Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: Spleen on January 27, 2006, 08:17:48 PM
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Hi all, I am seriously debating taking the plunge to Bare Knuckle pickups. Here is my story. (It's looking like it may be a long one, sorry)
I have a 1982 Greco 59' Mint Collection Les Paul that is a real beauty and plays great but the bridge pickup is a little too trebly for my tastes. So much so that it is the only guitar out of the 6 I own that I have the treble knob backed down to about 6. The guitar has a pretty nice vintage tone otherwise and I've been playing the guitar a ton anyway. The neck pickup is the Greco "Dry" pickup which I believe approximates a PAF. It sounds quite nice. I don't use the neck position much anyway but it is truly a good warm sound. The bridge pickup is unidentified and looks newer than the neck. The bridge pickup also feeds back just a little too easily compared to my other guitars. So, I got the idea to switch out the bridge pickup and started doing some research, which led me here. After choking on my own tongue at the price (in Canadian dollars it's over $200) I listened to a great many of the player clips. What a FANTASTIC forum area. So, I'll remortgage the house and get one dammit! :wink:
Part of the problem is I also have a heavily modified 1981 Gibson Les Paul Standard that is my one true love that I've had for 12 years. It's equipped with an original Dimarzio Super Distortion in the bridge and it sounds fantastic. Well, to be honest the clean sound is lacking some definition but distorted it's a dream. I tried to convince myself that I didn't care that my other Les Paul wasn't as heavy sounding but... I think I've failed.
So, I'm after a pickup that can play System of a Down, Metallica, Godsmack, Marilyn Manson etc and still be able to play The Beatles, Led Zep, or maybe even a country song.
I'm the Lead singer/Rhythm guitar player in my band, although I do about 20% of the solos. My 2 biggest influences are James Hetfield and Jimmy Page. Some other huge influences are, Ace Frehley, Angus Young, Tony Iommi, Jerry Cantrell, Dave Navarro, Tom Morello and Dimebag.
Guitar tones I like are Metallica's Black Album, all Pantera, Prong, System of a Down, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden. I bought Lamb of God's Ashes of the Wake after hearing the soundclips Lepersmeesa posted and their sound is great too. I like a crunchy bottom end but have become a big fan of expressive mids.
Live, I play through a Line 6 Flextone and my main channel is a Rectifier emulation with the gain on about 8, Bass 8, mids 9, treb 8. My clean channel varies but a lot of our material has clean parts so it's important that I have a good clean sound. I'd prefer a more "refined" clean than I have on my 81 Gibson.
So, after that huge preamble, what do you think I should get? My instinct is to go with a Nailbomb. Do you think it (or any BKP)would be totally unbalanced compared to the neck pickup?
Sorry for the novella, looking forward to any input people may have.
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<-----------------i'm guessing you can tell I'm a Navarro fan too!
Well, I'm guessing either the Crawler or the Nailbomb. The Crawler is very adaptable - so everyone says - I'm getting mine next week. I have the VHII and I use a JCM800; in that I'm not really getting the same kind of power like Navarro. He has a PRS HFS in his bridge, which is a ceramic bucker. Sorry if that's not much help!
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Mules are the "classic" LP pickup, I have a set and they are very versatile. They probably arent ideal for metal tones (in my opinion) but they can still get away with it. Nailbombs might be good but with all that mahogany might make for a too bassy sound I think. I'm no expert though
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In my opinion you'll have to compromise.
If you like vintage LP tones ( like me ) you'll need something like a Mule or a Stormy Monday.
If you like modern LP tones you must look for something a tad tighter with meaybe a ceramic magnet.
Maybe some people might be able to help abit more....
A final word: yo can play ( with the right amp ) metal with a vintage voiced P/u but you can't play classic/blues/jazz with a gain monster IMHO.
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Another one would be the Cold Sweat. the bottom end is more powerful than the nailbomb, with the mids just pushed back a touch, but still there. There's also the Holydiver around too.
If I were you I'd get in touch with TIm via email or telephone and he'll sort you out. Nailbombs in a LP are a great sound, they come out much fuller than in the RG in the demo.
Glad to have you on the forum!
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^yeah, i second hayden (HJM), contact tim- i think you have too diverse tones there for us to really advise.
I could tell you a pickup that'll do one or two of those tones really well (miracle man for pantera and metallica), but with such a vast range of tones you want, you'd need someone like tim who's actually winding them to tell you exactly how much compromise you'd be making with some of your tones if you went with a certain pickup etc.
Welcome to the forum!
:twisted:
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I have both the Nailbomb and the new Holydiver, and I would go with the Holydiver. You can get your heavier sounds out of it, but you can also get the classic sounds too. Check out this thread for an appraisal of them:
http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2475
Given that I have most of the BK humbuckers, the fact that I keep picking the guitar up with these on must mean a lot!
