Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: Slartibartfarst42 on May 02, 2011, 05:24:34 PM
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This is a review of a Holydiver bridge model fitted to a Jackson SL3 Soloist (maple neck-thru, alder wings, rosewood fretboard and OFR). For those who don't like long reviews and would prefer the short version, here it is: 'It's bloody good!'. For anyone happy to devote more time to a review, here it is:
The first thing to say is that the statement that this is ‘a celebration of the original '80s hot-rodded humbuckers’ is entirely appropriate. If you’re looking for that classic 80s Metal tone then you need look no further. I’ve heard many people describe the Holydiver as being fat, rich, organic and fluid and all of these terms apply. I can’t believe how much thicker and warmer my guitar sounds now. It’s still no Les Paul but it’s made a distinct move in that direction. This is easily the best pickup I’ve ever used.
In exactly the same guitar, I can compare the Holydiver to both an Alnico Nailbomb and a Seymour Duncan JB. In a very similar guitar, I can also compare it to the Cold Sweat. As this is a replacement for the JB and as a lot of people compare a HD to a JB, I suppose it makes sense for me to start there. Overall, I like the JB so it’s a good starting point but it’s certainly true to say that if you like a JB, you’ll LOVE a Holydiver. I liked the JB because it had that 80s Metal vibe about it but it still sounded a little thin to my ears and while being a more articulate pickup than many give it credit, it was still prone to mushing up a bit at the bottom end under gain. The Holydiver has a similar tonal footprint but is just so much more in every way. It’s significantly thicker, richer, more organic and articulate in its tone and has really made my guitar sing in a way it never did before. The fat lower mids really help to chunk it up so that lead playing cuts through well and gives the tone plenty of body and fluidity. I think it’s easy when talking of a pickup as being ‘fat and fluid’ to imagine it will mush up but this simply doesn’t. For all its thickness it remains a highly articulate pickup. Play chords with a good dose of gain and the distortion is warm, thick and smooth in just the way it should be but each note remains distinct within that rich and harmonious chord.
I think the fact that this pickup is associated with the sounds of Whitesnake and Dio is a given but it does a lot more than that. I actually find the Holydiver to be far better at doing the John Sykes tone than the Cold Sweat, in this type of guitar at least. In my guitar the Holydiver is perfect if you want to play the song ‘Cold Sweat’ whereas I always found the Cold Sweat pickup to be too bright for that song, though I accept that might be slightly different if you were playing a Les Paul.
As a lead pickup, this is excellent. Everything you may have read about this being the best lead pickup BKP make is entirely true in my opinion. I think a lot of people rightly talk about the Holydiver’s ability to play leads but this also excels at rhythms where it’s a powerful pickup with lots of body and just the right amount of aggression so it can stretch to more modern Metal but also cover more restrained tones. Everybody talks about the Nailbomb being incredibly versatile and it certainly can be but I’d have to say that I actually find the Holydiver to be a significantly more versatile pickup to use. Its natural home may be 80s Metal but it can easily cover Metallica levels of gain as well as Disturbed, though obviously not being as scooped. Moving in the other direction it plays Free very well and has a lovely clean tone as well. I’ve now tried this guitar on cleans, Blues, 70s – modern Rock/Metal and modern Pop Rock and it covers them all really well. I play all of these styles in my band and can use my guitar for all of them without any trouble. While it’s a great Rock/Metal pickup, turn down the gain, add some delay and tweak the tone control if you want to and you can play some great Blues. It can get a great Gary Moore tone too. Would I change anything about it? Well, I still use a compressor on some songs for leads to saturate it more but I suspect that if the pickup was like that naturally it would lose a lot of its versatility so in all practical terms, no, I like it in every way.
I was originally a bit worried about putting a Holydiver in my guitar as the EQ chart on the website shows it as being very mid-heavy and a maple neck-thru guitar tends to be middy anyway but I needn’t have worried. There are certainly a lot of mids there but I think it’s a lot of low mids as opposed to anything else. The low mids give it much more body than I’d imagined it would have and as such, I think the EQ numbers are a bit misleading. Instead of a B/M/T of 5/7/6, I’d say it’s actually rather more balanced than that, possibly more like 6.5/7/6.
