Suggestions on a bridge pup for Schecter KM7 MK1

[zarapovic]

Hello there friends. Recently got myself a km7 with the nazgul/sentient set, and I have to say that pickup is aptly named as the nazgul shrieks. Maybe it’s the guitar and the wood it’s in, but I can’t find a tone I like out of it, direct or amp.

So I’m looking for something a bit more balanced in the dynamic range. Less treble, but not a cut, I was considering a warpig 7, but I have a warpig 8 on another guitar and was thinking about trying something new. I love the range and clarity of the pickup, but it does get a bit woofy, as it should really.

What can you suggest that is a good compliment to the swamp ash body of the guitar? A pig  with more mid and less mud would be perfect. Would that be the aftermath?

Thanks

[Dave Sloven]

I have an alnico Black Hawk in my Schecter Stiletto and I am really happy with that, but that has a bolt-on neck with a rosewood fingerboard whereas your guitar is a set neck with ebony fingerboard.

Here is a comparison of the ceramic Black Hawk with a Nazgul:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8V4BOD5yhgQ

The blade pickups seem to be less finicky than the other BKPs regarding the guitar that you put them in.

The alnico Black Hawk has more low mids and less top end than the ceramic version.

Here is a comparison of the Nazgul to the Holy Diver

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOpnYf3zqHA

To me the alnico version of the Black Hawk sits somewhere between the ceramic Black Hawk and the Holy Diver.

Not sure about the swamp ash. I am also running a Gotoh GE1996T tremolo (which come with a standard size brass block) and I tend to think that the bridge has more influence on the sound than the body material on a floating tremolo guitar.

[one]

Black Winters as they told you in the other forum.

[zarapovic]

Black Winters as they told you in the other forum.

Caught me! From what I’ve heard on YouTube, tbe BW has the exact tone I’m trying to avoid.

[Nolly]

If you're after something hot like the warpig but clearer in the low end I'd highly recommend checking out the Ragnarok or Miracle Man models. Either would be great choices in that guitar.

Do you own other guitars that have a single volume, no tone setup? Without the loading of a tone pot you are going to be getting a much sharper resonant peak out of your pickups, which could easily be why you're finding them to sound "shriek"-y. If you lower your guitar volume pot half-way then make up the gain on your amp, do you like the smoother top end response you get? Regardless of your pickups you might find it worthwhile to either solder in a 470k resistor (that's the closest regular value to a 500k pot) between the live input to the volume pot to ground, which will soften the shrillness of the pickups in the same way you'd get if there was a tone knob in the circuit, or you could just sub the 500k pot for a 250k if you really wanted to. Just a thought!

[zarapovic]

I didn't consider the lack of tone knob! What a revelation haha. I'll solder in a resistor first to see how that affects the sound. If it's still nails on chalkboard bad I'll probably go with a Ragnarok then. It seems perfect. Thanks bud