Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum

Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: xtomix on August 26, 2011, 11:54:39 PM

Title: Your advice for Gibson SG standard pickup replacement for metal ?
Post by: xtomix on August 26, 2011, 11:54:39 PM
Hi there!

I'm new to BKP Pu's.

I want to change the bridge pickup of my 2010 Gibson SG standard. I really love the feel and the playing of this guitar but was disappointed with the bridge PU. The stock one isn't biting enough to my liking, no bass, too thin, not percussive with triplets riffing or soloing. I'm trying to describe as much as I can what I don't like about this PU..

I'm tuned down to C and are looking for mainly metal tones : from swedish death metal (At the Gates, In Flames), black metal (Dissection, Immortal, Dimmu Borgir), classical heavy metal (Paradise Lost, Maiden, Metallica, Slayer) to contemporary metalcore bands (Heaven Shall Burn, Black Daliha Murder, August Burns Red, After the Burial). And I'm enjoying some punk-hardcore and some classic high gain rock sounds once in a while.

The sound I'm looking after has to be tight, percussive, overdriven with lots of harmonics, well defined.

Amps : Engl Screamer, Mesa Single Rectifier.

Tim advised me an Aftermath set. It seems like a good idea to me.

I wanted to have other player's experiences about the match between Aftermath and SG's if there are...

Any other suggestions ? NailBomb ? Miracle Man ? WarPig ?

Thanks !

Thomas
Title: Re: Your advice for Gibson SG standard pickup replacement for metal ?
Post by: Jonny on August 27, 2011, 12:11:33 AM
First off, great taste in bands; HSB, TBDM, ABR, ATB, all on my playlist!

I don't have a mahogany guitar (nor an SG) with Aftermaths but I'm here just to say you have a great taste in bands but if Tim suggests Aftermaths I wouldn't doubt him. He does make them after all.

:D
Title: Re: Your advice for Gibson SG standard pickup replacement for metal ?
Post by: ericsabbath on August 27, 2011, 04:37:42 AM
I'd go with the c-bomb or the miracle man

I don't think I would enjoy the aftermath in a SG
too much mids and too tight bass for an already middy and sharp sounding guitar
Title: Re: Your advice for Gibson SG standard pickup replacement for metal ?
Post by: Nolly on August 27, 2011, 06:59:20 AM
I would agree with Tim's suggestion of the Aftermath
Title: Re: Your advice for Gibson SG standard pickup replacement for metal ?
Post by: Alex on August 27, 2011, 09:11:38 AM
I had a Miracle Man in my SG first and it was a match in heaven. The many mids of the SG work perfectly with the MM, which adds low end chunk and a better high end than the stock pickups.
Title: Re: Your advice for Gibson SG standard pickup replacement for metal ?
Post by: xtomix on August 31, 2011, 10:32:41 PM
Thank you for your advice ! I was hoping to get feedback from someone who has already put Aftermaths in a SG.

I'm getting confident with the choice of aftermaths. I think I'll be ok with lots of mids. I don't like my sound too scooped.

BTW I'm so happy to have read the SG-related posts on the BKP forum. I didn't know before that it could be tough to find a good pickup match for SG's...

A few more questions :
- On some older posts the combination between Nailbomb and SG was discouraged, do you know why ?
- Do Miracle Man and Aftermath have similar output power ?

Thanks !


Title: Re: Your advice for Gibson SG standard pickup replacement for metal ?
Post by: Transcend on September 01, 2011, 09:17:46 AM
Apparently mid output pickups have a tendancy to mush up in SG's i have no idea why but Tim has told me this himself.

And i would consider the NB to be in the higher section of the mid output pickups as far as BKP are concerned.

The miracle man is a bit hotter than the Aftermath and has a touch more aggression & grind but is slightly less tight
Title: Re: Your advice for Gibson SG standard pickup replacement for metal ?
Post by: BigB on September 01, 2011, 07:48:45 PM
- On some older posts the combination between Nailbomb and SG was discouraged, do you know why ?

Can't tell, as I personnaly find it to work JustFine(tm) on my own SG (and from the feedbacks I got so far from a few educated guys, it seems they did like it too).
Title: Re: Your advice for Gibson SG standard pickup replacement for metal ?
Post by: Grim on September 03, 2011, 06:40:15 PM
Hi there!

I'm new to BKP Pu's.

I want to change the bridge pickup of my 2010 Gibson SG standard. I really love the feel and the playing of this guitar but was disappointed with the bridge PU. The stock one isn't biting enough to my liking, no bass, too thin, not percussive with triplets riffing or soloing. I'm trying to describe as much as I can what I don't like about this PU..

I'm tuned down to C and are looking for mainly metal tones : from swedish death metal (At the Gates, In Flames), black metal (Dissection, Immortal, Dimmu Borgir), classical heavy metal (Paradise Lost, Maiden, Metallica, Slayer) to contemporary metalcore bands (Heaven Shall Burn, Black Daliha Murder, August Burns Red, After the Burial). And I'm enjoying some punk-hardcore and some classic high gain rock sounds once in a while.

The sound I'm looking after has to be tight, percussive, overdriven with lots of harmonics, well defined.

Amps : Engl Screamer, Mesa Single Rectifier.

Tim advised me an Aftermath set. It seems like a good idea to me.

I wanted to have other player's experiences about the match between Aftermath and SG's if there are...

Any other suggestions ? NailBomb ? Miracle Man ? WarPig ?

