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Which do you use//recommend and why?

Currently using a DiMarzio X2N in the bridge of my Doomcaster. Been wanting to try out some Black Hawks though: https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/main/p ... black_hawk

Any thoughts on them?

Also I am looking for the perfect doomesque stacked single coil for a Strat, so any help//opinions would be appreciated

Lace Alumatones/Alumi P/J's. Tons of wiring options, silent when not in operation and when split. High output without necessarily being high gain (but the Deathbucker has your back there) Look snazzy as hell to boot.

I've tried everything from high output to low output, from humbuckers to p-90's and this is what I've found.....

For humbuckers - Low output vintage style pickups work best. When detuning the low ouput retains clarity, and the low output lets your pedals and amps do the heavy lifting gain wise.

p-90's - humbucker or classic size: these are some of the best pickups for doom available IMO. They have the clarity of a single coil pickup with the girth and output of a humbucker. Through tons of gain and a cranked stack the tone is unbelievable. Though they don't work the best for faster riffing, so if you play low and slow these are the ticket. If somebody made a 7 string humbucker sized version of a p-90 I'd be rocking these like a mofo.

As far as strat's I haven't owned or played one in many many moons. But for my tele's I loved the GFS neovin series, cut and clarity of a single coil (so it retains that strat tone) but completely quiet like a humbucker, which will save your ears at high volume.


I'm currently using stock ibby prestige series pickups in my 7 string dearmonds, and I have a gibson iommi in my epi V (all though I'm really considering going back to GFS mean 90's as they sounded SICK in this guitar)

Bareknuckle Warpig. An open B chug feels like someone is standing on my brain.

I forgot to mention Seymour Duncan Phat Cats! Best P90's other than Electrical Guitar Company's that I've tried

skullservant wrote:Lace Alumatones/Alumi P/J's. Tons of wiring options, silent when not in operation and when split. High output without necessarily being high gain (but the Deathbucker has your back there) Look snazzy as hell to boot.

Gonna backup skully here. I love the alumitones. They sound big and open. That is the best way to describe them. I am especially fond of the neck position, cause they can get bright depending on your setup. I play mostly in Open D these days with baritone strings and the alumitone handles it nicely.

yeah I have Alumitones in 3 guitars and a bass now. big fan

I've found that PAF voiced humbuckers tend to have too round of a low-end. I have Lollar Imperials in my ES137 and they're PAF-voiced and sound great but they've been the exception. I either like P90's or a higher output humbucker that can drive mid's. AlNiCo Warpig's are on two of my V's and my EGC has a fairly high output pickup. I have Lollar on my LP jr that sounds great. I also liked the Bareknuckle Mississippi Queen P90's.

More_Divebombs wrote:Bareknuckle Warpig. An open B chug feels like someone is standing on my brain.

I use a warpig as well, my only issue with it is that it has a tendency to push my clean channel into OD a bit earlier than I would like it to, but if I played strictly dirt id have none whatsoever. They are like 21k output so I think im gonna try something more like 16k or there are these new humbuckers with dual guage wiring i might look into (ie: 44 gauge on one coil, 42 on the other but matching number of wraps)

I have a set of Warpigs set up with a 5 way switch. The single coil tones are sweeter than the American strat I used to have.

Yeah my Warpig is coil tapped too. That is some vicious sing coil twang you get. They clean up really nice when you roll off the volume and you get a nice thick clean sound without it sounding weak, but that's a bit of a muddle to roll back up and step on your fuzz/drive channel simultaneously to go back into dirty territory. Specially if you're doom-crooning at the same time.

Nostradoomus wrote:I have a set of Warpigs set up with a 5 way switch. The single coil tones are sweeter than the American strat I used to have.

Never did try tapping it. When I had just decided on hb bridge p90 neck for my next guitar, now you have me thinking about running dual hb and tapping....

More_Divebombs wrote:Yeah my Warpig is coil tapped too. That is some vicious sing coil twang you get. They clean up really nice when you roll off the volume and you get a nice thick clean sound without it sounding weak, but that's a bit of a muddle to roll back up and step on your fuzz/drive channel simultaneously to go back into dirty territory. Specially if you're doom-crooning at the same time.

Agreed, I will sometimes roll the tone down on them a tad as well for more warmth, tone at 0 on a warpig is probably one of my favorite tones of all time...still have yet to try it with a neck version...but I know it has to rule.

To answer the original question check out stonewall, wolftone or avedissian for smaller operations with great products. Seymour duncan just released a new line of heavy oriented pups....wonder if any of them excel for doom tones? I really liked how the pegasus sounds. As far as the bkps go, you really cant go wrong with the warpig, but if you want a bit more attack and bite id say try a ceramic nailbomb. Aside from the alumatones, lace has a few others that ive heard mixed reviews on, really depends on the guitar and rig even moreso than others it seems but ive seen people use the drop & gain, nitro hemi and dirty heshers all to a glorious effect...I think the bad reviews are when someone is looking for something really specific or they imagine a pickup is going to fix their playing and/or factors elsewhere in their chain not getting them where they wanna go.

Yeah lace has a tendency towards lots of clarity, even when the pickups are voiced a certain way. So if what you are putting into it with the fingers isn't good, they are not going to be to your liking. I've also hear people complain that they are not consistant but that has not been my experiance and I've owned a few now. I can def recomend the hemi (and the alu line as perviously stated) but have nòt tried heshers or the drops. The lace single coils are kinda meh. I liked the golds till I tried o
ther things and went down the bucker road.

I swapped out EMGs with some Duncan Distortions in my LP Standard and it works very well for downtuned heavies as well as cleans. I think if I ever need to replace pickups in my other guitars that I'm gonna go with them.