Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: Zaned on February 19, 2010, 06:50:34 AM
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Hi,
I've come to the conclusion that the Nailbomb is not the right pickup for my custom strat (it was the best guess at that point). It sound a bit too METAL. In my brother's strat (alder body + all-maple neck) the Nailmbomb sounds very hard rock, which is more what I'm after. That guitar is warmer and has more middy tone than mine, which sounds harder. I'm looking for a middle ground between Dio+Aldrich strat tone and the old VH tone.
The guitar has an alder body with a maple top, and a maple/rosewood neck. Nailbomb + Irish tour X 2. The guitar has a chimey and bright top, a wonderful acoustic tone with a full but tight bottom. The Nailbomb brings forth that full and tight bottom, nice mids but there's a certain edge on the top which I don't always like. It sounds great for a more metal type tone, but I'm usually after a more hard rock tone. My amp (ENGL Blackmore) can already deliver an aggressive tone when required.
Mind you, I'm still not looking for the polite and round tone. I like BITE, but would like to get rid of that top edge, and perhaps add a bit more mids too. I've contacted Tim on this matter, and his suggestion was Holy diver. I also asked that if I wanted to keep the Van Halenish thing that this guitar already does so well, but go lower in output (more towards vintage side), and Tim' s suggestion was the VHII. Many people say it's bright, but it's not that simple.
I came to write this post after reading Gingataff's reply on some thread, that the Nailbomb was a bit too metal on his Ibanez Satriani model, and that he is now very happy with the VHII.
I'm trying to decide :) Holy diver would undoubtedly sound GREAT in this guitar, but on the other hand, VHII would be more old school, which I also love. I would like to hear from people who have had a similar experience with the Nailbomb that I have.
The guitar is also equipped with 500K pots (volume-tone-tone), might also try 250k.
Rambling post ends.
-Zaned
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Have you heard any Crawler clips? they work very well with the woods in your guitar, less "metal" than the NB or HD
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was going to say vh2 or holy diver ;) the diver will keep some of the modern compression, but the vh2 is more classic and old skool PAF in character. both are sweet sounding.
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I have a VH2 in an ESP mirage and a holy diver in my Alder wolfgang. I'm not great at articulating why i like certain pick ups, but given a choice between the two i always end up going for the VH2. To me it seems more open and expresive. But i'm not overly keen on that mid 80's guitar sound which the diver is so good at.
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the nailbomb was a bit too edgy and aggressive for me too
the diver is a bit less hot, more middy and has a much warmer round top
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This is good! One thing I must add is that I like a certain 'grainy' tone. I guess it's a certain type of midrange thing, and for example the Cold Sweat with my PRS McCarty does that, but without a nasal tone. I love it.
EDIT: maybe a better way to describe this would be 'raunch'. That's what I like, although the Cold Sweat IS a bit grainy, in a very good way. However, the end result is very much down to the amp too. So let's say, that raunch and bite is what I'm after, without that edge that I mentioned :)
-Zaned
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And the Crawler definitely has crossed my mind too.
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if you like bite, i woudnt go for the crawler
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Hi,
If's it the bite and presence you're after with less of a metal voice, what about a Rebell Yell here ?
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Hi,
If's it the bite and presence you're after with less of a metal voice, what about a Rebell Yell here ?
Some people have experienced the RY as too bright in LPs, and this is a pretty bright strat. I'm afraid it would be too much..but if someone here has tried it in a strat, please shine in. I don't want to sacrifice fullness and raunch even though I want that bite in there.
-Zaned
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Holy Diver without question mate. You're gonna kick yourself if the VH2 is too bright in your alder strat, play it safe!
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Holy Diver without question mate. You're gonna kick yourself if the VH2 is too bright in your alder strat, play it safe!
My initial thought was also that the VHII would be bright, but a couple of things made it a strong option:
1. Tim recommended it when I asked for a lower output humbucker that would keep the VH thing that the guitar already does.
2. Quotes from Gingataff: "First was a Nailbomb, which is a lot more aggressive than the Fred. It has good mid range and great harmonics that work well for Satch stuff, notes really jump out, but I thought it was a bit too Metal for this guitar."; "Finallly I got a VHII set and I'm very happy with that. It doesn't sound like Fred, it's more open and airy, it has good mids but is flatter across the sprectrum. ". My complaint was also that the Nailbomb (in THIS guitar) is a bit too metal for my taste.
