Alternative pickup to Seymour Duncan SH-5 Custom

[darkandrew]

I have a Seymour Duncan SH-5 Custom in one of my guitars that I use for metal and industrial (rhythm) playing in E standard. In another guitar that I also use for metal and industrial rhythm playing, but tuned to D standard, I have an Alnico Nail Bomb set. The problem is this - I actually find myself preferring the SH-5 and am thinking of swapping the Nail Bomb bridge in my other guitar for one. It's not that I particularly dislike the NB bridge it's just that I prefer the "chunk" of the SH-5 Custom. Here's an example which typifies the sort of thing I'm playing with this guitar and the sort of tone I'm looking for (and getting close to with the SD Custom):

https://youtu.be/K1jvrvdQMt8

Any suggestions for an equivalent BKP before I do the unthinkable?

[Yellowjacket]

The Custom is a good pickup.  Go with what works for what you need.  If you were to explore another BKP, I would suggest the Aftermath.

Were you using an  Alnico Nailbomb or a ceramic one?

[Dave Sloven]

To be honest I love KJ but Raven's bass seems to drown Geordie's guitar out on that track

For a sound closest to Geordie I would go to Stockholm-equipped SG Junior tuned to D standard.  I used to interchange it with a alnico Nailbomb in an Explorer and an alnico Warpig in an SG and out of the three the Stockholm SG was easily the punkest and had the nicest top end

If you get one of these you will need to fully shield your guitar and be careful to keep your body between the pickup and the amps

[darkandrew]

For a sound closest to Geordie I would go to Stockholm-equipped SG Junior tuned to D standard.  I used to interchange it with a alnico Nailbomb in an Explorer and an alnico Warpig in an SG and out of the three the Stockholm SG was easily the punkest and had the nicest top end

If you get one of these you will need to fully shield your guitar and be careful to keep your body between the pickup and the amps

Knowing that Geordie usually uses P90s, I'd thought about them but 2 things put me off:
1 - do they have enough grunt for heavy rhythm playing?
2 - are they too noisy to be used for high gain playing?

I've got to be honest, I've never used P90s but I am intrigued by them. How do you find yours?

[Dave Sloven]

The Stockholm has a lot more balls than your regular early '60s A5 Gibson P-90, which is closest to the Nantucket.  The Supermassive is kind of in between the two.  The Stockholm and Supermassive have a lot more bottom end to their EQ than the Nantucket, especially the Stockholm.  I can do palm mute metal stuff well on mine, I guess it helps that I have one of the Graph Tech Resomax bridges, which are more ergonomic than your usual wraptail.  The Gotoh 510UB would also be a great choice for an adjustable wraptail if you end up using a SG Junior or Les Paul Junior.  But P-90s can  be fitted to most guitars and BKP makes humbucker sized versions.  I don't have a neck pickup in that guitar but the Stockholm neck is very nice.  I would probably recommend mixing a Supermassive neck and Stockholm bridge on an SG though, as they tend to suffer from boomy neck pickup syndrome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9f2m4PVwAE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rh72AzMd1F4

[darkandrew]

The Custom is a good pickup.  Go with what works for what you need.  If you were to explore another BKP, I would suggest the Aftermath.

Were you using an  Alnico Nailbomb or a ceramic one?

The Custom is surprisingly good and I'm surprised that there doesn't seem to be a direct BKP equivalent. I've got a Cold Sweat set in another guitar, but apart from being a moderately hot pickup with a ceramic magnet, the two pickups have very little in common (ie different wire type, guage and coil symmetry). I wonder how the Brute Force humbucker compares to the Custom? The clips sound promissing but with so little info out there, it's hard to know for sure.

[ericsabbath]

I find the ceramic nailbomb somewhat similar, but still clearer

[darkandrew]

I find the ceramic nailbomb somewhat similar, but still clearer

I had thought about having the Alnico magnet on my Nail Bomb changed to ceramic (see other thread) but I'd be worried that I'd lose the bottom end chunk and gain top end fizz by doing this. The other thing is that even with a magnet swap they'd be very different pickups - the Nail Bomb has an asymmetric wind which gives it it's hairyness whereas the Custom has two evenly wound coils which gives it a more solid timbre.

[ericsabbath]

Perhaps you could try something different like a True Grit
It's quite chunky and dense sounding and less hairy than both sh-5 and nailbomb