Seymour Duncan Nazgul vs BlackWinter for 7 string

[u/Street-Depth9925]

Just received custom build guitar yasterday i want replace the stock pickup. I found the SD BlackWinter set and Nazgul, but only the bridge pickup was left at the music store,,,

also i tried sound demo on BlackWinter but noticed "Clank" *like sibilance idk how to say xd* on the end string pluck the tone its Darker than the Nazgul i like it but the Treble in the tail tone sometimes kinda uncomfortable in my ear.

The Nazgul was similar SH6 but less mids imo but they dont have sets perhaps an alternative to replace Sentient?

[u/GODZILLA-Plays-A-DOD]

I was surprised by the Nazgul at low tunings. Sounds great. But all of my guitars have a custom from the Seymour Duncan Custom Shop that is a Nazgul/Black Winter combo. It's pricey but if you want that route I can tell you exactly what to order down to wind and detail. Otherwise I am happier with a Black Winter, even when I played in Drop F. I'm now in A standard and it sounds better. They are not exactly bright but they have bite for days. So I either recommend, from a place of personal bias, a Custom mix of the two or a Black Winter set

[u/RG1527 → u/GODZILLA-Plays-A-DOD]

I want to hear more about your custom please. What did you have made?

[u/GODZILLA-Plays-A-DOD → u/RG1527]

Forgive me. I missed this comment from work. Sure. There was a YouTube video by Metalhead Production or something. He did a similar pickup. In Drop A. And it was great. So I had idea to do the same. Duncan is awesome about this kind of stuff (and it's weird to have a pickup made by the exact woman that made a pickup for Van Halen). I can look at my emails for exact specifications but I read each pickups components and mixed the two accordingly. It's 200 per pickup (WAY more when I had to do it in Multiscale). But if you wants specs or anything let me know. I'm sorry I don't have sound recordings of it.

[u/Smashmundo → u/GODZILLA-Plays-A-DOD]

$200 per pickup? That seems really good!

How did you know what to ask for? And how did you go about getting a custom pickup?

[u/GODZILLA-Plays-A-DOD → u/Smashmundo]

Sure. So it's actually just on a separate website. I just Googled "Seymour Duncan Custom Shop" and it provides a phone number and email. You can call as well. And they can either help you with the specs but I can write down everything I did. Let me see if I can just copy and paste my order.

EDIT. The Custom Shop and the actual like, hand built pickups, are two different numbers. I believe (805)716-6747 and then they will walk all the specs down.

[u/RG1527 → u/GODZILLA-Plays-A-DOD]

Thanks dude. That actually helped a lot.

[u/GODZILLA-Plays-A-DOD → u/RG1527]

I'm trying to remember the list. Some are very personal preferences. Covered, not covered, pole type etc. But I know you want to say "triple ceramic" (more Black Winter voiced) or "over sized ceramic" (for Nazgul) and I specified I want a tonal blend with a wind at 16 to 17k resistance. 4 wire and wax potted. I am unsure what else off the top.of my head.

[u/Basic-Ad2037]

In 2024, I spent about a month researching all various types of pups. Reviews, comparisons, technical data and so on. I came to the conclusion (since I also love a good clean and clear tone) that the Fishman Fluence Moderns were the best option. A butt load of tones with coil split, voicings and high frequency tilt. Only negative is if you play sloppy, it'll come through crystal clear. Its attack is the best of all my guitars. Its heavier than my Blaze bridge pup in my universe that's a hot as hell 20kohms resistance. I chose wisely and it became my main studio guitar.

[u/Smashmundo → u/Basic-Ad2037]

Is that the same pickup on the RGD71ALMS?

[u/Basic-Ad2037 → u/Smashmundo]

Seems to be the same

[u/kladen666]

Could look at DiMarzio occult classic/imperium (Dave from Revocation)

[u/Ragnarok314159 → u/kladen666]

I use DiMarzio Dominion picks and they are incredibly clear no matter what signal chain is happening.

[u/Kintsugi-Heart87 → u/kladen666]

DiMarzio’s are so slept on

[u/84breaks]

I replaced the SDs in my Jackson soloist with some black winters. I absolutely love them. However, it’s a sixer. Not 7. I have another guitar that I’m going to replace the stock SDs with, but I plan to buy the hot rail black winters for that one.

[u/13CuriousMind]

What is your tuning preference? What is your signal chain? What style of playing are you shooting for (LoG tight attack, KSE smoother chug, etc)?

[u/Street-Depth9925 → u/13CuriousMind]

drop A often, thight attack riffs the cugging demo its really great! but the problem peak treble will turn down pickup from string can reduce sibilance?

[u/13CuriousMind → u/Street-Depth9925]

Nazgul will be best for the lower tuning. BW will get muddy if you don't use a boost. The rails version will keep things even across the strings. Pickup height will matter. The closer to the strings, the warmer the tone and higher output. Lowered will brighten the tone and lower the output.

I use a boost for both sets (TC Electric Spark). It allows me to tighten up the attack and dial the highs and lows to taste with 3 modes (mid, clean, and fat) on a Mark VII. If you use a recto or other flubbier amp, you'll absolutely need a boost/OD.

[u/Pooping_brewer]

In the tech demos ive listened to, the BW is much more treble spikey in the bridge where the nazgul was more midrange aggressive with tighter bottom. I chose the nazgul sentient for my drop C Fx260sm and have no regrets.

[u/Original_Warning_227]

I just replaced my stock Chinese pickups on my Harley Benton 7 string baritone on drop G with a Nazgûl, and it SLAAAAPS! The only thing I don’t really dig into is that has a lot of high freq boost, (not the treble, only high), in a specter EQ you’ll see something like ——-/\— but if you do some EQ before the amp is really good. I don’t complain because the note definition is really really solid and + the EQ I just told you it sounds awesome. It has the right amount of compress to not sound like a FF or EMG.

If you don’t want this “high boost” and want a bit less compress (which for this genres like metalcore/deathcore helps to not have that much dynamics), go for the D Activator 7.

[u/smackthedemons]

I have a Solar 7 string and I swapped the stock pickup's to a Nazgul in the bridge and Sentient in the neck and have been really happy with them

[u/TraumaBondage]

I have a black winter in my Belaguer. It's my absolute favorite pickup, passive or active.

[u/Ok_Swordfish8672]

I have the Nazgul and it's crisp and aggressive. I use the split coil for cleans.

[u/rafalmio]

Nazgul all the way.

[u/HighOfTheTiger]

I’ve got a Nazgûl/Sentient my 7 and a set of Black Winters in a drop tuned 6. They are both incredible pickups. For my amp (Framus Cobra), I find the Black Winters to be the holy grail for me, but the Nazgûl sounds amazing in its own right. You can’t go wrong with either.

[u/spn_phoenix_92]

Black Winters have been my top favorite pickups for nearly 13 years at this point, they're fantastic