Aftermath vs Blackhawk hellllllllllppppp!!!!

[airr]

Finally jumping on the bare knuckle bandwagon, but can't decided which set to actually buy. I've heard nothing but praise for the aftermaths, but those new blackhawks look schmexy as hell. If anybody can offer and advice or give me their opinion on either set it would be much appreciated.
I'm putting them in an Ibanez RG 7321L (maple/walnut neck, basswood body)
Cheers guys!

airr music's sounds on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

 

[chopeth85]

take a look at this video, in this they compare 4 bk , inc. black hawk and am

BlacKat Guitars - 7 string test - YouTube

 

[airr]

Thanks dude! Whys that video only got 125 views! I think my favourite was the black hawks, but they all sounded pretty tasty.

 

[mniel8195]

from my understanding the aftermath is going to be tighter and aggressive and the blachawk is going to sound bigger more bass and more musical.

 

[Purelojik]

sheesh that coldsweat sounded icepicky.

but the aftermath has a focused mid and bottom. and to my ears, the blackhawks mid range isnt a spike like the aftermath but more of a broader Q you'll hear the sorta midrange Quack in that video. i love that sound.

 

[purpledc]

which one gos "djent, djent, djent," better?


From the video my vote definitely goes to the aftermath

 

[Khoi]

that was a fantastic comparison of all those pickups, probably one of the best ones I've heard. You could definitely hear the character of each pickup

from what I was hearing, albeit through my crappy ear buds, was the Aftermath was a tighter and had a more focused sound compared to the Black Hawk, while the Black Hawk was slightly more "full", covering a wider spectrum (more bass).

the Dimarzio was overly bass-y and fuzzy. by far the least favorite

The Cold Sweat was definitely the most different out of the bunch, a lot tighter and middier/treble-y. The most focused of the bunch, didn't quite cover the lower spectrum

personally liked the Aftermath over the Black Hawk, it'll definitely be my next BKP

 

[requiemsoup]

Damn the coldsweats sounded thin.
I liked the aftermaths. The Blackhawks, to me, sounded almost the same as the aftermaths, but with a tad more beef; although I am listening through some cheap headphones.. I think with the right EQing, you could get those 'hawks to sound pretty tight.

Speaking of tight, your soundcloud is amazing. Keep it up dude!

 

[TRENCHLORD]

Blackhawks sounded fuller in the mids to me.
Aftermath and crunchlabs were very close
Coldsweats sounded empty through the lower half in comparison, good high-end clarity

 

[Amanita]

do take into account that the guitar with Aftermath was sapele/mahogany and the guitar with BlackHawk was poplar/maple if memory serves me right.

edit. 2 of my friends have Painkillers in their basswood bodied Ibanez guitars. the combo seems work very well for them, even if it's not my kind of sound

 

[jbard]

I have to agree with the people that said the blackhawks sounded more full and the aftermaths more focused and aggressive. I need to get some aftermaths in a guitar, they seem right up my alley.

 

[BlacKat Guitars]

Hi,

Please notice that each guitar has different specs, as Amanita mentioned already:
1. Tiger - Sapele + mahogany neck
2. Leon proto - 2cm maple top on meranti body and mahogany neck
3. Leon white - poplar and maple neck
4. Tiger Baritone - Sapele+mahogany

For Rg7321 I'd go with Black Hawk.

 

[iRaiseTheDead]

What kind of music do you play? Personally I'd go for Aftermaths

 

[airr]

What kind of music do you play? Personally I'd go for Aftermaths

soundcloud.com/airrmusic

Check it out man!

 

[taphappy]

For Rg7321 I'd go with Black Hawk.

Any reason? I'm in the same situation - 7321. Haven't had that much experience playing with different wood (eh? eh? - eh. nm ) BUT, the Black Hawk seems to be a hair more even than the Aftermath. The Aftermath seems more aggressive in the low end/mids. This is through studio monitors and headphones.

I've been skipping back and forth between the two for 30 minutes now. Gonna get this riff stuck in my head next week, and go "What the is that ing from?"



Great vid, btw. Thanks!!

 

[BlacKat Guitars]

I'll play some Justin Bieber next time

What you hear in a vid is aftermath in sapele guitar with mahogany neck. Great combination. I'm not that crazy about aftermath in brighter sounding wood. Blackhawk is in poplar body (white guitar). Extremely bright wood and sounds very good like that. My intuition tells me that you will have too much "ringing" sound in rg7321 "lame basswood" body (it's cheaper guitar so basswood that they used is not the same as you find on MM JP etc). Another idea is Nailbomb.

 

[taphappy]

Hey, now. Don't diss the Biebs. If he were born in Sweden, he'd be one of us.

Aw crap. And of course they have more options. Thinking Black Hawk ceramic bridge/alnico neck? Or would the heightened bass response of the ceramic likely bring out the ring?

Sound clips on the lower right side of the BKP Black Hawk page:

https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/main/pickups.php?cat=humbuckers&sub=contemporary&pickup=black_hawk

 

[olli576]

I'm on the same boat here, wanting to convert from stock actives to passive and not sure whether to go for aftermaths or black hawks, or even nailbombs.
They'd be going in an rga72tqm (mahogany bodied with quilted maple top, rosewood fretboard and maple neck)
I've heard aftermaths in person through an EVH 5150 and it sounded really nice although I thought the high end was a little harsh

 

[danger5oh]

Hey, now. Don't diss the Biebs. If he were born in Sweden, he'd be one of us.

Sig worthy.
I think I'm more torn than ever. Originally wanted to pick up a set of Aftermaths, but the Blackhawks are sounding more and more convincing.

 

[legolas151]

I own an AM 7 Set and a BH 6 set... I'd say both sound perfect in different ways.
The black hawks are fuller and even clearer than the AMs for chords and so.
The AMs are tighter and more percussive (due to the strong attack they have).

If you want a fuller sound (also for djent chugs), I'd take the black hawks.
If you like fast staccato single string riffing, I'd ONLY go for the Aftermaths