These are my favourite metal pickups, best I played so far. I love Black Winters, I thought it's some kind of fancy name only, but they are actually that good
@OlaEnglund ola please help so I had first got the original black winter and put it in my Jackson dinky, it's sounds amazing. So then I bought a blackened black winter and put it in my Jackson warrior but it doesn't sound nearly as good as the original one in my dinky? Why is this?! I'm super disappointed I love the way my dinky sounds and I want my warrior to sound as good😢
@mayomade8047 It's because guitars are made of wood, and not all wood is equal. You could put the exact same pickup in 2 different guitars and they will sound different. They won't even sound exactly the same in 2 guitars that are the same model and look identical. A lot of guitar players dismiss the importance of the wood a guitar is made from. You now have firsthand evidence. Other than color, the original and Blackened Black Winters are the same pickup.
I have the same guitar!!! Do you have any vids?! I'm really tempted on buying it for my guitar!!! P,s hate the floydrose bridge on these things!!!! Awesome guitar though!!!!
personally i like the distortion's better, have a more smoother / scooped sound to them which i like. black winter's are a little bit too harsh for my liking, but both are great pickups!
Very much a tweaked SH-6 for your needs. I can't say I'm taken with them (a touch too "scratchy" for me) but I'm so happy all this gear work is working out for you, man.
Pro Tip: If you want to sound Black Metal, install some potatoes into your guitar instead of a Humbucker. Only then will you sound truly raw and lowf-i enough to appease Satans taste.
Love the dynamic dual sound of the Randall head and the distorted edge of those pickups. Great work great sound. Wish i am could have gotten this randall head. However i am have other favorite randall tube heads as well. Even the Kirk Hammet sig Randall tube head is awesome. Not the synergy the KH103.
Hey guys, after having a SH6 Distortion in my guitar for years and absolutely loving the sound, I decided to put a set of Black Winter pickups in my new guitar. I was looking for something that sounds a bit nastier and more agressive than the SH6 and I thought the Black Winter pickups were perfect for that. I watched a ton of videos comparing the Pickups and in all of them the difference between the pickups was quite subtle. This video was the only one where I could kind of here what you describe as "the black winter pickups having a little more grain/high end to it than the SH6 Distortion", however when I installed the black winter pickups in my guitar that grain/high end was so strong, it felt like sandpaper on the eardrums. They soundet unbarably bad and not similar to the SH6 at all. No matter how I tweeked my amp, I couldn't get an accaptable sound. I rewired the guitar twice and even installed new volume pots and tone pots, because I couldn't believe that that was the way the pickups were meant to sound. This was especially weird because on almost all videos I watched the difference bewteen the pickups was subtle and the black winters actually sounded absolutly great, especially when the guitar was plugged into a Rectifier. Did anyone have the same experience? Do you maybe need a high wattage tube amp in order for these pickups to sound good?
Maybe they're picky about height. Some bareknuckles are allegedly also quite picky about the distance between the strings and the pup. Try playing around with where they are height wise would be my first step. Good luck dude
I installed the black winter pickups in my old bc rich (15 years old guitar) and there was a lot of noise, but what i did removed all the old cables and replaced them with new ones and problem solved,.
There are three domestic distributors in Finland, Sweden, and Norway who will have them. Thomann is German, and will therefore not get them. If you are interested, there is a thread on the Seymour Duncan forum that lists the distributors.
@@clintjones9848 according to SD website, they both rate at 16.6k bridge. I put the SH6 in my Gibson Les Paul. Put the Black Winters in my schecter E1-FRS . Both badass
rather bright, but good. i'd personally go with something slightly darker than the distortion, but this combo would have a very tight bottom end and a biting mid and treble. i'd say try it.
I just ordered some seymour duncan Distortions actually, that and my technique and style are very similar to Ola's so I pretty much shop for gear through him and I like Emperor too! But I just like my tone to be clear, aggressive and tight but the High end on these pickups adds to much grind for me.
Idk if I'm as excited about these as I was before. I'm sure it has nothing to do with Ola's setup or tone, but these pickups to me sound like they have that kinda "coil tapped" sound. Then again I just have some basic computer speakers so I'm sure I'm not hearing the full quality of the vid but idk. Just sounds like a coil tapped Duncan Distortion.
