what would be the equavalent of a warmer painkiller (7 string)?

[kmanick]

I have a matched set of Painkillers in my Ibanez Rg7CT and I love them for tight rhythm playing but they have this "clacky" sound to them when playing lead (and I am playing lead a lot more than 'chugging")
I am going thru a Mesa Mark IV + Recto 2X12 cab.

what would be a Bridge pickup(alnico) that would give me this tight low end response but sing
better when playing lead.  I had a nailbomb in my old Carvin 7 that I thought just sang for playing lead but was a little too "loose" sounding when playing rhythm.
I'm trying a Rebel yell 7 in my other 7 but this one is open to suggestions!
thanks

[Transcend]

try the miracle man.

I presume by clacky sound you are meaning the pick noise against the strings?

as far as im aware the painkiller brings this out a lot as does the new aftermath.

With my miracle man i barely get any pick noise at all and its still supertight and saturated and has a great singing lead tone

[kmanick]

No it's not string noise, it's more like a single coil "clicky" sound. I get it with my Crunchlab too (although not as much) I think it's just a Ceramic magnet "thing"

[ras]

Totally depends on your picking too, the angle, how much pick you use, what type of pick you use, everything.  With a Mark IV you become instantly aware of the effects that your articulation has on the overall sound.  I use a PRS with a Coldsweat bridge into a Mark IV and I will say that the articulation from that type of ceramic magnet equipped pickup is very defined and pronounced, kind of HiFi when compared to my old HFS.  So it could be a combination of the amp being very responsive, the pickup being very responsive and your picking technique that brings up the "clack".  I tried the crunch lab on a JPX through a boogie and I will say it is very defined as well albeit more compressed than a BKP so it may just be a symptom of the having a very very defined response from your gear.  Do you have a compressor in the chain because if the attack is set up at a certain rate you could be limiting the signal right after the attack and thus getting a very loud attack sound followed by a quieter sustain creating the illusion of "clacking".

[kmanick]

No , no compressor.
I have several guitars that I play thru the Mark IV
 (USA jackson soloists (2)
a GMW CS Strat, the Bernie Rico 7 String and the Ibanez RG7CT 7 string.
the Jacksons and the GMW have duncans in them. (JB/Jazz/ and Tb5/lil59er)
My old Carvin DC727 had a Nailbomb/coldsweat combo in it and my old Ibanez Rg7620 had a Miracleman/Duncan Jazz
combo in it.
I never heard this "clacky" tone from my other BK pickups or my duncan (all alnico magnets)
I think it's just a "trait" of a Ceramic pickup that I'm hearing.

[ratspeak]

The only "clacky" thing I can think of that's characteristic of ceramic pickups is when you palm-mute and you hear more mute than you do note. The Painkiller neck also has a lot of pick-attack (which is why I got my Aftermath neck ceramic). What other effects do you use in your chain? I use a TS9 to lose some of the lower-low-end and make my palm-mutes less "musical". If you use anything like that you might want to adjust it. Or the Painkillers might just not have enough low-end warmth for you.

[gwEm]

the painkiller has a load of upper mids, and very aggressive attack. anything like string noise, pick noise etc etc are quite noticeable on that pickup i find. its a good thing in some ways, i find i can get alot of variation in my palm mutes as a result.

[DvE]

Maybe you should try an aftermath then?

I remember some people here replacing their pk's with am's because they found the pk a bit to "clicky".

I would not go the miracle man route (havent played it myself, to be fair), but their eq curves are very different and if you like the rest of the pk, I would at least stay in the same area ;-)

[ratspeak]

Although the Aftermath is getting a lot of love in this thread and I'm an Aftermath user/fanboy, I say why not try a Cold Sweat? It'll be tight and defined but also singy and smooth. With a little less output and compression than the Painkiller I think you'll like it more for lead playing. Plus it's a great choice for 7s and 8s. I think the Aftermath is more for punch (which I LOVE) than for smooth/dynamic leads. The Cold Sweat can still do the chuggy stuff. It's just not designed for the same tightness and mid-grind the Aftermath delivers. I think you got off on the wrong foot with ceramic pickups because you chose one that's very specific in it's sound. As a more lead-oriented ceramic with a smoother voicing than some of the other contemporary pickups, the CS would probably feel more natural to you than the PK or AM which are oriented towards (but not limited to) uncompromised tightness and aggression.

[Transcend]

I wouldnt advise the Aftermath for your situation as the strong pick attack is one thing you cant get away from with it as its a characteristic of the pickup

[ericsabbath]

the CS lead tone is quite different from the PK and HD
fluid, but not as thick and round
more of a focused and slim 80's solo tone
think Dimebag's classic lead tones
more "natural"? probably
but it has a very different midrange voicing, which is more noticeable on leads than on rhythms

[kmanick]

thqnks for the replys guys.
zimbloth (the Axe Palace) suggested the Rebel yell as a wamer sounding
slightly looser sounding Aftermath.
Has anyone else had any Rebels (6 or 7's) in an all mahogany guitar
with a maple top and ebony board?
This is the guitar that it's going into.

I did play a Vixen 7 with the Aftermath in it and I did like it
 but the woods were different and it was the an Axe-FX, so I'm really still clueless.
I had a ColdSwet in the neck of my Carvin 7 and an Alnico nailbomb in the bridge and I really liked that combo (same woods as this one too except for a maple fret board).
I would've liked the NB to have been a little tighter though for rhythms.

[DvE]

Beautiful guitar =)

I like red ones. Recently bought an Ibanez J Custom in red.

[kmanick]

Beautiful guitar =)

I like red ones. Recently bought an Ibanez J Custom in red.

Thanks! it's an amazing playing guitar.
I bought this one right Before the Rico was delivered and now I 'm not even playing it .
the Rico neck has spoiled me rotten :lol:
(this has the matched set of Painkillers in it)
RG7CT

Absolutely the best Ibanez 7 I've owned yet (I've gone thru about 6 of them)
but still doesn't touch the Rico Jr. I may order antother Rico 7 with a maple board and sell this,
Bernie uses a 20" radius on his 7's and it took me a little while to get used to it but now I absolutely love it :D
If I keep this I'm thinking I may try a HolyDiver in the Bridge or a Nailbobmb

[DvE]

If you have the chance, try an Ibanez J Custom.
They are an absolute work of art in every aspect. I love Ibanez guitars, but the J Custom owned my prestige model in every way ;-)