SD Nazgul vs BKP Ragnarok vs SD Alpha/Omega
- Thread starter Iamcam
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KnightBrolaire
Say yes to Chugs
you're going to have to be more specific about what exactly you want out of a pickup. "aggressive" is super vague. Tons of pickups on the market can do djenty shit/extreme metal.
Well, I like pickups that are tight and have a lot of clarity, as well as being pretty versatile (I really like the Titans) but for this guitar I'm wanting something that is geared a little bit more toward just being heavy, while still being pretty clear. Versatility is a plus, however this is pretty much just gonna be my 7 for metal, so mostly concerned about that. Good split tones would be great. As far as tones that I like: Periphery, Monuments, Tesseract, Alluvial, Haunted Shores, Flux Conduct . Needs to be able to nail Cleans, Leads, and rhythms equally well. For an Ibanez RGD71AL, ash body/maple top (don't own it yet, but planning on changing pups out as soon as I get it). As far as tunings, I doubt that I will ever be tuned higher than A or maybe A#. Probably will be around drop Ab or G, sometimes tuning down to F or F#, possibly lower on occasion. For High gain metal tones I will usually play through a 5150 model with a drive in front of it. Mids tend to be pretty cranked.
KnightBrolaire
Say yes to Chugs
Based off that, then I'd say alpha/omega set. They will tick all of the boxes for you ime.
bzhang9
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AO set is probably the most over hyped set I've tried, not that tight, not that clear, darker eq, stupid expensive there's no reason it should be $100 more than other SD 7 sets
Nazgul Sentient is closer to a titan EQ wise, pretty damn tight, solid cleans and leads from the sentient as well
If you want great cleans, leads, and rhythm the crunch lab liquifire is a classic do it all combo, or rather liquifire + your choice of bridge
Nazgul Sentient is closer to a titan EQ wise, pretty damn tight, solid cleans and leads from the sentient as well
If you want great cleans, leads, and rhythm the crunch lab liquifire is a classic do it all combo, or rather liquifire + your choice of bridge
KnightBrolaire
Say yes to Chugs
Nazgul and titan are nothing alike.Nazgul has that weird croaky nasal midrange and the titan while midforward, does not. Plus it's nowhere near as tight ime.
The AO set is definitely not dark, and it is most definitely clearer than the nazgul.
I had the AO set and the Nazgul/Sentient in the same guitar, so I'm quite familiar with both sets. Plus I've played a bunch of KM7s and holcomb sigs.
No one in their right fuckin mind is going to take a nazgul over an omega.
bzhang9
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relax bro its a discussion forum you don't have to get so worked up
I would rather take a nazgul, and so would many other people who buy them over an omega, while saving a lot of money
I stated my opinion, you have your opinion, let OP make his own opinion
Carl Kolchak
Last of the famous international playboys
Depending on how low the OP intends to tune his 7 string then the Nazgul may or may not be a good choice. If he's going to stick to say B standard, or thereabouts, then the Nazguls will sound overly/dry/brittle/hollow harsh. If, on the other hand, he intends to tune to something like G standard or lower then the Nazguls will handle that pretty well. At least that has been my personal experience with them.
Cyanide_Anima
Weeee!
I agree with this. The Alpha/Omega bridge pup is muffled sounding, lacks attack, lacks aggression, and is very middy but in all the wrong ways for tech/djenty sounds. Worst guitar pickup I've ever purchased. A stock Epiphone probucker does tech metal better IMO.
The crunchlab is ok. It's pretty bassy, but with low cuts it's usable. The liquifire is very smooth and clinical. Almost too smooth. If you want that les paul-ish neck pickup lead sound, that juicy and expressive lead sound, this is not the pickup for you.
KnightBrolaire
Say yes to Chugs
I seriously question anyone who's calling the omega dark or muffled. I ran the damn thing in a slab of mahogany and it was clearer than the nazgul I had in that same guitar. I ran it in a swamp ash guitar as well, and it was still clearer than some of the other pickups I ran through that guitar ( I had 17 different pickups in the bridge over the course of a few years). As far as "lacking attack/aggression", it depends what you mean exactly by attack/aggression. It's not super high output (nor is the nazgul), and it doesn't have an upper mid focus (neither does the nazgul) like say a BKP painkiller or custom 5. It'll let you slather it in gain just fine, and gets plenty aggressive imo.
Crunchlab is not great imo. If OP was going to look into other offerings, I'd say go Evo or Illuminator bridge paired with a liquifire neck. Then you get a cutting, clear, relatively versatile bridge pickup and a buttery smooth lead/shred friendly neck pickup.
Crunchlab is not great imo. If OP was going to look into other offerings, I'd say go Evo or Illuminator bridge paired with a liquifire neck. Then you get a cutting, clear, relatively versatile bridge pickup and a buttery smooth lead/shred friendly neck pickup.
Cyanide_Anima
Weeee!
