Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: Fio on July 06, 2009, 09:03:31 PM
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I'm looking for the right pickups to replace the ones currently in my PRS Custom 22. The bridge pickup is just ok and the neck is really only good for playing clean. The amp I'm playing through is a Bogner Ecstasy. What I'm looking for is a lot of clarity and definition. I play clean just as much as I play with overdrive and versatility is a big plus. Currently I'm thinking either Miracle Man or Nailbomb. Any suggestions?
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Definately not Miracle man for versatility and clean playing.
What kind of tone are you after?
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I've got Holy Divers in a McCarty Rosewood - very versatile, surprisingly, and can do anything from clean to hard rock/classic metal......
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Looks like Miracle Man is out if it's not too versatile. Sounds I'm going for are a jazzy type clean that is good with chords and an overdriven/distorted tone that can handle modern metal along the lines of Opeth's Ghost Reveries and Isis' Wavering Radiant. Also would like to be able to cover some more vintage tones too if possible. Thanks for the replies guys.
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Having listened to Opeth for the first time on YouTube, I'm sticking to my Holy Diver suggestion.....
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You should be fine with nailbombs.
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Having listened to Opeth for the first time on YouTube, I'm sticking to my Holy Diver suggestion.....
*Jaw falls to lap*
My oh my what different musical worlds we live in!
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For what it's worth, I thought they were cr@p :lol:
I like bands who have SINGERS.....
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For what it's worth, I thought they were cr@p :lol:
I like bands who have SINGERS.....
:lol:
Oh, poor metal noob.
Listen to more. You will find that akerfeldt is a fantastic singer.
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For what it's worth, I thought they were cr@p :lol:
I like bands who have SINGERS.....
:lol:
Oh, poor metal noob.
Listen to more. You will find that akerfeldt is a fantastic singer.
This is getting way off topic, but I have to agree. Opeth are excellent, Mikael Åkerfeldt is a very, very talented chap. And there's lots of proper singing on the albums.
Give 'em another chance, Dave! :)
Oh, and just to say something relevant... Cold Sweats, maybe? They certainly have clarity and definition, lovely versatile neck pickup. The bridge pickup may be a little "cold" depending on the type of clean tones you're after.
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Bare in mind that HUGE Isis sound is mostly from a neck humbucker (one of the guitarist uses a tele custom with the neck humbucker), so you would be looking for something open and clear in the neck, so not to turn to mush with distortion. I second the Holydiver suggestion. My favorite humbucker so far.
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Cold sweats are a good suggestion if the guitar is very thick acoustically. You'll get panopticon isis out of them easier.
I was thinking that isis wasnt neck pickup for the heavy rhythms, but I thought I'd better check -
I was wrong
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmi8oOK0NKk&feature=fvst
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Well Tim recommended CS set as a replacement for the HFS/VB of my CuRo24. Plenty of clarity & definition, but the PRS 24s always had a more modern feel then the 22s. The only Cu22 I owned had PRS RPs in it and it sounded monstrous (in a very good way). I'm not sure what the BKP equivalent of the RP is....
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Oh, and just to say something relevant... Cold Sweats, maybe? They certainly have clarity and definition, lovely versatile neck pickup. The bridge pickup may be a little "cold" depending on the type of clean tones you're after.
I generally don't use the bridge for clean tones. I like the smoother sound of the neck when playing clean. The Cold Sweat may be colder than some of the other BKs, but it's still hotter than the Dragon II I have now (rated at 12k).
Bare in mind that HUGE Isis sound is mostly from a neck humbucker (one of the guitarist uses a tele custom with the neck humbucker), so you would be looking for something open and clear in the neck, so not to turn to mush with distortion. I second the Holydiver suggestion. My favorite humbucker so far.
Actually the past two times I've seen them (June 12, 2009 and April 27, 2008) they haven't used teles. They seemed to have switched to a smaller maker that makes guitars with aluminum necks and have reflective bodies. I can't seem to remember the name however...
Anyways Cold Sweats are definitely an option now along with Holy Divers and Nailbombs. I'm leaning towards the Cold Sweats as I generally like to play with lower gain anyways (I usually set the gain knob on my Ecstasy to around 10 or 11 o'clock on the low gain structure). Thanks for all the replies guys; this is a really helpful forum. More suggestions are certainly welcome!
