Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum

Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: helderhalen on October 11, 2012, 12:43:07 PM

Title: Best Pickup for Dokken /Ratt / Motley Crue type tones
Post by: helderhalen on October 11, 2012, 12:43:07 PM
Hi Guys

Well i wanna know if somebody can tell me the best pickup to achieve that Dokken raw tone from the 80s.

I´m undicided between the BK Holy Diver , the SD JB, the SD Distortion , the dimarzio super distortion or the tone zone.

Can someone tell me which the best one?

My guitar is a Kramer Striker 211 custom with Floyd, 2011 model ,Solid mahogany body with highly figured flame maple top, Hard maple neck and maple fretboard.

Thanks
Title: Re: Best Pickup for Dokken /Ratt / Motley Crue type tones
Post by: itamar101 on October 11, 2012, 02:11:41 PM
Holy Diver for Dokken.
Rebel Yell for Ratt or Motley Crue
Title: Re: Best Pickup for Dokken /Ratt / Motley Crue type tones
Post by: TheyCallMeVolume on October 11, 2012, 02:17:48 PM
RY
Title: Re: Best Pickup for Dokken /Ratt / Motley Crue type tones
Post by: FELINEGUITARS on October 11, 2012, 04:34:34 PM
Holy Diver for Dokken.


Nope - Miracle Man if you like Under Lock and Key or Back for the Attack

Having been a Lynch obsessive since 1984 I only speak from experience (and a Motley and Ratt fan since 1982)

HD  and RY will work for it as well but there is a nice sizzle on the MM
I used to use the Duncan Distortion but then I heard the MM and it was just that much closer to the Under Lock and Key sound for me.
Title: Re: Best Pickup for Dokken /Ratt / Motley Crue type tones
Post by: Philly Q on October 11, 2012, 05:46:51 PM
It sure as hell isn't the Tone Zone!


(If ever a pickup was inappropriately named....)
Title: Re: Best Pickup for Dokken /Ratt / Motley Crue type tones
Post by: TheyCallMeVolume on October 11, 2012, 06:18:39 PM
It sure as hell isn't the Tone Zone!


(If ever a pickup was inappropriately named....)


I once had a créme brûlée pickup. Didn't taste like I thought it would, think it should be renamed.


Sorry for the corny joke, for some reason I'm in that mood today...
Title: Re: Best Pickup for Dokken /Ratt / Motley Crue type tones
Post by: helderhalen on October 11, 2012, 07:02:32 PM
Yeah i saw some people recommending the miracle man but in the tone chart it seems like the mids are too low ,isnt that pickup lack some mids? because i think dokken in under lock and key and back for the attack it seems like george tone has a lot of mids..


Can someone explain me that pickup?

Thanks
Title: Re: Best Pickup for Dokken /Ratt / Motley Crue type tones
Post by: ericsabbath on October 11, 2012, 07:02:54 PM
rebell yell or cold sweat
Title: Re: Best Pickup for Dokken /Ratt / Motley Crue type tones
Post by: dave_mc on October 12, 2012, 12:20:33 AM
i'd definitely be using something ceramic for dokken, as feline said. I haven't tried the other pickups mentioned aside from the miracle man, though, which is why i didn't post earlier.
Title: Re: Best Pickup for Dokken /Ratt / Motley Crue type tones
Post by: Toe-Knee on October 12, 2012, 06:25:57 AM
As Feline has said the Miracle man works exceptionally well for the above bands.

And don't let the mids concern you (it actually has a buttload of lower mids) you can just up them on the amp.

Title: Re: Best Pickup for Dokken /Ratt / Motley Crue type tones
Post by: gwEm on October 12, 2012, 11:20:52 AM
You definitely need that ceramic treble for Dokken.

The miracle man sounds really hair metal in a super-strat. Different character to a Paul or V.

As for the other bands, I can't comment as I don't listen to them much.
Title: Re: Best Pickup for Dokken /Ratt / Motley Crue type tones
Post by: darkbluemurder on October 12, 2012, 02:14:17 PM
I like the Cold Sweat bridge for Dokken tones, but the Miracle Man works well, too.

I have never played a Duncan Distortion but several JBs. To me that pickup would not deliver the punch or clarity needed for any of the tones you mentioned. The DiMarzios would provide the punch but to me lack the clarity and have too much extraneous sizzle on top.

