Quick first experience with Miracle Man and Sinners (Slart content)

[braintheory]

I used to have a crawler bridge in one of my guitars and I agree with your assessment.  But what's wrong with the growl?  That was one of my favorite things about the crawler and to me growl comes across as more organic to my ears.  I actually really don't like when a pickup lacks growl (such as the black hawk).  IMO growl is as important for powerchords as fluidity and sustain are for shredding (OK, I know that's not the best comparison, but you get the point; I personally love growl)

Also, about the compression, how's it compare to the Holy Diver?  It's definitely way less compressed than the Miracle Man, Aftermath, and Painkiller, but that's obvious.  You're right though that based on how the crawler is described you'd expect less compression.

[Slartibartfarst42]

Up to a point, I'd agree with you that a bit of growl is nice and I do like it. I think the issue for me is whether that growl and bite positions it a bit too close to my other guitar. I knew I didn't want a pickup that was too open but I wouldn't have objected if the growl and compression on the Crawler was taken back a step or two. Of course, the flipside of the argument is that it also means that the guitar will be a more than adequate backup instrument.

My first impression when playing it was that it was actually more compressed than the Holydiver but it has to be said that I was at a friends house so going through a very different rig and I suspect that some of that perception of compression was driven by just how fat, smooth and saturated the thing seemed to be. It seems to sound far more saturated, far more easily than the Holydiver. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the tone this thing has. They really are great pickups. When I ended up returning a Nailbomb it was because I really didn't like the tone that much but that certainly isn't the case here. I'm hopeful that a little tinkering with pickup and pole piece height is all that will be required and I stress that what I've said so far is only based on a VERY brief appraisal.

[ericsabbath]

lowering the whole pickup a couple milimeters should tame the bass and compression excesses

[GuitarIv]

So, my conclusion after owning these pickups for 3 days: they are a perfect fit for the Strat and will stay there for teh br00talz (separate Scratchplate with Slowhands will be used for all the Straty Clapton and Hendrix goodness). More impressions and a full review will follow as soon as I played the guitar through a proper halfstack. Oh and I think I will keep the out of phase wiring, it really works great for switching from Death Metal to Blues. Versatility anyone? :D

[Dave Sloven]

I would still pop a switch in to give more versatility, especially given that you didn't like the out of phase sound at first.  Glad it worked out for you though!  I need to get something with single coils

[GuitarIv]

Here's the full review in case anyone's interested:

https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=30291.0