Total pickup nube - recommendation for Les Paul playing black metal?

[midnightseagull]

Alright so I'll admit in all my years of playing guitar I never messed around much with exploring the different possibilities of pickups. I've heard great things about Bareknuckle pickups so here I am.

I basically want a set of pickups to give me lots of mid-high range clarity. I play a lot of weird chord voicings with lots of open ringing strings and want the most amount of detail possible. This is in a "black metal(ish)" setting so I still need some cut out of a bridge pickup. As is mentioned in the title, I'll be putting these in a modded Les Paul, mahogany body, maple neck.

Any help would be wildly appreciated! Thanks!

[EffigyForgotten]

Sounds like a Holy Diver job to me. Black metal doesn't typically need a certain voicing in a pickup (like tight bass, smooth high, or whatever) other than chord clarity, and for black metal I would pick a pickup that has that and a voicing that can be heard in the mix, therefore a Holy Diver seems like a good option, other than that a Duncan JB/Jazz set would work. The JB is thinner than the HD bridge and cuts through the mix better but the HD is smoother, (pretty much sounds like a JB with the high-end cut off) and is less "raw" sounding than the JB which could actually work for BM.

[Kiichi]

Hi and welcome!

I donīt listen to much blackmetal as usually there is something lacking to me and I found out why when I saw Dimmu Borgir performing with an orchestra. That was so epic....
Anyhow, just know I am no expert on this music.

My guess would be that as you said you really want bit, agression and upperhigh mids focus.
That to me spells three main possibilitys: Rebell Yell, Cold Sweat and Painkiller.

The RY is a PU that is pure rock, with a lot of agression in the upper mids. Sounds very lively and organic there. Many overtones to be heard. Lotta cut, pretty darn tight and versatile. Had no problem with definition and clarity ever (you rarely have with BKPs, but when I got recommended the RY is specifially asked for that even). I use mine from classic rock to modern metal and everything in between. Also very tweakable as it is very sensitive to height changes. Within a turn I can change the feel of my bass response from Pop Punk to Hard  Rock. Loves LPs too.

I can comment less on the CS, but the bridge here is also said to be on the bright side. Should be a bit smoothed out in the mids compared to the RY as it is ceramic. Also loves LPs.

The Painkiller is dry, high output, agressive and tight. If you enraged an aftermath this is what you would get. Might be to modern for you though.


What you are looking for in the neck I donīt know so I would need more info on that.


Cheers!

[Telerocker]

If you to keep details, a Black Dog is often used for metalstyles (even in sevenstrings). You keep the open PAF-character, but with extra mids and still enough topend. Tight enough too. BD is a good partner for a mapleneck Les Paul.