Metal pickup for Basswood (maple/rosewood neck) 7 string?

[littleredguitars2]

so i've been wanting to jump back into some 7 string stuff and i saw that jackson has a $200 7 string thats basswood, maple neck, rosewood board. so it would be a fun one to upgrade the pickups in and still keep cost low. its definitely going to be a metal machine. i've been VERY interested in the black hawk pickups. i wouldnt mind going with the juggernauts even though i have a jugg in a different guitar. miracle man, warpig whatever. just wondering what will work well in that set up. but my eye is definitely on the blackhawk first.

thanks in advance!

[Slartibartfarst42]

I know you like the Juggernauts but if you already have one, I don't see the point in getting another. You might as well just try the Black Hawks. My preference would be the A-Hawk but that's just personal preference. In reality, I wouldn't get either 

[MerlinTKD]

I've got an inexpensive 7 with those exact specs, and done a LOT of research into what BKP's to put in it. I went with Painkillers, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend that (it's a very specific sound in basswood, very tight and sharp).

Biggest questions are: how does the guitar sound acoustically, unplugged (bright, dark, middy)? What will you tune to? And, what style(s) do you want to play?


In general, from what I understand: Blackhawks, Miracle Man, Cold Sweat, Juggernauts, and Aftermaths are all go-to pickups for various contemporary sounds in basswood. Pickups heavy in low frequencies (e.g. Warpig) can get wooly/muddy, depending on your specific guitar and tuning.

[Dave Sloven]

Cold Sweat or Miracle Man for any middy guitar that you want to play metal on.