A-pig or C-pig for my daily dose of death?

[MetalHeadMike]

Whats up guys,

 I've been researching BKPs for quite a while now and have narrowed it down to either an A-pig or the C-pig.  This would be the bridge only and dropped in a solid walnut Carvin 6 string with a rosewood board playing strictly death and trash stuff in Drop C tuning.  I would like to know if the A-pig's low end has the potential  to stay tight and articulate in the low frequencies when playing really fast staccato stuff, fast paced chord changes, and palm muted chugs. Obviously signal chain will dictate MUCH of this , which I have covered (Clean boosted Fireball 100) and technique as well ;which I like to think I'm a pretty tight player.   Is the C-pig really that much tighter?  Also would like to know if the C-pig is considerably or only marginally more compressed than the A-pig. 

Thanks!

[MetalHeadMike]

Wow! I really appreciate all the input here

Thanks guys.

[Kiichi]

Sorry, I saw it but just donīt have anything to say. I donīt know enough about death metal, the pig, or your amp.

[MetalHeadMike]

Sorry, I saw it but just donīt have anything to say. I donīt know enough about death metal, the pig, or your amp.

Completely  understandable. Thanks man!

[Dave Sloven]

I've got an A-Pig but I've never had a C-Pig to compare it to and I'm not brilliant at that kind of riffing anyway.

The A-Pig is good for doom metal and for crust punk.  I would think that the C-Pig is not a bad option for you.

[MetalHeadMike]

I've got an A-Pig but I've never had a C-Pig to compare it to and I'm not brilliant at that kind of riffing anyway.

The A-Pig is good for doom metal and for crust punk.  I would think that the C-Pig is not a bad option for you.

Thanks man!

I found a few more discussions about both pups and based on the recent info, I think I'm gonna give the C-pig a shot and if that doesn't seem to do it for me I'll exchange it for the A-pig.  If neither one of those work out, I'm heading for the Holy Diver. 

[Dave Sloven]

Have you considered the Miracle Man?  That is the best BKP for old school death metal I would think, and might work best for you too

[MetalHeadMike]

Have you considered the Miracle Man?  That is the best BKP for old school death metal I would think, and might work best for you too

I did consider that as well, but it's a bit to scooped in mids for me. 

[Kiichi]

Ah yes, the MM being scooped. You are not exactly wrong, but not quite right either. Thing is that the mids are not taken out. They are there, nothing lacking. It is just that the low mids and the high end are the focal point of the voicing. That makes the chuck, crush, and cut happen. However, the rest of the mids is still there and builds the foundation so that it is not actually scooped.

You know what I am getting at? On a burger the condiments / tomatos / lettuce (high end) and the beef (low mids) really steal the show and you wonīt pay much attention to the bun (rest of the mids), but that does not mean they are not there. If they werenīt youīd notice.

[MetalHeadMike]

Ah yes, the MM being scooped. You are not exactly wrong, but not quite right either. Thing is that the mids are not taken out. They are there, nothing lacking. It is just that the low mids and the high end are the focal point of the voicing. That makes the chuck, crush, and cut happen. However, the rest of the mids is still there and builds the foundation so that it is not actually scooped.

You know what I am getting at? On a burger the condiments / tomatos / lettuce (high end) and the beef (low mids) really steal the show and you wonīt pay much attention to the bun (rest of the mids), but that does not mean they are not there. If they werenīt youīd notice.

Interesting analogy! Now I want to go out for big ol greasy burger   Your right though, and I actually deleted the word "scooped" when I was posting and was going to say that the mids are in a different place, but I got lazy and let the word "scooped" fly.  I should have said that the MM just doesn't have the mid spectrum I'm after and maybe too much focus on the highs.

[Dave Sloven]

Depends on how much your guitar brings to the table too, in terms of mids, highs, and lows.  On a really middy guitar type like an SG a pickup that doesn't add much in terms of mids but adds a lot of lows and highs can be a godsend with regard to balancing it out and the guitar won't sound 'scooped'.  As with everything - and especially with BKPs, given their relatively uncompressed character compared to many pickups - you have to consider the acoustic properties of the instrument and how they will interact with the qualities of the pickups.

[MetalHeadMike]

Depends on how much your guitar brings to the table too, in terms of mids, highs, and lows.  On a really middy guitar type like an SG a pickup that doesn't add much in terms of mids but adds a lot of lows and highs can be a godsend with regard to balancing it out and the guitar won't sound 'scooped'.  As with everything - and especially with BKPs, given their relatively uncompressed character compared to many pickups - you have to consider the acoustic properties of the instrument and how they will interact with the qualities of the pickups.

I hear this a lot:  "you have to consider the acoustic properties of the instrument and how they will interact with the qualities of the pickups".  I'm sure there is something to that statement, but I myself can't hear any discernible difference in actual frequencies between two solid body electric guitars when played acoustically. I mean no disrespect what so ever in my former statement, and you guys that hear that level of detail in frequencies in an unplugged solid body electric have a far keener sense of hearing than I do.  All I hear between say my Carvin walnut and my mahogany Gibson LP acoustically is a difference in volume and  maybe dullness/brightness. 

I would definitely agree though that one pickup may sound great/balanced in a guitar while another may sound like cr@p in that same axe. 

[Dave Sloven]

I think that it's easier to hear on a loud, resonant guitar like an SG.

On a guitar with a lot of sustain but not much resonance - like my Explorer - it's not so easy to hear unplugged but it is safe to assume that it is dark and bassy.

From what I have heard of walnut it tends to be less middy than most woods, more 'toppy' like maple.

[MetalHeadMike]

I think that it's easier to hear on a loud, resonant guitar like an SG.

On a guitar with a lot of sustain but not much resonance - like my Explorer - it's not so easy to hear unplugged but it is safe to assume that it is dark and bassy.

From what I have heard of walnut it tends to be less middy than most woods, more 'toppy' like maple.

That makes sense regarding the resonance. My LP must be much more resonant than the Carvin because its definitely louder/brighter acoustically.

I'd be interested to try the same bridge pickup in my LP and the Carvin to compare and see if the walnut is indeed less middy.  I can say that with the stock C22B bridge in the Carvin, this is a superstrat body btw, I really dig the mirange.  It's got an aggressiveness, a growl to it that I can't get enough of and that I don't get out of my LP or my Jackson.  Is it a combo of the stock pup and the wood? Is it the walnut?, or is it just that particular piece of walnut? Got me. I've heard others describe walnut as having a prominent growl in the midrange, and I've also heard it described as being right in between mahogany and maple in terms of warmth and tone. I don't know much about the different tonal or sonic properties of various woods, but I do know I much prefer the character, if that's even the right word, of my walnut Carvin to both my mahogany/maple capped LP or the mahogany/maple capped/chambered Jackson I play. It just sounds more alive, more defined in the bass frequencies and the midrange.  Now, I can't wait to hear it with a C-pig! Should be pure

[Dave Sloven]

I guess that's what I meant, more growly mids like a Jazz bass, rather than raspy mids like an SG.  There seems to be a lot of different sounds that people to attribute to mids.  The worst is honky mids

In the '70s Gibson made SGs from walnut with ebony boards and those sound different

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-xVMSEwRQg