Ola if you have time, I have a question with these pickups. I have an Ibanez RG you can see in my videos with two humbuckers and a single coil in the middle. What pickup do you think would go best in the middle with these Black Winters? I would really like to know from a kick ass musicians like yourself.
Black Winters sound more aggressive, sharp and angry. Distortions sound thicker and fatter, with a slightly lower pissed off quality. Both are bad ass but I think I have to get some Black Winters to put in my SE if for no other reason than the name sounds bad ass. . . and they sound good too.
dude you're a awesome guitarist,they sound pretty damn good I was expecting more of a crazy look though like double rails orhex head or star screws or all black metal cover all scratched up and beat up looking .
It sounds like the Black Winter has a certain amount of dry signal present in the distortion, almost like tracking a distorted track, then copying the DI, and mixing in the clean track to help with articulation. They are also kind of single coil twang voiced, but they sound awesome clean. Probably be good for prog, or at least interesting for grindcore.
HA STN That dry signal sound you're referring to is actually just the attack of the strings on the accented notes he plays. It's a pretty metallic sounding pickup so you really hear the twang (like you said.) It's probably also partially caused by the voicing of the Randall Satan's distortion because Ola likes that tight Meshuggah-esque tone which brings out a lot of that high-mid frequency. I love it though. I definitely wouldn't mind a set of these.
so they're made with scandinavian metal in thought, but hearing it it sounds like more a pickup for black, but should it also sounds good for some baritone guitar riffs like entombed and dismember?
The quality of the pickup as far as build wise is good. Duncan makes good pickups. Bu the thing I noticed about it is it's very compressed. It has a DC Resistance reading of 16.68k. With a high DC Resistance, pickups become compressed sounding which personally, I don't like. Plus it tends to attenuate the treble response. I think it's a bit of a myth that to have a good metal sound you need a really high output pickup. I've found that a reading of no more than 11 or 12k sounds best.
All two pick ups are great...but, i would prefer the Black Winter for a darker wood guitar tone. And the Distortion in a brighter, snappy wood guitar. To balance things...
i like the clarity and how it has actual bass in the note instead a note loaded with bass on top. the only thing turning me off is the glass sound it has. looking for something like the sh-6(distortion) with the fire of screaming demon and bass of alt-8
How these suit to mahogany body and neck guitar for playing low as B-tuning with distortion obviously??? Some say these sound harsh (high end)?? Just building my metal guitar and considering this set. I have another with Duncan EMTY actives that sound just great.
Im guessing these pickups are meant for black metal. They sound good, but the point of black metal is to sound as raw and unappealing as possible. Find the cheapest pickup, put it in the cheapest guitar and run it through the cheapest amp with a lot of gain and you're set. Listen to Burzum's old stuff and you'll get where I'm coming from.
They are meant for any metal....keep in mind he is a death metal guitarist and sets up his rig accordingly.....but I m sure with the right rig, u can get an immortal kind of sound.....the old lo fi sound had to do more with recording techniques....burzum used headphones to Mic his guitars I believe
Ola, is it possible that you could do a playthrough of both pickups, or upload the song without the backing track. The difference isn't that notorious, though the BW sound a little bigger than the Distortions.
Greetings from the UK!...Hey Ola, love your riffs & tone mate, last time i heard someone play consistently great riffs like you was Dimebag!!!....Would love to hear / buy an instrumental cd from you. All the best luck for the future Ola. Matt
Man, why don't you use these great riffs to make up an awesome album (but something different than Feared, something more thrash, like the main riff of the song suggests)? P.S. Is it drum machine?
Yeah, there's like this hard bell like quality that almost sounds like it is resisting any distortion ... it'd go great paired up with a darker sounding guitar.
Holy Hell man!! these sound fakkin`awesome!! I`m a huge fan of the SH-6 so these should be just to my liking.. checked them out at store the other day, they are PRIZY!! 3000nkr is a lot even for awesome pickups. Love your sound Ola! Long cold winters and even longer colder summers really make metal sound better!!
if you want the the neck pickup for cleans a Seymour duncan little 59 would work but if I were you I'd get a Bareknuckle piledriver(they make awesome single coil pickups) and have the BLack winter Set.
