Metal pickups for a les paul

[JDiaz]

So I recently bought a wolf les paul and I was looking to give bare knuckle a shot. This is going to be the first time i buy BK pups
The guitar specs are as follows:
Mahogany body with flamed maple veneer
24 3/4 inch scale
Rosewood fingerboard

What pickups would be a good choice to play stuff like arch enemy, system of a down, metallica, megadeth, dethklok, and anything in between?
I use an Orange micro dark I got a Peavey 6505+ combo amp with a TS9, MXR fullbore metal, and the hall of fame.


Also i checked the rebel yell but they soun a little too bright, would they sound different when installed in a les paul?



Thank you

[capac]

Sorry, but I'd say better amp first. You can almost get a nice 15-20 watt tube head for the price of new BKP set.

I'd probably go with nailbomb though.

[Kiichi]

You can do better on the amp, but I donīt think that is the main thing here. I am mainly playing on a Yamaha THR these days and those buggers have come a long way. Got a Tiny Terror too, but in my apartment situation, it is just too loud.

So, pickups. You will likely want something on the brighter side, if the LP does not happen to be very bright to begin with. I would say have a look at the Rebel Yell. It is basically made to work in LPs. Tight, upper mid spike, overtones, rocking roar,...carries itself from classic rock and blues to the extremes of modern metal. Since you have pedals that can go quite extreme you should be able to cover a lot of ground with it.
The neck imho is more metal than the bridge, so if you want solos with gain on it is spot on, but if you like the neck in bright and also be able to do more classic cleans full on other options might work better. Not that the RY neck does not do cleans very well, but it does not do the PAF type of cleans.

[JDiaz]

Sorry, but I'd say better amp first. You can almost get a nice 15-20 watt tube head for the price of new BKP set.

I'd probably go with nailbomb though.

I love that amp so much, I didnt know it was that bad.

[JDiaz]

You can do better on the amp, but I donīt think that is the main thing here. I am mainly playing on a Yamaha THR these days and those buggers have come a long way. Got a Tiny Terror too, but in my apartment situation, it is just too loud.

So, pickups. You will likely want something on the brighter side, if the LP does not happen to be very bright to begin with. I would say have a look at the Rebel Yell. It is basically made to work in LPs. Tight, upper mid spike, overtones, rocking roar,...carries itself from classic rock and blues to the extremes of modern metal. Since you have pedals that can go quite extreme you should be able to cover a lot of ground with it.
The neck imho is more metal than the bridge, so if you want solos with gain on it is spot on, but if you like the neck in bright and also be able to do more classic cleans full on other options might work better. Not that the RY neck does not do cleans very well, but it does not do the PAF type of cleans.

I listened to then, they are quite bright, i guess I will look for a new amp first tho, then i will come back to the pickups

[Telerocker]

Check the EVH 5150III 15W LBX.

[capac]

I'm just saying... the before mentioned 5150 3 lbx will make your tone SO MUCH BETTER than a new set of pickups could.
I'm also enjoying my helix a lot lately, and LT doesn't really cost that much

I say get a new amp first, then upgrade the guitar.

[Yellowjacket]

The even harmonics and tight bass make a Rebel Yell sound bright.  I love the openness, clarity, and chainsaw grind that the Rebel YELL bridge has. 

That being said. I suggest trying a Rebel Yell N and an A-bomb bridgd for what you want.  A-bomb has more hair, more cut in the treble, and a thicker bottom, but the highs are 'warmer'.  Your new amp probably hits the spot...

[capac]

Rebel yell could work for you very well if it's brighter sound doesn't bother you.

I have alnico black hawks in my les paul (and they are friggin amazing), but they wouldn't be my first choice if I were you.

[Nolly]

You could take it in the direction the others have suggested by going to a mid-output pickup for the natural clarity/brightness and tight low end they'll impart. They won't give as much of a liquidy sustain and juicy feel as you might be after though, so you'll have to work the right hand quite hard and consistently to maintain aggression. Nothing wrong with that though, and there are certainly rewards in clarity and definition to be reaped be going down that route.

The other option - and this would be my recommendation - is to step right up to the Ragnarok, which has a vibe closer to an active pickup with a very tight low end, heavy saturation and low resonant peak for the vowel-y mid character you hear in a lot of metal tones, without the one-trick pony sound you get with the traditional choice of active pickup. It's got a lovely liquidy playing feel and satisfying pick chirp, and doubles as an awesome lead pickup as a result.

[capac]

Ragnarok reminds me of a more traditional metal pickup (more so than other BKPs). It sounds great for brootz IMO.

[perturabo2000]

Hey, I upgraded my Eclipse from EMGs to a black dog set, nice and tight sound, might be too middy for your style though, but the sound cuts through the mix now

[capac]

If you want your pickup to sound big you'll definetely want a higher output pup than black dogs.

[Nolly]

If you want your pickup to sound big you'll definetely want a higher output pup than black dogs.

I think it really depends how you define "big". One of the key aspects to a tight and defined metal sound is not having much low end from the guitar signal hitting the first gain stage of your amp - this is why so much of the time active pickups and boost pedals are used since both filter a lot of low end out of the signal. The aspect that you do lose with a low output pickup is the compression character of high output pickups giving a more constantly saturated sound that requires less effort from the player/guitar to maintain. On the positive, this same less compressed character of a lower output pickup can be perceived as more "punchy" and intelligible dependent on the player and rig

[Dave Sloven]

The 6505+ combo is not a bad amp, it just has a cr@ppy speaker in it.  A lot of people have converted them to heads which on these is a very simple job, and then run them into your standard Vintage 30 412 or 212 cabs.

I have a Peavey 6534+ and I am very happy with my Nailbomb set (alnico bridge) in my Explorer going into that (my tuning is C standard).  Rebel Yell or VHII would also be good neck options in place of the Nailbomb if the Nailbomb neck isn't your style.