Thoughts on the Nazgûl for lower tuned metal?

acceptance said:
What about the emg HZs? I get the sense they aren’t taken seriously but not sure why.
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Yeah, they're not bad pickups but they're not high output. They're not bad, but they're really underwhelming if you're expecting a passive 81.

They're kinda dull-ish (but not muddy) mid-powered pickups with a black plastic cover that makes them look like something they're not.
 
Rex Rocker said:
I personally don't think the Winter sounds very DiMarzio. This is just my opinion, of course, not saying you're wrong, but I associate the DiMarzio midrange with a slightly vocal "Aw" sound. The Dominion I'd say is the closest DiMarzio to the Black Winter EQ-wise (although the Dominion is not nearly as hot), but the Dominion's midrange is really vocal/nasal. The Black Winter, while being very mid focused, is never nasal, IMO.

That being said, the Winter is certainly more wooly than the Nazgul. I'd say, however, the Distortion is more wooly than either. And that's just comparing them all, because in the grand scheme of things, none of them are nearly as wooly as, say, a Tone Zone.

If anything, I'd say the 'Winter's woolyness is easily fixed by just lowering the gain on the amp. It is, after all, higher output than both the Nazgul and the Distortion. It's REALLY hot. I had it in a guitar that also had an X2N, and it wasn't any less hot than the X2N.

JMO, of course.

And also, the D-Activator is an asymetric wind. So it matters which orientation you install it at. With the hotter coil towards the neck, it does take on more (loosely speaking) neck-y characteristics, which is exactly what you're describing it like. Quite honestly, the D Activator is one of the only DiMarzios I've ever really liked, just not in this guitar. I think its biggetst downfall is it sounds nothing like an EMG 81, LOL. But as a standalone balanced-ish medium-hot Ceramic pickup with a slightly nasty attack, it's pretty solid. It just doesn't sound like an active pickup whatsoever.
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A lot of Dimarzios to me dont really have much bass, they have more lower mids instead, so they kind of thud instead of chug. Duncans tend to have deeper bass. As I was playing the Winter yesterday, I noticed this quality more than usual. Since the Winter has sort of a low pass / high pass thing going on, they dont have the usual low and high end you hear in a Duncan. They remind me more of a Dimarzio in that respect. I have always thought the Winter neck was smoother like a Dimarzio than the typical Duncan neck pickup.

I haven't gotten along with many Dimarzios. I keep trying, lol. I have always liked the Tone Zone. I like the Crunch Lab 7. Now I have a D Sonic that I replaced an Invader with that I like, but it also seems picky on the amp. I did not like the Super Distortion (still have), or the DActivator. I do like many of their neck pickups. I just haven't found many bridge that do a good chunk and crunch, like the Nazgul does.
 
Shask said:
A lot of Dimarzios to me dont really have much bass, they have more lower mids instead, so they kind of thud instead of chug. Duncans tend to have deeper bass. As I was playing the Winter yesterday, I noticed this quality more than usual. Since the Winter has sort of a low pass / high pass thing going on, they dont have the usual low and high end you hear in a Duncan. They remind me more of a Dimarzio in that respect. I have always thought the Winter neck was smoother like a Dimarzio than the typical Duncan neck pickup.

I haven't gotten along with many Dimarzios. I keep trying, lol. I have always liked the Tone Zone. I like the Crunch Lab 7. Now I have a D Sonic that I replaced an Invader with that I like, but it also seems picky on the amp. I did not like the Super Distortion (still have), or the DActivator. I do like many of their neck pickups. I just haven't found many bridge that do a good chunk and crunch, like the Nazgul does.
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Oh, yeah, the Black Winter neck is fatter and hotter than most Duncans. I overall don't like the usual Duncan neck pickup recipee. They seem to fall under the notion that neck pickup has to be low output and scooped, even if the bridge pickup is a blistering high output and very mid-focused. But the Black Winter seems to be more of an "outside the box" thought for them. I honestly think that much like the Black Winter bridge is a tweak on the Distortion recipee, the Black Winter neck seems to be a similar tweak on the Distortion neck.

I've never tried the Crunch Lab for 7 strings, but I did try the 6-string CL, and it wasn't my thing. It was very stereotypical DiMarzio in the sense that it was dark and pretty low-middy with a kinda thuddy attack. The Black Winter isn't like that to me. I don't find it as much dark as it is focused. The Black Winter may not be sizzly like the Distortion, but it has a very distinct almost scratchy attack and kinda dirty/grindy voicing to the high-end that firmly puts it in the same family as the Duncan Distortion. I also don't think the Black Winter is inherently low-middy, but it also doesn't get along with naturally smooth/thuddy sounding guitars like the Strat that I had it in. Hell, in my Les Paul which is naturally very bitey and aggressive, I thought it was too much.

JMO, of course. I'm a big fan of the Black Winter (in the right guitar) and the Crunch Lab isn't really my thing, but that's just me. I've never had both in the same guitar, nor did I even own them at the same time.
 
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Rex Rocker said:
I've got one on the way. I've got a Strat that's kinda picky about pickups, and I'm actually replacing a Duncan Distortion as well that wasn't tight and aggressive enough for my liking in this particular guitar.
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Can't get much more aggressive than the duncan distortion IMO, maybe i'll try out the Nazgul.
 
anomaly said:
Can't get much more aggressive than the duncan distortion IMO, maybe i'll try out the Nazgul.
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Now that I tried it, the Distortion is actually more aggressive than the Nazgul. Someone else mentioned it before on this thread. At least "aggressive" in a "dirty" kinda way.

However, the Nazgul is tighter, and it trades the signature Distortion's sizzle for a clanky high-mid emphasis.

The Distortion is more 90's, the Nazgul is more modern.

Both are cool, but I feel the Nazgul works better on this guitar. The Distortion is fatter and the attack isn't as up-front as the Nazgul.
 
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First impressions: The Nazgul rules! This might easily be my favorite pickup after the 15 or so I've tried. Nice and tight and defined, sounds mean as hell. I didn't even have to maniacally adjust the height up and down like I always do. I just eyeballed it and it sounded perfect. Definitely a must try for B tunings and lower IMO. I've already put another on order for my LP.
 
midnightlaundry said:
SOT, biut for you Naz guys, what NECK pickup do you have to match??
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I'm using a DiMarzio SDS-1.

I'm dubious of how the Sentient would work, honestly. If you like the Duncan Jazz or '59, the Sentient is described to be an in-between. I like neither, TBH. Not by a long shot when matched with mid-focused high-output bridge pickups.
 
I bought the Pegasus/Sentient set some years ago.. I feel the Sentient is a bit bloated after all this time.. I'm going to try a Jazz..
 
Soundstorm said:
First impressions: The Nazgul rules! This might easily be my favorite pickup after the 15 or so I've tried. Nice and tight and defined, sounds mean as hell. I didn't even have to maniacally adjust the height up and down like I always do. I just eyeballed it and it sounded perfect. Definitely a must try for B tunings and lower IMO. I've already put another on order for my LP.
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It’s easily my favorite duncan. Im trying a bkp c-pig in my mayones hydra, but might put the nazgul right back lol. Glad you dig it. They got it right with that pup IMO.
 
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