Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: somedude on April 02, 2011, 04:16:26 PM
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I'm looking for a ceramic pickup to put in the bridge of my Les Paul. I'm getting tired of the alnico sound/response...they're great for lower gain styles, but once the gain goes up I find they're too spongy. I'd like something that's harder edged and crisper sounding with more clarity into high gain.
I use either a Dual Rectifier or a Mark V, depending on how I feel.
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what kind of tones are you looking for in particular?
Reference points would help greatly
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I'm pretty heavily influenced by Hetfield's black album guitar tone. It's not that I purposely try to get his sound, but when I hit that age where I woke up one morning and music suddenly meant something THAT was the sound I was hearing. I play a broad range of music, however rather than cover other people's style I usually play it in my own style.... much to the aggravation of my current drummer, but whatever...
My favourite setup is a Les Paul w/ EMG 81/60 into a Mesa Mark V... although I prefer the Recto when I'm playing more 'rock' oriented stuff due to it's bigger, looser sound.
I'm not looking to replace the EMG setup so much as supplement it. I have another Les Paul that I've been working with for years and trying various pickups in... mostly alnico. I've found that alnico sounds great for rock and classic sounds, however it really lags when I try to use it for "my" sound. Too spongy in the bottom end...
What I want is something that can achieve both ends of the spectrum. Something I can thrash on like an EMG 81, yet something that doesn't sound like nails on a chalkboard when I roll down the gain and try to play some AC/DC or Zeppelin.
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I would definitely reccomend the Miracle Man
Its tight, punchy has that aggression but can still do Rocky stuff.
The only downside is the cleans arent the greatest but they arent bad either
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I use the neck for cleans, so I'm not too worried how the bridge pickup will sound in that regard.
Listing to the Modern Metal demo clips I'm kind of bouncing between the Aftermath, Nailbomb and Miracle Man. The only problem is the bass guitar's kind of interfering. Both the Aftermath and Miracle Man sound like they're a little too bass heavy, but I think it's that they don't have as much separation from the bass guitar as the Nailbomb clip.
Honestly, I think I could be happy with any of those three pickups.
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I have owned all three of the mentioned pickups.
The aftermath i found to be dry, tight & defined and not very saturated
the miracle man i found to be quite saturated, tight & defined does have more lows & highs than the AM though
The NB i didn't get along with at all i found the bass to be too loose and spongey and the mids felt weird.
others love them however and i am tempted by the ceramic version
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So the NB you tried was the Alnico V version?
And out of curiosity...
Aftermath - Iron Maiden?
Painkiller - Judas Priest?
Miracle Man - Ozzy?
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the Aftermath is more modernly voice than iron maiden. The vibe that MDV got (the original prototype user) was a heavy origin one.
and the others are named after vibes Tim got from those artists
The MM was ZW in particular i believe.
And yes it was the alnico one ive had two at different times and moved them around between 4 or 5 different guitars and not found anything that it suited too well.
I however have a friend who has one and it sounds awesome in his guitar that has a lot of exotic woods.
I have a feeling its a very guitar specific pickup
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So the NB you tried was the Alnico V version?
And out of curiosity...
Aftermath - Iron Maiden?
aftermath - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0n2Ew2RS4o (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0n2Ew2RS4o)
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MiracleMan/Cold Sweat-neck (great for fluid leads)
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aftermath - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0n2Ew2RS4o (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0n2Ew2RS4o)
Ah... that makes more sense.
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:)
Btw count the Cold sweat into your considerations. it would slay dragons in your les paul :D
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if u want clarity in a bass heavy LP then PAINKILLERS will excel. Most clear ceramic pickups I've ever heard, the neck is unbelievable for sweep picking, you hear every note despite masses of gain. It might be exactly what you need since u play a mesa which has a spongier/looser bass response compared to Engls and Marshalls.
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miracle man
if you really want less bass/low mids, then you want a cold sweat
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When I had my Miracle Man I was always very happy with how tight the bass response was. I'd go with that too!
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Yeah... I've decided I'm going to go with the MM/CS pairing. Just have to start putting some money away as it won't be cheap. I'll report back once I have them.
Cheers.
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Congrats! I think this set is spot on for what you're looking for.
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I have a Mesa Roadster and I use a Les Paul with a Holy Diver and it sounds awesome. It's really tight for an Alnico
I want to try the cold sweat though, Tim told me, but i went with a Holydiver for some reason... :lol:
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Holy Diver into Dual Recto would be massive....
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Yeah... I've decided I'm going to go with the MM/CS pairing. Just have to start putting some money away as it won't be cheap. I'll report back once I have them.
Cheers.
Good choice. I have that combination on one guitar currently for testing purposes and they work well together.
I also had the chance to try the Miracle Man and the Cold Sweat bridge in the same guitar. The CS sounded a lot brighter than the MM and has a little less midrange. This makes lead playing a little tougher but that can be corrected by setting the amp's tone controls differently. For chording and riffing the CS turned that guitar into a monster though - highly recommended.
Cheers Stephan
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I'm late to this party...I have a Mk V...and various LP's...are you putting these in a Custom, or Standard?
-I have CS in my Custom, which has been a bright guitar-the cs helps darken the mood , in a good way
-I imagine the MM/CS will work for you-keep us posted
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I had the Cold Sweat in my LP standard and loved it - was tight, but also not harsh (bearing in mind I usually don't like ceramic pickups). This one is very versatile, can do lower gain stuff as well as higher gain. Its got really nice upper mids that snarl at you, would be spot on for Metallica (plus other stuff). The Miracle Man is a bit more specialised; imo.
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Holy Diver into Dual Recto would be massive....
Oh yeah, its huge sounding!! :lol:
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I love the diver through most amps, but not for a recto
had a single and a dual, and both worked better with the cold sweat and miracle man
you can get a convincing Tool-type tone with the diver + recto, though, but the amp doesn't help at all
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So the Holy Diver is kind of "JB" sounding?
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So the Holy Diver is kind of "JB" sounding?
Not at all. It doesn't have the JB's muddiness and cleans up a lot better with the guitar volume turned down.
Cheers Stephan
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it is JB based
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Never did like the JB. Even if this is an improved take on that pickup it probably wouldn't be up my alley.
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Out of curiosity...
MM/CS vs CS/CS
Opinions?
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MM/CS works well as does HD/CS. I am yet to try CS/CS.
Cheers Stephan
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Never did like the JB. Even if this is an improved take on that pickup it probably wouldn't be up my alley.
At the risk of being tarred & feathered:
JB/59 loaded Schecter 006 Blackjack tuned to B + Dual Recto = HOLY &$%$£ COW THAT'S A MONSTER!!!
Miracle Man bridge is a good match to the Recto unless you want to play clean. It really tightens things up but the cleans... yuck. One thing I have found is that since I retuned that guitar to B standard the cleans work better. I'm sure that there's someone who knows what they're on about who can explain this...!