3. Quote on the VHII from another Amfisound strat owner, kartar: "Sound: Not weak, trebly or something like that as some users have said. To my ears VHII is pretty powerful, middy, sharp... great, tight sounding pickup. Works great with my modded Marshall 1959 head!".
This is what I mean by raunch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXRfusUGd5I (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXRfusUGd5I). I'm looking for a tone between that and the old Van Halen tone. Well, the HD might just do the trick :) BUT, I love the old school tonality, why I'm looking towards the VHII.
Need to search for more clips..
-Zaned
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This is what I mean by raunch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXRfusUGd5I (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXRfusUGd5I)
still keep the holy diver advice
that strat had a duncan allan holdsworth, which is basically a JB with double screw coils according to duncan forum guys
the Diver is great for Doug's les paul tones as well
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100% Holy Diver
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Very well! Holy diver it is then. I will most probably also replace at least the neck single coil, from Irish tour to a Trilogy suite. I mostly use the middle pickup for clean stuff, or some blues things. It'll be interesting to hear how how the IT mixes with the TS neck. If it doen't work, I'll replace the middle pickup too.
Damn business trip, I'm leaving in a week and won't be back home until the end of March.
-Zaned
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PK's....???
V.
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PKs? Nope :) Not for this guitar, not for these purposes.
-Zaned
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Crawler? Holy Diver?
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Already decided on the Holydiver, HTH :wink: And most probably a Trilogy suite for the neck.
Will probably order while I'm on the trip, and have the pickup(s) waiting for me when I get back.
-Zaned
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I ordered the Trilogy suite for the neck and Holydiver for the bridge (to replace the Nailbomb and Irish tour) while I was on a trip, and installed them.
The HD is absolutely awesome! Compared to the Nailbomb, it doesn't have that 'edge' on this guitar that had started to bother me. However, it's not a dark pickup, like I once mistakingly thought. The description on the pickup packet said something like 'vintage tone with contemporary power and edge' and that's exactly what I got. I can play something like 'Rainbow in the dark', with a powerful, aggressive, thick and articulate tone..and go straight to something like Led Zeppelin's 'Rock n' roll'. Mind you, it's not a copy of that Page tone, it just has that clang and twang I like when playing that sort of a riff. All without changing settings on the amp, just changing the way I attack the strings. It's open and very articulate, the guitar now sounds like I want it to sound!
I also had this little fear that the HD would make my guitar sound more like an LP, but no. It's still a Strat through and through. BKPs are sensitive to the guitar they're put into, and this is definitely another proof of that. It also cleans up nicely, I expected it to be more compressed.
About the TS neck pickup: compared to the IT, it's darker, thicker and higher output. Much more bottom. The IT had a very SRVish sound on this guitar, but the TS takes it a lot more in that Yngwie direction, and balances very nicely with the HD. I love it :) I said that it's darker, but it doesn't get muddy. At all. Just a powerful, thick and clear tone. Naturally, it's not as 'woody' as the 'custom 62' pickup set that I have in another strat, but that's a whole another world.
I'm happy 8)
-Zaned
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glad you like the diver :D
did you reach doug's tones after all?
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glad you like the diver :D
did you reach doug's tones after all?
It gets close to Doug's tones too, if I want that. BUT, I wasn't after that tone exactly, more like between that and the Van Halen tone. IF I wanted to go for Doug's tones on this particular guitar, I suspect that the Crawler would fit the bill. But like I said, that was not my goal. There is a certain thing about the high end / upper mid that has a VH quality, and I absolutely love it. What can I say, mission accomplished :lol: The last thing is an interaction between the pickup and the guitar, it just works. Thanks a lot for you advice, Eric. A wonderful pickup.
I've gotta add about the TS neck; I said it's darker, but there's no lack of high end. It still has a single coil cut and character, unmistakably. Awesome, pure and simple.
There is a certain clarity to all the BKPs I have. It's actually jawdropping at times, like with this HD. I just hit a certain chord and heard all the notes, without harshness. It's something I have not experienced with the duncans and Dimarzios and whatever I've had.
-Zaned
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too true, it's the clarity that we all love. I've had better results with altering pickup height, esp with the mm neck, sounds fuller and bassier now and surprisingly had awesome results with the MM set in an alder esp guitar RR shape.