I don't think his hand is touching the strings when he's sliding. Or he's picking hard enough to create a sound loud enough in the picked strings to render the noise of sliding on the upper strings negligible. Kind of like how if you trem pick without right hand muting the signal from the picked string is strong enough to drown out any noise created by the sympathetic vibrations of the other strings.
Agreed. Especially open powerchords sound just wierd, very springy for the lack of better words. However when Ola played a very Emperorish/Dissectionish riff on 2:22, they sounded awesome. Overall I dont really know what to think about these pups.
1:47 HELL YEAH. SO METAL. SO HEAVY.
Rip neck
These are my favourite metal pickups, best I played so far. I love Black Winters, I thought it's some kind of fancy name only, but they are actually that good
I will say the black winter through the Randall Satan is my favorite rig and it's what I run. thanks ola.
Darrenn Walters Are they mid heavy in standard tuning?
If only my broke ass could afford a setup with a Randall Satan in it.
I love these pickups. I just got them yesterday. They sound great in my SG tuned to Drop C.
There is just a bit more high range in the Black Winter pickups...
Compared to? Swolar pickups?
@@zacharyzane1638 SH6
They kick ass Ola
@OlaEnglund ola please help so I had first got the original black winter and put it in my Jackson dinky, it's sounds amazing. So then I bought a blackened black winter and put it in my Jackson warrior but it doesn't sound nearly as good as the original one in my dinky? Why is this?! I'm super disappointed I love the way my dinky sounds and I want my warrior to sound as good😢
@mayomade8047
It's because guitars are made of wood, and not all wood is equal.
You could put the exact same pickup in 2 different guitars and they will sound different. They won't even sound exactly the same in 2 guitars that are the same model and look identical.
A lot of guitar players dismiss the importance of the wood a guitar is made from. You now have firsthand evidence.
Other than color, the original and Blackened Black Winters are the same pickup.
Wow the chords just sound so much more dynamic! And the harmonic range is sick! Great demo as always ola!!!
Ola you are literally the best example of someone who takes ultimate pride in their tone! Thank God for people like you!
Don't thank God! Thank his Mom!
I just installed my set of black winters in my Jackson Rhoads JS32 and man, these things are awesome.
I have the same guitar!!! Do you have any vids?! I'm really tempted on buying it for my guitar!!! P,s hate the floydrose bridge on these things!!!! Awesome guitar though!!!!
How does the fret board feel
I’m about to put either a black winter or nazgul in the bridge of my Jackson warrior would you recommend the black winter?
The Lobotomite I think I’m gonna go black winter for sure after watching some more videos about them
I have a set in my js30 Rhodes v need to wite it back up
1:48 i think my brain just exploded from how heavy that was
3:02 is the most metal thing I've ever heard.
That was an accurate statement
All I want for Christmas is black winter pickups!!
I gotta say, I just got them a couple weeks ago and I’m totally in love with them !!! I hope you all enjoy them!
@@seabasszamarripa8252 I had them for my 7 string and they were ok I ended up taking them out and getting mark Holcomb 10000000000 better
Great note definition and attack, awesome rythm tone!
All I want for Christmas is a UA-cam video that actually loads properly...
like every video I've seen of Ola...perfection. He has tone like few others have achieved, not to forget his amazing chops.
those riffs are fukin' SMOKIN' brutha
yea brah they is
absolutely amazing, the pickups and the jam!
I heard the chorus of your "Invidia" song here! Damn i want that pickup!
Came back here to say the same thing.
what's most amazing to me is how you changed clothes while playing the song!!
imo all high output duncans should have that gothic script. it looks awesome!
personally i like the distortion's better, have a more smoother / scooped sound to them which i like. black winter's are a little bit too harsh for my liking, but both are great pickups!
Those pickups sound so damn nice!! Better than the sd distortion IMO.
After watching this and other videos I equipped both my guitars with Black Winter pickups.
they sound so good
3:08 is sick
Ola's playstyle is so Solid🗿Damn! 👀👍🤘🔥
Very much a tweaked SH-6 for your needs. I can't say I'm taken with them (a touch too "scratchy" for me) but I'm so happy all this gear work is working out for you, man.
