Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: Void_555 on June 11, 2012, 09:46:15 AM
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Hi Folks!
I have a Black Dog humbucker in my power strat. In fact its more of a les paul looking like strat. Super thick mahagony/maple body, extremly thick baseball-bat-style maple/ebony neck with two humbuckers.
Here is my question: I love the Black Dog in the Bridge. But what neck pickup do you think is a good match? I want a low output neck humbucker with lots of treble and not too much bass. Should sound clear and clean up well.
Maybe the Holy Diver neck pickup? Seems like it has a really low output and lots of highs.
I never shred! I play in Drop-C and on the neck pickup I play lots of crunch and melody stuff.
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The HD-neck would be a good choiche. It's brighter then the CS. Maybe a Stormy Monday would do too.
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Iīd like to have an Alnico5 Pickup. We tune down to Drop-C so maybe an Alnico II or III might not be what I need.
Iīve read it a couple of times that these magnets might not be the best in combination with such a low tuning.
But thanks for your answer.
Is the Holy Diver brighter than lets say the Riff Raff or the VHII neck pickups?
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I'd say a Mule, or if you have to have AV then a Riff Raff.
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Do you have the Riff Raff neck pickup?
Can you tell me a little bit about it?
The three neck pickups that are on my radar right now are:
Holy Diver
VHII
Riff Raff
I know the Holy Diver, awesome neck humbucker.
Can anybody tell me a bit about the VHII neck humbucker?
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I did a thread a while ago trying to compare the brightness of BKP neck models, as there's much less information about them than there is about the bridge models. It didn't get through the whole range, but might be worth a look:
https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=25010.0 (https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=25010.0)
General consensus seems to be that the Riff Raff is brightest, and I think (though not based on personal experience, I'm afraid) it would probably best fit what you're describing.
I don't know if you've seen some recent threads mentioning a video clip by Bruce J Dickinson of Little Angels. He has a Black Dog and Riff Raff in an LP, lots of people seemed to like the tones he gets here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIlkNeqd0MY (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIlkNeqd0MY)
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^ what Philly says :D
The Riff Raff neck is bright and clear, if a little 'hard' sounding due to the AV magnet. Great for eliminating muddiness.
The VHII is also bright, but more snappy and single-coil-like.
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Which combination of pickups do you use right now?
Right now I installed a Holy Diver from another guitar and I like it.
What I thinking about is, if the VHII and the Riff Raff maybe have a little less output than the HD......
I really care about the balance of the two pickups when it comes to volume. I hate having my neck humbucker as loud as my bridge pickup.
The Holy Diver is ok but it shouldnīt be any louder as it is.
Do you guys think, that the Riff Raff or the VHII are any louder or quieter that the HD?
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Thanks Twinfan and Philly!
Sounds I should go for either a Riff Raff or a VHII......
By the way, I checked the soundsamples and I didnīt like the Black Dog nack sample. Sounded darker to me than the both pickups mentioned above. What do you think?
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By the way, I checked the soundsamples and I didnīt like the Black Dog nack sample. Sounded darker to me than the both pickups mentioned above. What do you think?
I haven't tried the BD neck, but my impression from comments on the forum is that it almost certainly is darker than the RR or VHII.
I'm still thinking Riff Raff. I could be wrong, but I don't think the "open" quality of the VHII seems like a natural match for the Black Dog bridge.
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I donīt think that the black dog is that dark.....To me it sounds really open with shiteloads of midrange! Like it!
Do you think, the VHII might sound too bright compared to the BD in the Bridge?
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I use a pair of Black Dogs at the moment - I prefer to use matched pairs. The other pickups I've had in other guitars but I'm familiar with their character.
For the tone you're after, and your need for an AV, I'd go for a Riff Raff.
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What is your impression of the Black Dog? Do you find it dark? I can onl speak for the bridge version and I donīt thin it dark in any way. Not so sure about the neck version. In the sound samples I found it a bit darker than others.....
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It's less bright than the other two pickups you mention, but it's not "dark". I'd say it was rounded, with less of an edge to the top end frequencies.
The Black Dog bridge and neck pickups use thinner wire than the Mule/Riff Raff/VHII which tames the highs a little.
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My vote goes to RR too. I think it's a great match with the BD.
