First, seconds and third impressions on the Miracle Man

[Pierre]

Headbanging realm ladies and gents. Let me start by the sta... the beginning.

This pickup is amazingly articulate. MORE than the FullShred, which everyone already says is pretty darn clear. However the Miracle Man forgives more easily than the FullShred. Notes and harmonics are clearer but ring less easily. In this respect, I believe the FS to be at least as hot as the MM, weirdly enough.
It's TIGHT. It didn't make me go 'woaaaaaa' like the FS did, because it's more subtle. But it has more of an 80s rock vibe to it. I was just listening to 'Ram it Down' by Judas Priest and I thought... damn... this pickup would be PERFECT for this tone.
It's smoother than the FS. There is still a certain amount of crunch but it's less noticeable. I felt the FS to be a little too aggressive in this area, the MM filled the balance!
It's DARK. First impression when playing it (properly wired ;) ) was: damn, where are the treble? I play it through a Basswood bodied guitar (which sounds surprisingly warm I find). It's VERY hard to dial a bright tone unless you bring the bass back to about 5 o'clock, and this on most amp models of the POD 2.0 I use it with. The SD1 I use in front brightens it naturally though. I do think this pickup works great with a pedal after it. It makes it just perfect for me.
Anyoo... far it's tight, amazingly clear, not too crunchy but not overly smooth, and pretty warm. Did I mention it kicks ass? This thing isn't ultrahighoutputfromhellmadefrom6EMGswiredinseries but it has way more than enough for any applications. I even found its clean tones to be decent for picking (when splitting it). However don't expect good strumming tones.
Lead tones are once again very dark and not too singing. However, they're powerful too. I'd imagin this pickup cuts the mix well because of this, but it'd need a boost of some kind if it really needs to stand out. At least with the settings I use...

While it never muddies up in low tuning and very high gain applications, I do believe this pickup makes up for an amazing 80s sound. It's heavy metal, the old school way. Judas Priest, Maiden... This is what you need. It'll do anything else that's not clean though, and do it pretty well. But this is where I believe it would shine. Maybe with more gain though. All in all, don't let the name mislead you. This is not Zakk Wylde's tone. This is his tightness and power though. Just add a little 80s to it, maybe a little more treble than usual depending in the guitar and amp, and you're set for some kick ass tones.
Again, thanks to TO for having helped me to get it, and Tim and the BKP team for making KICKASS products.

[TwilightOdyssey]

Glad you got the MM sorted, Pierre, and are enjoying it!! \m/

I have no trouble with brightness in my MM, but mine is direct-mounted into a solid maple guitar, with maple neck/fingerboard. I find that it cuts amazingly well. I always use a boost for soloing, would never play otherwise, so I'm not sure about your comments on using the MM for leads.

The Full Shred and Duncan Distortion sound to me like failed attempts on the Miracle Man. ;)

Kudos to Tim for the countless hours he's spent fine-tuning the basic ideas behind those pickups and making it something totally unique!!

[Pierre]

Basically the leads are too thick and not bright enough for me, but I usually play leads on the middle pickup anyway so it's not a bother.
Oh I forgot to mention, this pickup also has less sustain than the FS. I'd say quite a lot less to be honest. I don't know what to do to remedy to that. It's already fairly close to the strings and the string action isn't too low.

[steve]

Basically the leads are too thick and not bright enough for me, but I usually play leads on the middle pickup anyway so it's not a bother.
Oh I forgot to mention, this pickup also has less sustain than the FS. I'd say quite a lot less to be honest. I don't know what to do to remedy to that. It's already fairly close to the strings and the string action isn't too low.

The problem may be that its much to close to the strings,if you lower it down you will get a increase in sustain.This allows the strings to resonate more.

[Peterku]

Is string pull an important issue in the bridge position as well?

[Peterku]

Pierre, in what ways is the MM a compromise for you?

[steve]

Is string pull an important issue in the bridge position as well?

Id say so.

[Pierre]

Well it has kickass rythm tones, which I brighten up a bit with the SD1, but the lead sounds don't do it for me. I gain articulation from the FS, but lose a little power and brightness.

[Brow]

The lack of 'brightness' may be coming from your POD.

I noticed when I was recording with 1 that no matter what EQ settings I used, the sound was always way too bass heavy.

It's just an idea :)

[WITH FULL DISTORTION]

Humm..Interesting Question
Q:/
i´m indoubt now ahahaha AGAIN
eternal doubt
Q:(
but i´ll let to decide when i have the money in my HANDS.
 :idea:  i´m selling my duncans to buy the Bkps
$%&#ING Hails
J.P

[Tim]

Just a point................sustain comes from a guitar not a pickup, the only way a pickup can add to that is by compressing the signal but even then if the guitar has poor natural sustain then the pickup won't add much to the equation.
Don't know why you're having trouble with the brightness, I have LPs loaded with them and they're really clear with a really tight edge to the front of the note.Most players comment on the overall brightness and clarity of the MM so again I'm thinking that this may well be a pot/cap value issue muddying the water.

[Pierre]

Well I wired it so that I can bypass the pot if needed. I just have a volume control, which is brand new and comes from allparts (500K). Even when bypassed, it's still pretty warm. It's nothing bad though, it was just a different experience from the FS. I learnt how to tame it.
Fair enough about the sustain though... I always thought a higher output pickup would increase sustain slightly. Does it to a certain extent?

[Miracle Man Matt]

I found my MM to be alot brighter than most other Hummers!!?? Also that it has great sustain.  

The MM is in a FR maple guitar and has nearly as much sustain as an EMG81 in a thru-neck hardtail? so don't know about that.

MMM

[Steve-Mr Pig 2U]

Umm, I don’t know where the tone your getting is comming from. The Miracle man is bright and clear, and it does Zakks tone to a T (you have to be able to play like him though) listen to Tims Ozzmossis clips. As for dark, again no idea.
The Miracle man has a screaming lead tone as is MUCH hotter than the full shred, Miracle man is a very hot pickup 17.5K, with a ceramic magnet.
It is a very different pickup to the fullshred and isn't supposed to be anything like it. I think the Nailbomb would have been a much better choice.
You said the Miracle man is MORE articulate in your first post, and less in your second,
Have you played it through a real amp to hear what it sounds like?

[wixomwhat]

IMO- Pierre- the lack of brightness is from your guitar. Basswood is not a bright wood at all. its a dark bass heavy wood.