Same here. Too bad because I like the midrange.
My God, there is a Ola video for litteraly anything guitar related I'm wondering about.
Pro Tip: If you want to sound Black Metal, install some potatoes into your guitar instead of a Humbucker. Only then will you sound truly raw and lowf-i enough to appease Satans taste.
what about turning all the basses in your tone down
and what about using the most crappy equipment you can get also?
Trve black metal production is result of playing thru a 15 watt mini amp with the recording microphone inside a toilet bowl
@@benjigrooms2958 I fvcking lol'd :D
Would that be baked, boiled, sauteed or raw 🤘
It's a Strictly 7 guitar, it is a custom built guitar. Model; Solar 6 I believe. Bridge; is a Evertune bridge I believe as well.
Love the dynamic dual sound of the Randall head and the distorted edge of those pickups. Great work great sound. Wish i am could have gotten this randall head. However i am have other favorite randall tube heads as well. Even the Kirk Hammet sig Randall tube head is awesome. Not the synergy the KH103.
Hey guys,
after having a SH6 Distortion in my guitar for years and absolutely loving the sound, I decided to put a set of Black Winter pickups in my new guitar. I was looking for something that sounds a bit nastier and more agressive than the SH6 and I thought the Black Winter pickups were perfect for that. I watched a ton of videos comparing the Pickups and in all of them the difference between the pickups was quite subtle. This video was the only one where I could kind of here what you describe as "the black winter pickups having a little more grain/high end to it than the SH6 Distortion", however when I installed the black winter pickups in my guitar that grain/high end was so strong, it felt like sandpaper on the eardrums. They soundet unbarably bad and not similar to the SH6 at all. No matter how I tweeked my amp, I couldn't get an accaptable sound. I rewired the guitar twice and even installed new volume pots and tone pots, because I couldn't believe that that was the way the pickups were meant to sound. This was especially weird because on almost all videos I watched the difference bewteen the pickups was subtle and the black winters actually sounded absolutly great, especially when the guitar was plugged into a Rectifier. Did anyone have the same experience? Do you maybe need a high wattage tube amp in order for these pickups to sound good?
Maybe they're picky about height. Some bareknuckles are allegedly also quite picky about the distance between the strings and the pup. Try playing around with where they are height wise would be my first step. Good luck dude
@@vangoghsseveredear thanks for the tip. Sadly the sound of the Pickups doesn't change significantly when I do that.
I installed the black winter pickups in my old bc rich (15 years old guitar) and there was a lot of noise, but what i did removed all the old cables and replaced them with new ones and problem solved,.
i think u need to change the values of the tone capacitors and drop down to 250k pots and 022 capacitors
Seymour Duncan Distortion is my favourite. And for this little difference in sound, i think, you can use some nice EQ.
Yeah absalutely right....
I can't wait to get this into my SLSMG.
This is the solution that I have been waiting for.
There are three domestic distributors in Finland, Sweden, and Norway who will have them. Thomann is German, and will therefore not get them.
If you are interested, there is a thread on the Seymour Duncan forum that lists the distributors.
I prefer the duncan distortion, it has a real sinister midrange no other p'u seems to have.
Guitarz 5150 Yeah, Duncan Distortion is amazing!
It's a higher output pickup than the Black Winter. It will definitely be more articulate with heavier grit too given how the Distortion is voiced.
They're wound to the same heat but the DD set has 1 large ceramic each and the BW set has 3 large ceramics each, so the BWs are hotter.
@@clintjones9848 according to SD website, they both rate at 16.6k bridge. I put the SH6 in my Gibson Les Paul. Put the Black Winters in my schecter E1-FRS . Both badass
rather bright, but good. i'd personally go with something slightly darker than the distortion, but this combo would have a very tight bottom end and a biting mid and treble. i'd say try it.
Great video Ola...one tip: 1:11 you wrote Grain...I think that Gain is correct. Cheers.
Im liking the ink on your right arm, sick!
Ola ! Cant wait to purchase that beast of an amp and the pick ups once there avilable in New York..
Ola Now has its signatures amp (Randall) and pickups (Seymour Duncan), just like Dimebag. He is living his dream.
