Schecter Stiletto-6 FR - recommendations?

[Dave Sloven]

I am looking at acquiring a relatively rare but inexpensive guitar via a trade.

The Stiletto-6 FR was offered in Schecter's Diamond Series in 2008 and features a mahogany body with a lacewood top, and a bolt-on maple neck with a rosewood fingerboard.  The stock pickups are EMG passives (HSS configuration - EMG HZ H4/S-1/S-1) and it has the licensed version of a Floyd Rose tremolo that comes with Schecter's cheaper/older Diamond Series trem guitars. I am mainly looking at it for a cheap guitar with a floating tremolo that could easily be converted to a better quality trem (e.g., Gotoh) later if needed.  From what I have been told these trems are not too bad, better than the cheap Ibanez trems and a lot of the trems that used to come on the cheaper Jacksons and Kramers.

I am wondering what suggestions people might have for pickups.  My main guitar is an Epiphone Explorer with a Nailbomb set.  I am looking to use this Schecter in the same tuning (and in the same band) for songs that require a tremolo on leads.  I want a bridge humbucker that is great for lead work.  I am also curious regarding suggestions for single coils.

My band plays a kind of blackened sludge doom metal in C standard tuning (two full steps down).

There aren't many videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNcV91ptB9U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toFPZkKhSgk

The one I am looking at is not the dark colour in those videos, it is amber.

[capac]

I think HD would work perfectly.

[Dave Sloven]

I have long been curious about the alnico Black Hawk.  Does anyone know what it is like for lead work?

[capac]

I do. Holy diver does it better IMO.

[dxlxntxxlxr]

i will continue with my newly established tradition of militantly recommending the juggernaut. does doomy sludgy stuff really well

[capac]

HD is the best choice IMO. Juggernaut sounds too modern.

[dxlxntxxlxr]

HD is the best choice IMO. Juggernaut sounds too modern.

Have u played it or are u basing this on sound clips? Because when I was looking at pickups i had many an inaccurate preconceived opinion on the juggs

[capac]

I haven't played them, but the fact is, they sound more modern than HDs.

[Dave Sloven]

I would be looking for something that in this 25.5" scale bolt-on maple neck and mahogany body / lacewood cap body would be in the ballpark of the A-bomb in my Explorer, but a bit nicer on leads.  Nothing too vintage or too 'nice' ... my impression of the Juggernaut is that it can be a little too polite by comparison with the A-Bomb.  That's why I was thinking the A-Hawk but videos of it are really scarce on youtube, most of them are C-Hawks.

[capac]

HD can actually sound really aggressive, even more than A-hawk I'd say.

Blackhaws are quite a bit different than most other BKPs. They are more compressed (and even because of the blades).

[stratguy23]

I’ve played both the HD and Juggernaut, so I’ll weigh in. The HD is definitely more vintage voiced and can be pretty aggressive, it also works great in guitars with Floyds and has a great lead tone. It could be a very good option, only thing is I don’t have experience with a HD tuned that low (I’ve only messed with it in standard tuning). The Juggernaut is more modern, but I was very surprised by its tone. It is very versatile and can do everything from clean to ultra high gain. It handled drop C really well. It’s tighter than the HD, but that isn’t to say the HD isn’t tight because it is. I don’t know if the Juggernaut would be the right call here because it is lower output than the Nailbomb and not as aggressive as even the HD. It is a really good pickup though, and I think the advent label turns people off, but it does so much more than that.

With a Strat type guitar with a Floyd, it is going to have less inherent low end compared to an Explorer. The HD fattens up a Strat nicely, but what about a Warpig? I haven’t tried them in a super Strat, but I’m considering putting one in a really bright super Strat that I have. I know you have experience with Warpigs, and they should work for the style you play. That huge bottom end might be the ticket for getting a super Strat to sound like an Explorer with Nailbombs (though I have not yet tried a Nailbomb and don’t own an Explorer, so this is just a guess).

For the singlecoils, what are you looking to get tonally from them?

[capac]

I can vouch for HD in low tunings. It handles modern drop B metal and stays pretty tight.

[dxlxntxxlxr]

yeah from what ive heard tightness isnt a problem with the hd. Nolly swears by the holy diver/vhii combo (at least he used to recommend them a lot, dont know if thats changed)

[Telerocker]

Did you consider the Miracle Man too?

[capac]

Miracle man in a strat isn't too similar to a NB in an explorer IMO.