Pickups for 27" scale guitar

[TrendkillTimmy]

I'm going to luthier school in the fall where I'm going to build an electric guitar.  I need recommendations on pickups please!  I play in C# standard/drop B.  My biggest influence is Machine Head (also huge fan of Down, Pantera, LoG, DevilDriver, Black Pyramid, BLS, In Flames... you get the idea).  So my sound goes anywhere from bright chimey clean, to smooth blues cleans, to southern rock, to doomy and/or shredding metal. But mostly southern-ish hardrock/metal.  I realize most of these guitarists use emg or similar actives.  But I have Nailbombs in an Epi SG that I love and a set of Mules in another guitar, that are just as sick! So I'm loving the BKP quality so far!

I'm considering Warpigs (C-bridge), Aftermath (since it's an extended range guitar), Black Hawk, and Miracle Man.  I'd coil tap the pickups as well.


Here are the specs on my soon to be guitar:
27" scale
24 frets
custom V shape
Bloodwood neck (or similar bright tone wood)
Bloodwood or Ebony Fingerboard
Alder body with Flame or Quilt maple top
Set neck construction

If it would be helpful I can upload some vids or sound clips of stuff I play. Thanks y'all!
-Tim

[ericsabbath]

bet you'd enjoy a ceramic nailbomb
miracle man or cold sweat as second options, first being more growly and modern, other being more pantera and early down-like
the c-bomb seems punchier than the cold sweat, not as bassy as the miracle man, a little more center midrange than both and not as much treble and brightness, so it's a more balanced and also a little more aggressive pickup

[TrendkillTimmy]

Cool, thanks for the info! Dammit there are too many options, heh.  Any thoughts on the Black Hawk for a Machine Head-esque tone?

[Alex]

Hmmm I'm using a Miracle Man and it works great, but it's a bit over the top. Tim once said that the longer scales of baritones overemphasize the top end and low end and since high output pickups do the same you can end up with all hiss and fizz and rumble, but no substance in the middle. He says he prefers the Black Dog over high ouput pickups and owning both Miracle Man and Black Dog I definitely see the point. If I was not a lousy bedroom player I'd probably go for the Black Dog sooner or later, for more definition at louder volumes.

[TrendkillTimmy]

Black Dog huh?  Going to give that set a listen to shortly.  Thanks for the info about extended range guitars and high output pickups, definitely helps with narrowing the search.

[ericsabbath]

black dog is amazing, but certainly not the droid you're looking for
he might be right about the scale thing, though, but considering the woods and tuning, I don't think you'll have such problems
the cold sweat is a safe bet for lower tunings
it has a quite punchy low end, but no bass and low mid bumps, quite present upper mids and top end is bright and chimey without getting piercing like the miracle man in the higher strings

[TheyCallMeVolume]

I think CS is a good choice for this.

[TrendkillTimmy]

After listening to many many sound clips I'm torn between Cold Sweat and Black Dog.  Both sound so awesome.  Now I'm definitely leaning towards a med-high output, not balls out high like a warpig or MM.

[Alex]

Well I'd vote for the BD, but I voted for the MM when the option wasn't there. :-)

[TrendkillTimmy]

Ah yeah. Poll is reset now!  :mrgreen:

I'm definitely liking my SD Distortions (ceramic mag) for a southern metal tone, but they are higher output than I'd like.
Bass: 5
Mid: 8
Treble: 9
Bridge: 16.6k
Neck: 12.7k

I'm leaning towards the BD now because it has similar properties but lower output and a bit less treble (so maybe the highs wont be so painfully piercing?)

[ericsabbath]

I'm leaning towards the BD now because it has similar properties but lower output and a bit less treble (so maybe the highs wont be so painfully piercing?)

believe me, they have absolutely nothing in common

maybe you might enjoy the holy diver
it's also middy, fat and smooth, but hotter, louder, tighter and more aggressive than the black dog
a bit less hot than a JB, definitely less hot than a distortion

[TrendkillTimmy]

I'm leaning towards the BD now because it has similar properties but lower output and a bit less treble (so maybe the highs wont be so painfully piercing?)

believe me, they have absolutely nothing in common

maybe you might enjoy the holy diver
it's also middy, fat and smooth, but hotter, louder, tighter and more aggressive than the black dog
a bit less hot than a JB, definitely less hot than a distortion

How's the HD with pinch harmonics?  I find my c-bombs aren't that great for that, while the Distortions do it very well.  Also, the neck pickup needs to be really good for shredding solos that doesn't get muddy on the low strings or too piercing on the highs.

Thanks!

[Alex]

I had the Holy Diver in my baritone first, it is absolutely NOT what I would recommend for a baritone. It might be a slamming pickup in other applications, but just was nowwhere tight enough in a baritone.

I'd recommend ALL the other pickups mentioned in this thread over the Holy Diver.

[ericsabbath]

I can't comment on baritones, but in les pauls, the diver sounds considerably tighter than the black dog
and also easier and louder on pinch harmonics
I love the dog in my maple neck Greco, though
also, "baritone" doesn't define the whole construction
I think Jon Schaffer used to have a holy diver in a baritone and I never heard anything "nowhere tight enough" from him, including his lower tuning songs
I remember you enjoyed the diver for a while
but I see how a black dog can sound tighter in close gain settings, as the diver sounds more saturated

I'd still pick a ceramic model, though

[TrendkillTimmy]

My concern with the Holy Diver is that it looks like it's as high output as the c-bombs and distortions I have now.  I'm wanting a lower output, but not quite as low as the Mules I own. Which is why the BD sounded really tempting.

Also, I was thinking a brighter neck might be nice for soloing, like a CS neck "The neck humbucker being popular among shred players for it's articulate but fluid tone is ideal for effortless sweep picking"