New pickup for my PRS Singlecut

[PK]

I have a 2004 USA PRS Singlecut, one of the first things I did to it was remove the original pickup. There were not bad, just too average.
I replaced them with a Mule in the neck and a Suhr Doug Aldrich in the bridge. Both are amazing pickups.
But a while back a buddy gave me this amazing Tokai Les Paul goldtop. Thing looks and plays wonderful!

So I figured to put the Suhr Doug Aldrich in that one, since Doug mostly plays a goldtop, and put something else in the bridge of my Singlecut.

I'd like to have something a little but more metal, so I thinking Ceramic.
To be honest I have some ideas of the BKPs that might be suitable, but I just want to know what you guys think.

The setup I'm now using is a little rock and not as 'metal' as I'd like it to be, so I'll be adding a Victory Kraken soon.
But for now it is (in stereo setup):
Budda Superdrive 18 (with WGS ET65 to tame it down a little) and a Egnater Tweaker 15 (with a WGS Vet30)
My main drive (or push) pedals are the Lovepedal Kalamazoo, Xotic EP Booster and the MXR GT-OD

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention, I tune to D and drop C.

Some keywords:
Alter Bridge
Opeth
Porcupine Tree
Steve Wilson
Slash
TesseracT
Periphery

[Slartibartfarst42]

Slash looks very odd in that company to me as far from ceramic magnet Metal pickups, he's using Alnico II. You clearly like the Doug Aldrich tone and the nearest to that in the Bare Knuckle range is probably the Holydiver but you want something that's perhaps a Holydiver on steroids to give you more of the Metal tone you're after without sacrificing the core characteristics of the tone you love. On that basis there's only one choice for me - Miracle Man.

When I wanted what you're after now, I contacted BKP and told them I wanted a pickup with the smooth, organic warmth of the Holydiver but with a more pronounced and tighter bottom end as well as highs that could really scream for solos. Tim got back to me in very short order and told me I'd just described a Miracle Man and it would do exactly what I wanted. I was a little sceptical but took the plunge anyway and it was spot on. It does indeed share a lot of the characteristics of a Holydiver but is just that bit more 'Metal'.

[PK]

Hahahah, not at all what I expected!!! Nice!!

I must say I never really considered the Miracle man, but I guess it would make sense.
PRS guitars are usually a little honky/middy (in a good way), this singlecut is no exception.

thnx

by the way, how are those fjords coming along?

[Slartibartfarst42]

Still loving the crinkly bits around the edges 

[ericsabbath]

Some keywords:
Alter Bridge
Opeth
Porcupine Tree
Steve Wilson
Slash
TesseracT
Periphery

well, alter bridge has 2 guitarists
the c-bomb and the miracle man sound pretty good for the tremonti sound, although his signture pickup is a little more painkillish
for the myles kennedy's tones, I'd pick something like the abraxas, maybe an emerald or rebel yell for a darker sounding guitar

the opeth sound also varies a lot
if you're talking about their latest tones, most of the stuff sounds more like a stormy monday, pg blues or mule than like hot rodded pickups
I love their last album

I believe Porcupine Tree is mostly stock PRS low and medium output + piezo pups

Slash is obviously a job for the low output alnico 2 or 4 pups

the dj0nt stuff usually claims for a ceramic pup, but that's if you wanna copy the standard tone

I think you gotta figure out what type of tone you wanna build for youserlf and for this particular guitar
I personally love the riff raff in prs and les pauls for pretty much anything
when I want a more aggressive tone, I'll just add a pedal and more gain from the amp

[Dave Sloven]

I would take a closer look at the alnico Black Hawk.

It should be able to cover most of the bases you mention

[metale]

Maybe a Riff Raff bridge with a Mule neck. I had a Riff Raff bridge on a RG7 that I used for metal.

[PK]

Thanks guys for all the input!!!

I think the list I gave was more a way of triggering some reactions than a definitive list of what I want this guitar to do.

I'm currently in the process of writing (and soon will be recording) my first solo album. I have an array of guitars at my disposal so I have a lot of sounds covered.
As I said, I really like the Suhr Doug Aldrich, but I'm looking for something along that line, only a little bit more "modern".........

The sound I'm looking for is a slightly more aggressive and 'bite'-y Steven Wilson sound.

Would the C-Bomb be able to do that?

[ericsabbath]

not a lp type guitar, but the video below is quite representative regarding the c-bomb sound, in my opinion
in my les paul custom it sounded pretty similar, but obviously much deeper and a little darker in the mids
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t8dVF4lOrs

and here's a friends video with a les paul custom
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUJmmtXapoA

[PK]

Thnx Eric!
I'm really gravitating towards the C-Bomb right now.

Anyone did a comparison between the Miracle Man and the C-Bomb?

[ericsabbath]

Thnx Eric!
I'm really gravitating towards the C-Bomb right now.

Anyone did a comparison between the Miracle Man and the C-Bomb?

I didn't have them in the same guitar, but I did have the miracle man in a jap les paul copy that had the alnico nailbomb, cold sweat and holy diver, and the ceramic nailbomb in a 70's lp custom that also had the alnico nailbomb, cold sweat and holy diver
the guitars do sound different, but the other common pickups can give some referential baseline

the ceramic seems to have a more even frequency distribution, while the holy diver is a little bassier, has less upper mids and more top end
I'd even say that the c-bomb is actually the most balanced ceramic pickup I've ever played
it also has a slightly compressed sound that most bkp models don't have
it feels a bit punchier and higher output than the miracle man, despite of the lower dc
the miracle man has more focused lead tones, a more modern sounding rhythm tone and pinch harmonics, and it cleans up a bit better, in my opinion
for the tones you mentioned, I'd still pick the c-bomb rawness over the miracle man, but the miracle man is absolutely amazing
I think the c-bomb was actually the first bkp used by misha mansoor (I remember nolly being a c-bomb enthusiast too)