Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: Horlicks on May 30, 2008, 08:49:11 PM
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Hi,
I was wondering if you could recommend me some Bareknuckle pickups. I currently play a Washburn X50 pro (Mahogany body) through a Laney VH100R (Bright amp) and a VC15. I play mostly shred, rock and hard rock. At the moment I am looking at the Nailbomb bridge, I don't know about the neck. I like the smooth neck pup tone like Slash and it has to have great cleans. The bridge needs to be pretty agressive sounding and have definition.
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welcome aboard horlicks. I think i can guess which website you've come from... :lol:
I'm not much help with the recommendations, as i've tried so few, but do you have any bands' or players' tones you like etc. which you could tell us? rock, hard rock and shred is a little vague...
:)
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the nailbomb would probably work for you in the bridge. as for a slash type neck pickup, the alnico II stormy monday fits the bill perfectly. I've got that exact pickup combination in my ibanez rg (I actually put a stormy monday bridge model into the neck on tim's advice) and it sounds pretty sweet
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(I actually put a stormy monday bridge model into the neck on tim's advice) and it sounds pretty sweet
I'm intrigued. I'd like to hear more about this, how does it handle hign gain?
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I e-mailed Tim, he suggested the Cold Sweat and the Stormy Monday.
A little more information:
At the moment I have a '59 and a Custom Custom. They are great pups (they came stock). The '59 can sound a bit muddy under gain though and the CC doesn't really have an ''edge'', I have to pick quite hard to get any life out of them. Will the Cold sweat give me a slightly more modern sound, and will the Stormy Monday not get muddy?
Can any of these pick-ups be wired for coil-split?
To dave_mc:
Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Richie Kotzen, Eric Johnson etc. etc.
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thanks horlicks. i know what you mean about both the CC and '59. i'm sure there's a bkp which'll fix your problems there. :)
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Can any of these pick-ups be wired for coil-split?
Yes - just make sure you order them with 4-conductor wiring (as oposed to 2) & you can coil split them.
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Nailbomb bridge is really aggressive. Whenever I play one of my NB-equipped guitars under high gain at decent volume I just want to go "RAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!", headbutt the wall & hit the strings really hard... :twisted:
At the moment do you have the CC in the bridge & the 59 in the neck?
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Nailbomb bridge is really aggressive. Whenever I play one of my NB-equipped guitars under high gain at decent volume I just want to go "RAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!", headbutt the wall & hit the strings really hard... :twisted:
At the moment do you have the CC in the bridge & the 59 in the neck?
Yeah
Can anyone please help me with this?
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I'm sure the Stormy Monday won't get muddy in the neck, but to be absolutely certain you could go for alnico IV magnets rather than alnico II, for a slightly tighter sound. Although bear in mind that Slash uses Duncan Alnico IIs, of course.
Can't comment on the Cold Sweat from personal experience, but it's a ceramic magnet pickup so I'd expect it to be edgier and more defined than the Custom Custom (which is, again, alnico II).
Worth having a look at gwEm's comments on the CS bridge in this thread:
http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?p=164560#164560
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Nailbomb bridge is really aggressive. Whenever I play one of my NB-equipped guitars under high gain at decent volume I just want to go "RAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!", headbutt the wall & hit the strings really hard... :twisted:
LOL :lol::lol::lol:
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(I actually put a stormy monday bridge model into the neck on tim's advice) and it sounds pretty sweet
I'm intrigued. I'd like to hear more about this, how does it handle hign gain?
pretty well, although I mainly use it for slash-style wail-y solos, and it gives you a beautifully thick sound. very rarely use it to play rhythm though. not because it sounds bad; I just don't use the neck pickup that often in general
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I'm still thinking of the nailbomb because it's meant to be really warm and my amp is too bright ATM. Neck pup still undecided, what has great cleans and can do Vai style gain and tones?
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That cold sweat that Tim suggested should suit you down to the ground for the neck, I would think. But don't take my word for it ;)
(I'd take Tim's suggestions as they are, the man knows more than I can possibly imagine when it comes to this stuff!)
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That cold sweat that Tim suggested should suit you down to the ground for the neck, I would think. But don't take my word for it ;)
(I'd take Tim's suggestions as they are, the man knows more than I can possibly imagine when it comes to this stuff!)
The neck pickup is where this set really disapoints, its really really poor. It just sound like a wooly mess, no clarity or string definition what so ever. The low output is really evident here, it doesnt even match the bridge pickup (before you ask, Yes i had them installed proffesionally, by no other than Mansons). To be honest you might as well not even have a neck pickup if its as poor as this.
