Best Metal BKP Pickup for a PRS Custom 24

[Djentleman!]

Hey guys, as the title says, I'm looking for a good metal pickup for my PRS Custom 24. The HFS bridge in it is great but it's not 100% there...I want something with more clarity despite being highly distorted, picks up on pinch harmonics very easily, has a very "pure" sound but also has a slight amount of grit, much like how a tube amp has that natural grittiness. It also needs to be very high output, almost like an active pickup, but still retains that dynamic nature of a passive. Right now it's come down to the Painkiller vs. the Aftermath, so if someone can weigh in on how those two sound in a mahogany body with a maple top that would help immensely; however, I definitely would like to hear opinions on other pickups besides those two if possible.

Basically I'm going for a sound that falls somewhere between Periphery's tone and something like Mastodon (Leviathan era) or High on Fire...something that can be absolutely raw and sludgy, or tight as heck and clear as a bell

Thank you!  :)

[darkbluemurder]

It also needs to be very high output, almost like an active pickup, but still retains that dynamic nature of a passive.

Very difficult to achieve as high output and dynamics are opposites. On the other hand I find that many people really mean "punch" when they refer to "dynamics" - two completely different things IMHO.

I replaced the HFS in my Custom with a Holydiver which retained the aspects I liked from the HFS (warm fat midrange) but removed the characteristics I did not like (slightly nasal mids, slightly muddy lows and not enough clarity). The changes in each aspect individually were subtle but very effective combined. Output of the Holydiver is a bit less than the HFS though.

I would say a Miracle Man set would achieve what you want - it has a bit more output, bass and highs than the Holydiver. If you want more grit than the Miracle Man provides, then look indeed to Aftermath or Painkiller (haven't played neither of them though).

Cheers Stephan

[Telerocker]

Looks like Miracle Man.

[Djentleman!]

My only issue is I haven't actually heard the Miracle Man. I've heard the Aftermath and it had such an amazing clarity and punch to it, but I've heard that the Painkiller can do all that and more if it's in the right wood (mahogany)

[ericsabbath]

the miracle man sounds absolutely amazing in my bandmates PRS mccarty
it does mastodon really well and it's a really versatile pickup in the right hands
cleans up quite easily in gain channels on full hb mode and the splitted tone is stellar
we're recording a new ep now and we always get more and more admired with the tones he's getting from that guitar through whatever amp we use

here's some old mastodon clips of the miracle man in his cheap cort (before he had the much much superior PRS)

https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=22446.0

and it sounds A LOT better in the PRS and with the amps we've been using