Another metal pickup thread :P Versatile metal PU required!

[Prometheus]

Hey all, long time lurker here - I almost went BKP about 3 years ago, but the Lundgren M7 seduced me. However, I've since stopped playing my 7 quite so much, and am back to my 6 stringer, which I think needs some serious beefing up.

So! I'm looking for a pickup that can do everything, pretty much. I have an Ibanez RG 570, '99 model, modified to have one pickup and a volume knob, currently stocked with an EMG-85 in the bridge. From what I've been reading here, pretty much ANYTHING I get from Bare Knuckle will be a vast improvement on it :P 

The tone I have in my head changes on a daily basis, depending on what I'm playing, but I suppose the chief requirement is... life. I'm seriously sick of the sterile tone of the EMG, I want something which sounds like it's fighting to explode out of the amp. Full, thick mids, heavy (but not boomy) bass, and a tone on the higher strings that is not even remotely icepick-like. Clarity is must too - I tune down to C standard, Drop A# on occasion, and I want every note to jump out, irrelevant of how fast or low I'm playing. I want power chords to be like a punch to the chest, and palm muting chugfests to be defined and brutal. Balance, definition, and clarity!

In addition, it'd be absolutely fantastic if it also has a decent clean tone, especially with the coil tap switch I plan on installing.

I'm leaning towards a ceramic Warpig, but man, every modern humbucker BKP offers sounds like they could do the job, with room to spare. Does anyone have any other recommendations, based on my ramblings here?

Thanks in advance!

[Transcend]

Your description sounds like an Aftermath to me

[wolfenstein]

...I had a similar issue and I went for miracle man..Best move..Just perfect...Tight,articulate brutal chug with bits of character of EMG 81...Also I tryied Aftermath but palm mutes sounded not so deep and full as with miracle man....
 

[darkbluemurder]

Definitely one of the ceramic contemporary models, i.e. Miracle Man, Ceramic Nailbomb or maybe Cold Sweat. Ceramic Warpig may be too much output for such low tunings.

Cheers Stephan

[wolfenstein]

Definitely one of the ceramic contemporary models, i.e. Miracle Man, Ceramic Nailbomb or maybe Cold Sweat. Ceramic Warpig may be too much output for such low tunings.

Cheers Stephan

Cold Sweat is nice pickup...Bit weaker than Miracle Man or C bomb /I have had just A bomb/ but soundīs more organic.It has some vibe of  SuperDistortion or Gibson 500T to me but itīs much clearer...Also itīs perfect for lower gain aplication...

[phantomofalfred]

I have a Steinberger Spirit GT PRo  Deluxe, which has the volume knob in the way when you first buy it.  I always disconnect all pickups accept for the bridge and use only one volume knob on full tone.  The pickup i use from Bare Knuckle is "AFTERMATH"  It is incredibly organic.  Massive Power Chords and with less gain it can achieve a variety of sounds.  One really cool thing about it, is you can control the pick attack you get by adjusting the pickup height in relation to the strings.  I stumbled on this by accident, as i used to use Dimarzio Freds, which are low output. when my tech originally put in the AFTERMATH, he thought it was roughly the same output as my Fred, so i got massive string talk "Pickup too close to the strings", when we lowered the height, it changed the character of the pickup slightly, less string talk, smoother, but no loss of Distortion or Sustain.  The articulation achievable by the AFTERMATH is second to NONE!, you'd better practice your chops before recording, as every single little detail will Jump off your guitar.  I know most have labled this pickup a "DJENT" pickup, well it does rule at that, but it is so much more.  I even use it for my clean tones, with a different EQ.  Give the AFTERMATH a shot, i believe if you do, it will never leave your guitar.
Cheers,
Phantomofalfred.

[phantomofalfred]

I forgot to mention i droptune to Bb, with 13-56   6 string set.
I will have some new recordings of the aftermath in action soon on my band's website www.headtrauma.co "leave off the M for Metal"
The AFTERMATH is the absolute best for Low Low tunings without getting sloppy.  It stays tight no matter what kind of tuning you use or how much gain you throw on it.
cheers,
Phantom.

[Telerocker]

Aftermath has more centermids, Miracle Man huge lowmids. Both will do, just different characters.

[Alex]

The MM fits the metal part description, as does probably the Aftermath (which others here seem to know very well, but I don't). Just wanted to say that if you are looking vor "versatility" and the pickup that does it all, both are not a good choice.
Versatility would be the Black Dog or Nailbomb IMO. Maybe the RiffRaff (which I've never tried).