Tell me all about your Aftermaths!

[darkandrew]

Pretty much as the thread title says; tell me about your Aftermath experiences. I am thinking of getting a set to expand my BKP collection and my sound palette (I'm currently using Crawlers, Nail Bombs (Alnico) and a Rebel Yell / VH-II combination). I'm not searching for a particular tone other than something "metal" that's not too "djenty" and will give me something different from what I have already. They'll be going in a basswood super-strat that I think would match these quite nicely and, although I'm very familiar with Paradise Lost's "Tragic Idol" which was apparently recorded mainly with Aftermaths, I wanted to hear other people's experience of them.

[Kiichi]

I had em in a LP type (ESP ish) for a while. First of, that is not the best placement for them. The short scale and load of thick mids, as a LP does and this one was an especially heavy beast, did not make a good pairing. For the bridge that is, the neck was ok. I took em out and replaced them with a Stockholm and a Supermassive, which work much better in that axe for the drop Bb In Flames-ish I was using it for. Now those are also going out since I want to tune it up, so RYs are going in there.

My Aftermath is now sitting on the side till I get a fitting axe, which would be superstrat style. Perhaps even a baritone.

Now for the reasons I shall finally describe the tone. The bridge is a machine. Seriously. Dry as the desert, center mid focused voicing (thus the baritone idea and why it did not fully work in the original axe), super punchy tight as freaking heck bottom end, agressive high end. It is so surgical that it does feel like machine. Stop start riffing is so easy here. The guitar needs to have a proper amount of bottom end though and probably not be center mid heavy (low mids prefered, high mids ok), and not be extremely bright. I imagine a lightly scooped and bit mellow axe would be perfect.
Style wise this can crush all extreme metal sounds easily imho. The amp really dictates here. It´s not the most versatile pickup, but I believe it can go from big death metal, to djent, down to hardcore punk stuff, etc. I even got it to deliver what was not a bad pop punk sound, as it´s agression paired with my Tiny Terror in a way that made it sound more American.
It´s definetly different from what you already have.

The neck was a real joy to me. I think it nailed the early John Petrucci sound (Awake era). One day I´d like an axe with this and a holydiver in the bridge as I think that could nail that early sound. Anyhow, it is very full, fluid as heck, smooth, yet does not loose its bite. Really just listen to an Awake solo or so. Sides that it can of course do modern shred and ambient sounds.


Ok, so that is my stream of conciousnes rant on the Aftermath. Hope it helps a bit.

[darkandrew]

Thanks for your views on the Aftermaths - from what you've said, I'm now not too sure if they will suit this guitar; when I put Crawlers in it, the natural resonant peak of the guitar and the pickup coincided to create a real mid-heavy monster, and from your description of the Aftermath I am worried it will do the same.

[CommonCourtesy]

The AM was the first BK pickup I tried in one of my guitars after a friend recommended them. I installed a bridge one into my LP studio mahogany, in an attempt to fatten up my sound as the stock 498 or whatever it was felt weak to me after a tour.

I did notice a difference in the output and the clarity at first and went with it, as I liked what I was getting. Soon enough though I felt it was too middy and washy, and the low end wasn't there anymore. I play in drop c tuning so you'd think a 12-56 would give you a low enough bottom end. Surprisingly the cleans were pretty good on the bridge, I didn't upgrade the neck as I hardly ever use it.

After about a year I began to research what else I could use to give me more bottom end and that "grunt". I switched it out for a ceramic Nailbomb and instantly noticed the difference. Given time I maybe could have messed with the EQ settings a bit more on my 6505+ head but seeing as I don't play Djent styles I felt it wasn't the right pickup. Its more a pop punk sound with a heavy post-hardcore edge. Its still tight and punchy though and I'm content with it at the moment.

[darkandrew]

The AM was the first BK pickup I tried in one of my guitars after a friend recommended them. I installed a bridge one into my LP studio mahogany, in an attempt to fatten up my sound as the stock 498 or whatever it was felt weak to me after a tour.

