Seymour Duncan BLACK WINTER vs NAZGUL - Passive Bridge Pickup Guitar Tone Comparison Demo

Clean and distorted rhythm comparison between Seymour Duncan Black Winter (passive) and Seymour Duncan Nazgul (passive) pickups for electric guitar on the bridge position. Settings are the following:
GUITAR
Tuning: Eь / D#
Strings: D'Addario EXL140 (010-052 gauge)
AMP
Clean: EVH 5150 III profile (Kemper Profiler)
Distortion: EVH 5150 profile (Kemper Profiler)
RECORDING TECHNIQUE:
- One centered mono track per pickup.
- Same config and EQ for both.
Seymour Duncan official website:
www.seymourduncan.com
Subscribe to my channel: / mikestamper
My official website: www.mikestamper.es
My music: mikestamper.bandcamp.com
00:23 Clean test
03:06 Distortion test
#pickups #comparison #guitar

[@DAMM1T]

Ima think of getting both for different styles now. Black winter has that brighter and more black,thrash,death sound while nazgul give me that metalcore vibe

[@thuroria7631]

black winter has more mids, nazgul is brighter...

[@dq7860]

I've wanted a Nazgul/Sentient set for ages but this has made me rethink my decision

[@GuitarSolosInc.]

I hope you got the winters. The nazgul is nice but the sentient isn't so great!

[@Guitar_Smasher]

Your demos are very helpful. In this case, I decided to order the Black Winters. Can't wait to get them mounted on my Schecter Omen Elite 6 in Dark Cherry Burst. I ordered a pair in black/pink zebra! 😊

[@scotbutler2539]

AWESOME videos such a resource, thank you!

[@ghost_java35]

love both of these

[@filipporestivo977]

Black Winter

[@voidist1]

I purchased the LTD Black metal M which comes with the black winter. I had a guitar shop add a neck pickup slot on the the guitar. I moved the black winter to the neck and put the Nazgul in the bridge. They match beautifully. These comparison videos make you wanna try out all kinds of pickups though. I'd like to get an Invader. And the DiMarzios are always good

[@karshbandicoot5037]

Nazgul is raspier and seems better for crust punk or more abrasive styles that benefit from a vintage twangy crunch, I don't care much for the cleans. The Nazgul also has a lower output, something to consider, probably why something seemed like it was "missing". Black Winter seems to have a more modern melodic touch, Nazgul would really suit open chords, rhythm playing and tremolo picking. For me it's not so much about choosing one over the other as it is putting them in instruments they're respectively suited for. At the end of the day both of these pickups were designed with black metal and other extreme metal styles in mind so I'll take both 😊

[@Georgian.A-Music]

Thanks for helping me choose. I was in a loop. But this one helped me a lot. Ill go for the black winters. Because theyre brighter and aggresive and will go for my epiphone flying v

[@LB-qf3ef]

Almost a year later, I'm looking for a new ser of pups for my epi flying v. Did you do the swap? Like it?

[@Brykk]

Id choose the black winter in nearly every sound clip.

[@barrygomez5968]

Awesome videos Man. Would you ever consider doing one of these with the Nazgul versus duncan solar?

[@johnnydark4802]

Man, I just love The way you do things. There are good efforts, from some GM manufacturers how they demo their mikes..while some "big brands" do diddly-squat. Here I can hear characteristics how The microphone actually sounds like. Keep up The good work.

[@mikestamper]

Always glad to be useful! Thank you for the words!! :)

[@johnnydark4802]

@@mikestamper no worries mate. Ps: would be awesome to hear Nazgul/Jupiter comparison. Had a hard time deciding between those two, decided to go with The Naz. 😁

[@zman32006]

I was waiting for Black Winter comparison! I hope you do Titans vs Black Winters. I'm stuck between the two for an 91' RG550 in drop B

[@mikestamper]

In a week aprox you'll have Titans VS Black Winters. There's a scheduled video per day until then, :)

[@metalgear4199]

I have Titans in a LP and really love them…never tried BW to compare though

[@TheDeedeeFiles]

Awesome

[@ComicBookNerdOutCBNO]

I have black winter bridge 6 String and sentient at neck. I can't find any videos on that combination.

