Seymour Duncan Black Winter Pickups?

[Brandon Breeze]

Anyone tried these?

I use active pickups for the most part. I have Duncan Blackouts, EMTY, Live Wire Metal 18v, EMG 81/85, 707, Carvin M22 etc. How would these stack up?

I like chunky/thick sounding pickups, no ice picks to the ears, but still bright enough that you dial the tone back a little.

 

[midnightlaundry]

'Have not tried, but heard it's to much gain, and comes off as mushy. OTOH, I have a Pegasus, and like it a lot. It's on par with an 85, but it's way more open and dynamic.

 

[charvelstrat81]

Anyone tried these?

I use active pickups for the most part. I have Duncan Blackouts, EMTY, Live Wire Metal 18v, EMG 81/85, 707, Carvin M22 etc. How would these stack up?

I like chunky/thick sounding pickups, no ice picks to the ears, but still bright enough that you dial the tone back a little.

I am partial to the Duncan distortion, used to use 81/85 and 85/60
you be the judge,

 

[Brandon Breeze]

'Have not tried, but heard it's to much gain, and comes off as mushy. OTOH, I have a Pegasus, and like it a lot. It's on par with an 85, but it's way more open and dynamic.

Too much gain? No such thing. You should hear my Seymour Duncan Live Wire Metal 18v pickup. It doesn't clean up at all, it will distort a fender clean at the lowest possible level. All that means is you have to keep it turned down lower than other pickups. Same with amps that have insane gain, turn the gain down and find the right level you're looking for, I find that being much better than the alternative.

I find it hard to believe passive pickups could come anywhere close to that level of gain.

 

[charvelstrat81]

Too much gain? No such thing. You should hear my Seymour Duncan Live Wire Metal 18v pickup. It doesn't clean up at all, it will distort a fender clean at the lowest possible level. All that means is you have to keep it turned down lower than other pickups. Same with amps that have insane gain, turn the gain down and find the right level you're looking for, I find that being much better than the alternative.

I find it hard to believe passive pickups could come anywhere close to that level of gain.

every try the dimarzio X2N? or the d'activator X?

 

[Brandon Breeze]

Anyone tried these?

I use active pickups for the most part. I have Duncan Blackouts, EMTY, Live Wire Metal 18v, EMG 81/85, 707, Carvin M22 etc. How would these stack up?

I like chunky/thick sounding pickups, no ice picks to the ears, but still bright enough that you dial the tone back a little.

I am partial to the Duncan distortion, used to use 81/85 and 85/60
you be the judge,

At this point I've watched every video I could find on YouTube with the black winters. I couldn't find any with someone playing on any of the amps I own, so it's a tough call. Ola says the black winters are basically a super Duncan distortion. That said, I never cared for the Duncan distortion, too thin.

 

[charvelstrat81]

Anyone tried these?

I use active pickups for the most part. I have Duncan Blackouts, EMTY, Live Wire Metal 18v, EMG 81/85, 707, Carvin M22 etc. How would these stack up?

I like chunky/thick sounding pickups, no ice picks to the ears, but still bright enough that you dial the tone back a little.

I am partial to the Duncan distortion, used to use 81/85 and 85/60
you be the judge,

At this point I've watched every video I could find on YouTube with the black winters. I couldn't find any with someone playing on any of the amps I own, so it's a tough call. Ola says the black winters are basically a super Duncan distortion. That said, I never cared for the Duncan distortion, too thin.

too thin? I never had that issue at all with one
But yeah the BW's are a tweaked distortion,brighter and more grain,

 

[Brandon Breeze]

Too much gain? No such thing. You should hear my Seymour Duncan Live Wire Metal 18v pickup. It doesn't clean up at all, it will distort a fender clean at the lowest possible level. All that means is you have to keep it turned down lower than other pickups. Same with amps that have insane gain, turn the gain down and find the right level you're looking for, I find that being much better than the alternative.

I find it hard to believe passive pickups could come anywhere close to that level of gain.

every try the dimarzio X2N? or the d'activator X?

I haven't, I've been out of the pickup game for years now. I like insane pickups, but now there are so many brands out there I've never tried. I like Ola's sounds, so I'm tempted to try these

 

[Brandon Breeze]

Anyone tried these?

I use active pickups for the most part. I have Duncan Blackouts, EMTY, Live Wire Metal 18v, EMG 81/85, 707, Carvin M22 etc. How would these stack up?

I like chunky/thick sounding pickups, no ice picks to the ears, but still bright enough that you dial the tone back a little.

I am partial to the Duncan distortion, used to use 81/85 and 85/60
you be the judge


At this point I've watched every video I could find on YouTube with the black winters. I couldn't find any with someone playing on any of the amps I own, so it's a tough call. Ola says the black winters are basically a super Duncan distortion. That said, I never cared for the Duncan distortion, too thin.

too thin? I never had that issue at all with one

Have you played Duncan blackouts, EMTY, or Live Wire Metal?

