Yet another SG question

[plukjedekip]

Hi all,

Like many before me, I am looking to swap out the stock pickups on my 2012 Gibson SG Standard, and I was wondering if you could give me some advice. I am looking for more power and a thicker sound, especially in the bridge. Some more harmonics would be a welcome addition too.

I mainly play stoner rock, metal, and doom. I'm looking for a pickup that covers sounds in the range of Mastodon, Sleep, Red Fang, Alice in Chains, and Black Sabbath. Based on the pickup demo's, I'm currently thinking about a Miracle Man in the neck position, and an alnico Warpig in the bridge position. Would that combination make sense at all, and are the demo's representative of the SG sound?

As for other gear, I mainly use modeling software, or whatever is available in a practice space. Guitar Rig in the past, looking into Amplitube right now. I also have a small Fender champ, which I like to put some fuzz in front of.

Thanks in advance!
Thomas

[darrenw5094]

Well the Warpig will do Sabbath and the stoner stuff

[Dave Sloven]

The Warpig and Miracle Man necks are pretty similar.

I would recommend a Miracle Man set or a Warpig set.

I have both bridge pickups in SGs.

The Warpig is something I had in an Explorer first, and it sounds brighter in the SG though not too bright.  I'd say that the Warpig and SG are a good match

The Miracle Man is in another SG, and it is definitely the best match I have found for that guitar, and I would say that it is thick and powerful enough and has more harmonics than the Warpig.

[plukjedekip]

Thanks for your replies! @Dave, how does the sound of the Warpig and MM bridge pickups compare in your SGs? I guess it's difficult to discount the amp, but which styles of music or bands would you associate with these separate pups? Also, if you don't mind me asking, what are you running in the neck right now? I think I've seen different combinations mentioned while browsing the forum history. Curious to hear any new insights you might have.

[Dave Sloven]

I have the Cold Sweat neck with the Miracle Man but to be honest I think I would have been happier with the Miracle Man set.

The alnico Warpig is with a Warpig neck.

It is hard to compare them because I have not downtuned the MM guitar and the WP guitar has always been downtuned.  The MM does have a great rep in downtuned guitars but this one just happened to end up in my standard tuning guitar

I guess the alnico Warpig is more suited to sludge metal whereas the MM is better for Ozzy, Dokken, that kind of thing but it can do Sabbath etc as well

[JimmyMoorby]

I once asked Bare Knuckle something similar to 'If Gibson approached you to them a pickup for their Gibson Sgs which would you choose?' and their response was Riff Raffs.  I've got a set of Riff Raffs in one of my SG's and it standard or e flat I think it's fair to say they just do everything perfectly.  I've also used lots of other pickup sets but settled on riff raffs because theyre just too perfect for SG's.

The Miracle Man would be perfect for say Mastodon Blood and Thunder specifically but for Mastodon in general or those other bands i'd go for riff raffs ASSUMING you use a high gain amp/modeller setting.

I just didn't like the alnico waprig in an SG....the bass just didn't seem natural but maybe the ceramic version would be better.  I also tried a juggernaut in a Gibson SG and that just sounded weird  but nobody has ever suggested the juggernaut would be a good match for an SG so I've got to take that one on the chin!

Sorry for the shamless plug but this is my Gibson SG with riff raffs doing a Death style thrash song with my Helix.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QlUsC1wt80

Yes Cold Sweats and Miracle Mans work extremely well in Gibson SG's but given those bands you've mentioned alnico pickups seems more suitable.

Oddly enough I've just got a second SG but it needs a lot of work.  I've sent it to Feline guitars for a refret, replacement of all hardware and to be put into C sharp standard with an Aftermath set but I was going for an outright extreme metal vibe.