Pickup for Les Paul/Mesa user

[somedude]

I'm looking for a ceramic pickup to put in the bridge of my Les Paul. I'm getting tired of the alnico sound/response...they're great for lower gain styles, but once the gain goes up I find they're too spongy. I'd like something that's harder edged and crisper sounding with more clarity into high gain.

I use either a Dual Rectifier or a Mark V, depending on how I feel.

[Transcend]

what kind of tones are you looking for in particular?

Reference points would help greatly

[somedude]

I'm pretty heavily influenced by Hetfield's black album guitar tone.  It's not that I purposely try to get his sound, but when I hit that age where I woke up one morning and music suddenly meant something THAT was the sound I was hearing.  I play a broad range of music, however rather than cover other people's style I usually play it in my own style.... much to the aggravation of my current drummer, but whatever...

My favourite setup is a Les Paul w/ EMG 81/60 into a Mesa Mark V... although I prefer the Recto when I'm playing more 'rock' oriented stuff due to it's bigger, looser sound.

I'm not looking to replace the EMG setup so much as supplement it.  I have another Les Paul that I've been working with for years and trying various pickups in... mostly alnico.  I've found that alnico sounds great for rock and classic sounds, however it really lags when I try to use it for "my" sound.  Too spongy in the bottom end...

What I want is something that can achieve both ends of the spectrum.  Something I can thrash on like an EMG 81, yet something that doesn't sound like nails on a chalkboard when I roll down the gain and try to play some AC/DC or Zeppelin.

[Transcend]

I would definitely reccomend the Miracle Man

Its tight, punchy has that aggression but can still do Rocky stuff.

The only downside is the cleans arent the greatest but they arent bad either

[somedude]

I use the neck for cleans, so I'm not too worried how the bridge pickup will sound in that regard.

Listing to the Modern Metal demo clips I'm kind of bouncing between the Aftermath, Nailbomb and Miracle Man.  The only problem is the bass guitar's kind of interfering.  Both the Aftermath and Miracle Man sound like they're a little too bass heavy, but I think it's that they don't have as much separation from the bass guitar as the Nailbomb clip.

Honestly, I think I could be happy with any of those three pickups.

[Transcend]

I have owned all three of the mentioned pickups.

The aftermath i found to be dry, tight & defined and not very saturated
the miracle man i found to be quite saturated, tight & defined does have more lows & highs than the AM though

The NB i didn't get along with at all i found the bass to be too loose and spongey and the mids felt weird.

others love them however and i am tempted by the ceramic version

[somedude]

So the NB you tried was the Alnico V version?

And out of curiosity...

Aftermath - Iron Maiden?
Painkiller - Judas Priest?
Miracle Man - Ozzy?

[Transcend]

the Aftermath is more modernly voice than iron maiden. The vibe that MDV got (the original prototype user) was a heavy origin one.

and the others are named after vibes Tim got from those artists

The MM was ZW in particular i believe.

And yes it was the alnico one ive had two at different times and moved them around between 4 or 5 different guitars and not found anything that it suited too well.

I however have a friend who has one and it sounds awesome in his guitar that has a lot of exotic woods.

I have a feeling its a very guitar specific pickup

[Madsakre]

So the NB you tried was the Alnico V version?

And out of curiosity...

Aftermath - Iron Maiden?

aftermath - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0n2Ew2RS4o

[Telerocker]

MiracleMan/Cold Sweat-neck (great for fluid leads)

[somedude]

aftermath - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0n2Ew2RS4o

Ah... that makes more sense.

[Madsakre]

:)

Btw count the Cold sweat into your considerations. it would slay dragons in your les paul :D

[asianaxeman]

if u want clarity in a bass heavy LP then PAINKILLERS will excel. Most clear ceramic pickups I've ever heard, the neck is unbelievable for sweep picking, you hear every note despite masses of gain. It might be exactly what you need since u play a mesa which has a spongier/looser bass response compared to Engls and Marshalls.

[ericsabbath]

miracle man

if you really want less bass/low mids, then you want a cold sweat

[Alex]

When I had my Miracle Man I was always very happy with how tight the bass response was. I'd go with that too!