Pickups for Progressive metal?

[FrankensteinShred]

Hey guys! I was wondering if any of you could give me some advises on which pickups to choose. I have a Schecter Hellraiser C1 Fr with emg pickups. I'm mostly playing symphony X kind of stuff, i want to achieve powerful riffs and clear sounding solos. i also want an amazing clean.
 
For example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9QoPr1RzPs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5VUcImmpbI

i also want to be able to play any kind of Blues,Jazz, or funk music.

Can i do coil tap?

Would you guys give me any recommendation? i was thinking in Miracle Man...

PD: excuse my poor english!

[Dave Sloven]

Like many 'boutique' pickups BKPs have a certain range that they excel in, that's one reason why there are so many different models.  This means that they are not 'jack of all trade' pickups.  Blues, jazz, and funk are certainly covered by BKP but I wouldn't think of the Miracle Man to cover those styles.  You might be better off getting a second guitar with something from the Vintage or Vintage Hot range to do that kind of thing, and something from the contemporary range to cover the Symphony X style etc. Listening to it you might even find the new Juggernaut could suit the Schecter.  You will need to order it in 53mm pole spacing on the bridge for the Floyd Rose, and be careful regarding the leg options.  Generally the long legs are good in Gibsons (and essential for the bridge of an SG), but in other guitars you might not have enough room.  You might prefer short leg if you can get away with them, as they suit a broad range of guitars.

On the funk, jazz, and blues stuff, I would probably look at a second guitar, possibly with P-90s.  BKP also make humbucker sized P-90s.

Speaking of humbucker-sized P-90s, the Stockholm *might* be versatile enough to cover everything, but I would still tend to suggest having one guitar for metal (and rock at a stretch, depending on style) and another one to cover jazz, blues, and funk.

[Slartibartfarst42]

There's absolutely no way a Miracle Man will cover all those styles. It's a tall order for any pickup but it certainly won't be that one. To get the tones you're after and have some degree of versatility, the two I'd look at would be the Holydiver and the Abraxas. The Holydiver is going to be better at your progressive Metal but also has very decent versatility while the Abraxas will ultimately be the most versatile option. It depends if your primary focus is Metal or versatility but I think both of these will do the job.

[Telerocker]

No pickup can fullfil all those wishes. Besides the mentioned HD I would also have a look at the alnico Blawkhawk.

[JimmyMoorby]

There's absolutely no way a Miracle Man will cover all those styles. It's a tall order for any pickup but it certainly won't be that one. To get the tones you're after and have some degree of versatility, the two I'd look at would be the Holydiver and the Abraxas. The Holydiver is going to be better at your progressive Metal but also has very decent versatility while the Abraxas will ultimately be the most versatile option. It depends if your primary focus is Metal or versatility but I think both of these will do the job.

I havent played the abraxas set but I have a mule set and and they do heavy metal extremely well but that was in a heavy mahogony guitar and of course you also get the vintage sounds too.  I think if you wanna cover all those styles theyre youre only choice realistically but if you were just saying symphony x for example (who cover a wind range of prog/rock/metal/styles) youd have several options.

I assume you arent drop tuning?

[Slartibartfarst42]

I believe that if you think of an Abraxas as a really hot Mule with a more modern wire for a bit extra cut, you won't be far wide of the mark.

[JimmyMoorby]

Sounds cool.  The mule neck in a les paul is the best lead sound ive ever been able to conjure out of a guitar shame les pauls are so hard to play higher up the frets ....oh and expensive.  Im sure I read somewherethat if Tim could only have one set of pickups hed pick the mules and I can see why.

EDIT - The black hawks will get you the metal sound and jazz sound for sure for nothing else imo
I love progressive music and play mastadon and dream theater stuff using using the nailbomb bridge and cold sweat neck.
Sounds like a mule or abraxas set would suit the whole range though better though

[Telerocker]

Sounds cool.  The mule neck in a les paul is the best lead sound ive ever been able to conjure out of a guitar shame les pauls are so hard to play higher up the frets ....oh and expensive.  Im sure I read somewherethat if Tim could only have one set of pickups hed pick the mules and I can see why.