[@nicknickson3650]

Nazgul sounds like it has a bit more low end. Black Winter sounds like it has a tighter low end. That's the only difference I really hear.

[@Darkslide2AR-FE]

Black Winter is far more Dynamic and handles complex cording with very good clarity to my ears, Nazgul has a slight flat sound with extra bite in the sound but again this is according to my ears.

[@Luciffrit]

Nazgul seems to be for piling on the distortion. I'd say by the name and sound they are designed for Black Metal. It has a lot of attack then the sound like you said goes flat and doesn't seem to sustain. This means the distortion never becomes unmanageable. Black Winter sounds like its for more classic heavy metal. Richer and sweeter sounding.

[@lucholievanos5277]

Gracias a este video elegí Black winter tiene más limpieza sonido nítido y mucha potencia y un sonido muy solido , las nazgul suenan bien pero muy ahogado no tiene muy bien equilibrado como las Black los medio y bajos

[@PowDJoke]

It’s weird how it feels to me that the sound is changing both in volume and in clarity from time to time in this video. At 3:20 approximatively it drops a bit like if it was compressed, and at 3:24 it rises up. Does somebody have an explanation for that ?

[@teemunator]

As a Finnish guitarist.. Black Winter reminds me about Amorphis :D However.. These two.. Black Winter would be my choice. I wonder if pairing set of Winters with Duncan blackout pre-amp booster would be nice? I have one laying around.. One of my guitars has ABH-3 EMTY set which are absolutely fantastic pickups for tight metal rythms particularly at lower tunings.. Other Frankenstein guitar has Dimarzio DActivatorX set paired with Laiho pre-amp booster EQ circuit. However that one needs to be dialed in with reasonable amount of boost as it has dB headroom way more than enough. Noise gate mandatory :D

[@21stcenturymetal31]

Black winter ftw

[@414deathmetalist]

It sounds like if I were to use only the drive in the amp, I would pick the Black Winter If I were to use an overdrive or a distortion into the drive channel into the amp, I would go with the Nazgul.

[@johnaberle5955]

Keith marrow helped design the Nazgûl and if you watch his videos he is really good at writing heavy riffs so if you are a rhythm player Nazgûl may be for you

[@flame4928]

yeah but before he joined fishman he used blackwinters in his signatures.... so it is really hard to tell witch he liked more because he disigned nazgul but in signatures he had blackwinters :D

[@getmeouttahere7638]

@@flame4928 Late reply, but the black winters were only in the Mk1 version of his 6-string signature. The 7-string had the nazgul, and the MK2 models all had the nazgul.

[@Woody103]

I have the nazgul.. for distorted tones it’s absolutely money.. from metallica to System of a Down… new djent stuff it nails all of it.. best word to describe is pokey it has a cut to this pickup and on cleans it’s garbage but when playing in a mix or even just by yourself with high distortion it’s the best I’ve tried

[@beatlejuice5951]

So glad I found this. Build a black and yellow crackle warlock and these 2 pickups came to mind. I love the thickness of the black winter but I love the openness of the nazgul. Hard choice still don't know lol great video tho, was dying for a comparison. My favorite pickups in all the pickups I've tried is the dimarzio paf pro and the super distortion. I'd say black winter is kinda like the super distortion and nazgul being open sounding is like the paf pro. I only wish the nazgul had more thickness to it.

