I emailed Zimbloth and he suggested it might be too bright for an ash bodied ibanez... id be interested to hear what others think about it, as the demos sound good.
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Those, like most Duncans, are very bland and murky.
It's statements like this that completely write off an entire brand make me not trust some people's opinions. I've been curious about the Black heaven too (and Lundgrens in general) but I'll be waiting for a more balanced review. I'm incredibly happy with my PAF Master for now though
My black heaven (7 string, ceramic, bridge) arrived Monday, got it installed about an hour ago. So this is all very much still in the honeymoon phase.
I put it in my Mayones Setius (all mahogany, maple top), replacing a JB that I swapped the magnet out for a double-thick ceramic. I liked that pickup, no major complaints (except it’s microphonic as hell and I need to repot it).
First impression of the Black Heaven is, wow clarity. It maintains the clarity and ‘dryness’ in the feel that the M7 has which is great. Slightly lower output than the M7, but not by much. I think overall slightly lower output than the SD it replaced.
In comparison, my big-ceramic-magnet-JB was a bit fuzzier and middier, less clear and less punchy, slightly higher output.
I felt like I was getting more treble than I need so I reconnected the tone knob on the guitar, now all is well. I had originally disconnected it to try to regain some clarity I felt I lacked with the SH5 and ceramic mag JB I’ve had previously in the guitar.
This particular guitar is very big and ‘wide’ sounding with a pretty big and resonant bottom end, that still comes though with the black heaven, but is controllable which I like. I’m not sure how well the pickup would do in a really bright guitar like something made of ash, maybe 250k pots would be a good choice in something like that.
This pickup, like the M7 I have in my other guitar, is on another level as far as clarity and punchiness go, which I really like. I can get why someone would say ‘sterile’ if they’re used to (and prefer) the slightly ‘slower’ or ‘mushier’ feel of a Duncan (or at least all the Duncan’s I’ve tried).
I don’t mean that as a jab at Duncan, as I dig their pickups, just kind of a feel thing I’ve noticed when comparing directly to the Lundgrens.
If my thoughts change I’ll make sure to post again, if I remember.
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Now I need something dimarzio for the neck, so they match.
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It also came with a tshirt which is a nice touch. It even fits. I don’t remember if the checkout on the website asked for a shirt size, so maybe it was a lucky guess.
Edit- worth noting it’s a big thick pickup. Deeper, and the coils are slightly wider than the typical Duncan. The pickup routes in this guitar are very roomy and the pickup tabs are right there at the edges. Barely fits, but it does fit. Be prepared to route or sand if you have really tight routes on your guitar.
So I installed my black heaven finally. These are my initial impressions. I like it. It's really clear and articulate just like mnemonic mentioned. It's in my RG7620, which is a very snappy and lively acoustically. So it MIGHT very well sound good in an ash bodied guitar. The EQ seems pretty neutral, I'm not really noticing any frequncies that are boosted or cut too drastically. I replaced a tone zone 7 for this, and I have to say it's easily my favorite pickup right now. I have an emgs in my 8 string, my other Ibanez had a nazgul in it. Which has a similar agression to the note attack. Very nice. But manages to do it without sacraficing the overall tone like the nazghul did. I play with my gain at about 65%, so I cranked it up to full kill and every note in a chord was still very defined. It's very nice to be able to hit a somewhat muddy chord and hear both the full chord. Very well balanced I say. So far it seems versatile, I rolled down my volume and got some nice lower gain tones. This pickup was a bit more than I would usually spend, but I must say the results are worth it. Lundgren did a terrific job on it. The one issue I could see others having with it, is that it will magnify all the bad thing's about your playing. Any flaws or flubs really show!
But c'mon...most Duncans are kind of bland and murky. Plenty of good Duncans as well, but I've found DiMarzios to be more lively almost across the board. It's not like they don't know how to make a different kind of pickup, but for a long time the market wasn't exactly clamoring for it.