I did notice a difference in the output and the clarity at first and went with it, as I liked what I was getting. Soon enough though I felt it was too middy and washy, and the low end wasn't there anymore. I play in drop c tuning so you'd think a 12-56 would give you a low enough bottom end. Surprisingly the cleans were pretty good on the bridge, I didn't upgrade the neck as I hardly ever use it.

After about a year I began to research what else I could use to give me more bottom end and that "grunt". I switched it out for a ceramic Nailbomb and instantly noticed the difference. Given time I maybe could have messed with the EQ settings a bit more on my 6505+ head but seeing as I don't play Djent styles I felt it wasn't the right pickup. Its more a pop punk sound with a heavy post-hardcore edge. Its still tight and punchy though and I'm content with it at the moment.

Thanks ... so that's two people casting doubt over the Aftermaths. Maybe I should consider a set of Juggernauts or Blackhawks instead?

[Dave Sloven]

If the guitar is middy consider the Miracle Man bridge pickup.

[darkandrew]

If the guitar is middy consider the Miracle Man bridge pickup.

I'd thought of the MM but discarded it due to the amount of top end on its tone chart; when I tried my A-bombs in this guitar it was great with heavier strings and in lower tunings (D standard) but in E standard with 9s fitted, the A-bomb's cutting edge was a little too bright.

[Dave Sloven]

I would ask Tim whether he thinks it will work with what you have and what you are trying to do, rather than try to guess from a tone chart.  It's possible what you heard in the A-Bomb was its 'treble detail' or 'hair', which can be very pronounced in a middy guitar. The high end in a MM I suspect is more that kind thing that you only really hear when doing pinch harmonics etc

[darthphineas]

I just installed a set of AM today.  maple body superstrat, maple neck, maple board,  German FR.  seem a little thicker/throatier than I was expecting.  not quite the fast tracking on the lows.  it has the screw poles seen in the uncovered photos and not the hex-head poles seen with the covered.  I also have a set of NBs in a poplar superstrat with maple neck, maple board, and German FR and it is much tighter and more expressive.  going to give it a few days to see if it grows on me.

[Dave Sloven]

I just installed a set of AM today.  maple body superstrat, maple neck, maple board,  German FR.  seem a little thicker/throatier than I was expecting.  not quite the fast tracking on the lows.  it has the screw poles seen in the uncovered photos and not the hex-head poles seen with the covered.  I also have a set of NBs in a poplar superstrat with maple neck, maple board, and German FR and it is much tighter and more expressive.  going to give it a few days to see if it grows on me.

The hex bolts might have helped here.  Try moving the pickup down and the screws up, although when you start doing that - as I did with the A-Bomb in my SG - it can be a case of grasping at straws when the pickup isn't suited to the guitar.

Just in case anyone is confused, hex bolts can be ordered with uncovered pickups.  I have them on my uncovered Warpigs.

[darthphineas]

I think you are right about the hex bolts.  I've been very disappointed with the investment (and at the price, that's what it is! lol!) in the Aftermath set for it to sound hardly like what is described or what others have said.  I have several other BKP pickups and yeterday took the AM-loaded guitar to a pal with lots of BKP experience and he also agrees that they don't wound like what would be expected from an AM.  This same guitar has been used to test DiMarzio Illuminators, DiMarzio Titans, DiMarzio D Activators, and other boutique pickups, so I'm familiar with how a pickup should react to it.

I actually expected them with hex bolts, as that's what's shown in so many promotional photos.  when I opened the box and saw the regular screws, I figured BKP must know what they are doing.  BKP says these screws are "default".  So I'm left with a "default" opinion of being stuck with some expensive paperweights, as I bought these from a dealer in the US and the BKP exchange policy won't apply.  I'm still a little sore from taking a hit on the HD pickup that was suggested to me by BKP, when it was not at all as bright as I asked for and having to sell that at a loss.  I'd be happy to swap out the poles, but I'm not going to pay even more money to ship them to UK because BKP likes to be particularly precious about not allowing customers to perform a simple screw swap.