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This is a tuff one. I agree that the Cold Sweat could be the right choise. It's BK's take on the dirty fingers pickup. It has enough grunt for the dirty stuff and might also do a pretty clean. (As far as I know the Edge has a dirty fingers in his '76 Explorer and gets some great cleans out of that)
The only other option I can think of would be the Crawler wich is great dirty and clean. It's a super hot rodded PAF with loads of mid.
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:D Hi welcome to the forum !!
You`ve got quite a range to cover with 1 P/U !! :D If you go for a full on Metal type you can allways get a coil tap fitted to your guitar, This will shut off 1 of the coils & will reduce the output of the P/U your using. This will enable you to get a great clean sound for those jingely jangerly type moments & enables you to go full blast when needed.
:D 8)
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Thanks for the input guys! It's much appreciated and some recommendations I didn't expect.
With no sound clip of a Holy Diver anywhere I could find I'm too nervous to just buy one on spec.
Cold Sweat sounds freakin' great from the sound clips I heard (Cold October in particular), and it's now officially in the running.
The Nailbomb AC30 clip showed me it could play clean well and with moderate bluesy gain and we know she sounds sweet with a lot of gain so I think it's still my top contender but the Cold Sweat is on my mind too.
I emailed Tim and referenced this forum post so we'll see what he has to say when he's had a chance to read it.
Hey do you think the Nailbomb camo would look OK on my guitar or should I go for a nickel cover?
(http://www.rhythmslave.com/images/EG59/59-7.jpg) (http://www.rhythmslave.com/images/EG59/59-9.jpg)
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I can't help wuth pups recommendations as I am a s/c player but covers- has to be nickel imo. Welcome to the forum btw.
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yup +1 for nickel- definately
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What about raw nickel for a slightly more aged look? Really nice guitar by the way
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I would go with raw nickel too
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What about raw nickel for a slightly more aged look? Really nice guitar by the way
Can anyone point me to a picture of the Raw Nickel covers? I thought I saw it on the site before but damned if I can find it now.
Also, thanks! It looks even better in person. The flames dance like crazy.
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Here are the pics of my raw nickel MQ's.
(http://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/files/mqm_587.jpg)
(http://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/files/dean3_515.jpg)
(http://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/files/dean2_107.jpg)
It's amazing how the light is reflecting on these. In sunlight they almost seem to glow.
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Jumping in late, but here's my two pesos ....
Covering all those bases does make drilling down to the pickup subtlties very tough! I had a similar situation and ended up going for Crawlers (mostly on Tim's recommendation) but I can easily see why the Cold Sweats, Nailbombs, and Holydivers would also be good candidates. I haven't heard nearly as many clips of the CS and HD, and like Tom I had been under the impression that the CS was ceramic! So I'll shut up and leave it at: These sound like good options about which you should ask Tim! :)
+1 for the raw nickel covers. I just got back my black LP with raw nickel Crawlers in, and I think they look great. The guitar itself has been banging around with me for a dozen years and I haven't exactly lavished cosmetic care on it. The shiny stock chrome covers just looked scratched (like the rest of the guitar ;)) but the new raw nickels look smooth, if you see what I mean.
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Thanks for the pictures of the Raw Nickel pickups Rat Rod. I love the look of your guitar BTW, that's an awesome yellow colour.
Tim replied to my email indicating that the Cold Sweats, Crawler and Nailbomb would all be able to deliver most of what I want so, after much deliberation and considering that heavy is the sound that is missing from my current pickup I have decided to go with the one that I have the most exposure to, the Nailbomb.
I have an email sent to Solid Body Guitar in the U.S. (I'm Canadian) asking whether or not they have the Nailbomb in raw Nickel. Barring that I'll go regular nickel as the consensus seems to be that the camo would look out of place on my particular Les Paul.
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One as yet unanswered question. The neck pickup in my guitar sounds pretty good to me, a classic vintage PAF sound. I rarely use the neck pickup in my Les Pauls and I lower the volume to zero on the neck pickup of my 81 Gibson and use it as an off switch. Despite this I seem to use the neck pickup more on my 82 Greco (the one about to be Nailbombed). My question is will a Nailbomb totally overwhelm a classic PAF sound and volume wise? Were I to switch pickups mid song would it be jarring?
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I don't think the Nailbomb will overwhelm a PAF-style. I've seen reports from a number of people happy with Warpig bridge/Mule neck combos (the 'Pig is hotter than the NB, I think, and the Mule is very PAF), so ... it should be all right. IMO, worth giving it a try before worrying about it a lot!
If you decide the PAF-style is a little wimpy next to the NB, you could always try physically raising it a little higher in the guitar to sit closer to the strings. Alternatively, if you really end up deciding the PAF-style isn't hot enough for the NB (though my educated amateur's guess is it would be OK), you could put in an Abraxas/Crawler neck, which is hotter than a true PAF but has a similar vibe. (I've got Crawlers and the neck pup is pretty smokin' 8)).