The difference between pickups is subtle IMHO but great thanks for demoing that!
like them , more clarity than the duncan distortion
Part at 2:22 sounds so Rush influenced. Very cool. A+
I just ordered some seymour duncan Distortions actually, that and my technique and style are very similar to Ola's so I pretty much shop for gear through him and I like Emperor too! But I just like my tone to be clear, aggressive and tight but the High end on these pickups adds to much grind for me.
Nice clarity for such high gain. Reminds me a bit the sound from the ironheart video...
Thanks for the video. I’m sold on these pickups.
Idk if I'm as excited about these as I was before. I'm sure it has nothing to do with Ola's setup or tone, but these pickups to me sound like they have that kinda "coil tapped" sound. Then again I just have some basic computer speakers so I'm sure I'm not hearing the full quality of the vid but idk. Just sounds like a coil tapped Duncan Distortion.
Awesome demo dude... You got every sound of those pickups...
Ola if you have time, I have a question with these pickups. I have an Ibanez RG you can see in my videos with two humbuckers and a single coil in the middle. What pickup do you think would go best in the middle with these Black Winters? I would really like to know from a kick ass musicians like yourself.
Treble sounds good punchy and responsive. Im about to order a set for my jackson dk2xr hh LE.
Black Winters sound more aggressive, sharp and angry. Distortions sound thicker and fatter, with a slightly lower pissed off quality. Both are bad ass but I think I have to get some Black Winters to put in my SE if for no other reason than the name sounds bad ass. . . and they sound good too.
The name "Black Winter" paints a cool enough image to warrant a purchase all on its own
man your wedding ring is shinny ! :)
other than that my ears cannot tell any notable difference between the two
dude you're a awesome guitarist,they sound pretty damn good I was expecting more of a crazy look though like double rails orhex head or star screws or all black metal cover all scratched up and beat up looking .
Hail Ola. Black winter is too warm for how fucking kold these are, grim and frostbitten!!!
Excellent job on the vid. Sounds great Ola, keep up the good work!
It sounds like the Black Winter has a certain amount of dry signal present in the distortion, almost like tracking a distorted track, then copying the DI, and mixing in the clean track to help with articulation. They are also kind of single coil twang voiced, but they sound awesome clean. Probably be good for prog, or at least interesting for grindcore.
HA STN Could just be the bass.
HA STN That dry signal sound you're referring to is actually just the attack of the strings on the accented notes he plays. It's a pretty metallic sounding pickup so you really hear the twang (like you said.) It's probably also partially caused by the voicing of the Randall Satan's distortion because Ola likes that tight Meshuggah-esque tone which brings out a lot of that high-mid frequency. I love it though. I definitely wouldn't mind a set of these.
Does anyone knows the name of the music played as an example on this video? Thank you.
God damn it, Ola. På grund av dig så gick jag och köpte dom där mickarna.
so they're made with scandinavian metal in thought, but hearing it it sounds like more a pickup for black, but should it also sounds good for some baritone guitar riffs like entombed and dismember?
i love how they sound, definitely excited about them!
The quality of the pickup as far as build wise is good. Duncan makes good pickups. Bu the thing I noticed about it is it's very compressed. It has a DC Resistance reading of 16.68k. With a high DC Resistance, pickups become compressed sounding which personally, I don't like. Plus it tends to attenuate the treble response. I think it's a bit of a myth that to have a good metal sound you need a really high output pickup. I've found that a reading of no more than 11 or 12k sounds best.
Damn they sound really nice and crisp!
All two pick ups are great...but, i would prefer the Black Winter for a darker wood guitar tone. And the Distortion in a brighter, snappy wood guitar. To balance things...
These are passive pickups right?
Ya they are ok
I have them in my jrv 7 bc rich
I'd say that the Black Winter pickups have more colour as opposed to the Duncan Distortion SH-6
Sounds great of course but not enough difference in sound to replace a regular distortion imo.
Packs a punch but lacks that bottom beefiness.
i like the clarity and how it has actual bass in the note instead a note loaded with bass on top. the only thing turning me off is the glass sound it has. looking for something like the sh-6(distortion) with the fire of screaming demon and bass of alt-8
This video made me go out and buy a set!!! Love them!!!
