Pickups for a Steinberger Demon

[Captchaos]

I'm looking to buy a Steinberger Demon at some point in the near future, and I'm not particularly fond of the EMG 81/85 combo it comes with; I'd much rather have a pair of solid passive pickups. I primarily play prog metal, though I've been told I have a distinct Djent feel as well. String clarity is a must, as is good clean tone.

I've been looking at a pair of Painkillers, primarily, though I've also considered Cold Sweats, Holy Divers, and Warpigs.

I don't really know which pickups would sound best, A) with the Demon, and B) for the style I play, which is progressive metal with some Djent influence.

I also don't know how to make the switch from actives to passives. I know that Ill likely have to buy new pots, but I don't know what kind, how much impedance they'll need, etc.

[Madsakre]

I want one of those too :D

[Attica!]

I'm looking to buy a Steinberger Demon at some point in the near future, and I'm not particularly fond of the EMG 81/85 combo it comes with; I'd much rather have a pair of solid passive pickups. I primarily play prog metal, though I've been told I have a distinct Djent feel as well. String clarity is a must, as is good clean tone.

I've been looking at a pair of Painkillers, primarily, though I've also considered Cold Sweats, Holy Divers, and Warpigs.

I don't really know which pickups would sound best, A) with the Demon, and B) for the style I play, which is progressive metal with some Djent influence.

I also don't know how to make the switch from actives to passives. I know that Ill likely have to buy new pots, but I don't know what kind, how much impedance they'll need, etc.

I'm assuming it's the all maple one? If so I'd stay away from the C-Bomb & Cold Sweat Bridge as these will be very bright in an all maple guitar. Suprisingly though, the Miracle Man might be a good option for you. I have it in a Maple Neck Thru/ Alder Bodied guitar and it rocks. Not at all bright, as you'd expect from the EQ. It has a great bottom end too.

Another great option would be the Holy Diver. You won't have that super tight bottom end you get with a Ceramic, but it's still pretty damn tight. If you would have said you wanted a Djent pickup, I wouldn't have recommended the Holy Diver, but you said you've been told your style is Djenty, and at the end of the day, Djent is just a technique; the pickup only enhances it. I love the Holy Diver for Prog. I upgraded my Crunch Lab to a Holy Diver, and it was a great upgrade.

For the neck, it would depend on what you wanted. I'd recommend a Cold Sweat neck as a first. It has a great shred tone - very fluid, but also retains a very nice clean tone. I love mine. If you want something that's more orientated towards clean playing, but is still great for shred, then the Emerald neck would be a good choice. I asked Tim about this as I didn't want another Cold Sweat and he reccommended it to me.

[Telerocker]

In this case - when the guitar is all maple - I would have a look at the alnico Nailbomb. It's tight enough for prog metal and delivers the bass and the mids to make the guitar sound big. Also the NB is more agressive in the highs then the HD, which suits your style a tad better, I think.  You need new pots: 550K's.

[gwEm]

i've had miracle men, cold sweat and painkillers in the same maple neck through steinberger.

they all worked well, but the miracle men were pretty special. very full sounding. the cold sweats gave a sort of iron maiden alike tone.

[Attica!]

In this case - when the guitar is all maple - I would have a look at the alnico Nailbomb. It's tight enough for prog metal and delivers the bass and the mids to make the guitar sound big. Also the NB is more agressive in the highs then the HD, which suits your style a tad better, I think.  You need new pots: 550K's.

Yh that's a good point. I have no idea why I didn't think of this. I'll need to try the A-Bomb myself one day. Only ever tried the C-Bomb.

[Captchaos]

So A-Bomb, Miracle man, and Painkiller.

What will the tonal differences between them be?

[Attica!]

So A-Bomb, Miracle man, and Painkiller.

What will the tonal differences between them be?

Painkiller = Extremely tight, dry, very mid focused
Miracle Man = Plenty of Low Mids, huge bottom end, shred machine
A-Bomb = Couldn't say at the present time

[Captchaos]

Painkiller = Extremely tight, dry, very mid focused
Miracle Man = Plenty of Low Mids, huge bottom end, shred machine
A-Bomb = Couldn't say at the present time

Alright, looks like it will be between the Painkillers and the Miracle Man then. I'll figure that out once I get the guitar, which should be in the next few weeks.

As for the active-passive transition, I understand that I need new 550k pots (that I can buy from BKP?), and I would probably understand how to wire them on a more traditional guitar, but the Demon has a master volume control, a Magnetic/Piezo pickup blend control, an active Hi cut/boost, and an active Lo cut/boost. According to the link below, it has four pots, and I honestly have very little idea how to interpret any of it. Would I be able to replace all of these pots with BKP pots, and would I be able to retain all their functionality a) with the new pots, and b) with passive pickups?

I know a very good electrical engineer who could help me with the wiring, I just don't know how much of the functionality is going to be compromised by the switch, if any.

http://www.steinberger.com/images/DIASYNGrevA.pdf

I almost forgot, what would you guys recommend for a neck pickup? Cold Sweat Neck is an option, what other options are there?

Also, and this is somewhat off-topic, are knobs universal? I'm thinking of getting green pickups, and I'd like green knobs to match, though I don't think I can get those through Steinberger/Gibson.

[Telerocker]

Just mail the BKP-team for a recommendation. Btw, you can order the pots in the BKP-webshop.

[Attica!]

Yh knobs are more or less Universal.

Regarding the wiring, I'd just take it to a good tech. As long as he knows the BKP colour scheme, he will be able to wire it exactly how you want. Get the tech to draw you a diagram as well so you'll always have it for refererence.