 

[charvelstrat81]

Too much gain? No such thing. You should hear my Seymour Duncan Live Wire Metal 18v pickup. It doesn't clean up at all, it will distort a fender clean at the lowest possible level. All that means is you have to keep it turned down lower than other pickups. Same with amps that have insane gain, turn the gain down and find the right level you're looking for, I find that being much better than the alternative.

I find it hard to believe passive pickups could come anywhere close to that level of gain.

every try the dimarzio X2N? or the d'activator X?

I haven't, I've been out of the pickup game for years now. I like insane pickups, but now there are so many brands out there I've never tried. I like Ola's sounds, so I'm tempted to try these

yeah man the pu hunt has gotten INSANE! there are TOO MANY these days.
you got bare knuckle,motor city,surh,dimarzio,duncan,gibson and it goes on and on.
I know ola uses a lot of different pu's

 

[RJF]

Anyone tried these?

I use active pickups for the most part. I have Duncan Blackouts, EMTY, Live Wire Metal 18v, EMG 81/85, 707, Carvin M22 etc. How would these stack up?

I like chunky/thick sounding pickups, no ice picks to the ears, but still bright enough that you dial the tone back a little.

The Black Winter is a slightly improved Duncan Distortion. Neither are "thin." That, and the Nazgul are my favorite pickups at the moment. But, I can't stand that live wire metal, or blackouts for the most part. EMG's are okay at best for me. That LW metal 18v was so dirty it was basically unusable with the vol knob past half way, and it had this weird tonal character to it that sounded like a wah pedal half cocked.

 

[Brandon Breeze]

Anyone tried these?

I use active pickups for the most part. I have Duncan Blackouts, EMTY, Live Wire Metal 18v, EMG 81/85, 707, Carvin M22 etc. How would these stack up?

I like chunky/thick sounding pickups, no ice picks to the ears, but still bright enough that you dial the tone back a little.

The Black Winter is a slightly improved Duncan Distortion. Neither are "thin." That, and the Nazgul are my favorite pickups at the moment. But, I can't stand that live wire metal, or blackouts for the most part. EMG's are okay at best for me. That LW metal 18v was so dirty it was basically unusable with the vol knob past half way, and it had this weird tonal character to it that sounded like a wah pedal half cocked.

Yeah the live wire metal is a beast that has to be tamed for sure. I usually run it at about 3 for volume on high gain amps. Ive had that pickup since back when I used to run solid state gear. It was a necessity back then to get enough gain. These days with the amps I have that are high gain its not necessary, but still useable, so no reason to get rid of it. I like it's tonal character, it makes damn near every other pickup in the world feel like a little girly pickup.

Regular blackouts eh they're ok, more bright than EMG'S, but still very rich. Now the EMTY blackout is where it's at! Mick Thompson took the blackouts to a new level, feels like he added a tubescreamer to the blackouts. Tightened up the bottom end big time, much thicker mid range, & not so bright that you have to dial back the tone knob to 5.

EMG's i still like, but sometimes they do feel lacking, I just can't really tell you where Or to what extent.

I really like my Carvin M22 when it's in active mode it's about the best all around pickup ive heard/played especially when paired with carvins active on board electronics. You can get any tone you want. Super chunky distortions, extremely clean cleans, & anywhere in between. It also has a mid range boost/cut, & tone boost/cut for versatility on any amp.

 

[midnightlaundry]

I like a pickup that will clean up. It makes the instrument so much more versatile, instead of a stupid buzz machine. But carry on.

 

[Brandon Breeze]

I like a pickup that will clean up. It makes the instrument so much more versatile, instead of a stupid buzz machine. But carry on.

I have not got to the point of being tired of insane distortion as a primary sound. If I did have have many guitars that can do that.

 

[sosomething]

The Black Winters, while technically a high-output pickup, have much more balanced EQ and top end than the Distortion, and actually offer quite a lot of clarity. I know you guys are mostly referring to the Blackouts (which are insane) but the Black Winters actually do clean up nicely.

 

[moltenmetalburn]

Too much gain? No such thing. You should hear my Seymour Duncan Live Wire Metal 18v pickup. It doesn't clean up at all, it will distort a fender clean at the lowest possible level. All that means is you have to keep it turned down lower than other pickups. Same with amps that have insane gain, turn the gain down and find the right level you're looking for, I find that being much better than the alternative.

I find it hard to believe passive pickups could come anywhere close to that level of gain.

every try the dimarzio X2N? or the d'activator X?

I haven't, I've been out of the pickup game for years now. I like insane pickups, but now there are so many brands out there I've never tried. I like Ola's sounds, so I'm tempted to try these

yeah man the pu hunt has gotten INSANE! there are TOO MANY these days.
you got bare knuckle,motor city,surh,dimarzio,duncan,gibson and it goes on and on.
I know ola uses a lot of different pu's

This was 2012 LMAO:

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