Hey, don't shoot the messenger! I didn't say that. Nick (The Axe Palace) did. However, I was asking for 7-string pickups and my only experience with 7-string Duncans so far has been a JB-7/Jazz set. And the JB is... well, murky. And that's being polite. It sounds outstanding with my ENGL for some reason, though. I guess an ENGL can make anything sound tight. Also, Nick recommended me the M7 for a full maple guitar. So either he gets a greater cut for selling Lundgrens or he just loves bright tones and everything moderately warm is murky to him. That's why you have to try stuff for yourself and don't fall into the internet bullshit.It's statements like this that completely write off an entire brand make me not trust some people's opinions. I've been curious about the Black heaven too (and Lundgrens in general) but I'll be waiting for a more balanced review. I'm incredibly happy with my PAF Master for now though
Hey, don't shoot the messenger! I didn't say that. Nick (The Axe Palace) did. However, I was asking for 7-string pickups and my only experience with 7-string Duncans so far has been a JB-7/Jazz set. And the JB is... well, murky. And that's being polite. It sounds outstanding with my ENGL for some reason, though. I guess an ENGL can make anything sound tight. Also, Nick recommended me the M7 for a full maple guitar. So either he gets a greater cut for selling Lundgrens or he just loves bright tones and everything moderately warm is murky to him. That's why you have to try stuff for yourself and don't fall into the internet bullshit.
In the end I ended up not ordering them because Seymour Duncan (unlike Lundgren) makes their "active sized" pickups in 1mm plastic housings with exposed polepieces. Lundgren uses 2mm covers with no exposed poles which affect the string distance, and even Johan Lundgren itself adviced me against getting the set I wanted because of this. So I took a chance and bought a Pegasus/Sentient set used. I'll judge myself if they're murky or not when I install them.
I still want to try some Lundgrens if I get my hands on another guitar suitable for them. But you know what, I'm a sucker for aesthetics on guitar and having so many choices these days I can go with something that both sounds and looks great (custom covers) with other brands.
I have DIs and demos of both sets over in my shootout threadHas anyone compared these to the Elysian Tridents II? Specifically the alnico ones.
Good information here. Thanks!!I've wanted to compare my M7 and Black Heaven (ceramic magnet) in the same guitar for a while now, but I haven't had the motivation to take apart guitars. Though I have little else to do at the moment so here we go.
I'm still very happy with the Black Heaven in my Setius. Its a really big and thick sounding guitar, with a very resonant low end. None of my other guitars sound as massive on a palm mute as this guitar. That was the bane of my existence when I had looser pickups in it (Duncan JB and SH5), though the Black Heaven made it much more controllable. That being said, I did kinda want to try the M7 in this guitar, to give it some more attack and 'metallness'
The M7 in my Avenger is great, but the guitar does tend to make all my other guitars sound kinda dull in comparison. And when I'm used to playing my other guitars, the M7-loaded Schecter Avenger sounds more grating, and sharper in the upper midrange. A few amp tweaks takes care of that but I'm usually too lazy to do that so the guitar hasn't been played as much lately, i'm spending most of my 7-string time on my Mayones Regius (with covered BK Aftermaths).
So I swapped the pickups around today, Black Heaven in the Schecter Avenger (which itself is a more focused sounding guitar), and the M7 into the Mayones Setius (which itself is a more wide, thick, open, and resonant sounding guitar). I'm very happy with the results.
My assumptions about the pickups were broadly correct - comparing the two, the Black Heaven is brighter, though lower output and voiced less 'in your face metal'. Still very tight, clear, punchy, no mud to be found. But a more laid-back feel to it.
The M7 is more aggressive and metal sounding, maybe slightly tighter? Not as bright but still very clear sounding.
The M7 in the Setius adds a bit more aggression, controls the bottom end a bit more (though still huge), and overall is a great fit for this guitar.
The Black Heaven in the Avenger tames the guitar down a bit, less aggro sounding but it is still a tight and punchy guitar. The extra high end from the Black Heaven does make this guitar a djent-machine, i'm currently undecided if i want to add a tone knob to smooth that off a bit. At the moment I'm quite happy that each guitar has its own voice and flavor, but they are not so different that I need different amp settings for each.
