BKP For Basswood Ibanez

[HellGamer666]

Hi, everyone! This is my first post on the BKP forum.

I recently bought an Ibanez RGD421, which is a 26.5 scale basswood guitar. I love the playability of the guitar itself, but the pickups are far too muddy for my ideal style. I play metal in the vein of Veil of Maya, Periphery, August Burns Red, The Black Dahlia Murder, Born of Osiris, etc. I'm mainly looking for a pickup that is tight in its low end with enough clarity to make big chords shine under heavy distortion. Essentially, I'm after a high-gain pickup that can handle progressive styles of metal effectively. Perhaps Painkillers or Aftermaths? Thanks!

[GuitarIv]

From your description I'd say Aftermath. Heres an example of Misha demonstrating it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izVxaVVZrd0

Cheers

[Kiichi]

That video and this clip my Misha really show of the main (but not the only) appliance for the AM. This is the basic character of the AM. https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=22576.0

[Telerocker]

Or a C-Bomb.

[HellGamer666]

Thanks for the replies, guys!

I could just be being picky here, but I'm not a huge fan of Misha's actual style. What I like about Periphery is mainly their creativity and chord usage. The bap-bap-bap djent tone doesn't appeal to me much, though the picking sensitivity and compressed sound of the chords does.

I hear very good things about the c-bomb, yeah. I'm ashamed to admit it, but I find myself playing a lot of modern metalcore these days. Things like Parkway Drive, I Killed The Prom Queen, As Blood Runs Black, etc. Would the c-bomb be able to handle the generic metalcore tone attained from actives through to the progressive metal tones that typically come from passives? I suppose you could say I'm looking for an organic EMG with clarity and usable cleans.

[Toe-Knee]

From you saying you like modern metalcore, want clarity & tightness and  a sound similarish to emgs I would say miracle man without a doubt.

[CanadianMetalhead]

A different suggestion from the others here if you want an organic EMG would be the VHII. Output isn't as high as others but its very balanced, organic and more modern sounding with a PAF vibe. Lows are there and it roars under heavy gain. May need a boost pedal but other then that it's pretty good :)

Personally I'd go with the aftermath. If your having problems with muddy lows then the AM will tame that completly while adding the hi mid sharpness basswood usually lacks. Which is what EMG's do as well lol. If you want something with more beef on the bottom then I'd go painkiller.

As for Cbomb they are very good on the bottom but the difference between the painkillers and the aftermath in my opinion is that the Cbomb will be a lot smoother in the mids then those 2 while having pronounced trebs.

Thats just me though /shrug