That's great to hear.Hey_bert_whtcha_doin_bert":z795w28v said:Icebuckers fucking rip!
Yeah I can attest to that. My faves are the Darkburst bridge, IronMan bridge, and the Godwood neck.CEG85":z795w28v said:No info on the icebucker, but every comment ive read about Jim Wagner pickups are positive.
Man I really dig the IronMan bridge. For fat aggressive tones that don't compromise on tightness and clarity, nothing comes close. Really excited about installing my spare IronMan set in the Ormsby Ash/Maple/Wenge guitar when it finally gets here.braintheory":z795w28v said:Have they arrived yet? Very curious to hear your thoughts and how they compare to the Iron Man and Godwoods
Sweet! If the bridge IceBucker has anywhere near the overtones of the Darkburst bridge I'll be happy. My Darkburst bridge is crazy. It's borderline out of control, but in a good way.chunktone":2hioh7ld said:You're going to love them! I have a set and they are great! Very clear with tons of overtones.
Thanks for the info mate.braintheory":2fr4rki0 said:I talked to Jim today on the phone and ordered a Iron Man/Dark Burst set and Murkat bridge for my HSS style guitar. For what it’s worth, he told me the icebucker neck is like a middle ground of the crossroads and darkburst, fatter than the crossroads but not as much as the darkburst or Godwood. He said the Godwood and darkburst necks are almost identical, the Godwood is just .2k hotter.
He also said that the Murkat is the same thing as the Fillmore just F-Spaced for Floyd rose type guitars and 2 rows of adjustable pole pieces. I decided to go with the Murkat since it’s only $15 more
Will do! And I’m still waiting to hear how you’ll like the Ice Bucker’s in comparisonfirejack":2tlbo4bj said:Thanks for the info mate.braintheory":2tlbo4bj said:I talked to Jim today on the phone and ordered a Iron Man/Dark Burst set and Murkat bridge for my HSS style guitar. For what it’s worth, he told me the icebucker neck is like a middle ground of the crossroads and darkburst, fatter than the crossroads but not as much as the darkburst or Godwood. He said the Godwood and darkburst necks are almost identical, the Godwood is just .2k hotter.
He also said that the Murkat is the same thing as the Fillmore just F-Spaced for Floyd rose type guitars and 2 rows of adjustable pole pieces. I decided to go with the Murkat since it’s only $15 more
Let us know what you think of the Murkat. I have a Murkat that started out as a standard A5 Murkat, and now has the A5 swapped out for a ceramic magnet (same ceramic magnet that Jim uses in the IronMan bridge pickup). The ceramic magnet gives the Murkat a firmer bass response with added growl in the low-mids. But it does change the highs just a little. Still sweet though.
I'm picking the guitars up tonight. My mate reports that the IceBuckers are the best combination he's heard in my Sykes LP. Usually he just says that the guitars sound good, so I'm extra-excited to hear it.braintheory":2lrz5f6d said:Will do! And I’m still waiting to hear how you’ll like the Ice Buckers in comparisonfirejack":2lrz5f6d said:Thanks for the info mate.braintheory":2lrz5f6d said:I talked to Jim today on the phone and ordered a Iron Man/Dark Burst set and Murkat bridge for my HSS style guitar. For what it’s worth, he told me the icebucker neck is like a middle ground of the crossroads and darkburst, fatter than the crossroads but not as much as the darkburst or Godwood. He said the Godwood and darkburst necks are almost identical, the Godwood is just .2k hotter.
He also said that the Murkat is the same thing as the Fillmore just F-Spaced for Floyd rose type guitars and 2 rows of adjustable pole pieces. I decided to go with the Murkat since it’s only $15 more
Let us know what you think of the Murkat. I have a Murkat that started out as a standard A5 Murkat, and now has the A5 swapped out for a ceramic magnet (same ceramic magnet that Jim uses in the IronMan bridge pickup). The ceramic magnet gives the Murkat a firmer bass response with added growl in the low-mids. But it does change the highs just a little. Still sweet though.
braintheory":3ev765hg said:Will do! And I’m still waiting to hear how you’ll like the Ice Bucker’s in comparison
The Ice Bucker sounds like it would be up my alley. How’s it compare to the Iron Man or Murkat in tightness? Is the Iron Man still the tightest one? Jim said it would befirejack":3gy67lb3 said:braintheory":3gy67lb3 said:Will do! And I’m still waiting to hear how you’ll like the Ice Bucker’s in comparison
Mate! The IceBuckers are killer. A little different from my other WCR/Wagner pickups.