[@anthonydavella8350]

As you drop the tuning the Naz really sounds better and better

[@withindarkness]

Really like the black winter cleans. Nazgul seemed to be missing "something" there. ..just seemed a little "meh". Less lively. Distorted, it's much harder to decide... I think I still prefer the Winter. Nazgul seems a little more nasal and "djenty" and I hate djent tones, but maybe that could be an advantage with a more scooped tone

[@razaqana5730]

I wanna adjust black winter on my Ibanez azes40 pastel pink

[@krzysiekgoralsky2207]

Biggest issue with Nazgul is that it's designed to tune low. I mean, listen to it - obvious mid heavy characteristics, very tight bass response, rolled of highs. It does definitely work in standard tuning, but it's not where it shines. There are better options 🤷🏻‍♂️ if you wanna go drop C/B/lower it's really good, since you get a lot of low register response from the string themselves, and the mid hump really helps.

[@dq7860]

Would it sound best C# - B Standard then?

[@krzysiekgoralsky2207]

@@dq7860 With the 6 string version? Absolutely, I'm tuned to C# right now! I think these are the registers these pickups were made for, perfect for a downtuned guitars. In E standard they just don't sound right. You know how most pickups have a 7 string version? And how this version is adjusted to handle the low end on the lowest string? When you omit the lowest string, and play a 7 like a normal 6 (meaning just not using the lowest string) it sounds harsh, throaty. This is because the pickup is expecting a lot of low end and has these heights to accommodate for that. Same with Nazgul, just in a 6 string scenerio. It expects lower registers.

[@padraig88]

I agree, got it to tune in A Standard and it's not really nasal-sounding.

[@Agte1234]

both of them are optimized to be at their best in low tunings bro...just BW do it better, here's a comparison between them two, of course for standard and lighter tunings there are better choices

[@thuroria7631]

Black Winter is designed to tune low.

[@naturaljoe759]

I’m looking at throwing one of these in a Jackson SL1. It’s a HSS setup, and I am lost as to what to put it the middle and neck single coil spots without going to stacked/hotrail buckers. Any ideas out there? Great demo, btw!

[@KyleP133]

You ever figure this out?

[@ubertwerpify]

Both great no loser here IMO - i had heard that BW was basically an invader with normal pole pieces ? Maybe false information?

[@nazarf1884]

IMO bw has more "lively" & fuller tonality than nazgul..nazgul sounds a bit compressed..fuller sounding pickups has more response..

[@voltaspeeder17]

Something about Nazgul just sounds off to me and the more i listen to this pickup, the less i want to buy it. It's too scooped or whatever, there's something missing in the middle to my ears. And Black Winter got that thing in the middle which i like. Same with SH-6 Distortion - it sounds amazing in the mids to my ears. Even JB got killer mids, but is not tight enough for my needs in the bottom end. Finding your perfect pickup can really be a pain in the ass i guess lol

[@jacobgarcia2660]

If you like tight bottom end try out the sh5 custom

[@darklight4815]

that Nazgul is just a tad too nasally during the higher pitched single note areas,the black winter is nasally enough already...both are great during the chugs but i think the black winter is best for my needs between these two.

[@Limerick.]

I m here for the nazgul cos Daron Malakian uses one

[@barrygomez5968]

Something about the mid-range of the Nazgul during the Chug section... Nazgul won me over

[@7AKV7]

Best djent pickup ever. That's why it's going on my 8 string!

[@MFKitten]

Nazgul has the wide huge midrange with the purr that I just fall in love with everytime. It feels a lot more aggressive without needing a lot of treble bite. Black Winter is sick too, but very bitey and cleaned up, none of that purr.

[@AbeldeBetancourt]

@@7AKV7 Yeah, Djent! so gay

[@jeffreyquinonez8964]

@@AbeldeBetancourtlol 😂

[@chaosclg]

I'm going with the nazgul, now it's taking it apart to fit it into multiscale hahah

[@dalvoenriquescarpa]

I have two guitars with Black Winter pickups. The most powerful pickups ever!

[@thrashcore7]

For technical metal, in your opinion, what's Better between Black Winter,Jb and Nazgul?

