All-mahogany guitar w/ Q-tuner High-Z in the neck - what BKP 7 to put in?

[Heavy Jerk]

Hi,

I have an all-mahogany guitar 7 string (three-piece bolt-on mahogany neck, string through body, 25.5" scale), with ebony fretboard.
I've made up my mind for the neck pu - it's gonna be Q-tuner High/Medium Z (sweeet cleans and leads), but for the bridge position I'm not that sure -  I think N-bomb7 gonna do the job I want, though.

And what I want?
I want a high output pickup (not necessarily), that can be as organic as possible (with good dynamics), that's gonna let biig distorted/overdriven chords to "sing" so to speak, but that will also deliver clear sound from my 68 A low string (that may be B in the future, but nevermind).

I'd like it to cleans up nicely with volume pot control also. I will play it mainly through Peavey 6505, so all in all - I want not surgically clean pickup, but still clean, with big, percussive sound, which will deliver big chords, with a good doze of lower mids, preferably.


Some time ago, I ended up with the conclusion N-bomb7's gonna do what I want, but now I ask - which version?
A5, Ceramic, or A8? What do you recommend? Or maybe Cold Sweat, 'cause I see some say it's similar to NB?
Some forum posts even say that Riff Raffs are the way to go... Since the Peavey has really enough gain on it's own (for my liking anyway), maybe putting a lower output pickup in order to get more dynamics out of it really isn't bad idea? What d'ya recommend?

Bear in mind, it's all-mahogany body, so it's dark right at the start. Need something to cleans it up along with ebony, but not too much, like Painkiller would, for example.
Also, it needs to be matched well with Q-tuner in the neck.

[Keven]

I personally have a Black Dog 7 in a my guitar and couldn't be happier with the tone. i'm saving up for a set of riff raffs for my 8 string guitar since my 7 is ash and my 8 is mahogany, it's pretty much the same idea, but compensated for the wood.

the dynamics are definitely worth it, but you need a boost of some sort for the combo to come alive.

[Heavy Jerk]

BD? But mine is all mahogany, so it's quite dark. So do you think Raffs could pull out some heavy stuff on 7 string(like Nevermore for example) with enough clarity (not too much, I do like vintage-y sound)? I'd imagine also that pinch harmonics on lower output pickups are harder to pull off?

What about VHII?

From your experience, how much you've got sonically with lower output pu's comparing to high output ones?

As for boosting - I do have a Bad Monkey pedal (sort of Digitech's Tubescreamer); even can add NS-2 to the chain if needed, so it's not a problem.

Thanks!

[Keven]

i should've specified more, but my guitar is the nevermore loomis signature. i fitted a BD7 bridge on there because i liked my experience from lower output dimarzio pups before trying BKP (Paf 36 and the like)

since the guitar is Ash and Maple, it's quite bright so the BD7 is lovely there, no question. as far as output goes, it's definitely not as compressed as the dimarzio i tried before. there's alot of punch, but you have to work for it, it makes you into a better player that's for sure. I emailed tim a few weeks ago about getting the same tone for my 8 string, which is also a schecter, Blackjack ATX-8. mahogany body and neck with an ebony fretboard. he said the riff raffs would pretty much have the same effect.

pinch harmonics aren't harder to pull off on my BD7 guitar IMHO. it all depends on your technique i guess, more compression can help you with anything, but the note clarity i get with my setup is quite great! (I use my guitar into a Tube screamer clone built to TS808 specs into my amp's crunchier middier channel). I've seen on the board that alot of guys with dark les pauls have had quite a pleasant time with a cold sweat, which is ceramic based and pretty tight, but not too aggressive.

at first it was hard love with my BD7 set, but the more i learned to play with it, the more i realized it fit my style. I too favor big strings for the lower gauges (68 low Bb and 10-52 tuned flat for the rest). i haven't heard the 8 string yet as it's still on order, but i'd say, ask Tim. the guy knows his pickups. he was right about me and i didn't even know it! I sent him an email saying i wasn't too happy with the pickups, and a week later sent an email apologizing and praising his work, simply cause i got used to them.

one thing's for dead sure, for the same DCR and magnets, BKP's are definitely cleaner and less forgiving than any other major brand. the dimarzio paf 36 i have in another guitar are kind of like the same DCR, but they drive an amp into crunch like crazy. the BD7 also has quite a good crunch, but it's a polite one. till you pound the shitee out of your guitar (which is to me the best way to get all these nasty metal tones)

hope i was of some help! it's quite scary to go down in output at first, but if you're an honest player, it'll simply make you better, though i guess the bass response won't be as tight as with a ceramic pup. then it's down to personal perferences (I never quite like ceramics myself, so i can't help you there... though maybe a cold sweat.....)

[Madsakre]

C-PIG!

[WezV]

i think you are on the ball with nailbombs, but it may be hard getting a good match with that q-tuner.   A5 or A8, rather than ceramic for me

[FernandoDuarte]

Pics, or it never, EVER existed :P