I think the Holydiver would work very well in any guitar. I’m sure it would thicken up a Strat-style guitar beautifully and certainly works well in a maple neck-thru. In a Les Paul it will sound absolutely huge but I seriously think it has the articulation to pull it off with stunning results. If you’re after an exclusively modern, djenty sound then you can look elsewhere but if you want a pickup that is highly articulate, fat, fluid, organic, warm and rich that is equally good at sweet leads and powerful rhythms and can cover a wide range of sounds then I can’t think of a better pickup for you to buy. This really is the best pickup I’ve tried so far by any manufacturer and by quite some margin. I can’t recommend the Holydiver enough.
EDIT: I have now installed an open poled Holydiver in the bridge of my PRS SE Custom 24 and it's incredible all over again. This is a pickup that really does seem to work in absolutely anything.
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Great review, thanks for the detailed description of the sound!
Now I just want a HD...
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This really is the best pickup I’ve tried so far by any manufacturer and by quite some margin. I can’t recommend the Holydiver enough.
+1
I'm missing mine again :cry:
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thanks for the review!
it's exactly what I was hoping to hear as I'm waiting on one to replace the JB7 in my BRJ
(which I really like) a thicker more articulate version will be perfect for what I'm looking for.
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many thanks for this review!!!! i'll be throwing in a holydiver into my old ibanez rg470 for pure E standard metal madness.
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So you did make a review of the holy diver after all ;) - Well you're an amazing writer that's for sure, and very informative - If it wasn't for the fact that I'm not playing 80'ies metal, I wouldn't hesitate to throw that pickup in my guitar after reading this :)
Really nice job!
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Terrific well-written review, very much confirms the impressions I've formed of the HD during my years hanging around this site. :D
Still haven't tried one though, and still not sure I have a guitar which would suit it, but maybe one day!
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Many thanks to everyone for the positive feedback on my review. Getting such positive feedback makes the whole process of writing it worthwhile and I hope it will help lots of people come to an informed decision on their own pickup choices.
it's exactly what I was hoping to hear as I'm waiting on one to replace the JB7 in my BRJ
(which I really like) a thicker more articulate version will be perfect for what I'm looking for.
I have no doubt you'll love it if you like the JB. I'd be interested to hear your own thoughts.
many thanks for this review!!!! i'll be throwing in a holydiver into my old ibanez rg470 for pure E standard metal madness.
I imagine it will work very well in that guitar and will certainly be a major upgrade on the stock pickups.
So you did make a review of the holy diver after all ;) - Well you're an amazing writer that's for sure, and very informative - If it wasn't for the fact that I'm not playing 80'ies metal, I wouldn't hesitate to throw that pickup in my guitar after reading this :)
Really nice job!
In actual fact, I do believe that the Holydiver will cover the genres you play really well but you clearly have a thing for an EMG 81/85 sound and consequently I think you'll love the Miracle Man.
Terrific well-written review, very much confirms the impressions I've formed of the HD during my years hanging around this site. :D
Still haven't tried one though, and still not sure I have a guitar which would suit it, but maybe one day!
Treat yourself Phil; you won't regret it :D
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Terrific well-written review, very much confirms the impressions I've formed of the HD during my years hanging around this site. :D
Still haven't tried one though, and still not sure I have a guitar which would suit it, but maybe one day!
Treat yourself Phil; you won't regret it :D
Problem is, most of my guitars are all-mahogany LP Jr or SG types, probably the one type of guitar the HD won't really suit.
Maybe if I ever get round to using my stockpile of Warmoth parts I'll put one in a Strat!
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I do believe that it's not a good match with an SG because of that whole 'high or low output' thing but I can see it working in a Les Paul, especially if it's not too dark sounding. It seems to work very well for this guy:
http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=24125.0
Still, it should give you a reason to get the Warmoth finished and then you can try a HD in a Les Paul before putting it in the Warmoth.
