Best pickup for low tunings

[capac]

Hi, I'm looking for a replacement bridge pickup for my les paul (PAF style stock pickup) with something that is hotter, tighter and more agressive in general. I usually play in drop B, so the stock pickup tends to get quite flubby. I play modern rock/metal, quite some gain. My amp is orange rockerverb, which doesn't have super tight low end. I've been looking at miracle man, holydiver, nailbomb and painkiller. I'm not sure whether should I go with ceramic or alnico. I like to get pushed cleans by rolling off guitar's volume - current pickup handles it really well. Any recomendations welecome!

[Dave Sloven]

You might want to consider a Rebel Yell or the alnico version of the Nailbomb.

Cold Sweat is another one to think about - out of the ceramics it has the best cleans

[capac]

Cleans aren't my priority really, I just need it to kinda clean up so it's not full-on distortion. I like to do the thing Adam Jones does on song Lateralus where he brings in the volume to get to distortion, just maybe a little dirtier cleans. Will consider the cold sweat. I've heard rebell yell is really similar to SD JB which I find too lose in the low end  and a bit honky.

[Dave Sloven]

Actually the Holy Diver is closer to all JBs except for the early production JB.  The Rebel Yell is one of the tightest bridge pickups in the BKP range

Here's the RY against an Aftermath in an 8 string playing djent.

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

[Dave Sloven]

You should also consider the Impulse, which was designed for lower tunings.  Here it is in a Les Paul:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kot1vCp0IQ

[Slartibartfarst42]

I would generally endorse everything Dave has said. The Impulse is an easy suggestion because it was made for low tunings but it's certainly not your only choice. The A-Bomb is astonishingly tight and aggressive for an alnico pickup and the Rebel Yell is based on the A-Bomb, it's just not quite as aggressive but is also a bit brighter and tighter. The Black Hawk would also be a very good option for what you're after.

[capac]

I want my pickup to sound big and tight at the same time, not just pure tigtness without low-end. Impulse wasn't really heard in the mix in this demo IMO. What about miracle man?

[Yellowjacket]

A-Bomb or Rebel Yell. 

[Dave Sloven]

The Miracle Man should work, just that like the Cold Sweat the sound is scooped in the mids compared to the A-Bomb or Rebel Yell. Black Hawk is another suggestion that is good, as would be a Painkiller.  It sounds like the Aftermath might be too dry and tight for your taste.  Another alternative to the Rebel Yell (bit with less output) is the Emerald.

Depends on the sound you are after.

[Slartibartfarst42]

The Miracle Man has quite a big perceived bottom end because as well as bass, the mids that are present tend to be low mids. The scooped element in the Miracle Man seems to be more the upper mids to me. In a Les Paul in a very low tuning, I'd be a bit concerned that you'd end up with too much bottom end, especially if your amp tends to be a bit on the dark side and/or isn't too tight. I think that part of the reason you feel the Impulse is lost in the mix is because, like the Miracle Man, it's a bit scooped. I always like plenty mids from my guitars because they really cut through a band mix well. I think you need something a bit brighter overall with strong mids as well as tighter.

The alnico Black Hawk tames the top and bottom end a bit compared to the ceramic and retains strong mids so should leave you with a very full sounding tone that is good and tight. The Painkiller should also work well because it's bright overall with a healthy amount of mids and very tight. Exactly the same goes for the alnico Nailbomb, which will be the most aggressive sounding of the lot while also retaining more of a PAF feel to it. The A-Bomb is a really pi**ed off sounding pickup that is made to be in a Les Paul. I think that any of these three would be top of my list and my choice would depend on what I wanted my tone to be like. If I wanted a really modern tone, I'd go for A-Hawks. If I wanted a really aggressive, huge and tight sounding PAF-style pickup I'd go for the A-Bomb and if I wanted something between the two, I'd consider the Painkiller.

[capac]

Interesting... What about C-bomb compared to A-bomb? I'm not sure how tight the A-bomb is. I'm also not sure if painkiller enough low end to it because I like my tone a little fatter.

[Slartibartfarst42]

The C-Bomb sacrifices some of the mids in exchange for more top end, which is why I think the A-Bomb will suit you better. Don't be concerned about it being alnico as I've heard plenty ceramic pickups before that are nothing like as tight or as aggressive as an A-Bomb. Most of them actually! It's like to other alnico pickup I've ever come across. As for the Painkiller, I suspect that the combination of Les Paul guitar and very low tuning will give you ample bottom end but if you look at the EQ charts (often misleading I know), the Painkiller has the same bass and treble but pushes the mids a bit more. These are admittedly upper mids so it sounds brighter overall but it's not a super bright pickup in the way that a Rebel Yell or Emerald are.

[Dave Sloven]

In drop B in a Les Paul you should have enough bottom end no matter what.

The Rebel Yell and Emerald both have less bottom end than a Painkiller.

There are a couple of clips regarding the alnico/ceramic options.

Black Hawk:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qacdnnbe2k

Nailbomb:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2kvQkpz5sM

[capac]

Thanks! I think I prefer C-bomb. 8 string is used in the black hawk video so I couldn't really tell, ceramic just seems to be a little tighter.

So it's between C-bomb, MM (too muddy?), cold sweat (hot enough?), and painkiller.

[Dave Sloven]

That's a seven string.  The Black Hawk is not available in an eight string