.

nope. never used those

 

[KnightBrolaire]

I think this distortion bridge is defective or something. It sounds weak as shit output wise. I'm going to grab another distortion just to verify that this one is defective. In the meantime, I'll prob swap to the full shred bridge.

 

[MuttBunch]

I swapped out the stock bridge pup in my SubZero rogue VI for a Fortitude and I like it. Unsurprisingly, it's a little too much on the Gojira/Mastodon side for me. It's full, clear, balanced, dynamically responsive...but a little warm, almost too perfect if that makes sense. I think I'm searching for something filthy and aggressive, not so polite. Since I'm in the Detroit area and you've spoken so highly of it I'm thinking of seeking out the Afwayu.

Edit: the SubZero 30" and is tuned to drop F#

 

[gunch]

I want to try a esp/viper shape to see if I like it/it's comfortable and I'm thinking about just getting a really low end like a -10 or -50 with the intent of gutting all the electronics and doing 1 bridge hum/ 1 meg vol with maybe a push/pull coil split and moving the hipshot tuners and string butler on my axs32 to it. And maybe dropping in a tonepros tom. But here's my ideas for pickups, based on your recent findings, but there's this very vain streak in me that really really really wants clear or smoked bobbins so the copper shows through bc I like that look

Basic pickup taste based on clips: A5 medium outputs with tight bass and clean/clear high-mids
Use case: Basswood/Gibson scale, chugs, string skipping, arpeggiated riffs (old-school Sumeriancore ig) Tunings from E to B but not below B prob


SD Custom 59 Hybrid
BKP Blackdog
36th Anni Paf/Fortitude
Blackbirds (can you only get them on the guy's website?)
Trident IIs
Schecter USA Apocalypse pickups
Tom Anderson HN 2+ maybe?

 

[KnightBrolaire]

I want to try a esp/viper shape to see if I like it/it's comfortable and I'm thinking about just getting a really low end like a -10 or -50 with the intent of gutting all the electronics and doing 1 bridge hum/ 1 meg vol with maybe a push/pull coil split and moving the hipshot tuners and string butler on my axs32 to it. And maybe dropping in a tonepros tom. But here's my ideas for pickups, based on your recent findings, but there's this very vain streak in me that really really really wants clear or smoked bobbins so the copper shows through bc I like that look

Basic pickup taste based on clips: A5 medium outputs with tight bass and clean/clear high-mids
Use case: Basswood/Gibson scale, chugs, string skipping, arpeggiated riffs (old-school Sumeriancore ig) Tunings from E to B but not below B prob


SD Custom 59 Hybrid
BKP Blackdog
36th Anni Paf/Fortitude
Blackbirds (can you only get them on the guy's website?)
Trident IIs
Schecter USA Apocalypse pickups
Tom Anderson HN 2+ maybe?

I mean just based off the aesthetics alone you can skip the fortitude, black dog, anderson and SD custom/59. None of those come in clear/smoked bobbins afaik.

I can't really help in terms of basswood/gibson scale, seeing as I test all these in a brighter sounding mahogany guitar with a 27.7" scale.

That leaves the Blackbirds, Tridents and Apocalypse pickups. All of them will pretty much hit your needs afaik. The tridents/blackbird work well in the tunings I use (duh) but other than the apocalypse I haven't used them in more standard tunings yet. The apocalypse works well in that range though.

I swapped out the stock bridge pup in my SubZero rogue VI for a Fortitude and I like it. Unsurprisingly, it's a little too much on the Gojira/Mastodon side for me. It's full, clear, balanced, dynamically responsive...but a little warm, almost too perfect if that makes sense. I think I'm searching for something filthy and aggressive, not so polite. Since I'm in the Detroit area and you've spoken so highly of it I'm thinking of seeking out the Afwayu.

Edit: the SubZero 30" and is tuned to drop F#

The afwayu has a lot of grind and gets very nasty when pushed. It's a good choice.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

Thoughts on the Nazgul: It's a one trick pony but that one trick is pretty good. It does aggressive extreme metal/metal riffage well. Cleans are mediocre and for lack of a better word "cold". It has no sparkle or interesting character when used clean imo. Split coils sounds are a waste of time unless you use the north coil. Parallel mode is cleaner and clearer, like most of the other Duncans I've tested in this guitar so far. Low end chugs well and is responsive, not really murky except in F#EADF#B. Mids are kind of croaky/snarly at times which can be a good or bad thing depending on the use case and riffs. There's a certain amount of upper mid cut that's endemic to a lot of the more metal friendly Duncans that I enjoy. The high end is present but not overly fizzy or bright.

here's a quick little medley through my Peters FSM:

And here is a video of it through the FSM with my KSR Eros engaged (thick/clean modes):


DIs will prob be up tomorrow. F30 vid will be up later in the week.

 

[lost_horizon]

Nazgul is a great pickup. Liked the string separation and much more rock sound than i expected. Reminded me of a seymour duncan version of a Crunchlab or early Petrucci Custom pickups.

Especially dug the split sound for country and country rock.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

Nazgul into the F30 demo vid is done:


I forgot to post up the DIs so I'll throw those up sometime this weekend.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

Nazgul DIs:

https://www.mediafire.com/file/q0114yfxvtngm1p/Nazgul6DIs.zip/file

I'm working on a nazgul/Mesa Mk3 vid next, then I'll move on to the Distortion.

I'm also planning on doing a massive side by side comparison reamping all my DIs at some point.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

I made a discord thread for FAQs/DIs if anyone is interested: https://discord.gg/9Ccs5dwR

 

[youngthrasher9]

I know this is going back a little bit but how would you compare the grinder to the alternative 8? I’m trying to decide on what to drop in the agile baritone I just bought. I mainly play in B or drop A, death metal stuff.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

I know this is going back a little bit but how would you compare the grinder to the alternative 8? I’m trying to decide on what to drop in the agile baritone I just bought. I mainly play in B or drop A, death metal stuff.

Alt 8 is grindier/a bit thicker with a more pronounced mid range. Grinder has a more cutting upper mid focus and a bit more responsive low end. The grinder is clearer in series mode. Both clean up quite well. Alt 8 is way more versatile if you can use the split coil/parallel modes.

 

[youngthrasher9]

Alt 8 is grindier/a bit thicker with a more pronounced mid range. Grinder has a more cutting upper mid focus and a bit more responsive low end. The grinder is clearer in series mode. Both clean up quite well. Alt 8 is way more versatile if you can use the split coil/parallel modes.

Thanks!

And hmm. My standard for string clarity is the Dimarzio Titan but that guy was a little lean and vanilla. I might have to try a few different pickups in this one.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

Thanks!

And hmm. My standard for string clarity is the Dimarzio Titan but that guy was a little lean and vanilla. I might have to try a few different pickups in this one.

The Titan bridge is a modified D Activator bridge. IMO it's a neutered D Activator. Less bass (i.e. leaner), lower output and less aggressive (i.e. more vanilla). Like the Titan, D Activator is great for retaining clarity under gain.

 

[youngthrasher9]

The Titan bridge is a modified D Activator bridge. IMO it's a neutered D Activator. Less bass (i.e. leaner), lower output and less aggressive (i.e. more vanilla). Like the Titan, D Activator is great for retaining clarity under gain.

I’ve run the D-Activator in a few guitars at this point, I’ve never found it to be that great for string clarity vs the Titan for what I play (death metal, in line with suffocation and Cannibal corpse with a little bit more string definition for bigger chord black metal esque passages).

 

[KnightBrolaire]

Nazgul/Mesa Mk3 vid is up


prob install the distortion later today.