Cheers Stephan
Title: Re: Best Pickup for Dokken /Ratt / Motley Crue type tones
Post by: helderhalen on October 12, 2012, 04:46:39 PM
And how about the custom ones , the suhr doug aldrich, the seymour duncan warren demartini and the seymour duncan super v, anyone had some experience with those pickups?

Sorry about my english....

Thanks
Title: Re: Best Pickup for Dokken /Ratt / Motley Crue type tones
Post by: FELINEGUITARS on October 12, 2012, 05:30:32 PM
And how about the custom ones , the suhr doug aldrich, the seymour duncan warren demartini and the seymour duncan super v, anyone had some experience with those pickups?


The Aldrich isn't too dissimilar to the neck position Miracle man - alnico 5 I  believe

Whilst I'm sure the super V and DeMartini models are fab  the alnico 2 strikes me as weird for these two players - or at least with their classic mid 80s sounds.

Lynch always used to use a Duncan Distortion: 44 gauge Polysol , big ceramic magnet
De Martini typically used to use a Duncan Holdsworth pickup - like adouble screw coil JB - catalogue used to say alnico 5, although I have heard players say that alnico 2 was used (so maybe the De Martini isn't so offbeat)- the double screw coil going through the baseplate makes a big difference though
Stylistically DeMartini stole a lot from Lynch - something they both admit to.....

The Miracle Man has a big low mid focus which kind of makes a strat sound more like a Les Paul , and it has a very strong upper midrange response which is just in the right frequency range (in my opinion) for Lynch's old sound.
Title: Re: Best Pickup for Dokken /Ratt / Motley Crue type tones
Post by: Copperhead on October 15, 2012, 04:30:16 PM
Can't believe no one has mentioned Nail Bomb yet...  Great for getting rich overtones and harmonics out of a bright Super Strat guitar. Lynch's maple bodied ESP's, maple neck, are certainly very bright.
Title: Re: Best Pickup for Dokken /Ratt / Motley Crue type tones
Post by: Copperhead on October 15, 2012, 04:31:49 PM
It sure as hell isn't the Tone Zone!


(If ever a pickup was inappropriately named....)

I really like the Tone Zone in very bright guitars, hate in darker guitars.
Title: Re: Best Pickup for Dokken /Ratt / Motley Crue type tones
Post by: Philly Q on October 15, 2012, 11:12:54 PM
It sure as hell isn't the Tone Zone!


(If ever a pickup was inappropriately named....)

I really like the Tone Zone in very bright guitars, hate in darker guitars.

I think you may be right - my hatred of the Tone Zone is based on trying it in an SG and a Gordon-Smith GS2.

It's probably much better in a maple neck bolt-on.
Title: Re: Best Pickup for Dokken /Ratt / Motley Crue type tones
Post by: FELINEGUITARS on October 16, 2012, 01:04:10 PM
Can't believe no one has mentioned Nail Bomb yet...  Great for getting rich overtones and harmonics out of a bright Super Strat guitar. Lynch's maple bodied ESP's, maple neck, are certainly very bright.

Alnico Nailbomb needs a really bright guitar - I find it too dark and low mid  heavy otherwise.
Had one in a maple superstrat (Lynch stle) and pulled it out in favour of a Miracle Man - much happier
Title: Re: Best Pickup for Dokken /Ratt / Motley Crue type tones
Post by: Copperhead on October 16, 2012, 03:03:28 PM
Feline - How do you think the MM is going to sound in a mahogany hard tail Strat?

I love the NB in my swamp ash FR Tele.
Title: Re: Best Pickup for Dokken /Ratt / Motley Crue type tones
Post by: helderhalen on October 17, 2012, 12:20:08 PM
And what do you guys think of the Dimarzio Paf Pro?

I had a band where my guitar player had an Ibanez early paul gilbert model the blue and pink one and it had Dimarzio paf pro humbucker and he played it through a randall mts with ultra xl module and i thought it sounded really good very articulate and clean , we played some dokken style tunes and that pickup really sounded good for that and then he changed that one to a BK Miracle Man and i thought the sound became a little too bassy and harsh maybe it was because the settings on the ultra xl module werent the right ones to that pickup because he played with the bass a little high , the middles were at 3/4 and the treble at 6 more or less and the gain was a little past middle.