???
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That cold sweat that Tim suggested should suit you down to the ground for the neck, I would think. But don't take my word for it ;)
(I'd take Tim's suggestions as they are, the man knows more than I can possibly imagine when it comes to this stuff!)
The neck pickup is where this set really disapoints, its really really poor. It just sound like a wooly mess, no clarity or string definition what so ever. The low output is really evident here, it doesnt even match the bridge pickup (before you ask, Yes i had them installed proffesionally, by no other than Mansons). To be honest you might as well not even have a neck pickup if its as poor as this.
???
Where is that from?
Doesnt sound like any BKP I've ever played.
If its about the CS neck: it couldnt be further from my experience. It has a really chiming, piano-like clean and a tonne of sting definition under high gain.
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The neck pickup is where this set really disapoints, its really really poor. It just sound like a wooly mess, no clarity or string definition what so ever. The low output is really evident here, it doesnt even match the bridge pickup (before you ask, Yes i had them installed proffesionally, by no other than Mansons). To be honest you might as well not even have a neck pickup if its as poor as this.
???
Where is that from?
Doesnt sound like any BKP I've ever played.
If its about the CS neck: it couldnt be further from my experience. It has a really chiming, piano-like clean and a tonne of sting definition under high gain.
+1
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Regarding Roobubba's comment about the Cold Sweat neck, I presume Tim's recommendation was for the CS bridge and Stormy Monday neck.
It's the SM that's going to give you those Slash neck sounds, so that review of the CS neck, accurate or inaccurate, is kind of irrelevant.
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*looks at his amp*
*sees Line 6 Spider and Marshall AVT*
:roll:
^ Will stormy monday do shred though?
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Yeah I'm with MDV^^ I don't know where that second quote has come from, but that's completely the opposite of everything I hear about the CS here and elsewhere!
if you're confused about my post, perhaps you could specify what it is you'd like me to clarify?
Roo
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Ahhh I see Philly, yes that would make a lot more sense!!
In which case, I'm wrong (as usual!) and you should go with the Stormy Monday neck :)
I was, however, right about one thing: Tim does indeed know infinitely more about this stuff than me :D
Roo
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What about the crawler?
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I'm still thinking of the nailbomb because it's meant to be really warm and my amp is too bright ATM. Neck pup still undecided, what has great cleans and can do Vai style gain and tones?
not sure about the nailbomb being warm myself... in my experience it's quite a bright pickup. if warmth is what you're going for then perhaps the holydiver would be a better choice?
oh and what everyone else said about the cold sweat neck, the one I've got is utterly brilliant
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I'm still thinking of the nailbomb because it's meant to be really warm and my amp is too bright ATM. Neck pup still undecided, what has great cleans and can do Vai style gain and tones?
not sure about the nailbomb being warm myself... in my experience it's quite a bright pickup. if warmth is what you're going for then perhaps the holydiver would be a better choice?
oh and what everyone else said about the cold sweat neck, the one I've got is utterly brilliant
Thanks for the comment, at the moment i'm veering towards a cold sweat neck because they seem so versatile and I normally use coil-split for cleans.
For the bridge I'm looking at Cold Sweat, Crawler, Nailbomb...
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Cold Sweat neck would be a good choice to come close to both Slash and Vai tones, as would Abraxas or Crawler. For the bridge you haven't really mentioned specific tones, but if your amp is too bright for your liking, better error on the side of warm than the side of bright don't you think?. Cold Sweat and Nailbomb have a definite edge to them that could be perceived as birght. Holy Diver I'd say.
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The CS neck will get you a lot closer to vai than slash (dissimilar sounds).
Perhaps you could get slash out of it with the tone rolled back? I havent tried it, though, just an idea.
Holy diver, by my understanding of its reputation, wouldnt be a bad choice. I wouldnt call the nailbombs bright though: they dont have that much treble, but rather an open crunch in the high mids. Depends what part of the spectrum youre calling bright, I suppose.
You couldnt go far wrong for what you want with a crawler set, either.
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You couldnt go far wrong for what you want with a crawler set, either.
Agreed with a but.
The middle position is definitely not for everyone.
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I got on well with it (when I had crawlers), but I can see where youre coming from there.
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You couldnt go far wrong for what you want with a crawler set, either.
Agreed with a but.
The middle position is definitely not for everyone.
Any chance you could describe why? Sounds interesting
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You couldnt go far wrong for what you want with a crawler set, either.