I didn't think about recording clips until I was tuning up the now-completed guitars, so sorry about that.
Only issue I had was when installing the Black Heaven into the Avenger - I think it may be marginally thicker than the M7, or maybe the baseplate legs are longer, since its sits taller. The routes are shallow in the Avenger anyway, so screwed flat to the body, its still quite close. especially on the treble side. It sounds fine so I will leave it for now, but i may need to bust out the router and deepen the route if it bothers me or causes issues.
also the hole spacing may be slightly wider on the Black Heaven, like maybe 1mm further apart, i had to fill and redrill one mounting hole on the Avenger.
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I have DIs and demos of both sets over in my shootout thread
I've wanted to compare my M7 and Black Heaven (ceramic magnet) in the same guitar for a while now, but I haven't had the motivation to take apart guitars. Though I have little else to do at the moment so here we go.
I'm still very happy with the Black Heaven in my Setius. Its a really big and thick sounding guitar, with a very resonant low end. None of my other guitars sound as massive on a palm mute as this guitar. That was the bane of my existence when I had looser pickups in it (Duncan JB and SH5), though the Black Heaven made it much more controllable. That being said, I did kinda want to try the M7 in this guitar, to give it some more attack and 'metallness'
The M7 in my Avenger is great, but the guitar does tend to make all my other guitars sound kinda dull in comparison. And when I'm used to playing my other guitars, the M7-loaded Schecter Avenger sounds more grating, and sharper in the upper midrange. A few amp tweaks takes care of that but I'm usually too lazy to do that so the guitar hasn't been played as much lately, i'm spending most of my 7-string time on my Mayones Regius (with covered BK Aftermaths).
So I swapped the pickups around today, Black Heaven in the Schecter Avenger (which itself is a more focused sounding guitar), and the M7 into the Mayones Setius (which itself is a more wide, thick, open, and resonant sounding guitar). I'm very happy with the results.
My assumptions about the pickups were broadly correct - comparing the two, the Black Heaven is brighter, though lower output and voiced less 'in your face metal'. Still very tight, clear, punchy, no mud to be found. But a more laid-back feel to it.
The M7 is more aggressive and metal sounding, maybe slightly tighter? Not as bright but still very clear sounding.
The M7 in the Setius adds a bit more aggression, controls the bottom end a bit more (though still huge), and overall is a great fit for this guitar.
The Black Heaven in the Avenger tames the guitar down a bit, less aggro sounding but it is still a tight and punchy guitar. The extra high end from the Black Heaven does make this guitar a djent-machine, i'm currently undecided if i want to add a tone knob to smooth that off a bit. At the moment I'm quite happy that each guitar has its own voice and flavor, but they are not so different that I need different amp settings for each.
I didn't think about recording clips until I was tuning up the now-completed guitars, so sorry about that.
Only issue I had was when installing the Black Heaven into the Avenger - I think it may be marginally thicker than the M7, or maybe the baseplate legs are longer, since its sits taller. The routes are shallow in the Avenger anyway, so screwed flat to the body, its still quite close. especially on the treble side. It sounds fine so I will leave it for now, but i may need to bust out the router and deepen the route if it bothers me or causes issues.
also the hole spacing may be slightly wider on the Black Heaven, like maybe 1mm further apart, i had to fill and redrill one mounting hole on the Avenger.
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Just read your review. From what I gathered; if I wanna tighten up my 24.75 Les Paul-esque guitar in drop B which is currently loaded with a JB-ish clone, I'd still go for the M6 over the Black Heaven|?
The M7 is tighter and more 'metal' in my opinion, but either are tighter, clearer, and punchier than any SD's I've used.
I have had a JB-7 in the Mayones but not sure how similar that actually is to the 6-string JB. Its been a long time since it was in there, but I do remember it was not very tight or clear in comparison. A big ceramic magnet made the JB-7 much closer to something I like, but the Lundgrens were still tighter and clearer.