PAINKILLER

[Pale Rider]

Hello, it's been a while since I posted here last time. Today I got the Painkiller for my Ibanez Iron Label RGIT20FE-TGF, I wanted for some time now to try this pickup because I felt it's more or less what I'm after. The guitar acoustically has a noticeably scooped sound and I thought the Painkiller with it's focused mids would be a nice match.

I tried a lot of pickups throught the years and I had finally concluded that my favourite is the Holydiver, I just wished it was a little more agressive. Another pickup I really liked because of it's extreme tightness is the DM Evo, but otherwise it was too 2D sounding, flat and boring.

Well, after trying the Painkiller seemingly it has both features I was after, the focused mids of the Holydiver (I love focused mids, I can't stand broad open tones) and the crazy tightness of the Evo. It sounds metallic in such a cool way, it's aggressive as hell and with a real bass tightness. Most so-called "tight" pickups feature a midrange-high freq tightness while the low frequencies are just booming on the back. The Evo and the Painkiller have that sick low freq tightness that beats like a hammer, with the only difference that the 'Killer is a lot more toneful. It has the 'Diver's focused deepness in the mids with a cool metallic chime and edge. The pickup really plays on its own, it has a nice bouncy compression and super clarity. Finally found MY pickup! \m/  \m/

I'm really happy with the pickup so next month I'm ordering the neck one to complete the set. The only slight problem was that the short legs are too short for my guitar which has no pickup rings, so I ordered the long ones which were too tall lol. But I bent them a little and now it's perfect. Better than having too short ones, and with this amazing sound and feel now these are really tiny letters.


I've been in pickup researching for years since 2004, been aware of BKPs since they launched the alnico Holydiver and I can now say thet BKP earned my respect over the rest "big ones" because they simply sound superior. I'm not paid to say this lol, I'm just an audio electronics engineer and happen to know one thing or two about sound. No matter how many times I go back and forth trying different pickups, I always go back to BKPs.

I also have a Warmoth strat with Trilogy in neck and middle and an SD Alt8 in the bridge that I will replace with an alnico Nailbomb in the future (or ceramic I don't know yet). An LTD MH-400 with a Holydiver bridge that will get the neck one too and an Ibanez RG 270DX with a Miracle Man in the bridge that will get a Miracle Man neck as well.

Anyway thanks for reading my long post and best wishes in your tone search. \m/  \m/

[Kiichi]

Cheers for the writeup. Very glad to see some love for the Painkiller in a way that is not focused on djent and all. Added it to the Sticky Thread too. =)

[Pale Rider]

Hey Kiichi thanks for that! Yeah I mostly play Metallica or In Flames style and similar stuff. I wanted a guitar that is purely for metal and nothing else and the Ibanez with the Painkiller does it perfectly. Now after a while playing the guitar I can say the Painkiller is my favourite pickup. I'll complete the set with the neck model too.

My other guitars are a really dark sounding Warmoth strat, I think it could use a Nailbomb or an Aftermath. The MH-400 is a really middy/bright guitar, the Holydiver is tested and approved in there, sounds really cool. And my first guitar an Ibanez RG basswood body, maple/rosewood neck will get the Miracle Man set.

Edit: Here's a picture of the guitar with the Painkiller in the bridge and an SD Jazz in the neck (soon to be a Painkiller neck). I'll order the 4-conductor wire version for the neck and a push-push or push-pull volume pot for coil split switching.

[Pale Rider]

Ok, yesterday I ordered the Painkiller neck to complete the set on the Ibanez, and by the way, here's a short clip of the Painkiller and a few free plugins. It can be more crunchy than this, the guitar is not precisely tuned here.