Agreed with a but.
The middle position is definitely not for everyone.
Any chance you could describe why? Sounds interesting
I'm interested too. I've got mine wired out of phase, so I don't really know what the normal in-phase sound is like.
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Its a bit odd, a tonne of mids and could be described as, were one to be complementary, very projecting and penatrating. Were one to be derogatory you'd probably call it honky. It has more mids and lacks some of the openness and high end that youre probably used to from middle position (though its not dull or dark its just way middy)
I think its because both pickups are very middy, and the neck is very smooth sounding A4 and the bridge A5 with a big mid hump and I guess the mids add. Usefull (for leads), but odd.
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Any chance you could describe why? Sounds interesting
As mentioned by MDV, the A5 + A4 creates a huge mid-hump in the middle position. Tim calls it the "clunk". It is especially apparent with the Crawler set becasue the neck and bridge models are both middy pickups on their own. It doesn't sound like a mix between the neck and bridge pickups, but it's really a sound on it's own that I supose you either like or you don't. It's very useful for cutting through in a blues/country setting and with wah useage it really shines. Very satch-like with high gain and wah which is surprising for a vintage set. Took me some getting used to though. You can tame the clunkyness by lowering the bridge volume a bit.
I recorded clips of this, but few of you seemed to care so I guess they sucked. :lol: I should record something with the wah but I haven't got around to it. Anyway, here's some links again:
http://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11335
You can really hear the clunkiness about halfway through the first two clips.
http://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9884
The sendspace links dont work anymore, but scroll down, they are upped through the forum software. The clean clip goes through all positions and the odwithspanish is the middle postion with the bridge volume rolled down a bit.
Hope it satisfies.
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I'm still thinking of the nailbomb because it's meant to be really warm and my amp is too bright ATM. Neck pup still undecided, what has great cleans and can do Vai style gain and tones?
not sure about "great" cleans (i'd call them "decent" rather than "great"), but as already suggested, the cold sweat neck would be good for vai-style gain and tone...
The neck pickup is where this set really disapoints, its really really poor. It just sound like a wooly mess, no clarity or string definition what so ever. The low output is really evident here, it doesnt even match the bridge pickup (before you ask, Yes i had them installed proffesionally, by no other than Mansons). To be honest you might as well not even have a neck pickup if its as poor as this.
???
Where is that from?
Doesnt sound like any BKP I've ever played.
If its about the CS neck: it couldnt be further from my experience. It has a really chiming, piano-like clean and a tonne of sting definition under high gain.
agreed.
The CS neck will get you a lot closer to vai than slash (dissimilar sounds).
Perhaps you could get slash out of it with the tone rolled back? I havent tried it, though, just an idea.
agreed, and, er, i haven't tried it either. :lol:
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What's the holy diver like? Is it a metal pick-up because I don't want something too high-output...
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What's the holy diver like? Is it a metal pick-up because I don't want something too high-output...
I've heard some clips that were pretty metal. Dont know the amp, though, thats a pretty vital part.
From its specs and reputation, its an entry-level metal pickup, power wise that has it under the bonnet if you need it, but cleans up and suits lower gain rockier sounds well. Your amp has a gain-dial, I trust ;)
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I'd rather have a pick-up that was aimed to mid gain, the highest I play is about Metallica. Sorry If I'm hassling you, I just don't want to waste £90.
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Thats the difficult part, you want a mid gain pickup for a mahogany guitar. I believe Tim advises against this, low powered pickup to let the sound of the wood through, or a high powered pickup to cut through all the mahogany.
I have a HD in an alder (I believe) / mahogany LP, and I would ideally have something with a bit more treble, probably a CS or something with a little more bite
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Not hassling at all. Wouldnt post here if it was hassle to me to answer questions about pickups.
It'll get to metallica. But really, the biggest factor in the gain youre gonna get is your amp. 15k powered by A5 hits a pre pretty hard, but its not gonna be a flamethrower or anything.
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Thats the difficult part, you want a mid gain pickup for a mahogany guitar. I believe Tim advises against this, low powered pickup to let the sound of the wood through, or a high powered pickup to cut through all the mahogany.
That is true.
And I believe the CS bridge, due to being very bright, is some sort of exception to the rule
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It's a pretty gainy amp (6 preamp tubes :o ), It can do stuff like Killswitch right now with the pick-ups I have. I was just looking for a tonal change rather than a gain change really. I have to emphasise that the amp is v. bright, I cannot have the treble above 4 right now, although when I have the valves and speakers I will see if I can cut it a little.
