Tight, aggressive pickups for an all-mahogany baritone beast

[hehasthejazzhands]

So, I have a Schecter Kenny Hickey sig coming later this week. Basically a Les Paul in a Superstrat suit. 3pc mahogany neck, mahogany body, rosewood board, 26.5'' scale, etc etc.

I already know I'm not a fan of the JB. It's got the midrange I like, but in my experience the low end is never tight or clear enough, so I'm pre-preemptively getting ready to ditch the pickup.

I've been looking at several pickup choices. Particularly the:
BKP Rebel Yell
Cold Sweat
Painkiller
C-Bomb
As well as the Lundgren M6 in the non-BKP realm

Basically I want something with a less emphasis in the low end/low mids, and a very crunchy midrange and a cruchy, bright high end. Not harsh and twangy, I want crunchy. Something that really brings out the chug and pick attack. Think Dino Cazares circa 1991 - 1995.

Kinda why I had these pickups in mind. The Rebel Yell and Cold sweat seem like they'd be up my alley. The Rebel Yell and Painkiller have been described as pickups with lots of attack, and the C-Bomb, Cold Sweat, and the Lundgren M6 seem like they're in the same ballpark.

Kinda want more opinions. I got plenty of time to decide since I'm not ordering new pickups until I sell off some new gear.

I debated on getting an EMG 81, because Dino Cazares and all, but given all the work that would need to be done... naaah.

FWIW I posted this on another forum, and most of the suggestions were the M6.

[Dave Sloven]

Black Hawk (ceramic version) would probably suit your application and is the closest in sound to the EMG

[hehasthejazzhands]

Black Hawk (ceramic version) would probably suit your application and is the closest in sound to the EMG

How well would it work in an all-mahogany guitar? I always felt the BH's had quite a bit of low end thump.

[Dave Sloven]

I can't say as my alnico BH is in a Schecter mahogany body guitar with a bolt-on maple neck, although I think the heavy Gotoh GE1996T probably has more affect on the tone than the body and neck.

A good alternative that sounds very good in both Les Paul type guitars and baritones and has less bottom end than the BH while retaining many of its other characteristics is the Impulse.  They can get aggressive:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kot1vCp0IQ

[Nolly]

I'd highly recommend looking into the Ragnarok, which has a really tight low end, prominent mid resonance in a similar fashion to an EMG, and very articulate top. Alternatively you'd could drop all the way to the VHII - by keeping things lower output the low end stays really tight, while the VHII is definitely a crunchy sounding pickup. I can send a clip/DI of a Ragnarok in a baritone 7 (mahogany body, rosewood neck) if that might help.

[hehasthejazzhands]

I'd highly recommend looking into the Ragnarok, which has a really tight low end, prominent mid resonance in a similar fashion to an EMG, and very articulate top. Alternatively you'd could drop all the way to the VHII - by keeping things lower output the low end stays really tight, while the VHII is definitely a crunchy sounding pickup. I can send a clip/DI of a Ragnarok in a baritone 7 (mahogany body, rosewood neck) if that might help.

I was kind of afraid of the Ragnarok because the EQ charts make it seem really lacking in high end. More of a dark pickup. I'm hoping I'm not wrong there.

And that's one reason I was checking out the Rebel Yells. Apparently they're kind of a mish-mash of the VHIIs, Cold Sweats, and the Nailbombs.

If you could, that would be sweet. I'd like to see how they sound.

Right now, I'm talking to Adam at Elysian Pickups and I thought I'd give his Trident II pickup a try. If that doesn't work out, I'll consider these options. Right now the Lundgren M6, BKP Cold Sweat, Impulse, and Duncan Omega are up there, but you got me curious about the VHII (and the Rebel Yells by default) and the Ragnarok.

[Yellowjacket]

Rebel yells are wonderful in mahogany.