The bridge IceBucker is the most raw of the lot. It's very edgy and abrasive. Has a lot of that Wagner unpredictability and character, even more than my Darkburst bridge. You hear every little clang, scrape and squawk from your pick & fingers with the IceBucker bridge. It's really fun listening to what comes out of your speakers when playing single notes.
It's got a very percussive attack without being overbearing. Just on the limit for my tastes. And it has a very sweet grind. For all it's raw edginess, it still sounds fat and juicy when you strum hard chords. Although that might just be my Sykes Les Paul. But then I've had many pickups in my Sykes LP and nothing has sounded anything like the Ice Buckers.
Such a brilliant pickup. It's definitely my fave bridge pickup I've had in my Sykes LP. Not sure if I'd put one in one of my bright sounding Superstrats. Might be too much in that case. But in a warm to balanced sounding guitar, it's a pretty safe bet.
In terms of the neck IceBucker, I think I marginally prefer the Godwood neck. The IceBucker neck is a touch brighter and stringier. It's still excellent, very juicy and sweet sounding. But the Godwood neck has a bit more compression and fatness to it, just the right amount to satisfy my needs. So the Godwood neck is still my fave. But I'll be keeping the IceBucker neck in the Sykes LP for a different tonal flavor.
chris lykins":3f9yryky said:Does Jim only make vintage or G spaced pickups? If so does it make that much difference? I have a Godwood in my LP and love it. Need to change a pup in my Thorn Rune with a rosewood neck as it could use a little fattening.
From my experiences with them they both have a very similar percussive knock and fast attack, they just have a very different character thereafter. The Iron Man with Ceramic mag has a huge bloom after the attack. Whereas the IceBucker has a leaner, less saturated sound after the initial attack.braintheory":3oz14n7a said:The Ice Bucker sounds like it would be up my alley. How’s it compare to the Iron Man or Murkat in tightness? Is the Iron Man still the tightest one? Jim said it would be
How’s it compare to the Iron Man and Murkat for growl?
braintheory":p868716f said:Hey guys, so I finally spent some time with my Iron Man bridge/Dark Burst neck set and Murkat bridge and compard them to my other favorite humbuckers Virgil Arlo’s, Tone Specific’s and Fishman Fluence Killswitch. The WCR’s fill that perfect middle ground niche for me because as amazing as the Virgil Arlo and Tone Specific’s are, they’re not tight/focused or modern enough for my metal needs, while the Fluence’s are the tightest pickups ever but too processed, compressed, not nuanced and more extreme than what I want most of the time
The Murkat so far suits me better than the Iron Man. I like that it’s more open, articulate, nuanced, brighter and I much prefer it for leads and single note stuff. It sounds more vocal for leads and the individual notes stand out more. The Iron Man is much more compressed, darker, and has a little bit of a cocked wah nasal sound in the low mids. The Murkat is not nasally at all. I wonder though if that’s just because of the guitar’s acoustic tone or something in the wiring because the dark burst neck it’s paired with is also a little nasally in the same way, but they still both sound great overall, I just don’t like nasal sounds. The Dark Burst neck is awesome like everyone here was saying.
What I prefer about the Iron Man over the Murkat is that it’s tighter, more chunky on palm mutes and more rich, growly on powerchords (especially in the low mids). It’s a beefier, thicker pickup than the Murkat. The Murkat has really nice upper mids though and Jim said it’s the same pickup as the Fillmore, but F-Spaced and 2 rows of adjustable screws. They’re both though great for metal and plenty hot. If the Murkat had the tighter, chunkier palm mutes and rich growl of the Iron Man it would be perfect.
Compared to the Virgil Arlo’s and Tone Specific (low output paf style pickups) they don’t clean up or do low gain nearly as well and they’re not as warm, but are much tighter/focused and more aggressive for high gain applications. And they’re also not as tight or modern as the Fluence’s, but still tight enough and will be used by me way more often. I’ll only use the Fluence’s if I want the tightest sound I can get or something super modern. The Murkat seems to be the best match for my style
I’m curious now to try the Ice Buckers and maybe the Shredder or Herc model. I heard those would be somewhere in between the Iron Man and Murkat/Fillmore, which might be perfect for me. I’ve also tried Godwoods in the past and they were also great. One thing all these WCR’s seem to have in common is that they’re very saturated and juicy while also being very focused and cutting and they feel great to play. I much prefer them to the other high output pickups I’ve had by Bare Knuckle, Motor City, Arcane, Lundgren, Wolfetone, etc. The only other one that may be able to give them a run for its money would be the Dunable Big Foot. I’ll have to put it in one of my guitars to compare. Should be interesting