Lundgren M7 bridge vs Seymour Duncan Nazgul 7

[KnightBrolaire]

Man, you guys have the exact opposite experience with these 2 pickups that I have. Albeit, I have the m8 and the 8 string nazgul.
I started with the m8 back in 2012 thinking it was supposed to be the ultimate 8 string pickup. It has very little low end, seems shrill and undefined. Also, it's output level is surprisingly quiet, so I never could get much saturation out of it. I tried several different wiring configurations, different ohm pots, it was just really disappointing for a $250 pickup. I swapped it out 3 years ago for the nazgul, with no other changes made to the wiring or pots and the guitar came to life. All my issues with the m8 went away, much more output too. I still have the m8 btw, I'll never use it again. It's a shame, in my opinion of course.

That sounds like something was defective with the pickup. I've had the 6,7 and 8 string versions of the M series, and they always slam the shit out of the front of an amp. They should have plenty of saturation and output. The high end is definitely on the sharper end.

Would you mind if I pull the mp3 from your video and do some analysis?

sure, go ahead

 

[submergedindirt]

That sounds like something was defective with the pickup. I've had the 6,7 and 8 string versions of the M series, and they always slam the shit out of the front of an amp. They should have plenty of saturation and output. The high end is definitely on the sharper end.



sure, go ahead

I also believe there must be an issue with my m8 pickup, but for that price, I wouldn't risk it again. Back then, Mr Lundgren would put the company card in their pickup box so you could call if you needed help, maybe they still do that. My tech called him and tried his suggestions to no avail. We probably wired that stupid pickup 10 different ways.

 

[Toejam]

A better comparison would have been to use the same brand of strings. I've tried NXYLs, and they just sound a little weird in the mids to me. Stringjoys seem a little more clear and balanced overall, IMO.

 

[Eyelessfiend]

Having owned both pickups in the same guitar and then in different ones over the years.
The M7 always got saturated. Did get a bit blurry on bigger chord shapes. My problem was it was a bit stiff feeling overall and a bit sharp in the highs.
The Nazgul in the same guitar had more clarity and acted more like a lower output Distortion with a different mid range. Also was easier to solo on.

Overall I like them both but for different types of guitars. M7 for brighter instruments and the Nazgul for neutral/dark guitars. Just depends

 

[ExMachina]

I did my best to time align the first distorted section. Here are the spectra,

Couple things stand out,
- They're pretty similar, I think this was expected?
-The Nazgul has more sub-bass
-Nazgul has more low mids (200 - 600), probably why people say it sounds pissed off
-M7 has a touch more of that fundamental area bass around 120-180, and relative to the low mid region is much higher which would give it the more bass sound people tend to perceive.
-M7 is a bit hotter and brighter, there are some areas where it approaches a dB increase, the spectrum is hairier in the high end which probably means it's clipping more (higher output)

 

[bigcupholder]

I did my best to time align the first distorted section. Here are the spectra,
View attachment 117695
Couple things stand out,
- They're pretty similar, I think this was expected?
-The Nazgul has more sub-bass
-Nazgul has more low mids (200 - 600), probably why people say it sounds pissed off
-M7 has a touch more of that fundamental area bass around 120-180, and relative to the low mid region is much higher which would give it the more bass sound people tend to perceive.
-M7 is a bit hotter and brighter, there are some areas where it approaches a dB increase, the spectrum is hairier in the high end which probably means it's clipping more (higher output)

Is this from the DI or after the amp?

 

[ExMachina]

Is this from the DI or after the amp?

DI would be better but I just took the recording. I think outside of clipping stages everything else is linear though, and if we do the simplest thing we model clipping as adding noise (happy noise in this case)

 

[SubsonicDoom99]

My experiences with these is pretty similar to what many of you have said. If you want something with more of a boosted bottom end and way more output then the M7 works well. If you need more of a mid boost and want more clarity of full chords then the Nazgul worked better for me in that context. But the guitar and rig settings of course play such a big part as well. With the 8 string I definitely prefer the Nazgul too, there's a quality to the mids and highs that really compliments the heavier strings, but again that's just my experience with it.
In some ways I feel like the Black Winter would probably be closer to compare to the Lundgrens, or even the Distortion in some ways.

 

[MrWulf]

Ugh, i hate it when people compare DI in that and think it matters. Tonality does not existing in a vacuum like that, otherwise we would have been able to mix music with our eyes, not our ears

 

[ExMachina]

Ugh, i hate it when people compare DI in that and think it matters. Tonality does not existing in a vacuum like that, otherwise we would have been able to mix music with our eyes, not our ears

What do you think tone matching does?

 

[MrWulf]

Even tone matching never cant really replicates tone one-to-one. There are many factors involved beyond just a couple of db here and there.

 

[Emperoff]

The M7's palm mutes sound like a truck running over you. No further discussion.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

Is this from the DI or after the amp?

after the amp. I can slap some DIs up later if people really want them.

 

[LegionsOfRaum]

I am personally digging the nazgul more than the M7. I just installed the M7 set in my KM-7 Mk. III Artist guitar and honestly I am a little bit let down. To my ears, it is just feels thin and harsh on the high end, and gets kind of quacky, which I also heard in @KnightBrolaire's youtube recording. The nazgul is definitely fatter and more raw sounding IMO. I just recently ordered a Black Heaven 7 string set to swap into the KM-7, as I have the six string black heaven in one of my other guitars and am really impressed with those pickups. They are a little bit fatter sounding and have not as harsh of a high end, while retaining that signature low mid grunt that the lundgrens are known for.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

I am personally digging the nazgul more than the M7. I just installed the M7 set in my KM-7 Mk. III Artist guitar and honestly I am a little bit let down. To my ears, it is just feels thin and harsh on the high end, and gets kind of quacky, which I also heard in @KnightBrolaire's youtube recording. The nazgul is definitely fatter and more raw sounding IMO. I just recently ordered a Black Heaven 7 string set to swap into the KM-7, as I have the six string black heaven in one of my other guitars and am really impressed with those pickups. They are a little bit fatter sounding and have not as harsh of a high end, while retaining that signature low mid grunt that the lundgrens are known for.

The nazgul is much more quacky overall if I'm being honest. The M7 tends to not feel quite as quacky because of the low mid bump ime.

Black heavens are great pickups. I loved them when I had them in a baritone 6 string. I'm planning on swapping out the M7 set in my blue 070 for some eventually.