I guess I should have clarified that I'm mean in relative terms. Relative to a lot of other pups, BK, EMG 81, Fishman, it lacks the aggro sounding high end. Plugging just about anything into a hot amp and cranking the gain will sound aggressive, but that doesn't mean the pup has aggressive/cutting top end, at least to my preference. I have the Omega in a pine tele, and it has made the guitar basically unplayable for me until I swap it. I prefer a bright pickup into a dark sounding amp. Get that aggro sound that cuts, with a moderate amount of gain, and without having harsh top end coming from the amp. But maybe my ears could be garbage, and I typically only play through modelers (and only plug in when recording).
Sdrizis89
Well-Known Member
I’ve had the nazgul in 2 different 7 strings. In my 27” scale Jericho fusion it is absolute perfection. Tight, aggressive, and the chugs are relentless. In my 25.4” scale Mayones Duvell 7 I didn’t like the nazgul. It had a quacky upper mid range that annoyed the crap out of me and I couldn’t EQ it out. The chugs were brutal but not as good as the Jericho, probably due to scale length. Both are mahogany and tuned to drop g#. Recently replaced the Nazgul with the BKP Black Dog and I absolutely love it for metal. I also have a Ragnarok in my Jackson USA CB7. Previously I had titans and hated them, not really tight in that guitar and it lacked clarity. I now have the Ragnarok and have tons of clarity and it’s tighter but definitely a slightly darker tonality than the titan and Nazgul. Ragnarok isn’t as hot as I expected it to be, can pull off good cleans, and doesn’t have a mid spike that may be annoying.
I love crunch labs for 6 strings. I could see it being too dark for a 7 string but Petrucci does it just fine, as do others. I believe one of the whitechapel guitarists had the crunch lab in their sig LTD. I’ve always wanted to try a 7 string model...
I love crunch labs for 6 strings. I could see it being too dark for a 7 string but Petrucci does it just fine, as do others. I believe one of the whitechapel guitarists had the crunch lab in their sig LTD. I’ve always wanted to try a 7 string model...
KnightBrolaire
Say yes to Chugs
Yeah I've found the nazgul's midrange is strangely picky about the guitar it's in. When I had it in a swamp ash km7, no quack. When I had it in a slab of mahogany- no quack. Then I put it in my other swamp ash guitar and it had that horrible quack. Aftermath and Juggernauts were the same way in that particular guitar.
The guys in whitechapel have been using D-activators for ages now. Personally I'm not a fan of them. They're like thicker/hairier titans imo.
Carl Kolchak
Last of the famous international playboys
Have you ever tried the 8 string version?
KnightBrolaire
Say yes to Chugs
I've tried the 6, 7 and 8 string versions.
Carl Kolchak
Last of the famous international playboys
Did you find there was a significant difference between the 7 and 8 string versions? Also, with the 8 stringer, how'd it handle the lows?
KnightBrolaire
Say yes to Chugs
I didn't notice any huge difference between the 7 and 8 string versions. Duncan is way better about getting their pickups to sound similar across their range compared to Dimarzio. The 8 string version handled the low end just fine ime.
Sdrizis89
Well-Known Member
interesting. The dactivator I have in my. AW-7 is really cool. It’s just got enough of everything and chugs like a beast as well. Didn’t think it was hairy. I’m sure it varies guitar to guitar though like most pickups.
Im pretty sure Ben Savage original signature used to have the CL/LF combo. I think that’s why I never really put the same pick up in multiple guitars, never works for me because each guitar needs something different.
oneblackened
Tube Amp Dork
The Ragnarok is definitely not a djent machine of a pickup. It's hot, fairly dark, growly crunchy mids kinda like an EMG 81's. Great death metal pickup, not great for techy prog stuff IMO. Neck pickup is very warm, and quite hot. Bridge pairs nicely with a Cold Sweat neck.
The Alpha is a very upper mid focused snarly pickup generally without a ton of low end. Not bad, not my thing. Super super tight. Neck pickup's fairly bright, lots of spank.
Nazgul is like a Duncan Distortion but worse - weirdly clanky midrange, quite indistinct. Pass.
For what you want to do, I'd try instead of any of these a Lundgren M7 bridge pickup. It's everything the Nazgul is trying to be. Super tight, well balanced, kinda growly mids like the Ragnarok but brighter. Cleans frankly kinda suck ass, but when do you ever use a bridge pickup on its own for cleans? For the neck, try a BKP VHII or Cold Sweat or a Lundgren The One.
The Alpha is a very upper mid focused snarly pickup generally without a ton of low end. Not bad, not my thing. Super super tight. Neck pickup's fairly bright, lots of spank.
Nazgul is like a Duncan Distortion but worse - weirdly clanky midrange, quite indistinct. Pass.
For what you want to do, I'd try instead of any of these a Lundgren M7 bridge pickup. It's everything the Nazgul is trying to be. Super tight, well balanced, kinda growly mids like the Ragnarok but brighter. Cleans frankly kinda suck ass, but when do you ever use a bridge pickup on its own for cleans? For the neck, try a BKP VHII or Cold Sweat or a Lundgren The One.
