Rethinking the 7 String SD Nazgul For Lower Tunings

[Carl Kolchak]

I was thinking of swapping this out of the bridge in my KM Schecter due to the nasty 1.5K-ish spike it has, and that I wasn't really ever able to fully EQ out/around. This was while I had the guitar in B standard. Dropping the guitar down to G changed that. That harsh spike mellowed with the result that the tonal range now sounded much more balanced. Guess those lower freqs/looser string tensions were just the right counter-balance to the pup's otherwise harsher sounding standard tuning personality.

 

[Sdrizis89]

I have a nazgul in 2 different guitars tuned to G#. I was able to tame that spike enough to warrant keeping the nazgul. Its a really great sounding pickup for all out brutality. The chugs are monstrous. Clarity is pretty good as well. Pinch Harmonics jump off of the fretboard. I'll be keeping them for the foreseeable future.

 

[Carl Kolchak]

I have a nazgul in 2 different guitars tuned to G#. I was able to tame that spike enough to warrant keeping the nazgul. Its a really great sounding pickup for all out brutality. The chugs are monstrous. Clarity is pretty good as well. Pinch Harmonics jump off of the fretboard. I'll be keeping them for the foreseeable future.

^This.

Everything that for me made the Nazgul unlikeable with standard tunings/higher string tensions, the harsh mid spike, the dryness, the clinical clarity, turned out to be the perfect offset to all the problems traditionally associated w/ lower tunigs/looser string tensions, i.e. the mud, flub, etc.

 

[jarledge]

I have previously played guitars that had the nazgul and didn't dig them but those guitars were in fact in standard. I owned a set of lace dissonant aggressors, and the same thing, I didn't care for them at all in standard (6 string) but dropped to C or lower they were brutal. I could see how the naz would be designed to excel in lower turnings makes me wonder now....

 

[TheWarAgainstTime]

I bought a used 7621 a while back that had a Nazgul in the bridge. I only played with it for a few days before removing/selling it since I already had another pickup set for that guitar before I bought it. I liked it a lot better in drop G and F# than I did in standard/drop A, same reasons as listed in the OP. I've actually been thinking of getting another one for a darker-sounding guitar I have

 

[Korneo]

I have a set of Nazgul and Sentient on an Ibanez 1527 for years and don't like them...
This pickup have a tons of low but sound kinda weird. I can't really describe it but except on the lowest string (tune to B or A#), this pickup sound weird.
The mids are "specialy made", with tension and the highs are unpleasing.
I think about the Black Winter but I'm afraid of the new era metal SD...

 

[Carl Kolchak]

I have a set of Nazgul and Sentient on an Ibanez 1527 for years and don't like them...
This pickup have a tons of low but sound kinda weird. I can't really describe it but except on the lowest string (tune to B or A#), this pickup sound weird.
The mids are "specialy made", with tension and the highs are unpleasing.
I think about the Black Winter but I'm afraid of the new era metal SD...

DiMarzio then?

 

[KailM]

SD Nazgul:

Tune a little lower, don't be afraid to turn down your mids a bit, feed it a little more bass, and then stand back...

 

[littlebadboy]

Although this is a 6-string demo, it might be a good reference.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

the nazgul sounded best in a warmer guitar imo. I had one in an all mahogany guitar and it helped tame the nasal/croaky midrange and high end that I hated about it in some KM7s that I've tried. It's one of those pickups that's kind of picky about the guitar it goes into, same as the juggernaut.

 

[Korneo]

DiMarzio then?

I have some D Activator in this guitar before and don't realise I like they're sound before I put the Nazgul in it.

 

[Sdrizis89]

I have some D Activator in this guitar before and don't realise I like they're sound before I put the Nazgul in it.

I enjoy the dactivator as well for similar reasons. Nice chugs, tights, decent clarity. The nazgul just has a little more upper mid thing but it's easy to take if you hate it. That's what EQs are for.