which pickup? (yes another one of those)

[the prince of shred]

hi can anyone help on here?
i own a gibson les paul menace, it has a mahogany body, maple top and ebony fingerboard. its currently fitted with 490r and 498t pickups the sound i get i quite like however i just want something with more bite.... for metal, the kinda sounds i wana get are: bullet for my valentine, children of bodom, machine head, atreyu, trivium, slipknot disturbed etc...
so i want a pickup with a fat bottom end, for chuggy rhythm palm muting, with powerfull mids for the fast riffs and searing treble for the solos with tapping, pinch harmonics etc. (correct me if im wrong)
i also would like a pickup that can do some decent cleans, (doesnt have to sound "warm and vintage" as this isnt my style but i would like it to sound fairly organic for picked passages....)
i mostly play in drop c.....
i was looking at warpigs and nailbomb callibrated sets but would i possibly want a warpig for the rhythms and a mirracle man or something for leads? i really dont know?  :?
also ceramic or alcino v?
thanks in advance
x  :)

[Roobubba]

Sounds like a job for the PAINKEEELLLAAAAHHHH (to quote MDV).

Welcome to the forum!

Roo

(PS Ask Tim at BKP for his advice! Best bet is to call in. he's VERY helpful!)

[Nolly]

Painkiller could definitely work, but I'd suggest either a Miracle Man or ceramic Warpig over it I think.
As Roo says, asking Tim is definitely the way forward, he is extremely helpful and knowledgeable. Being able to ask the man himself is one of the great benefits of going with BKPs, so don't miss out on the opportunity.

[the prince of shred]

thanks alot guys, im really new to this so ur replys are much apreciated, (just a college student with too much spare cash too blow :D )
and how would i get in touch with tim? ive emailed him, id this how it works or phone? or what?
thanks again :)

[Nolly]

Yeah, email is good. Calling him up is even better though!

[DimeZakk]

Almost every band you mentioned plays EMG humbuckers so a Miracle Man would be the way to go...

[Roobubba]

The reason I said Painkiller is because I think the cleans on the Miracle Man aren't quite up to scratch. I have one, and they are okay, but not a patch on the chimey, beautiful cleans you get with pretty much all the other BKPs. C-Pig is probably more suitable than MM in this regard...

Roo

[the prince of shred]

so to summerise, the c-pig and painkiller have better cleans but the mm is voiced like an emg? and would suit my type of metal? which is the best for high gain? thanks again guys n any more replys are appreciated, but of course i will ask tim (already emailed just waiting for reply and may phone to be safe) :)

[Roobubba]

I should clarify, all three have good cleans. The MM is simply not as good in that department as the other two. All three will handle gain perfectly, there is no concern there. I wouldn't describe the MM as "voiced like an EMG", although it's probably more similar to an EMG than either the PK or C-Pig is.
All three pickups are very tight. The MM has a VERY big bottom end, but this remains super tight. The PK is the tightest of all, but is more mid-voiced. The C-Pig is probably the most 'balanced' over the whole tonal spectrum, but none of them is too harsh in any one frequency.
The MM is often described as 'more scooped' than the other pickups, but it's not lacking in mids, they just aren't quite as prominent as the amazing low end or the fairly bright top end.
Any of these will suit your purpose, but I'm sure that Tim will guide you better to your final decision!

Roo

[ericsabbath]

I don't find the MM clean sound any worse than the PK
they are both fine for ceramics

I have a friend that loves the PK over any other pickup, but hated its clean tone
he also has a miracle man in another guitar of the same model and loves its clean tone

for those bands, I'd definitely get a Miracle Man
it may be a bit less versatile, but sounds punchier, more modern and dense
the MM through a Peavey amp is like instant Machine Head, Trivium, etc
I can't think of a more suitable pickup in the world for that

the Painkiller sounds more "wild" and raw, at the same time it has a more controlled bass
louder, maybe better for leads, but on the riffing, the miracle man definitely will get you closer to those bands

[the prince of shred]

cheers guys again very helpfull comments eric what peavey would you suggest? (esp for that sound)? 6505??
cheers

[Roobubba]

Definitely the 6505 or 6505+. I have a miracle man loaded ibanez (as my second guitar, since my WezV custom arrived!!), and I play through a 5150-II (which is the same as a 6505+ model), and it's perfect for articulate, punchy, brutal riffing. More gain than you can throw a stick at, and built like a brick dumpdwelling. I'd look out for a second hand 5150 or 5150-II. New set of tubes if it needs it (and optionally keep the old ones as spares), and it's good as new :)

Eric is probably right about the Miracle Man being ideal for you. To be frank, even if you might prefer one of the other pickups, you'd have to try them all to know this, and you most definitely will not be disappointed with the miracle man!!

One word of advice though, when you install it, it might not be as loud as you might think it's going to be (I swapped out some ibanez INF2 pickups, and found it to have a shade less output, which surprised me at the time). Once I spent some time tweaking the pickup height (v important!) and tweaking the amp settings to get used to the different voicing of the pickup, I then realised why my purchase was such a good one, even though to begin with I wasn't quite sure!.

Good luck

Roo

[the prince of shred]

thanks for the words of wisdom, (tweak the pickup hight etc. got it :) )

[HairyChris]

Definitely the 6505 or 6505+. I have a miracle man loaded ibanez (as my second guitar, since my WezV custom arrived!!), and I play through a 5150-II (which is the same as a 6505+ model), and it's perfect for articulate, punchy, brutal riffing. More gain than you can throw a stick at, and built like a brick dumpdwelling. I'd look out for a second hand 5150 or 5150-II. New set of tubes if it needs it (and optionally keep the old ones as spares), and it's good as new :)

Eric is probably right about the Miracle Man being ideal for you. To be frank, even if you might prefer one of the other pickups, you'd have to try them all to know this, and you most definitely will not be disappointed with the miracle man!!

One word of advice though, when you install it, it might not be as loud as you might think it's going to be (I swapped out some ibanez INF2 pickups, and found it to have a shade less output, which surprised me at the time). Once I spent some time tweaking the pickup height (v important!) and tweaking the amp settings to get used to the different voicing of the pickup, I then realised why my purchase was such a good one, even though to begin with I wasn't quite sure!.

Good luck

Roo

As a note, I have a MM bridge in my Blackmachine... My old amp was a Dual Recto, the MM did a great job of taming the Recto's modern mode but the clean was horrific. Low gains are OK through my Einstein but that's only because that amp's got one of the best cleans I've heard.

I'm thinking that a MM loaded guitar would be a thug through a 5150, which is a good thing.