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So you did make a review of the holy diver after all ;) - Well you're an amazing writer that's for sure, and very informative - If it wasn't for the fact that I'm not playing 80'ies metal, I wouldn't hesitate to throw that pickup in my guitar after reading this :)
Really nice job!
In actual fact, I do believe that the Holydiver will cover the genres you play really well but you clearly have a thing for an EMG 81/85 sound and consequently I think you'll love the Miracle Man.
Well, I'm partially a little much biased and underknowledged at first hand - I have only been working with EMG 81/85 and the SD invader for an extended period of time, so I can't say much about it to be honest, I'm quite green what concerns pickups;) Anyhow, it would really be amazing if you could upload some kind of sound clip of your Jackson Solost, since i believe it to be structured similarly to my ESP LTD JH-600, so you might be right that it will sound better with the holy diver than the MM - but yes Indeed I do like the EMG sound, but liking is compared to the invader (which I also do like) compared to some cheap stock ibanez RG pickups that were in one my first guitars years back, since then it has pretty much been 81/85 all the way. So yeah, it'd be lovely if you could just try to get 'your' sound or whatever you figure would best for your guitar. But of course, time is not cheap these days, so only if you're up for it ;)
in anyway, again, amazing review, hope i'll hear something about your neck pickup too :)
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Very good review. Thx.
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My guitar is an HSS layout I'm afraid so I can't comment on the Holydiver neck. I'm using Trilogy Suites for the neck and middle and I posted a seperate review for them earlier today. (Another long one I'm afraid)
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The HD neck pup is one of the best BK neck pups!
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if the bridge is nailbomb, compare rebel yell with HD on neck? on any basswood guitar? sound wise which one will be sweeter and versatile? and will compliment the nailbomb bridge well?
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so when are you sending it back ? :lol:
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well, he could send it to me :D
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cool review, thanks man. I read your review of the A-Bomb too, and thought it was also very well written. Since you've tried both in the same guitar, maybe you could give me a unique perspective.
I have a couple Charvel So- Cals(alder body/maple neck & board), and I'm looking to put pups in a new one I got. I have HD's in my original, and I absolutely love them, but I wanted something different from the HD's for this new guitar. Problem is, I don't want to lose the qualities I absolutely LOVE in the HD. I love how they work with the alder highend too. Although the HD's are thick, I'm looking for a bit more lowend end girth for this guitar, and maybe even slightly more output. A little less polite isn't a problem either. What I really don't want to lose that mid snarl, the sweetened topend, and the way these feel for lead lines.
My first idea was an alnico nailbomb, but your review made me hesitate. I'm ready to just stick with what I know at this point. What's your opinion on what I'm going to lose/gain with the A-Bomb compared to the HD's in the same guitar?
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cool review, thanks man. I read your review of the A-Bomb too, and thought it was also very well written. Since you've tried both in the same guitar, maybe you could give me a unique perspective.
I have a couple Charvel So- Cals(alder body/maple neck & board), and I'm looking to put pups in a new one I got. I have HD's in my original, and I absolutely love them, but I wanted something different from the HD's for this new guitar. Problem is, I don't want to lose the qualities I absolutely LOVE in the HD. I love how they work with the alder highend too. Although the HD's are thick, I'm looking for a bit more lowend end girth for this guitar, and maybe even slightly more output. A little less polite isn't a problem either. What I really don't want to lose that mid snarl, the sweetened topend, and the way these feel for lead lines.
My first idea was an alnico nailbomb, but your review made me hesitate. I'm ready to just stick with what I know at this point. What's your opinion on what I'm going to lose/gain with the A-Bomb compared to the HD's in the same guitar?
hey, xará
glad too see you here
I always post your miracle man clips as great tone references
guess you'll be happy with an alnico warpig
it's just a bit less middy than the holy diver and more grainy on the mids
the nailbomb is a lot less middy and more focused than the diver
very mid 90ish, with that cutting top end edge
think Helmet or Sepultura
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0nZEabnHpU
both of Slartibartfarst42 reviews are very accurate, although his experiences were short
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Great review and glad that you like the HD! The way it combines thickness and clarity, warmth and aggression is amazing. Really versatile too, you can from playing Led Zeppelin's 'Rock'n roll' to Dio's 'Rainbow in the dark' just by changing right hand touch.
