Painkiller 7 issue?

[Darcy2386]

Hey Forums,

So I have a Painkiller 7 installed in the bridge on my Ibanez RG7421 ( Not a crazy expensive guitar I know lol ) and I am having an issue. I feel as though I cant get good attack with either this pickup or maybe its the combination of amp + strings im using.  I am tuned to drop A and im trying to get some nice chuggy and chunky tones but it just doesnt work for some reason with the 7string guitar. My amp is a Laney Ironheart 60 watt going into a 2 x 12 Laney cab boosted with a Boss SD-1 and the strings are the Ernie Ball Cobalt 10-62.  I will note that the 7th string especially tuned down to drop A is a little floppy so Im not sure if that makes a difference. I have tried boosting the treble / presence on the amp and I guess it does help a bit but I have to put the gain at like 90% to achieve a chug on the top 3 strings but with my 6 string with emgs I dial the gain back to like 50% and achieve the same thing....

Any input would be awesome :) Thanks guys

[Dave Sloven]

I would deal with the string issue first.  If it feels floppy to you that's part of the problem.  How does it sound when you tune the string up to B?

[Darcy2386]

I would deal with the string issue first.  If it feels floppy to you that's part of the problem.  How does it sound when you tune the string up to B?

When I tune it up I guess the sound is a little better but its still kinda dead sounding to me....

[Yellowjacket]

Do you have 550k pots in your guitar? 

I find that really thick strings can get quite beefy sounding and it can become muddy, but a brighter guitar like an ibanez that is boosted should be pretty tight and aggressive.  I've been borrowing my bandmates 7 string schecter which is a mahogany body / maple neck axe.  It being an exceptionally dark axe with little highs, the painkiller still has some bite to it, even with stock pots.  Boosted, it's very tight and aggressive, even through a fairly vintage voiced amp.  FWIW, it does have 10 - 56s on it.

[Kiichi]

I assume you already played around with the height? That makes quite the difference with BKPs. If something lacks definition and sparkle you can also turn up the screws 1-2mm for that, which is what I like to do.

[MerlinTKD]

I've got a PK7 in basswood, very similar guitar to yours (LTD M-207), tuned the same (heavier strings though, 10-46+66)... I love it, but it doesn't really 'chug'. I'm not sure that combo really can.

The PK has a healthy low end, but it's mostly mids, high mids, and more mids. Acoustically, my guitar is pretty much just warm mids, so the combo... well, it's a little middy. 

Keeping in mind that I'm using a Mustang Floor through studio monitors (8's, plenty of low end there), I can get it to kinda chug on the default 5150 patch, with really scooped mids (like T:6-M:3-B:6), I always have to dial back the gain and presence a little (about 5). Even then, it's soooo tight and edgy that it doesn't chug like a Cold Sweat or Warpig... probably not even like a Holy Diver, honestly.

My favorite patch right now is the 5150, gain at 4.5, vol 7, T:6-M:6-B:9, presence 5; that's a LOT of bass, but it'll never get muddy!    Like I said, I love it, but it's not for everyone. It may not be the right tool for the job, you might want a different pickup in there.