[@mikestamper]

From these three you mention, and always IMHO, I found Nazgul as the less satisfying for what I was looking for (groovy/djenty/even modern metal/core type of sound), because it has a very specific tone which can fit your needs or not at all. Black Winters surprised me, they are more versatile even being specific, but I can find it appropiated for my needs (despite its black metal looks and marketing). JBs are amazing for whatever rock style you play, not just only metal. For a more technical metal focus I would probably choose the Black Winters.

[@thrashcore7]

@@mikestamper thank you very much 👍

[@ddave3388]

how well does the BW take downtuning? I mostly play d standard and drop c but I sometimes go lower (max. drop g) I know nazgul does it very well but what about the BW? currently deciding between the 2 and that might just make the decision for me

[@rtomas47]

I like how it sounds downtuned, but I never cared about tunings lower than Drop A

[@diabeticmonkey]

I’m using mine on my B standard guitar, and it’s pretty tight and aggressive. I dig it

[@dmitriopekine5402]

How is blackwinter on ash body?

[@user-qe9ji3fu5m]

BLACK WINTER

[@iWeegie]

Have you done a comparison of the emg bone breakers?

[@mikestamper]

Not yet, but they are on sight for the near future!

[@DreidMusicalX]

The Nazgul has some weird sound like the sound is being played in a plastic bottle and we're on the outside hearing it. If that makes sense? Black Winter sounds like its more in the room in your face and would cut the mix.

[@shinnim7865]

how dose black winter sounds compare to duncan distortion or jb?

[@mikestamper]

There are scheduled comparisons for next week which includes both you said VS Black Winter, :)

[@mattz1686]

Mike can you do a Custom SH-5 comparison????

[@mikestamper]

Yes!! Seymour Duncan Custom / SH-5 comparison series start tomorrow! :)

[@JasonStephens7]

What would be better for Melo-death style playing in B standard?

[@user-sp6de8wg9i]

Black winter

[@JasonStephens7]

@@user-sp6de8wg9i That’s what l went with. Will be installing them soon!

[@R4N0]

is there a difference between the black winters and the blackened black winters? Or is it just the minor design difference?

[@mikestamper]

Only a design difference. It's the same pickup, :)

[@R4N0]

@@mikestamper Thanks for the quick answer!

[@bengosling3838]

3:31 3:43

[@cardfightbrawls8231]

Are the black winters good for thrash metal?

[@zarlodious1]

yes!

[@thuroria7631]

Black Winter sounds so much better it's not even funny. And yeah, they do sound like this, my Black Winters sound just about the same. The most amazing nasally clean tones ever.

[@vonicrimson3619]

Black winter vs blackened black winter 🙏🏽

[@user-vy8jn9mc6g]

Black winter has more classical sound. And Nazgul is a weird one, lots of harsh mids in the tone. I think that it might be beneficial for low tunings without OD pedal in front of the amp. Focused sound right out of the box.

[@Astaroth_Belial]

TREAD

[@eaglex5723]

3:30 vs 3:43

[@PikaStu666]

The Nazgul sounds kinda flat and lifeless next to the Black Winter, which sounds warmer and thicker to my ears.

[@matrixmodulator]

Ah yes jazz style clean chords, exactly what i was looking for with theses pickups lol ............

[@mikestamper]

The purpose is to analyze every pickup in the most neutral type of riffs, as the same riffs are used to compare each pickup. Clean and distorted, as you may have noticed too.

[@pandorakid229]

What music is this @3:30?

[@mikestamper]

Not an existing song, just a random riff! :D

[@Agte1234]

Its weird that Nazgul sounds like it's less distorted in clean, it sounds more ''acoustic'' compared to BW...but then in heavy distortion it sounds more distorted, more muddy and bassy but yet not so punchy and tight, its like more dirty but at the same time more ''light'' with no body...just listen to 3:12-3:17 vs 3:23-3:28, how crisp, punchy, solid body and tight that speedy 16ths part sounds in BW and how chaotic, muddy and light sounds in Nazgul

[@commanderebony]

do people buy these for the clean sound lol

[@Trollberg]

black winter wins

[@mikerammel8731]

The black winter is much bassier, heavy tone. The Nazgul is more bright and tight.