BTW Twinfan: if you aren't a fan of the growled vocals in Opeth I highly recommend checking out their album Damnation. 100% clean vocals and some awesome 70's inspired prog-rock. :headphones5:
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Cold sweat's the way to go!
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I'd be wary of Cold Sweats with lower gain. Depends what you mean by lower of course, but if you're talking crunchy and ZZ Top-ish then they can be very clear and crystalline. They didn't suit me, but your mileage may vary.
If you like things a bit warmer, HDs or Nailbombs would be the way to go I think...
( Will check out the Opeth stuff as well ;) )
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Another vote for Cold Sweats - have them in my PRS standard 24, although of course they may sound very different in a Cu22. (maple top vs all mahogany)
Off Topic - Up to few years ago I would have been 100% with Dave on Opeth/growled vocals. Thanks to my son I have expanded my musical appreciation and realised there is a lot of good music out there in genres which I would not have considered before....even got to the point where 2 of my favourite tracks include growled vocals :? :? - Killswitch Engage : Rose of Sharyn, My Curse ~ these tempt me to throw my zimmerframe away and jump in the mosh, love the power/energy and contrast between the growly bits and quieter bits PDT_002. Many top guitarists dip into other musical genres (Jazz, classical etc) or different instruments (Sax, piano etc) to get ideas/inspiration for their own styles.
BUT ... can't help thinking that growly vocals are a bit fashionable like 'big hair' was in the 80's. I wonder what reaction these guys will get in 20 years time when they sit down with their kids and proudly play them some of their growly tracks ???????
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BUT ... can't help thinking that growly vocals are a bit fashionable like 'big hair' was in the 80's. I wonder what reaction these guys will get in 20 years time when they sit down with their kids and proudly play them some of their growly tracks ???????
i'm not sure... mind that growling and/or screaming vocals were in vougue before all that big-hair-shredding-thing of the eighties, and still are, being indeed a cross-genre feature...
i don't know if my sons will like or even tolerate the death-doom-goth albums i grew with, but i fear they'll listen to something much worse! who could predict in the 90s that kids would have soon become EMO?
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I'd be wary of Cold Sweats with lower gain. Depends what you mean by lower of course, but if you're talking crunchy and ZZ Top-ish then they can be very clear and crystalline. They didn't suit me, but your mileage may vary.
If you like things a bit warmer, HDs or Nailbombs would be the way to go I think...
( Will check out the Opeth stuff as well ;) )
Lower gain for me isn't necessarily ZZ-Top-ish (although I do use those types of tones from time to time)...the type of gain that I'm talking about is more along the lines of later Mastodon stuff (if you've heard any of that). I'm just saying that I don't play any of the super high gain death metal or anything. I just keep the gain under control on my amp. My amp has quite a bit of low end but I generally like a lower mid emphasis in my sound so HDs or Nailbombs might suffice. So many options here...
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FWIW I still think nalbombs are the best bet for you.
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I'll second MDV's opinion here: Nailbomb!
Very dynamic, great clean sounds too, can do the "brutalz" if you wish it too!
And Opeth are just a super great band! Got to love them through my girlfriend, she was into them already and convinced me, that there is just so much more to them than growling / grunting vocals.. :)
Have seen them live for three or four times now, and they are just awesome! The drummer kicks ass big time, very difficult to play this stuff, and he just blasts through the set.. very cool!
I am ok with the grunting now too (i tend to listen to the guitar parts more during the grunting ;) ), but just love when Akerfeldt starts to sing with this beautiful voice! Complements each other greatly i think. :)
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RebelYells are in my McCarty, and it gives me loads of different flavours. The bridge is perfect for Opeth style leads and the neck is awesome for crunchy and clean stuff.
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I'm thinking I'm going to go with Nailbombs. Could I pair a Nailbomb in the bridge with a Cold Sweat in the neck? Or would it be better to get a calibrated set?
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RebelYells are in my McCarty, and it gives me loads of different flavours. The bridge is perfect for Opeth style leads and the neck is awesome for crunchy and clean stuff.
RYs are perfect for opeth tones, i agree!
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+1 on the Rebel Yells.
Nice pickups which can cover a lot of musical territories.