Black Dog in a non-Les Paul?

[Twank45]

Hello ladies and gents!

I’m looking for a bridge Humbucker for a very light, chambered, small-bodied alder guitar (a warmoth velocity, if you must know), and the BKP that seems to be closest to what I seek is the Black Dog.

My question is, will it be too trebly in this guitar, which is a slip of a thing? I’d like to have some good bass response in a hot vintage-type bridge Humbucker, but black dog demos I have seen online always seem quite bright. Is it just inaccurate audio? Will the black dog allow me to achieve that meaty, gelatinous tone, with notes sinewy and glistening like freshly cut gobs of stew meat shooting from my amp?

Thought from experienced BD players are most appreciated.

The beck pickup, if it matters, is a Dimarzio Cruiser (the bridge model, a la Andy Timmons).

-ciao!

[Dave Sloven]

It could come out sounding a bit nasal in a bright guitar.

I would look at the Crawler more closely.

[Samwise]

I have a Black Dog in an alder tele. It sounds amazing. The tone doesn't quite have the density/thickness of a Les Paul of course, but is perhaps comparable to an SG...? I feel it lets the guitar's natural character shine through. To me, it feels like a sweet spot between early single coil tele Page tones and his later Les Paul tones. Certainly don't find it to bright, it sounds very balanced in my guitar with just the right amount of cut. I won't be changing it any time soon.

[Twank45]

Thanks for your replies!

[Telerocker]

The BD can be a bit honky. And yes, the highs are present. More than you would expect. 'Meaty, gelatinous tone' reminds me instantly of a Crawler which has a unique growl as well. And the split tone is happening as well.

[Twank45]

That’s two people who have suggested the crawler. Hmmmmm
On paper the crawler bridge seems really hot, in terms of output. I don’t want the bridge too hot

[Telerocker]

That’s two people who have suggested the crawler. Hmmmmm
On paper the crawler bridge seems really hot, in terms of output. I don’t want the bridge too hot

Crawler is medium hot, just a tad hotter than the VHII in my ash strat.

[Dave Sloven]

I wouldn't consider to be overly hot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztcyF4thTrY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxzCH7HYbl4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMcSepn3FcM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwTylTb1m8U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSghgh-nEtY

Like Telerocker said, roughly in the VHII / Emerald ballpark

[Twank45]

Those demos sound real good. Thank you for bringing them to my attention. Doesn’t sound too hot, actually. I’m a big fan of headroom and cleaning up with volume knob.

[Telerocker]

Those demos sound real good. Thank you for bringing them to my attention. Doesn’t sound too hot, actually. I’m a big fan of headroom and cleaning up with volume knob.

I was surprised how good the Crawler cleans up. And splitted the tone is close to a good telecaster, not whimpy pling pling at all.

I have done hundreds of gigs with my HSS strat loaded with Crawler and Irish Tours. You can cover a lot of ground.

[Twank45]

The options I was thinking of for the bridge in this guitar of mine were the black dog, the Dimarzio Fortitude and the Kinman PAF astound. I’d started to feel the black dog and kinman might be too trebly, and now I am seriously considering the Crawler bridge after such high praise by you all. My only real
Concern is that it is too hot. I am not a metal player. I want a thicker bridge tone that sounds good cleaned up and overdriven. I don’t want notes to get hairy too easily.

I am going to look for more demos and think real hard about it, perhaps down some ayahuasca and really contemplate this decision with my spirit animal. Thank you all.

[Dave Sloven]

It's not a metal pickup.  It is a thick, darkish rock pickup that for that reason splits really well, so great for lighter, brighter guitars.

For the same applications if you wanted a more metal pickup you would need something like a Holy Diver or Juggernaut.

The Crawler should really be in the 'vintage hot' range.  In some ways it is a bigger, darker version of the Abraxas, which could work for you too.

Actually one way to think of the relation between the Crawler and the Abraxas is to think of it as like that between the Stockholm and Supermassive pickups in the P-90 range.  Same basic tone, but the Crawler just has more of everything

[Twank45]

Would you say the crawler is dynamic, responding to pick attack?
Okay, now the Abraxas is on my radar. The description and a sound clip initially made me think it was mid and treble-heavy.

[Telerocker]

It's not a metal pickup.  It is a thick, darkish rock pickup that for that reason splits really well, so great for lighter, brighter guitars.

For the same applications if you wanted a more metal pickup you would need something like a Holy Diver or Juggernaut.

The Crawler should really be in the 'contemporary hot' range.  In some ways it is a bigger, darker version of the Abraxas, which could work for you too.

Actually one way to think of the relation between the Crawler and the Abraxas is to think of it as like that between the Stockholm and Supermassive pickups in the P-90 range.  Same basic tone, but the Crawler just has more of everything

I agree to all, yet the Crawler still has a vintage vibe and enough PAF-pedigree to place it on the top of vintagehot. I would say it is not as contemporary as a Rebel Yell.

[Telerocker]

Would you say the crawler is dynamic, responding to pick attack?
Okay, now the Abraxas is on my radar. The description and a sound clip initially made me think it was mid and treble-heavy.

Enough pickattack for me, just with a pleasant bit of compression. What I like is that even higher on the fretboard the notes keep their weight. The Crawler has enough presence in the topend, but rounded in a pleasant way. Never shrill, cuts well though.

So in terms of dynamics and open sound: Mule (dynamic, open, 3D, vintage PAF) > Abraxas (hotrodded Mule with more mids, less topend, more output, more compression) > Crawler (huge, extra mids, chewy, unique growl, slightly more compression than the Abraxas). The Crawler has a AV magnet, Mule and Abraxas AIV magnets.