Black Dog in an SG?

[_tom_]

Still looking for the right bridge pickup for my SG and seen a Black Dog up for sale 2nd hand for a decent price. Anyone tried it in an SG and how did you find it? I currently have a set of Mules which are most of the way there but I think I prefer the higher output pickups in my other guitars for driving the amp that bit harder (sd custom custom in my strat and pig 90 in my lp). form what I gather the BD is a bit darker? I tend to roll my tone knob down with the mule anyway so it might be ok?

[darrenw5094]

I remember the Black Dog to be pretty bright, as least as bright as the Mule. The slightly scooped nature of the Mule might suit it better. The Black Dog has a lot of low mids which may or may not be too much mids for a middy SG. So it could be a gamble..........

But i am sure there are members on here with a BD in their SG to give exact advice.

[Dave Sloven]

I remember the Black Dog to be pretty bright, as least as bright as the Mule. The slightly scooped nature of the Mule might suit it better. The Black Dog has a lot of low mids which may or may not be too much mids for a middy SG. So it could be a gamble..........

But i am sure there are members on here with a BD in their SG to give exact advice.

I've seen some comments on here from people who have had positive experiences with a Black Dog in an SG.  SGs are middy though and depending on how bright and/or resonant the particular SG is it could get a bit much.  It's a gamble really.  Could turn out well or it could be overbearing.  I think people have used all of the vintage hot pickups in SGs but the sample size has been pretty small.

[AndyR]

I think I'd give it a go, based on my SG experiences. I've had Riff Raffs and MQs in an SG, both work but I have to be in the right mood or need the sound of the bridge. Maybe some more lower mids would make it more of a go-to guitar for me... it would be a fingers-crossed gamble, though.

[_tom_]

Alright cheers guys, I may give it a go for £75!

edit - just paid for it so will get some comparison clips up when it arrives :)

[Alex]

I had very positive experience with a Black Dog in my SG, although I sold the whole guitar two years ago.
Everybody told me "too dark, too many mids", but I found that the BD added a lot of mid range definition.
I did tweak pickup height (quite high) and pole pieces though. I also put 500K pots in. Great "zing" then.

The bigger problem I see is that SGs are very varied in their tonal attributes - results can probably differ a lot between instruments.

[_tom_]

Just got it in... first impressions are it's pretty similar in output etc to the Mule but a nice midrange push. Definitely stronger for leads and riffs and it's still tight and clear for chords. Pretty happy with it to be fair. Definitely not too dark, I still have to roll off the tone knob a bit. Still wouldn't mind a bit more output with a similar voicing, possibly a bit darker, is there anything in the BKP range that might get me there?

Now, the real question is, does the cream go in this guitar, should I get a matching neck, or get this covered black and gold poles?

[gwEm]

Just got it in... first impressions are it's pretty similar in output etc to the Mule but a nice midrange push. Definitely stronger for leads and riffs and it's still tight and clear for chords. Pretty happy with it to be fair. Definitely not too dark, I still have to roll off the tone knob a bit. Still wouldn't mind a bit more output with a similar voicing, possibly a bit darker, is there anything in the BKP range that might get me there?

Now, the real question is, does the cream go in this guitar, should I get a matching neck, or get this covered black and gold poles?

in my opinion the mismatch absolutely rocks and you should definitely leave it like that!

[_tom_]

Haha it does give it that modded look I guess!

[ericsabbath]

looks astoninishing
love double cream buckers and also the mismatch

how did you set the height?
in my experience with big surrounding pickguard SG's and flying V's, I always had the bridge pup almost completely out of the cavity
if you don't have it extremely close to the strings already, this will provide the extra output and body

[_tom_]

Yeah I've got it really close to the strings, same as I had my mule set.

[AndyR]

Looks great like that (and I'm usually a fan of covered pickups). And it sounds good in the clips section too.

Black Dogs were on my radar for my very first two sets years ago - I went Mules and Riff Raffs instead as the safe option. It's taken me all the way up until this January to discover that Stormies should have been one of them... and, hearing your clip in the SG, I suspect Black Dogs should've been the other one!

[darrenw5094]

Just got it in... first impressions are it's pretty similar in output etc to the Mule but a nice midrange push. Definitely stronger for leads and riffs and it's still tight and clear for chords. Pretty happy with it to be fair. Definitely not too dark, I still have to roll off the tone knob a bit. Still wouldn't mind a bit more output with a similar voicing, possibly a bit darker, is there anything in the BKP range that might get me there?

The Warpig is hotter and darker 

[_tom_]

I wasn't a fan of the Pig 90 in this guitar, not sure if it was too high output or what. Just had another play and I'm really liking the Black Dog actually. The mid range bark suits the kind of tone I go for I think. And switching to the neck Mule sounds far too polite in comparison haha