Help me choose a pickup

[arem]

Hi all - I have an ash bodied, maple necked super strat w/Floyd that I am planning to change the bridge PU on. It currently has a Duncan Distortion but I would like something that is a bit bigger and tighter on the low end without sccoping the mids. I play strictly rhythm guitar (standard tuning), so I have no concern about lead tones here, and I'm playing old school, crusty HC punk in the style of bands like Nausea, Doom, DropDead, etc. I was thinking either Nailbomb or Warpig, but the WP might be too high output for me correct? If I went NB do I want Alnico or Ceramic? Is there another model I should be looking at? Oh yeah, my amp is a Sovtek Mig100 played loud and clean, with a fuzzbox as my dirt. Thanks for the advice!

[Dave Sloven]

First of all, I want to say that your taste in bands is sweet!  I saw Dropdead play here in someone's house in Adelaide when they did their 1997 Australian tour, and love Nausea and Doom too (and probably a heap of other bands you like!).

I just bought a set of alnico Warpigs for my Epiphone Explorer for this sort of application (there is a thread on it somewhere).  I tend to think that the alnico version might be more suited for this style than the ceramic, as it will give a bit more mid-range 'dirt'. I also have an alnico Nailbomb in an SG and get a pretty nice 'Nazi Die' out of that in standard tuning, but as you know most Doom songs you need D or C# and I am setting the Explorer up to play stuff in C# (and possibly below for grindcore stuff) and that's what I asked for recommendations on.  Your guitar is brighter than an Explorer I'm sure.  What I have read about Warpigs suggests that while EMGs perform better in darker guitars as you go better the Warpig more and more has the edge on the EMGs, and people like Warpigs in SGs, which are brighter sounding than Explorers and Flying Vs.

The alnico Nailbomb is definitely 'hairy' and punk sounding in an SG.  I'd say that's its main characteristic in that guitar.  The ceramic version seems less so.  I'd say that an alnico pickup is probably your best bet, whether it is a Nailbomb or a Warpig, given your tastes.  The ceramic ones might seem too 'controlled'