Thanks !

Thomas

Aftermath sounds really nice in an SG. Miracle Man works too, but I find it a touch dark.
Title: Re: Your advice for Gibson SG standard pickup replacement for metal ?
Post by: ericsabbath on September 04, 2011, 06:36:39 PM

A few more questions :
- On some older posts the combination between Nailbomb and SG was discouraged, do you know why ?
- Do Miracle Man and Aftermath have similar output power ?

alnico nailbomb, not the ceramic
all ceramic models are known for working well in SG's
Tim doesn't recommend mid output alnico models for SG's
I didn't listen to him and installed a holy diver that I had in 3 les pauls
it was absolutely great in all 3 different sounding les pauls, but it was dark, muffled and dead sounding on the sg, although it retained the lead tone qualities

yeah the miracle man has about the same output as the aftermath, but the aftermath sounds a bit more grinding, due to the midrange overload and triple ceramic magnet arrangement
but I'd still vote for the MM or C-bomb
Title: Re: Your advice for Gibson SG standard pickup replacement for metal ?
Post by: Madsakre on September 06, 2011, 07:55:41 AM
Miracle man.. great for swedish dm
Title: Re: Your advice for Gibson SG standard pickup replacement for metal ?
Post by: Alex on September 07, 2011, 04:04:41 PM
The other big metal pickup for SGs should obviously be an Alnico Warpig, given it's Iommi-esque appeal. But the MM works nice because of the big low end AND the cutting, bright treble - it gives SGs what they often lack.
Title: Re: Your advice for Gibson SG standard pickup replacement for metal ?
Post by: xtomix on September 22, 2011, 10:03:11 PM
What do you exactly mean by "grinding" sounding ?

Eric says the aftermath sourds more grinding and ToeKnee says the miracle man sounds more grinding... It got me confused...
Title: Re: Your advice for Gibson SG standard pickup replacement for metal ?
Post by: DaveCarter on September 22, 2011, 10:34:17 PM
Tim doesn't recommend mid output alnico models for SG's
I didn't listen to him and installed a holy diver that I had in 3 les pauls
it was absolutely great in all 3 different sounding les pauls, but it was dark, muffled and dead sounding on the sg, although it retained the lead tone qualities

Im quite surprised that there was such a dramatic difference between the Les Pauls and the SG. The specs of both guitars are generally pretty close, is the tonal difference basically down to the maple top?
Title: Re: Your advice for Gibson SG standard pickup replacement for metal ?
Post by: Frank666 on September 23, 2011, 04:19:04 AM
It depends on your definition of grinding, annoying answer I know but some like midish grind, some don't. I would take Tim's recommendation on this one, aftermaths sound kinda scary in sgs in my experience
Title: Re: Your advice for Gibson SG standard pickup replacement for metal ?
Post by: ericsabbath on September 23, 2011, 05:23:44 AM
What do you exactly mean by "grinding" sounding ?

Eric says the aftermath sourds more grinding and ToeKnee says the miracle man sounds more grinding... It got me confused...

the miracle man has some grind on the low mids, but the center and upper mids are quite cleanish
the aftermath is definitely more hairy and aggressive on the mids
Title: Re: Your advice for Gibson SG standard pickup replacement for metal ?
Post by: Miek on September 23, 2011, 05:27:06 AM
Tim doesn't recommend mid output alnico models for SG's
I didn't listen to him and installed a holy diver that I had in 3 les pauls
it was absolutely great in all 3 different sounding les pauls, but it was dark, muffled and dead sounding on the sg, although it retained the lead tone qualities

Im quite surprised that there was such a dramatic difference between the Les Pauls and the SG. The specs of both guitars are generally pretty close, is the tonal difference basically down to the maple top?
The SG's thinness and neck joint cause it to have a significantly different kind of resonance, and that will affect the tone. Even on an all mahogany LP, an SG would still sound really different.
Title: Re: Your advice for Gibson SG standard pickup replacement for metal ?
Post by: ericsabbath on September 23, 2011, 05:34:49 AM
I believe the body mass and shape makes more difference than the top wood by itself
one of the les pauls had a brazilian imbuya top, which is quite dark and not much of a resonant wood, and the diver sounded great on that guitar
SGs have a very peculiar tone, different from les pauls and from mahogany superstrats as well
the resonance thing on the neck the joint area is very noticeable unplugged, even on suspicious cheap wood epiphones, so it must be a construction tone character
Title: Re: Your advice for Gibson SG standard pickup replacement for metal ?
Post by: BigB on September 23, 2011, 08:09:44 PM
Im quite surprised that there was such a dramatic difference between the Les Pauls and the SG. The specs of both guitars are generally pretty close, is the tonal difference basically down to the maple top?

The specs are actually not _that_ close. Yes, there's the maple top and it make quite a big difference by itself, but there's also the shape, mass, thickness etc... In fact there are more differences between a LP and a SG than between a Strat and a Tele, and the difference between a Strat and Tele is not only about bridge and pups.

And, well.... My own experience with SGs is that it's a very "emotionally disturbed", unpredictable kind of guitar :lol:. It usually seems works fine with 1/ brighter low output pups, 2/ P90, and 3/ very high, preferably ceramic pups. Anything else is really a "hit or miss" affair, and really depends on the exact guitar and pup. Now don't ask me why - I've tried brighter SGs that did sound muddy with mid/hi output alnico pups, I don't understand why mine doesn't react the same way (but I'm glad it does)...