Pickup Choices

[noodleplugerine]

I'm aiming for a heavy modern metal sound such as:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwbyMKIdTMo Or heavier...

I need some pickups that will do the job, these are to go into an ESP viper which currently has EMG 81s, which are pretty characterless. (And batteries are expensive >_>)

I do lots of metal rhythm, often in C Standard or drop Ab/A#, and also do alot of typical metal shredding (Tapping, sweeping, etc) any suggestions?

Was thinking a Warpig at the neck and a nailbomb at the bridge, but with the huge selection of BKPs I have no idea what would be best.

If anyone can shed some light it would be great.

[Kepu]

Miracle Man or Painkiller set with battle worn camo covers :twisted:

[Antag]

Was thinking a Warpig at the neck and a nailbomb at the bridge

OK, definitely NOT that combo - WP neck would possibly overpower the NB bridge.  If anything, the other way around would be better, however IMO the neck pickup is a secondary consideration here :)

IMO Miracle Man has the intensity, Painkiller would handle the extreme detuning very well.  Warpig, or the custom Ceramic Warpig are popular for this kind of music (but I don't have either & would rather not recommend a pickup I haven't actually used).

A slightly left-of-field suggestion would be the Holy Diver - it's a pretty meaty pickup with a ton of low mids, huge single note definition & works really nicely for twin guitar harmonic work - I posted an IF-derived clip here (OK, the guitar was only tuned to Eb, but you get the idea...)

Cold Sweat neck with high output bridge humbuckers is a popular combination or just go with a calibrated set of whatever bridge you choose - the BKP neck pickups are wound & voiced specifically to compliment the bridge pickups, not just the same pickup with the pole pieces the other way round.

BTW, I love In Flames - thanks for posting that video :)

[TonyGibson]

I'm aiming for a heavy modern metal sound such as:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwbyMKIdTMo Or heavier...

I need some pickups that will do the job, these are to go into an ESP viper which currently has EMG 81s, which are pretty characterless. (And batteries are expensive >_>)

I do lots of metal rhythm, often in C Standard or drop Ab/A#, and also do alot of typical metal shredding (Tapping, sweeping, etc) any suggestions?

Was thinking a Warpig at the neck and a nailbomb at the bridge, but with the huge selection of BKPs I have no idea what would be best.

If anyone can shed some light it would be great.

I have a Warpig set with a ceramic bridge and a "custom wound" neck. Basically I told Tim I wanted the power of the Warpig neck but the "cut" of the Cold Sweat neck...so I'd venture to say my neck pickup is a hybrid of a Warpig and a Cold Sweat...it's incredible both tapped and not.

The bridge pickup has the power of an EMG 81 running at 18V but without the sterility that EMGs are known for. I actually don't crank the knob on my tube screamer anymore when going into my Mesa.

Regardless, I'd still contact Tim and get his exact recommendations.

Cool ESP guitar...I really dig the Vipers.

[noodleplugerine]

Was thinking a Warpig at the neck and a nailbomb at the bridge

OK, definitely NOT that combo - WP neck would possibly overpower the NB bridge.  If anything, the other way around would be better, however IMO the neck pickup is a secondary consideration here :)

IMO Miracle Man has the intensity, Painkiller would handle the extreme detuning very well.  Warpig, or the custom Ceramic Warpig are popular for this kind of music (but I don't have either & would rather not recommend a pickup I haven't actually used).

A slightly left-of-field suggestion would be the Holy Diver - it's a pretty meaty pickup with a ton of low mids, huge single note definition & works really nicely for twin guitar harmonic work - I posted an IF-derived clip here (OK, the guitar was only tuned to Eb, but you get the idea...)

Cold Sweat neck with high output bridge humbuckers is a popular combination or just go with a calibrated set of whatever bridge you choose - the BKP neck pickups are wound & voiced specifically to compliment the bridge pickups, not just the same pickup with the pole pieces the other way round.

BTW, I love In Flames - thanks for posting that video :)

Someone did recommended me a set of Ceramic warpigs - And I've only heard good things about them.

Painkillers and Miracle men in the same league when it comes to output?

I'm aiming for a heavy modern metal sound such as:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwbyMKIdTMo Or heavier...

I need some pickups that will do the job, these are to go into an ESP viper which currently has EMG 81s, which are pretty characterless. (And batteries are expensive >_>)

I do lots of metal rhythm, often in C Standard or drop Ab/A#, and also do alot of typical metal shredding (Tapping, sweeping, etc) any suggestions?