[@EM-zj1xm]

To me, Nazgul sounds more "black metal" than Black Winter, lol. Black Winter sounds like some really good modern heavy/speed metal type of thing (think of mid/late 2000s Priest)

[@kkarx]

Ironically black winter is brighter. 🙃

[@gromoliver4270]

Considering the song it was named after, Black Winter's Day by Amorphis, not really a lot of irony. Just like Amorphis, it can crush and obliterate, but it can also be pure beauty.

[@user-vy8jn9mc6g]

Black metal is pretty bright in general. And not downtuned. So it looks logical to have a pretty classical sounding pickup for that type of metal. I'm pretty sure Mgla uses them in D.

[@user-fl9sg7ut4x]

Replace your "ears"

[@kkarx]

@@user-fl9sg7ut4x Send me yours. 🤡

[@rtomas47]

@@user-vy8jn9mc6g I thought Mgla is mostly in E, but I dont remember the whole discography.

[@Broccoli_Highkicks]

If all you want to do is chug, get the Nazgul. If you want some versatility, get the Black Winter.

[@Agte1234]

not at all..just listen to 3:12-3:17 vs 3:23-3:28...who's chug better in your opinion? because i listen a muddy chaos in Nazgul...

[@miaouew]

I DO NOT usually like "metal pickups", or pickups designed specifically for metal. They almost always end up being really thin and artificial sounding etc. The Dimebucker is one that comes to mind, along with plenty of other pickups designed with the ethos of "this needs to be as high gain and distorted as possible" So it was a pretty big surprise when The Nazgul became my all time favorite pickup ever after enduring hundreds of hours of blind-testing, comparisons, and nonbiased research. I NEVER would have imagined I would have picked it out of the bunch, but it's tone and dynamics hit me so hard and it so dramatically beat out all the others that once I put one in my guitar I doubt that I will ever use another product to fill the position of "passive bridge pickup" ever again. It really blew me away that much. I wasn't even a Seymour Duncan guy, I always played Dimarzio pickups, to the point I was pretty much set in my ways. Not anymore.

[@highgainmaster7856]

Blackwinter output is better.thrash death metal Bw is winner.

[@borgjude4993]

I’d prefer Black Winter on clean, but I like Nazgul on distortion. Bottom line? EMG!!! Nuff said!

[@anthonydavella8350]

Nazgul sounds good. I had both, the BW was the worst I ever owned. Maybe I had a bad one

[@kilianruvalcaba6904]

BLACK WINTERS WINS

[@coltonsinclair4591]

Black winter is way more versatile

[@MyLifEcademy-sr4hy]

Buys Black Winter...eqs everything so it sounds like Nazgul...😢

[@mixmixture7049]

Nazgul is more rock. Black winter is more metal, high attack high low

[@Somewondude]

black winter has a richer sound

[@user-fl9sg7ut4x]

Nazgul more brighter, BW more warmer. BW

[@timbuk1126]

Nazgul sounds more like an EMG 81.

[@robinanwaldt]

In comparison to the Black Winter, yes, but in direct comparison to an EMG 81 the difference is very striking.

[@timbuk1126]

@@robinanwaldt what would you say is the passive equivalent of the 81?

[@user-sp6de8wg9i]

@@timbuk1126emg hz-4, dimarzio d-activator

[@pancakerepairman]

nothing like opening a comparison video on pickups designed for metal by playing clean for two and a half minutes.

[@mikestamper]

Go to the second half of the video then. It's important to test both contexts for every pickup, as you can use them for whatever you want.

[@rikosimmo]

3:31 3:43