Reading some of the reviews here in the forum of how the AM almost seems to have a noise gate or how it sound angry and tight and balanced and so on.  Every DiMarzio mentioned is much tighter and it seems to be less-balanced with an emphasis on very low mids and lows, even more so in the neck position which makes my E-standard tuned guitar feel like it's tuned down to C.

The reply from BKP was pretty much a run-through of how the pickup can be ordered with nothing on options to resolve a situation with a set of pickups that do not meet reasonable expectations.  I've bought a dozen BKPs and was about to order 2 more.  This experience is prompting me to put the next set on hold and look for alternatives.

[darkandrew]

I just installed a set of AM today.  maple body superstrat, maple neck, maple board,  German FR.  seem a little thicker/throatier than I was expecting.  not quite the fast tracking on the lows.  it has the screw poles seen in the uncovered photos and not the hex-head poles seen with the covered.  I also have a set of NBs in a poplar superstrat with maple neck, maple board, and German FR and it is much tighter and more expressive.  going to give it a few days to see if it grows on me.

The hex bolts might have helped here.  Try moving the pickup down and the screws up, although when you start doing that - as I did with the A-Bomb in my SG - it can be a case of grasping at straws when the pickup isn't suited to the guitar.

Just in case anyone is confused, hex bolts can be ordered with uncovered pickups.  I have them on my uncovered Warpigs.

Does the choice of bolts or screws make that much difference to the sound?

[darthphineas]

Depends on the alloy used and the length of the pole. But even with the same alloy and the same length, the hex poles are known for a tighter, more focused, articulate result.

[darkandrew]

Depends on the alloy used and the length of the pole. But even with the same alloy and the same length, the hex poles are known for a tighter, more focused, articulate result.

I wondered if it really made a big difference because early Juggernaut photos show them with bolts but newer photos show them with screws.

[Dave Sloven]

I was unsure as to whether I wanted to keep the hex bolts in my Warpigs when I installed them in my yellow SG so I wrote to Ben from BKP before I won the auction on the guitar to ask him if it would be possible to get a set of nickel screws for it.  Here is his response. I am assuming he could do the same thing the other way around (hex bolts to replace screws):

Subject: Re: Warpig pole pieces
Date: 21 December 2014 8:07:20 pm ACST
To: Bare Knuckle Pickups <sales@bareknucklepickups.co.uk>

Thanks Ben

I’m waiting to see if I win the auction on this guitar and if so I will test the Warpigs out in it.  If they suit it better than the Nailbombs I will take out of my Explorer I will then proceed to order the screws as per your instructions.  I’m getting rid of my Explorer because I find it to be a very dark guitar and I don’t really like the ‘50s profile neck on it.

Best regards
David



On 21 Dec 2014, at 8:28 pm, Bare Knuckle Pickups <sales@bareknucklepickups.co.uk> wrote:

Hi David,

It is possible for you to carefully replace them yourself. Do not attempt to put any more wax in the screw holes or anything like that.

So you need 24x nickel screws. The cost is £10.08 GB Pounds for the screws, and we can send them to you in the normal mail for £4 GB Pounds.

Head to the online shop and order a bumper sticker so we securely get your card details. If you actually need any other components or merch please order them instead (but will have to charge full shipping cost).

www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/shop

Write "24x NICKEL SCREWS £10.08 and £4 carriage". I can then alter the cost of the order.

When installing them you carefully remove a bolt and then install a screw, one at a time. Do not over-tighten them.

Kind Regards,

Ben French

I am assuming that if they are sending you new sets of pickups that you could order the pole pieces and they would not charge extra postage.  You just need to discuss it with Ben and make sure it is all clearly written down in the order when you place it.

I ended up keeping the Explorer, by the way.  It is now in C standard tuning and I am using it in a new doom project where the speed of the neck doesn't matter so much as the deep sound I get out of it.  It might end up with Emeralds though