Was thinking a Warpig at the neck and a nailbomb at the bridge, but with the huge selection of BKPs I have no idea what would be best.

If anyone can shed some light it would be great.

I have a Warpig set with a ceramic bridge and a "custom wound" neck. Basically I told Tim I wanted the power of the Warpig neck but the "cut" of the Cold Sweat neck...so I'd venture to say my neck pickup is a hybrid of a Warpig and a Cold Sweat...it's incredible both tapped and not.

The bridge pickup has the power of an EMG 81 running at 18V but without the sterility that EMGs are known for. I actually don't crank the knob on my tube screamer anymore when going into my Mesa.

Regardless, I'd still contact Tim and get his exact recommendations.

Cool ESP guitar...I really dig the Vipers.

Ace! I'll speak to him and find out his recommendation.

[TonyGibson]

Painkillers and Miracle men in the same league when it comes to output?

In the same league as the Miracle Man? Well, sort of. I have a covered Miracle Man in my Les Paul and while it's pretty high powered, it is not as high powered as the Ceramic 'Pig. The Ceramic 'Pig has a bite and grind that is just brutal. The Miracle Man is great, don't get me wrong...and if I roll the volume back to 7 I can get some pretty decent classic rock tones and with the volume on 10 it is pretty powerful for metal ...the Ceramic Warpig however is just "more". In a word, brutal.

Just as an FYI, my Miracle Man is covered, and the ceramic Pig is open coiled. That may have something to do with the sound, but I'm sure not much.

[noodleplugerine]

Painkillers and Miracle men in the same league when it comes to output?

In the same league as the Miracle Man? Well, sort of. I have a covered Miracle Man in my Les Paul and while it's pretty high powered, it is not as high powered as the Ceramic 'Pig. The Ceramic 'Pig has a bite and grind that is just brutal. The Miracle Man is great, don't get me wrong...and if I roll the volume back to 7 I can get some pretty decent classic rock tones and with the volume on 10 it is pretty powerful for metal ...the Ceramic Warpig however is just "more". In a word, brutal.

Just as an FYI, my Miracle Man is covered, and the ceramic Pig is open coiled. That may have something to do with the sound, but I'm sure not much.

I meant compared to Pigs and Nailbombs.

But yeah, I'm not going for classic rock in anyway, just need pure metal  :twisted:

If the Ceramic pig's what's best then that's what I'll get - But is it more for chug-chug riffing or can it cut over stuff during solos?

[BloodMountain]

If the Ceramic pig's what's best then that's what I'll get - But is it more for chug-chug riffing or can it cut over stuff during solos?

doesn't it do both? it has a fair amount of mids for cutting through apparently, but is also great for chugging....

plus the sheer power will cut through  :twisted:

[TonyGibson]

Painkillers and Miracle men in the same league when it comes to output?

In the same league as the Miracle Man? Well, sort of. I have a covered Miracle Man in my Les Paul and while it's pretty high powered, it is not as high powered as the Ceramic 'Pig. The Ceramic 'Pig has a bite and grind that is just brutal. The Miracle Man is great, don't get me wrong...and if I roll the volume back to 7 I can get some pretty decent classic rock tones and with the volume on 10 it is pretty powerful for metal ...the Ceramic Warpig however is just "more". In a word, brutal.

Just as an FYI, my Miracle Man is covered, and the ceramic Pig is open coiled. That may have something to do with the sound, but I'm sure not much.

I meant compared to Pigs and Nailbombs.

But yeah, I'm not going for classic rock in anyway, just need pure metal  :twisted:

If the Ceramic pig's what's best then that's what I'll get - But is it more for chug-chug riffing or can it cut over stuff during solos?

Oh it can definitely do solos.

[Crazy_Joe]

I have a Ceramic Warpig and it can do metal like that easilly.
For that In Flames tone, their tone is big and heavy but still remains melodic if you know what i mean. So i think Ceramic Warpig is the way to go imo, but Nailbomb or Miracle Man or probably normal Warpig would probably do the job just as well.

[noodleplugerine]

I have a Ceramic Warpig and it can do metal like that easilly.
For that In Flames tone, their tone is big and heavy but still remains melodic if you know what i mean. So i think Ceramic Warpig is the way to go imo, but Nailbomb or Miracle Man or probably normal Warpig would probably do the job just as well.

Awesome!

Wanted to get Ceramic Warpigs simply cos the idea was so awesomely metal.

Glad to see my choice was right :D