Beautiful riffage here Ola!
How these suit to mahogany body and neck guitar for playing low as B-tuning with distortion obviously??? Some say these sound harsh (high end)??
Just building my metal guitar and considering this set.
I have another with Duncan EMTY actives that sound just great.
love the pickups and great video man !
Nice. I am not too familiar with the "Torpedo Live". Is this a custom IR you are using in this video or one that comes with this device?
Im guessing these pickups are meant for black metal. They sound good, but the point of black metal is to sound as raw and unappealing as possible. Find the cheapest pickup, put it in the cheapest guitar and run it through the cheapest amp with a lot of gain and you're set. Listen to Burzum's old stuff and you'll get where I'm coming from.
They are meant for any metal....keep in mind he is a death metal guitarist and sets up his rig accordingly.....but I m sure with the right rig, u can get an immortal kind of sound.....the old lo fi sound had to do more with recording techniques....burzum used headphones to Mic his guitars I believe
Sam Franklin So sick of people say this about black metal tone.
Sam Franklin We aren't in the 90s anymore, time to use a proper sound in Black Metal and not sound like garbage (Burzum).
Sam Franklin You actually justed described PUNK music not Black Metal. There are plenty of Black Metal bands that has sophisticated rigs.
The name put me off at first but these things sound amazing!! Like passive blackouts sort of
Ola, is it possible that you could do a playthrough of both pickups, or upload the song without the backing track. The difference isn't that notorious, though the BW sound a little bigger than the Distortions.
Greetings from the UK!...Hey Ola, love your riffs & tone mate, last time i heard someone play consistently great riffs like you was Dimebag!!!....Would love to hear / buy an instrumental cd from you.
All the best luck for the future Ola.
Matt
Where would i be able to pick a set of these up? As a Swedish metal guitarist, i need these pickups!
black winters vs nazgul for 6 string? never seen any direct comparisons...
These things sound brutal on drop tunings
Man, why don't you use these great riffs to make up an awesome album (but something different than Feared, something more thrash, like the main riff of the song suggests)?
P.S. Is it drum machine?
Orange 2x12 open back is only $600 and it's amazing.
theres not much difference from the sound (a high end boost) but im guessing the feel is a bit different Ola??
so no 7/8 string version? i thought thats what these would be since thats normally what you would play
Awesome! I love your tone!
can anyone tell me why my black winter pickups are buzzing and feedback?
Sweetwater is the best place to get them right now if your local store doesn't have them. I got them 3 days after I ordered.
wonder how they would sound through a mesa rectifier
Yeah, there's like this hard bell like quality that almost sounds like it is resisting any distortion ... it'd go great paired up with a darker sounding guitar.
Holy Hell man!! these sound fakkin`awesome!! I`m a huge fan of the SH-6 so these should be just to my liking.. checked them out at store the other day, they are PRIZY!! 3000nkr is a lot even for awesome pickups.
Love your sound Ola! Long cold winters and even longer colder summers really make metal sound better!!
if you want the the neck pickup for cleans a Seymour duncan little 59 would work but if I were you I'd get a Bareknuckle piledriver(they make awesome single coil pickups) and have the BLack winter Set.
Hey Ola how do you keep the strings from making that sliding sound whenever you slide your hand up the neck for example 2:12
I don't think his hand is touching the strings when he's sliding. Or he's picking hard enough to create a sound loud enough in the picked strings to render the noise of sliding on the upper strings negligible. Kind of like how if you trem pick without right hand muting the signal from the picked string is strong enough to drown out any noise created by the sympathetic vibrations of the other strings.
thanks buddy I really appreciate that
They will, just bug them about it :)
Cause our winters are darker and more winterish then any other place :)
They sound much more better for my taste! That highgain grainy sound is what I've been looking for! Why dont they sell that worldwide?
Great...what's the thickness of the strings
i caught that nevermore the river dragon has come reference in the solo xD
Agreed. Especially open powerchords sound just wierd, very springy for the lack of better words. However when Ola played a very Emperorish/Dissectionish riff on 2:22, they sounded awesome. Overall I dont really know what to think about these pups.
Something about this pickup just sounds fantastic... I might swap mine out for it