-Zaned
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Great review - many thanks!
My experiences with the HD bridge are exactly the same. I love the ones I have.
And I am glad the pickup exchange worked for you.
Cheers Stephan
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cool review, thanks man. I read your review of the A-Bomb too, and thought it was also very well written. Since you've tried both in the same guitar, maybe you could give me a unique perspective.
I have a couple Charvel So- Cals(alder body/maple neck & board), and I'm looking to put pups in a new one I got. I have HD's in my original, and I absolutely love them, but I wanted something different from the HD's for this new guitar. Problem is, I don't want to lose the qualities I absolutely LOVE in the HD. I love how they work with the alder highend too. Although the HD's are thick, I'm looking for a bit more lowend end girth for this guitar, and maybe even slightly more output. A little less polite isn't a problem either. What I really don't want to lose that mid snarl, the sweetened topend, and the way these feel for lead lines.
My first idea was an alnico nailbomb, but your review made me hesitate. I'm ready to just stick with what I know at this point. What's your opinion on what I'm going to lose/gain with the A-Bomb compared to the HD's in the same guitar?
Thanks for the positive feedback on my reviews, I'm glad they've been of use. If you switch to an A-Bomb there will certainly be a difference. You'll gain a much tighter, brighter and more edgy pickup that has a distinctly 90s Metal tone to it. You'll lose the thickness and fluidity of the HD and the smoothness it lends to its distortion. You certainly won't get more lowend girth as to my mind the Holydiver has far more lowend girth to it and in my opinion at least (possibly biased) I think you'll lose some of the versatility.
If you want more power I'd agree with Eric that the A-Pig might be an option. My experience of it is very limited but when I tried it briefly in a Strat I was impressed with the results. I thought it had fantastic fluid leads and obviously a very powerful low end. If you don't fancy the Warpig I'd guess that the Crawler might work, though I have no personal experience of this model. I believe it's supposed to be smoother with a strong low end but retains the warmth, thickness and fluidity that you like in the Holydiver.
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I'd say the nailbomb has as much bass and low mids as the diver
but the difference in the center mids is huge, so it just doesn't sound full like the diver
also, it works better in lower height than the diver, due to the extra output, and that may suck a bit of the mids and bass as well
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hey, xará
glad too see you here
I always post your miracle man clips as great tone references
guess you'll be happy with an alnico warpig
it's just a bit less middy than the holy diver and more grainy on the mids
the nailbomb is a lot less middy and more focused than the diver
very mid 90ish, with that cutting top end edge
think Helmet or Sepultura
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0nZEabnHpU
both of Slartibartfarst42 reviews are very accurate, although his experiences were short
xará !
How's it going Eric, thanks for the reply brother.
I think you may be right, I'm not sure the Nailbomb is going to do it for me. Tim recommended I try it, but it doesn't sound like what I'm after from your description. I've been checking out the Warpig clips, I assume you meant the alnico right? I actually liked how the bottom stayed tighter on the ceramic, but these HD's have really got me addicted to the alnicos. I may have to try the alnico pig, or just stick with the HD, thanks for the suggestion man.
really diggin the HD's, I wanted some variation, but I think I might just have to stick them in this guitar too, lol.
Thanks for the positive feedback on my reviews, I'm glad they've been of use. If you switch to an A-Bomb there will certainly be a difference. You'll gain a much tighter, brighter and more edgy pickup that has a distinctly 90s Metal tone to it. You'll lose the thickness and fluidity of the HD and the smoothness it lends to its distortion. You certainly won't get more lowend girth as to my mind the Holydiver has far more lowend girth to it and in my opinion at least (possibly biased) I think you'll lose some of the versatility.