What do you think guys?
Title: Re: Best Pickup for Dokken /Ratt / Motley Crue type tones
Post by: Philly Q on October 17, 2012, 12:38:18 PM
The PAF Pro is a good pickup for a clear, distinctly modern kind of tone.  Not too weak, not too powerful, versatile and not aimed at just one musical style.... perhaps a bit of a jack of all trades and master of none.

It's pretty bright - I had one in the neck position of a Hamer Vector and it was brighter than the Megadrive in the bridge position.

I like those '80s bands like Dokken and Ratt but I don't really have a feel for what gear would be suitable; I think the PAF Pro could certainly cover that kind of music, but perhaps it's a bight lightweight for the Dokken stuff in particular. 
Title: Re: Best Pickup for Dokken /Ratt / Motley Crue type tones
Post by: FELINEGUITARS on October 17, 2012, 01:49:20 PM
And what do you guys think of the Dimarzio Paf Pro?

I had a band where my guitar player had an Ibanez early paul gilbert model the blue and pink one and it had Dimarzio paf pro humbucker and he played it through a randall mts with ultra xl module and i thought it sounded really good very articulate and clean , we played some dokken style tunes and that pickup really sounded good for that and then he changed that one to a BK Miracle Man and i thought the sound became a little too bassy and harsh maybe it was because the settings on the ultra xl module werent the right ones to that pickup because he played with the bass a little high , the middles were at 3/4 and the treble at 6 more or less and the gain was a little past middle.

What do you think guys?

The MTS Ultra and Ultra XL modules were a bit bassy IMO - especially the first series ones (silver face versions)
I'll throw down a quick clip with my MTS Lynch modules (Judge, Brahma and Mr Scary) and a couple of MM equipped guitars a bit later - don't expect anything flash though - just enough to see the tone
Title: Re: Best Pickup for Dokken /Ratt / Motley Crue type tones
Post by: darkbluemurder on October 17, 2012, 02:41:39 PM
And how about the custom ones , the suhr doug aldrich, the seymour duncan warren demartini and the seymour duncan super v, anyone had some experience with those pickups?

Sorry about my english....

Thanks

I only know the Suhr Aldrich of those three and would prefer both the Cold Sweat and the Miracle Man over it for Lynch and de Martini tones because they both appear to have more punch and cut.

Cheers Stephan
Title: Re: Best Pickup for Dokken /Ratt / Motley Crue type tones
Post by: ericsabbath on October 17, 2012, 10:08:31 PM
the neck cold sweat in the bridge position sounds a lot like the paf pro
very gilbertish feel
Title: Re: Best Pickup for Dokken /Ratt / Motley Crue type tones
Post by: dave_mc on October 17, 2012, 11:46:54 PM
The PAF Pro is a good pickup for a clear, distinctly modern kind of tone.  Not too weak, not too powerful, versatile and not aimed at just one musical style.... perhaps a bit of a jack of all trades and master of none.

It's pretty bright - I had one in the neck position of a Hamer Vector and it was brighter than the Megadrive in the bridge position.

I like those '80s bands like Dokken and Ratt but I don't really have a feel for what gear would be suitable; I think the PAF Pro could certainly cover that kind of music, but perhaps it's a bight lightweight for the Dokken stuff in particular. 

+1 basically

i'd say the paf pro in the bridge maybe is a little light on gain (at least it is in the ibanez i have it in, as the neck pickup is also a paf pro). but it's a nice pickup if you need clarity above everything else. and pretty versatile, as you said, though (as you also said) it does sound pretty modern even though it's not that hot.
Title: Re: Best Pickup for Dokken /Ratt / Motley Crue type tones
Post by: helderhalen on October 18, 2012, 12:26:06 AM
Wow found this video and this pickup sounds really great in a les paul.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMxd0VGXfjQ
Title: Re: Best Pickup for Dokken /Ratt / Motley Crue type tones
Post by: FELINEGUITARS on October 18, 2012, 12:32:06 AM
Mark Day is great , although his facial expressions are getting madder these days.

Ok - this is not unlike the sound I was getting with the MM today.

This sounds very rough and ready - it's just a quick demo for flavour and as it's in a Les Paul and tuned to drop D  it's somewhat beefier than if it were in a superstrat.