Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: yngwar on November 23, 2011, 10:37:33 PM
-
Hello everyone,
Recently I bought back one of my old cheap guitars. The previous owner did a number on her and the strings would constantly break. After replacing the bridge she got healthy again. And now I found out that I like her way more than any of the more expensive guitars I own(ed). Maybe it's a nostalgic thing or something...
Anyway she's an ltd 200FM
the specs:
NECK-THRU-BODY CONSTRUCTION
25.5 SCALE
AGATHIS BODY W/FLAMED MAPLE TOP
3-PIECE MAPLE NECK
ROSEWOOD FINGERBOARD
ARROWHEAD INLAYS W/MODEL NAME AT 12TH FRET
EMG-ESP LH-300 PICKUPS
VOLUME CONTROL, TONE CONTROL
W/PUSH-PULL COIL TAP & 3-WAY SWITCH
BLACK HARDWARE
Floyd Rose LICENSED BRIDGE
WHITE BINDING ON NECK & HEADSTOCK
24 XJ FRETS
Allthough it's agathis, the sound is very defined and clear. But I would like to change the pickups on this guitar. A friend of mine recently build in Warpig pickups in his guitar and I was amazed with the tonal quality and this very smooth sensitivity his guitar gained after this without any noise issues. (he had active emg's before that)
As I stated in the title, this guitar is going to be used mainly for 80's thrash metal.
What I would like is to combine two different pickups...
For the bridge position I'm thinking about the miracle man, mainly because of the enriched harmonics. The problem I'm having now is that the pinched harmonics are very hard to do with this guitar.
But I prefer clarity over a big bottom end and I'm thinking it might be a bit 2 much mid scooped for my liking...
For the neck position I'd like something warmer with some more mid, something as smooth as butter with a great responsive feel to it. mainly for lead play. So I'm thinking about the holy diver for this position.
Also I'd like to emphasize/push the sustain a little bit if possible. (I build in a cheap licensed floyd for the time being untill I have some more money for an original.)
How hard is it to build this in my guitar myself? I have some soldering experience and some general electric wiring knowledge. Is it as simple as just rewiring/replacing the wires to the pickups or is there more to it? (especially with the push/pull coil tap in mind)
I've also noticed that you can buy calibrated sets. If you buy them seperately do you need to calibrate them in some way or something?
And is there a difference between covered and open sets aside from looks?
Thanks
-
You can΄t go wrong with Miracle Man...It΄s made for all kinds of metal :guitar4:
-
Nailbomb/ Cold Sweat.
-
What I would like is to combine two different pickups...
For the bridge position I'm thinking about the miracle man, mainly because of the enriched harmonics. The problem I'm having now is that the pinched harmonics are very hard to do with this guitar.
But I prefer clarity over a big bottom end and I'm thinking it might be a bit 2 much mid scooped for my liking...
For the neck position I'd like something warmer with some more mid, something as smooth as butter with a great responsive feel to it. mainly for lead play. So I'm thinking about the holy diver for this position.
Also I'd like to emphasize/push the sustain a little bit if possible. (I build in a cheap licensed floyd for the time being untill I have some more money for an original.)
I would choose a Nailbomb set. Bridge version should be with a ceramic magnet and 53mm spacing. Both pickups should be short leg and 4 conductor wiring.
How hard is it to build this in my guitar myself? I have some soldering experience and some general electric wiring knowledge. Is it as simple as just rewiring/replacing the wires to the pickups or is there more to it? (especially with the push/pull coil tap in mind)
If you can solder it is not hard at all. The red wires go where the previous hot pickup wires were (which is either at the volume pot(s) or the pickup selector switch). The black wires go to ground. The green and white wires should be soldered together and they will go to the push-pull pot or miniswitch if you want to keep the single coil option.
I've also noticed that you can buy calibrated sets. If you buy them seperately do you need to calibrate them in some way or something?
"Calibrated" means that the neck pickup is wound differently (usually less hot than the bridge pickup) to accommodate for the fact that the string vibrates more at the neck position. If you choose a lower output pickup for the neck position then you basically did the calibrating.
And is there a difference between covered and open sets aside from looks?
Normally the covers take away a little bit of highs but I understood that Tim compensates the winding. So it's mainly looks.
Cheers Stephan
-
I have an Ltd AX 250 with LH-300's but it's bolt on neck and no maple top. Got the cool solid tribal inlay too. Mine sounds great especially since I tuned it to D and use drop C every now and then. You hear bad things about agathis but mine works. Only issue I have is noise when I play. It's noise only when I strike the strings in high gain territory. Do all LH-300's do this? I'm after some pups too but to cover death n' roll to melodic death metal.
-
Miracle Man set or MM/CS.
The MM is not a scooped pickup in my hands, and I really like my mids.
If artificial harmonics are difficult to achieve (for example when unplugged) then the pickup won't help, it's the guitar and there's nothing you can do about that, bar possibly trying different strings but without any guarantee you'll find a setup that works for you. If it's just that the AHs are there but not coming through strongly enough, then the MM will sort that out a treat :)
Roo
-
painkiller/cold sweat
-
Holy diver calibrated or HD bridge with nb neck. Can't go wrong, nails thrash tones. Eg kill em all style
-
I would say Miracle Man is perfect for that; it's plenty tight and clear on the low end.
-
I think I said it elsewhere that the Miracle Man is not midscooped, at least not to my ears. For more mids than the MiM I still suggest the C-Bomb.
I am a fan of the Cold Sweat neck but based on the wish list and the fact that it is going into a 24 fret guitar I think something hotter would be appropriate - hence my Nailbomb neck suggestion.
Cheers Stephan
-
hi guys, thanks for all the feedback.
It's a tough decision. The Art Harm. are just very weak. But I think I'd prefer the nb just a little bit more then the mm for the bridge because of the more focused attack it promises. Based on the different feedback for the neck postion i'm thinking either the cold sweat or the nailbomb.
My bandmate also needs new pickups so i'm thinking maybe just buying 4 different pickups and seeing which fit best for the guitars.
so bridge mm and nb
neck cs and ... hd or nb
-
I have an Ltd AX 250 with LH-300's but it's bolt on neck and no maple top. Got the cool solid tribal inlay too. Mine sounds great especially since I tuned it to D and use drop C every now and then. You hear bad things about agathis but mine works. Only issue I have is noise when I play. It's noise only when I strike the strings in high gain territory. Do all LH-300's do this? I'm after some pups too but to cover death n' roll to melodic death metal.
I don't have noise issues with the pickups, they are just a little muddy and weak imo.
-
I will also chuck my vote in for the Miracle Man and also confirm that it isnt scooped also
-
More focussed attack than the miracle man? Err... Well the aftermath, c-bomb or painkiller *possibly* fit this bill, but by such a tiny margin and with the trade-off that they're all a bit less suited to your guitar and application.
What does Tim suggest?
-
really depends on the 80's tone you want, there is the metallica, megadeth, anthrax scooped tone, which the Miracle Man would be best for, or there is the boosted mids, randy rhoads, kk dowling, craig goldie tone, in which i would recommend the painkiller. they're both very tight and responsive, but i feel the painkiller cuts through a mix much much better
-
really depends on the 80's tone you want, there is the metallica, megadeth, anthrax scooped tone, which the Miracle Man would be best for, or there is the boosted mids, randy rhoads, kk dowling, craig goldie tone, in which i would recommend the painkiller. they're both very tight and responsive, but i feel the painkiller cuts through a mix much much better
I wouldn't call anthrax or megadeth's tone scooped at all, but I agree about the painkiller cutting through better than the miracle man.