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
I've been considering the Iron Man, so this is valuable info. This part really speaks to me: "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've been bouncing between BKP and Duncan, and I like the articulation and tightness of the BKP I've played, but they can be a bit unforgiving and dry. I like the Duncans for a bit more saturation and "juice". Maybe the Wagner pups would be a nice blend of the things I like from BKP and Duncan.