A PRS doublecut doesn't have the upperfretacces-problem.

[klauskirkelein]

I use AM+TS+CS in my Ibanez Universe for progressive and power metal and I couldn't be happier.


Sublime mids in the AM bridge, all across the spectrum really. I love that pickup.

Very nice cleans with the TS mid also, alone or together with a tapped bridge/neck.

And sweet dark solo tones with the CS neck.

Worth considering IMO!

[Dr.Pain]

I'm going mention Hetfield EMG's.  I know it's not BKP related but the clips you posted sounds like EMG's to me.  They offer a wide range of tone but may not cover everything you want to do.  If the Hetfield's work then it saves a re wire.  It will be hard to find a pick up to cover all you want.  I have an ESP with the Hetfield's, a Les Paul and a Strat, which covers a vast range of tone.  That seemed an easier way for me and I got some nice and different guitars to play.

You can get BKP's to cover what you want but it might have to across multiple guitars.  They are damn fine pick up's too.

[FrankensteinShred]

Thank you very much!

i really do appreciate the help you all gave me :D I want to choose a pickup set and never change it. For that reason I want to choose carefully and be 100% sure that I'm choosing the correct pickup that matches my style. I agree with you all: I will focus on progressive metal style, i will buy another guitar in the future for my other necessities.

so...my options (Only Metal):

1-Juggernaut Set (it seems very Djent!)
2-What about Holy diver bridge and emerald/cold sweat neck for sweet and clear sounding solos?
3- other

PD: i play in D tuning.

Help to choose a perfect set  :D (alnico or ceramic, etc etc)

Thank you! i will read carefully ur comments.

[Slartibartfarst42]

Ceramic will be tighter and more aggressive while alnico will be sweeter and more versatile. For me, the Holydiver/Emerald set is VERY good indeed and you'd struggle to find much better than that. The tuning shouldn't be a problem. I play in Eb and it's fine.

[Dave Sloven]

Thank you very much!

i really do appreciate the help you all gave me :D I want to choose a pickup set and never change it. For that reason I want to choose carefully and be 100% sure that I'm choosing the correct pickup that matches my style. I agree with you all: I will focus on progressive metal style, i will buy another guitar in the future for my other necessities.

I started out with the same idea (one guitar to cover everything) and ended up with a compromise that I was never happy with (CS neck/A-bomb bridge). I now have more than one guitar and three BKPs to cover most of what I want to do, and another guitar on the way with P90s which will cover the rest.  You could get yourself a nice SG, Strat, or Telecaster later to cover the funk, jazz, and blues.  Single coils are great for those styles.

Go have a look at that Juggernaut video that Bulb posted today in the Juggernaut thread.  When I watched it I thought of the kind of tones you are trying to achieve.  I don't like djent either but the video only does a tiny bit of djent and gives a very good idea of the sound of the pickups across and up the neck and both pickups individually and combined clean and dirty.

Could be perfect for you.

[Telerocker]

If you want to stay on the safe side with alnico warmth and classic metalattitude: Holy Diver/Cold Sweat- or Emerald-neck. I would also conisider the alnico Nailbomb.
Modern: alnico Blackhawks or Juggernauts.

[fps_dean]

There's absolutely no way a Miracle Man will cover all those styles. It's a tall order for any pickup but it certainly won't be that one. To get the tones you're after and have some degree of versatility, the two I'd look at would be the Holydiver and the Abraxas. The Holydiver is going to be better at your progressive Metal but also has very decent versatility while the Abraxas will ultimately be the most versatile option. It depends if your primary focus is Metal or versatility but I think both of these will do the job.

While he's right, if you like a more in your face sound, you might also like the Nailbomb.  My nailbomb is in an Alder guitar so it's pretty thick and mean sounding, but in a maple/mahogany guitar they're a bit brighter.  I think you'd get much more versatility with the Holydriver or Abraxas though.