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Thats the difficult part, you want a mid gain pickup for a mahogany guitar. I believe Tim advises against this, low powered pickup to let the sound of the wood through, or a high powered pickup to cut through all the mahogany.
That is true.
And I believe the CS bridge, due to being very bright, is some sort of exception to the rule
But doesn't that Washburn have a maple top, bringing it more into the Les Paul camp? Those "mahogany rules" only really apply to all-mahogany guitars like SGs.
Having said that, I know nothing about the guitar, it might just be a thin maple veneer which doesn't affect the tone.
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Thats the difficult part, you want a mid gain pickup for a mahogany guitar. I believe Tim advises against this, low powered pickup to let the sound of the wood through, or a high powered pickup to cut through all the mahogany.
That is true.
And I believe the CS bridge, due to being very bright, is some sort of exception to the rule
But doesn't that Washburn have a maple top, bringing it more into the Les Paul camp? Those "mahogany rules" only really apply to all-mahogany guitars like SGs.
Having said that, I know nothing about the guitar, it might just be a thin maple veneer which doesn't affect the tone.
It is a bit brighter than my all-mahogany Ibanez.
Some tones I like:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=FA6VXKkGdgA
http://youtube.com/watch?v=gJqcizpxr1Y
http://youtube.com/watch?v=2G2jlXUkJ84
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Thats the difficult part, you want a mid gain pickup for a mahogany guitar. I believe Tim advises against this, low powered pickup to let the sound of the wood through, or a high powered pickup to cut through all the mahogany.
That is true.
And I believe the CS bridge, due to being very bright, is some sort of exception to the rule
But doesn't that Washburn have a maple top, bringing it more into the Les Paul camp? Those "mahogany rules" only really apply to all-mahogany guitars like SGs.
Having said that, I know nothing about the guitar, it might just be a thin maple veneer which doesn't affect the tone.
the cold sweat pair sounds fine in my sg. it does sound quite dark but it's not unmanagable by any means. it's probably my favourite pickup at the moment
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Thats the difficult part, you want a mid gain pickup for a mahogany guitar. I believe Tim advises against this, low powered pickup to let the sound of the wood through, or a high powered pickup to cut through all the mahogany.
That is true.
And I believe the CS bridge, due to being very bright, is some sort of exception to the rule
But doesn't that Washburn have a maple top, bringing it more into the Les Paul camp? Those "mahogany rules" only really apply to all-mahogany guitars like SGs.
Having said that, I know nothing about the guitar, it might just be a thin maple veneer which doesn't affect the tone.
It is a bit brighter than my all-mahogany Ibanez.
Some tones I like:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=FA6VXKkGdgA
http://youtube.com/watch?v=gJqcizpxr1Y
http://youtube.com/watch?v=2G2jlXUkJ84
Cold sweat should get you there (so would a nailbomb or crawler).
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I'm choosing between Cold Sweat and Crawler now, which do you think is more suitable? I thinking Crawler because it's meant to be more versatile
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Crawler. Its the safer bet, IMO, provided youre ready for its mids.
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Crawler. Its the safer bet, IMO, provided youre ready for its mids.
I love mids :)
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Get a crawler 8)
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Crawler. Its the safer bet, IMO, provided youre ready for its mids.
I love mids :)
It's got more mids than a very very middy thing.
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Are the low-mids or high-mids?
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Both, but more mid-mids and high-mids.
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Anything warmer?
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Holy diver?
Going round in circles now though.
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OK, I will go for crawler bridge, last question crawler set or cold sweat neck?
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OK, I will go for crawler bridge, last question crawler set or cold sweat neck?
Did you read my post about the Crawler set? If you want the big clunk in the mid position get the set, if not, get a Cold Sweat neck with a Crawler bridge.
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Well, I never use the midle position, so I'm still undecided
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Quick refresh then:
What do you want from the neck?
CS will give chiming cleans and clear, liquid lead.
Crawler will give much warmer, smoother cleans and overdriven is more classic rock, gritty blues.
From your clips, I'd say CS. But none of them were clean....
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CS it is then
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Have fun!
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best check with tim to make sure the crawler/CS set will work in your guitar. just to be safe. :)
EDIT: regarding mid-output pickups in mahogany, i thought it was alnico you wanted to avoid as well? the CS bridge is ceramic, so maybe that's why it works ok?
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Tim said it should work great :D
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cool, sounds good then. :)