Nailbomb too muddy... Suggestions?

[sixgunsovertombstone]

Hey all,

I have an alnico nailbomb in the bridge of my Jackson SLAT-MAHQ (all mahogany, neck through/string through) strung with 10-52s in E standard or sometimes drop D. This guitar has great tone, and has some serious beef to it. By that I mean tons of lows and mids mostly. That said it doesn't lack high end, it just almost seems as though the low end and mids overpower everything. I know these are tight pickups but they aren't quite what I'm looking for in this guitar.

Looking through the pickups I'm thinking either cold sweat or painkillers... The black dogs look good too, especially the notice that they are good for cleaning up baritone guitars (its not a baritone but it's really beefy)

I play metal mostly (shred/thrash/power), but do lots of other stuff too. Examples of stuff I play - megadeth/metallica but also cirque du soleil ha ha... anyways. I like the abomb I just need more high end and tamed low end. I'm thinking Painkillers because of the high end bite and their overall tightness, or the cold sweat for its high end detail... anyways I'm torn picking pickups is so tough.

Any suggestions?

[Sarkasis]

Consider an Aftermath. It'll be tighter, drier and have less lows than a Nailbomb, but won't be as cold as a Painkiller. It'll also have more mids than a Cold Sweat. Unless you just want less mids, in which case a Cold Sweat could be better.

[CanadianMetalhead]

Why not look into the ceramic nailbomb if you like the alnico one?

Other then that the Painkiller would definitely be great. Lots of RRRR. Aftermath too. Coldsweat if you don't mind the huge mid scoop lol. If you want the organic quality of the nailbomb with less lows look into a riff raff or a rebel yell. Both have more edge and a controlled low end. Mule even if you want more vintage vibe. All are capable of metal tones imo. Just depends on how much edge/brightness you want.

Have fun :)

[Telerocker]

RY if you want an alnico magnet. Otherwise Painkiller or Aftermath.

[darkbluemurder]

C-Bomb was my first thought even though I never played one. Based on the descriptions it is a good bridge between the Cold Sweat and the Painkiller.

Cheers Stephan

[FELINEGUITARS]

If you like the pickup then having the magnet swapped for a ceramic will tighten and bring more control to the bass and give the top end more bite.
Want to take that further - - look at the Cold Sweat, which is a good choice for old school thrash in some ways

Likewise Painkiller will also work
Painkiller has more mids than the CS which can sound a bit scooped to some ears.

[ericsabbath]

cold sweat will balance things right

[Alex]

Definitely not a Black Dog.

A Miracle Man would probably work great too, it really pushes dark guitars.