If you want more power I'd agree with Eric that the A-Pig might be an option. My experience of it is very limited but when I tried it briefly in a Strat I was impressed with the results. I thought it had fantastic fluid leads and obviously a very powerful low end. If you don't fancy the Warpig I'd guess that the Crawler might work, though I have no personal experience of this model. I believe it's supposed to be smoother with a strong low end but retains the warmth, thickness and fluidity that you like in the Holydiver.
Thanks man, appreciate the reply. I think I'll pass on the A-Bomb then, doesn't sound like what I'm looking for. Really surprised Tim recommended it though, considering the experiences you guys had.
I saw another post where someone was talking about a difference with covers, where the mids were a little more prevalent, and the top was rolled off a bit. Did either of you guys have covered nailbombs?
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my nailbomb was covered and still very edgy
not spikey or harsh, but it has a quite aggressive top for an alnico pickup
I don't think you wouldn't like it, as it sits right between the miracle man and holy diver output levels and voicings
the nailbomb is Tim's favorite hot pickup and one of his first children
it does deliver a lot of low mids, like the holy diver and the miracle man, but it has a lot less center mids, so a guitar that is not already low mid heavy might not deliver a thicker tone, since pickups obviously can't create frequencies by themselves
the extra center mids and slightly rolled off top end is what makes the holy diver make a fatter/bigger tone impression, but it doesn't fatten the low end any more than the nailbomb does
if you want something warm and even thicker than the diver, that's the alnico warpig for sure
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Problem is, most of my guitars are all-mahogany LP Jr or SG types, probably the one type of guitar the HD won't really suit.
no, they don't! :(
my SGs loaded with Cold Sweats and Rebel Yells are still among my favourite sounding guitars...
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Problem is, most of my guitars are all-mahogany LP Jr or SG types, probably the one type of guitar the HD won't really suit.
no, they don't! :(
my SGs loaded with Cold Sweats and Rebel Yells are still among my favourite sounding guitars...
Yeah, I've tried Cold Sweats in an SG and it's a great combination. I have a CS set I'll fit in my PRS Mira..... eventually. :wink:
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Great review, but when you say fluid does this apply to the neck only? And what does the neck sound like clean? Because by the sounds of it it sounds like it would nail that sweet child o' mine tone
I think I may get an Abraxas bridge and a Holydiver neck if it cleans up well
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I can't tell you about the neck in this review I'm afraid as my guitar is HSS so the Holydiver is in the bridge and I have Trilogy Suites to go with it. In that respect, when I say it is 'fluid', I am infact referring to the bridge. It also does good cleans on the bridge as well. I believe the neck version is very good but I've never heard of anyone pairing it with an Abraxas bridge.
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I think I may get an Abraxas bridge and a Holydiver neck if it cleans up well
If you want a classic singing neck pickup tone, I don't think you'd find much wrong with the Abraxas neck. I'd go for the calibrated set if you're already decided on the bridge model.
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+1
Sounds like a good idea to me :D
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I think I may get an Abraxas bridge and a Holydiver neck if it cleans up well
If you want a classic singing neck pickup tone, I don't think you'd find much wrong with the Abraxas neck. I'd go for the calibrated set if you're already decided on the bridge model.
Well that's what I was going for originally but the word "fluidity" kinda got to me with the HD for that chimey, full sorta sound around the 12th fret... Unless the Abraxas does better at fundamental cleans
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I think I may get an Abraxas bridge and a Holydiver neck if it cleans up well
If you want a classic singing neck pickup tone, I don't think you'd find much wrong with the Abraxas neck. I'd go for the calibrated set if you're already decided on the bridge model.
Well that's what I was going for originally but the word "fluidity" kinda got to me with the HD for that chimey, full sorta sound around the 12th fret... Unless the Abraxas does better at fundamental cleans
Dunno - it's a very specific question, I think we need someone who's very familiar with both pickups. Maybe Nolly will chime in, or perhaps it's worth calling BKP at this stage to talk it through?
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Hi! Anybody had any experience with the HD in LesPauls??
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This always sounds great to me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T26RqvH3YBA
The Holydiver just seems to work brilliantly in everything :D