Pickups recomendation

[ericsabbath]

neck MM is a bit more compressed and has a lot of low mids and less upper mids
it delivers a quite thick and smooth tone
reminds me of the neck vhII, but leaning towards the neck warpig output level

[zenabi]

Just received email from BKP... now after recommendations from you guys, and after listening to several tracks, and when I'm getting convinced to get myself a set of Miracle Man, I got recommendation from Ben and have a total mess in my head
Ben's recommendations are:
-Ceramic Nailbombs
-Juggernauts
-Holydivers
In the first place a was about to get set of Nailbombs with ceramic magnets  as they been recommended by Tim from BKP for my axe and actually after what I read and listen I've been convinced to order them. That's way I ask about them on the beginning. Now after I lost my confidence due to yours advices and recommendations what's gonna work in neck thru and what's not, I getting similar proposition from Ben to what I got from Tim 

[Dave Sloven]

Frankly I don't know why they would recommend Nailbombs for this application.  Nailbombs aren't good lead pickups, for starters, unless your lead playing is just the post-metal reverb-soaked stuff that I sometimes do.  I wouldn't use them for sweeps etc

Their other recommendations seem more on the mark, but I would add the Miracle Man to that list.  Not sure if the MM neck might be a bit too hot, that's why I suggested the HD, CS, or RY neck as an alternative.

Personally I would see it as being between Holy Diver set and a Miracle Man / Holy Diver combo or Miracle Man / Cold Sweat combo for what you want to do and the kind of guitar you have.

If you like in the UK you could follow their recommendations and then return the pickups to them within the warranty period for a different set if you are not happy.  If you live in Australia like me that's not a realistic option.

[zenabi]

I did forget to mention in email that I'm playing quite a bit leads. But anyway, what's important for me is, to get right combination of pickups that's gonna work well I this wood combination. I'm not a virtuoso who's able to find micro differences in sound, and wouldn't be able to create because of it. But want to replace pickups, and feel the difference in sound and feel, from pickups that cost almost twice more then other competitors. I almost decided to get a Miracle Man set. If they work well in neck thru swamp ash should work good too in darker mahogany neck thru and I guess better then my current set of pups. Almost make up my mind but gonna give myself a few days to cool down after all research and maybe someone will come over with other or same advices to convince me more.

[ericsabbath]

all of them can work pretty well
you have a versatile sounding guitar
you just gotta figure out what kind of pickup voicing you're actually looking for

you mentioned at least two bands that actually use bkps (monuments = ceramic nailbomb; sylosis = holy diver)
miracle man gets pretty close to both classic and modern petrucci
for stuff like Symphony X and annihilator I'd consider the painkiller

also, you didn't menton anything about amps
maybe you don't even need a high output model
a medium output model like the rebel yell or holy diver can sound huge in the proper amp:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRaoBDi1Hgc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX7Fbw5refI

that said, the miracle man does have a good history with ibanez RG guitars in general and with maple neck thrus indeed
but seriously, don't get too obsessed
or you might become us

[zenabi]

I did mention good few bands here but not because I want to sound like them but in purpose of scale that pickups should be able to cover. I want be able to play with them stuff like dream theater, teramaze, satriani, vai, slayer, testament etc. Want to able to cover the most of different styles but of heavier music not country or blues. What I mean is I'm not looking to get from pickups exact sound of John petrucci, alex skolnic, Kerry king, Josh middleton or vai etc. but versatility to be able play different styles. Obviously with vintage, blues or country pickups not gonna achieve good results.

[MetalHeadMike]

all of them can work pretty well
you have a versatile sounding guitar
you just gotta figure out what kind of pickup voicing you're actually looking for

you mentioned at least two bands that actually use bkps (monuments = ceramic nailbomb; sylosis = holy diver)
miracle man gets pretty close to both classic and modern petrucci
for stuff like Symphony X and annihilator I'd consider the painkiller

also, you didn't menton anything about amps
maybe you don't even need a high output model
a medium output model like the rebel yell or holy diver can sound huge in the proper amp:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRaoBDi1Hgc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX7Fbw5refI

that said, the miracle man does have a good history with ibanez RG guitars in general and with maple neck thrus indeed
but seriously, don't get too obsessed
or you might become us

Like Eric said here, the Rebel Yell can achieve monstrous metal tones. I just put one in my Walnut Carvin and it sounds great through my Engl Savage 120 and my Engl Fireball 100 for thash, death stuff, any modern metal as well. I also have the Painkiller and its like a RY on steroids to some extent. I love the Painkiller even more for thash and death metal.  You have to like upper mids with either of the former though. Both are tight as hell in the low registers, punchy/throaty in the mids, and bright, but not harsh, in the highs.

[gwEm]

With maple neck through I recommend a ceramic pickup. They really seem to work well. I heard about this years ago on this forum and tried it for myself. Never been disappointed.

The thing with the Miracle Man is that the cleans are very mediocre. Other than that I find its actually quite versatile for the distorted styles I play from hard rock through to thrash.

[Dave Sloven]

The alternative would be a Cold Sweat.  The cleans on the Cold Sweat are good and it is pretty good for leads.  It just doesn't have the bottom end of the MM

[gwEm]

The alternative would be a Cold Sweat.  The cleans on the Cold Sweat are good and it is pretty good for leads.  It just doesn't have the bottom end of the MM

Yes, the cleans on the Cold Sweat are good. I was forced (due to a shitety sound guy) into trying them out at my last gig and was surprised and very happy with them. They even sounded a bit vintage-ish.

[ericsabbath]

I didn't like the clean tone of the miracle nan in les pauls, but it sounds amazing in my bandmates prs mccarty
in the les pauls it sounded opaque and hollow, but in the prs it sounds more sparkly and much clearer
it cleans up really well with the volume knob even on high gain channels and has one of the best splitted tones I've heard