Bridge pickup recommendation...

[HEadoftheAges]

Hello, friends! I am BACK.  I just wanted to get a few thoughts.  I recently had a Dunable Yeti built for me.  It boasts a Mahogany set neck/body, ebony fretboard, and Ziricote top.  It has Les Paul-stye hardware in the respect that it has a Schaller tune-o-matic with stop-gap tailpiece.  The "difference" is that it is 25.5" scale to help with the lower tunings I prefer.  I keep it in D standard, and I am running into issues in terms of its overall tone.  It came built with Dunable's own proprietary pickups - it has a Grizzly in the Neck, which is more PAF-ish in design, and a Slug Wolf in the bridge, which I found to be wayyy too "woolly" and dark.  He was kind of enough to replace the bridge pickup with a Baphomet, which is essentially his take on a "passive pickup with active" leanings, and while it is closer it is still not quite there. Almost like it has a slight "roundedness" to the tone when distorted.

I tend to like a tight response that is good for thrashy/black/death metally chugs while still retaining a bit of open, vintage chime for full chords as well as a warm-ish clean tone.  My favorite pickup of the BK line is the Mule, but I am wondering where I should go next? I like how "3D" the Mule sounds in my semi-hollow Heritage H555, but there's a lot more maple in that guitar; the Dunable seems to have a naturally dark quality to it.  I am looking at the Riff Raff and the Black Dog, as well.  I tend to prefer more vintage-voiced pickups for this purpose, but I am open to suggestions. Thanks!

Regards,
Alec

[Dave Sloven]

I would probably take a closer look at the Emerald bridge if you want something brighter, tighter, with a crisper high end.  Another possibility would be the Rebel Yell bridge but that might not be 'vintage' enough for you.

[timmy_pix]

I would vote Emerald as well. I love mine for metal, but you do have to dig in with your playing. It's very tight in the bass, but has enough to keep single notes sounding full; it has strong mids and good presence, but quite sweet treble, so it feels bright but doesn't sound harsh. The real joy is it has that vintage character and clarity, so big open chords sound full and clear, but it's got the tightness to give riffs aggression.

[Telerocker]

I would go Black Dog here. Relatively low output compared to the Emerald, so more open, plenty of topend despite the extra mids. Still enough PAF-flavour and damn tight for a vintage(hot) pickup.

[darkandrew]

Death Metal chugs with a hint of PAF in a dark guitar? That's almost exactly the same brief I came up with when I ended up with an Alnico Nail Bomb set. There is a feeling amoungst some that NBs can't do lower tunings - now that may be the case for LOW tunings but D standard isn't all that low in reality and my NBs handle it just fine.

[Lucas]

From my own experience I would say either Emerald or Cold Sweat bridges. I have both and it depends how much 'metal' and how much 'vintage' you want to go. Both pickups will perform brilliantly in your guitar as both are a bit brighter.

Cold Sweat would be better for trash metal and heavier styles while still having that 'vintage' classic vibe. It`s definitely more towards classic metal than Emerald. It`s also tighter and bit 'crispier'.

Regarding Emerald, couple of weeks ago I wrote review here so you can take a look. I would not call it a metal pickup at all, it`s more towards rock/heavy blues while being more vintage and less tighter than Cold Sweat. It also has nice subtle 'roaring' mids, Cold Sweat is a bit scooped in mids. Emerald also shines in open chords, absolutely brilliant. Emerald in my opinion is also more 'vintage' sounding than Cold Sweat.

Both have nice lead tones, but Cold Sweat has more 'screaming', more agressive leads than Emerald.

[Dave Sloven]

A hotter version of the Emerald that could be used instead of the Cold Sweat is the Rebel Yell.  But yeah I immediately thought of those three for a dark guitar.

[HEadoftheAges]

Thank you, gents!

Regards,
Alec