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Any other that have used the VHII neck or the Holy Diver neck version?
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I will be getting a Black Dog Bridge with a VHII neck for a Les Paul Standard.
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can you keep me updated on this combo? Did Tim recommend this to you? And what is it that you want from a neck pickup? Sorry for me being a nerd :D
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Just installed my Black Dog bridge and Riff Raff neck into my Tokai LP. Black Dog not as dark as i had thought. Nicely balanced, with deep rich mids, but still enough high end for a nice tone. The Riff Raff in the neck is another specimen. Less gain when i switch from bridge to neck is evident, much cleaner pickup. Less forgiving for any sloppy playing. But overall, a wide range of tones from that combo.
Not important now, as the OP has decided for a VHII neck. :)
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No, I didnīt decide for any of the three relevant pickups.
Its still VHII vs. Riff Raff vs. Holy Diver.
Thanks for your post man, right now I tend to go for a Riff Raff
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Do you guys think, that the Riff Raff or the VHII are any louder or quieter that the HD?
Can't say about the Riff Raff, and the HD and VHII necks were in different guitars but my feeling is that the VHII neck would be louder because it has thicker wire (42 plain enamel vs. 42.5 polysol in the HD neck), about the same DC resistance from which I conclude that it has a few more turns on the coils, and a bigger magnet.
I use the HD neck in a guitar with a Cold Sweat neck as bridge pickup, which has the same wire and magnet as the Black Dog so I am not surprised that BD bridge and HD neck match well. As regards output - my bridge pickup is definitely louder than the neck pickup, and I have not set it really low. I should add that it is a 24 fret guitar though.
Cheers Stephan
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Yeah, thanks for your post man!
I asked Tim if the VHII would be better for my use than the HD and he said:
No, the VHII neck is really a very fat and hot sounding humbucker.The HD neck will clean up a lot better and also if you want a crunch tone from the neck, which is quite unusual as that position produces a lot of bottom end, then the HD will do it the best.
So the VHII might not be what I want.
That means that I might buy a riff raff or just go with the HD I have.
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So the VHII might not be what I want.
That means that I might buy a riff raff or just go with the HD I have.
If you have a HD, then try it out.
The points with a BD in bridge and RR in neck are:
1. BD bridge has more saturated gain than RR neck
2. RR has a single coil voice, BD is full on humbucker with extra mids
3. RR needs clean playing, as sloppyness will be shown up
That i it. The RR neck sounds completely different than the BD bridge. Great for versatility though.
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I asked Tim if the VHII would be better for my use than the HD and he said:
No, the VHII neck is really a very fat and hot sounding humbucker.The HD neck will clean up a lot better and also if you want a crunch tone from the neck, which is quite unusual as that position produces a lot of bottom end, then the HD will do it the best.
That's very interesting. And quite surprising about the VHII neck.
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I asked Tim if the VHII would be better for my use than the HD and he said:
No, the VHII neck is really a very fat and hot sounding humbucker.The HD neck will clean up a lot better and also if you want a crunch tone from the neck, which is quite unusual as that position produces a lot of bottom end, then the HD will do it the best.
That's very interesting. And quite surprising about the VHII neck.
Me too :o
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I've been using a neck cold sweat paired with the bridge black dog
the dog is a little hotter nd more compressed, the cold sweat sounds more articulate, but quite edgy and aggressive
I like how the mule works with the dog much better
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Maybe the Emerald neck. That would be my other choice with the black dog
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I asked Tim if the VHII would be better for my use than the HD and he said:
No, the VHII neck is really a very fat and hot sounding humbucker.The HD neck will clean up a lot better and also if you want a crunch tone from the neck, which is quite unusual as that position produces a lot of bottom end, then the HD will do it the best.
That's very interesting. And quite surprising about the VHII neck.
Not really surprising to me. It matches my perception of both pickups.
Cheers Stephan
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I didn't find the VHII neck fat and hot at all :?
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Have a BD and Mule in my LP and it sounds good. If you want a bit brighter RR is my vote but BD + Mule works well imo
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Still think RR is your best bet.
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Thanks for all your kind help!
I will go with the Holy Diver for now as it seems to work for me.
But IF I will ever look for another neck pickup, it will definitely be a Riff Raff!