7 String Pick-up.

[and96ted]

Hi guys! I'm a new folk, so let me briefly introduce myself.
My name is Andrea and I live in Italy, my favourite genres (to listen and to play) are Progressive Rock/Metal and Hard Rock.
I'm going to have built a custom 7 string guitar (or at least, I hope so) and I would be very glad if you can give me some advices about the pickups.
Whit that guitar I will play mainly Metal (not only technical/progressive) but I want to eventually play Hard Rock too.
Some bands/artists that I can mention as an example of the sound I would like to have are Dream Theater (expecially the "Awake"/"A Change Of Season" era), Animals As Leaders, Tesseract, Porcupine Tree (In Absentia/ Deadwings era), Alkaloid, Beyond Creation, Skyharbor, Keith Merrow but also Scorpions and Steve Vai/Joe Satriani.
So, something quite vesatile: good tight distortion rythm, liquid and singing leads, warm but clear clean and quite realistic crunch (not like playing AC/DC with an EMG 81), good parallel sound (i'm not gonna using them as single coil, only series/parallel).
I would like to have a mix-piercer sound, brilliant (but not harsh or thin on the upper frets), with a good amount of mids and not too much bass (keep the low end for the bassist, make them useful too ahahahah )
The guitar will be a neck-throuhg body, with maple/wenge/amaranthe neck, ebony fb, chambered black limba (or black limba on the treble side and swamp ash on the bass side, it has not decided yet) body, flamed maple top, 26.5"/25.5" fanned fret with the parallel fret at the 5th, hardtail headless bridge.
I will use mostly the bridge p.u. for rhythm, neck for lead (and clean sound) and the combination of the two for cleans

For the bridge p.u. I'm torn between the Juggernaut and the Holydiver (probably the first one), but for the neck humbucker I have no clue, or rather, i have too many:

-Emerald: I really want to try AlNiCo IV magnets and I have read that it's a "vintage modern" sounding pickup, so it seems suitable for my needs. I have heard the clean clip and I love how it sound on chords, but I don't know if is good for leads (it's quite bright and I fear it will be thin sounding on the higher frets);
-Holydiver: I know that the bridge version is perfect suited for solos, but I don't have read anything about the neck.
-Juggernaut: Calibrated set, nothing can go wrong, right? But I like to experiment and I like it for the lead playing, but probably is too dark for first position chords (expecially including the low B/A string)...
-Black Dog: Little less hotter and vintage voiced HD, so same thoughts and maybe not enough bright;
-VHII: Same as the Jugg, love the lead but not the clean and maybe too vintage;
-Aftermath: I have read that it could be a little harsh, I don'y know how it sounds for lead but I really like it for cleaner stuff;
-Miracle Man: I like the sample for the clean, but I fear it will be too poweful respect yhe Jugg at the bridge (17.4KOhm vs 13.3KOhm), too scooped (yeah, I like mids) and too compressed;

So, after all these words, I hand you these questions:
-Wich pickup do you recommend?
-The difference in tone between covered and open coil can be dealed with a little change of the amp eq? It is more manageable with radiator covers?
-There are significant differences between the screws and bolts? If yes, what are them?
I hope you guys manage to clear my head and forgive me for any grammatical mistakes I made.
Regards, Andrea.

[Dave Sloven]

First point I'd make is that all of the charts on the BKP site are for the bridge versions.  I haven't heard of the Miracle Man neck being scooped.  A Nailbomb neck would be more scooped.  But still I think a MM neck would be too powerful for most bridge pickups in the range

You might want to consider a Rebel Yell set.  It sounds a lot like what you describe and inn a 7 string it should have enough bass.  It will certainly give a tight bottom end and both pickups will be great for leads and cleans.  Tighter than a Holy Diver ad heaps of upper-mid cut.  I'm just not sure how your combination of woods with that tuning would sit with a RY bridge.

[and96ted]

First point I'd make is that all of the charts on the BKP site are for the bridge versions.  I haven't heard of the Miracle Man neck being scooped.  A Nailbomb neck would be more scooped.  But still I think a MM neck would be too powerful for most bridge pickups in the range

You might want to consider a Rebel Yell set.  It sounds a lot like what you describe and inn a 7 string it should have enough bass.  It will certainly give a tight bottom end and both pickups will be great for leads and cleans.  Tighter than a Holy Diver ad heaps of upper-mid cut.  I'm just not sure how your combination of woods with that tuning would sit with a RY bridge.

I have not loocked for RY set, i'll do just after I finished studying :)

Thanks a lot!

[Dave Sloven]

No worries. It is difficult to find videos of the RY set in a seven string, but here's a comparison between it and a Suhr set in a seven string.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IYulriOq4k

Here's a comparison with an Aftermath bridge, but in an eight string:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-ppjENE6J8

As you can hear the RY works well with low tunings.

[and96ted]

Oh, yeah! RY bridge in that demo kicks Aftermath's ass!
But I still undecided between RY neck and Emerald...
In your opinion what is the best for leads?

[Dave Sloven]

I would say that it really depends on your style. RY is better for shredding

There is a review of the six string version of the RY set on here recently

We have a whole list of reviews here as a sticky, I would suggest going through them for an opinion.  I would also suggest contacting BKP directly and asking them for an opinion regarding how the pickups you are interested in have worked with guitars with similar woods, construction, and tunings.

[Slartibartfarst42]

Personally, I'd be VERY wary of using a Rebel Yell bridge pickup in this guitar. Like the A-Bomb it has a good amount of aggressive upper mids and when I tried an A-Bomb in a maple neck-thru with a rosewood board it was absolutely awful and I can't imagine yours will be that much different. For me, the best bridge pickup sounds like a Holydiver because it will cover the styles you're after, it's pretty versatile for a contemporary pickup and it has the best lead tone you're likely to get in a bridge pickup. As an alternative, you might want to look at something that's more vintage hot as opposed to contemporary, especially as Satriani prefers vintage style pickups and Vai's Gravity Storms aren't super powerful with the Crawler being a possible BKP equivalent. That being the case, I'd seriously consider using a Black Dog in the bridge. It's similar in voicing to the Holydiver, has awesome tone. It's also a tight pickup that is very versatile and should suit your guitar and styles very well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaqEET376-I

If it was me, they'd be my top two choices for the bridge.

For the neck, I think it may depend on which bridge pickup you opt for. If you go for the Holydiver, the Emerald would be a perfect choice. The Emerald neck is NOT a thin sounding pickup, it's awesome with leads as well as chords and takes plenty gain perfectly happily. The Holydiver/Emerald combination is one of THE must try pickup combinations in the world. Alternatively, if you went for the Black Dog in the bridge, I'd be inclined to go for a Black Dog in the neck too. It's very similar to the Holydiver neck so that would be an option too but I'd go with the calibrated set. It will be bright enough as the Holydiver neck is quite a bright pickup.

[Dave Sloven]

With regard to a six string I would tend to agree with you on this Slarti, but the extended range of a seven string tends to change things quite a bit.  That's why I suggested talking to BKP directly, as they have quite a lot of knowledge regarding extended range guitars and that style of music.  I agree though that the Black Dog is worth looking at as it has a good rep in sevens

[and96ted]

I have just sent a mail to BKP, now I'll wait for the answer. Thanks to all guys!

[dani]

I have just sent a mail to BKP, now I'll wait for the answer. Thanks to all guys!

what did the good folks at bkp recommend?

[and96ted]

I have just sent a mail to BKP, now I'll wait for the answer. Thanks to all guys!

what did the good folks at bkp recommend?

They suggested me RY neck and Jugg Bridge.