Motor City Detroiter vs Bare Knuckle Black Dog

Braciola

Well-known member
On paper these seem to have a similar toneprint.
Has anybody had a chance to actually compare these two?
 
I had a black dog but something was customized and I don’t remember exactly. I believe it was overwound either way it sounded alright but I preferred the holy diver. They were in the same guitar. I bought the guitar with the customized black dog, swapped to the holy diver and thought it was a step up. I have a detroiter in another guitar with the same specs (alder body maple neck ebony board) and prefer that to the holy diver guitar but they ar different guitars and that could be the difference. For the record though, I have put detroiters in 2 other guitars and love it in everything so far.
 
It's been a while, but I've had both and I want to say the Detroiter has a bit more muscle and is more aggressive.
 
I agree with the descriptions above. I much preferred the Detroiters to any Bare Knuckles I've played. However, I also much preferred the Wolfetone Marshallheads to the Detroiters or other Motor City pickups. The Marshallheads are more organic, growly/hairy, lively and just breathe in a way that the motor city's and bare knuckles don't and they also have hands down the best cleans I've heard in any humbuckers so far. The only thing the Marshallhead really lacks for me is tightness/focus in the bottom end. I'd say if that's important to you go with Detroiter, but otherwise I honestly think the Marshallheads are much better
 
Thanks, I've tried the Marshallheads before and really didn't care for them.
I thought that the mid-range was a little laid back, that's why I'm interested in the detroiters which is supposed to have a thicker mid-range.

braintheory":2tgdnomz said:
I agree with the descriptions above. I much preferred the Detroiters to any Bare Knuckles I've played. However, I also much preferred the Wolfetone Marshallheads to the Detroiters or other Motor City pickups. The Marshallheads are more organic, growly/hairy, lively and just breathe in a way that the motor city's and bare knuckles don't and they also have hands down the best cleans I've heard in any humbuckers so far. The only thing the Marshallhead really lacks for me is tightness/focus in the bottom end. I'd say if that's important to you go with Detroiter, but otherwise I honestly think the Marshallheads are much better
 
I havent played the black dogs but have play a varity of BKPs. Im not saying MCPs are better but i do prefer them to BKPs. In particular MCP unpotted detroiters. My guitars are always mahogany bodies full thickness. I dont waste my time anymore trying out pickups, as soon as i get a new guitar it gets loaded with a MCP detroiter.
 
reverymike":1fnzhbck said:
The Detroiter is a 'greasy' pickup (if that makes any sense). Big and full, but sqishy, and greasy.
This is what I experienced. I needed more warmth in that guitar (Chubtone with Floyd).
 
Braciola":pjsiab0o said:
On paper these seem to have a similar toneprint.
Has anybody had a chance to actually compare these two?

There’s a direct comparison video of these two. Just google it.
 
guitarded_1":2ydngyio said:
Braciola":2ydngyio said:
On paper these seem to have a similar toneprint.
Has anybody had a chance to actually compare these two?

There’s a direct comparison video of these two. Just google it.
Yep, saw that, but there's so much distortion it's really hard to tell them apart.
 
Braciola":1ue90q7q said:
guitarded_1":1ue90q7q said:
Braciola":1ue90q7q said:
On paper these seem to have a similar toneprint.
Has anybody had a chance to actually compare these two?

There’s a direct comparison video of these two. Just google it.
Yep, saw that, but there's so much distortion it's really hard to tell them apart.

I agree - it’s hard to tell. I have never played a Detroiter, but I had a Black Dog in an R8 and tried to like it. In the end, it just had too much midrange honk for me.
 
I've had the detroiter in a couple of different guitars. I really like them. Meaty & pissed off with a cool bounce to them. Never played a black dog though.

A buddy of mine had both and did comparison clips at one point. In his clips the output was very similar. The black dog sounded a little tighter & brighter. The detroiter was fuller & warmer.
 
Guys has anyone had luck trying a detroiter in a prs custom 22?
I'm tuning to drop B and so far these were my results:

-HFS > too harsh/wiry with lots of treble, if set lower then suddenly underpowered and dry (probably due to being high output/ceramic and having this click that i hate in ceramics)

-dragon 1 > i was hoping this would be the best match due to it being the legendary dark/warm pickup > very similar to the HFS (probably due to being even higher output than hfs and being ceramic) I was hoping this would be a darker sounding pickup, but it is not.

-stock dragon 2 > hated it in standard tuning, but it does sound ok (not great) in the lower drop B tuning. this one is like 12k-14k alnico.
The guitar when played unplugged sounds great, but the moment you pair it with a ceramic pickup it's suddenly harsh strident and tiring to listen to.

i reached out to wade and he recommended detroiters or 2nd degree black belt.
I'm leaning towards detroiters. We do play a sort of alternative rock/metal. I'm looking for a big warm bold sound, growly instead of fizzy.

i think the 2nd degree would probably be thinner and more underpowered for what i do and i have no experience with MCP, but would love to try one.
thanks for your input.
 
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