In need of Pickups for Metalcore? Miracle Man vs Blackhawks?

[Slartibartfarst42]

So after reading this thread it looks like I should go MM in the bridge to get the heavy stuff down and also lean into the 80's feel (with a bit of extra oomph I'm guessing).

That is the perfect way to describe it based on my experience. A lot of what you mention suggests a Holydiver and I have one of those in a PRS and love it so for my Jackson I wanted the same basic 80's Metal feel but with a bit more aggression in the bottom end and slightly more screaming highs. That's exactly what the Miracle Man gave me. It's still quite a smooth pickup with a surprisingly warm and organic feel but it also gives a very serious nod towards more modern Metal styles. Having said that, the Holydiver will also do what you're after, especially with an overdrive pedal and be a bit more versatile but the bottom line is, both are excellent; it just depends if your priority is smooth or aggressive.

[Broodwich]

So after reading this thread it looks like I should go MM in the bridge to get the heavy stuff down and also lean into the 80's feel (with a bit of extra oomph I'm guessing).

That is the perfect way to describe it based on my experience. A lot of what you mention suggests a Holydiver and I have one of those in a PRS and love it so for my Jackson I wanted the same basic 80's Metal feel but with a bit more aggression in the bottom end and slightly more screaming highs. That's exactly what the Miracle Man gave me. It's still quite a smooth pickup with a surprisingly warm and organic feel but it also gives a very serious nod towards more modern Metal styles. Having said that, the Holydiver will also do what you're after, especially with an overdrive pedal and be a bit more versatile but the bottom line is, both are excellent; it just depends if your priority is smooth or aggressive.

Assuming you are talking neck here?  Maybe I should go MM/split HD to give me more options and allow me to lighten it up a bit when I want.

[Slartibartfarst42]

No, actually I'm talking about the bridge pickups. Most people go for different pickups in the neck because they're looking for different things from that position. I like the Holydiver and Miracle Man for the bridge because it suits what I play but for the neck I like something that's more versatile and offers a more creamy lead, a bit like Dave Murray. The Cold Sweat and the Emerald will do that so they're my favourite neck pickups.

[darkbluemurder]

I have no experience with the Miracle Man neck. Spec wise it looks like it has loads of power which would lend itself well to soloing in the upper register of the fretboard.

Cold Sweat neck is a nice pickup, very articulate and singing, can do cleans well, too. I have one in my PRS for a few years now and still no intention to change it. In another guitar however it was too muddy on the low strings (sounded fine on the treble strings though). I replaced it with an Abraxas neck which is still in that guitar together with a Cold Sweat bridge. It has no problem keeping up in volume with the Cold Sweat bridge. So I guess Abraxas neck would also be a valid choice.

I also like the VHII neck, a bit more vintage feel, a bit more output than the Cold Sweat neck but also very articulate and singing. For cleans I may prefer the Cold Sweat.

I once got the recommendation from Tim to try the Crawler neck (because I had one) with the Miracle Man bridge as he said that would work well, too. Never got around to try that but from an output perspective I think there would not be any problem since I tried it once paired with an Alnico Nailbomb and it had no problem keeping up with that one.

So the best thing to do would be to contact the BKP team, discuss your tonal goals with them and consider their recommendation. In fact many lower output pickups work in the neck position due to the increased string movement.

Cheers Stephan

[Broodwich]

Thanks guys for the input.

I'll give the BKP team a shout and see what they say.  Will post their thoughts here in case others are in making a similar decision.

[Broodwich]

So after some back and forth with Ben from BKP, and some hemming and hawing, and some more hemming, and relistening to the clips more...

I'm going to go HD bridge, VHii neck.

HD should give me enough metal when driven but not overpower the VH, and of course knock the 80s metal sound out of the park.

The VH will give me more versatility, especially split, as well as handle the genres that I mostly play.  Hoping to make this rig a bit of a quiver killer since I dont have the or funds to have guitars for different sounds.