Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum

Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: bozojazz on January 30, 2013, 08:26:19 AM

Title: Need advice for humbuckers on a Les Paul. First time newbie
Post by: bozojazz on January 30, 2013, 08:26:19 AM
Hello all, new to the board and to buying pickups.

Was wondering if anyone could recommend what pickups I should checkout for mathrock/postrock style guitar playing? Don Caballero, Battles, Hella, Giraffes? Giraffes!, Russian Circles etc.  I play Les Pauls (Studio and Gothic) straight in to a Carvin X100b head w/ a Marshall 1960 cab. The only thing is the stock pickups in both Les Pauls are too quiet and don't breakup the amp enough when I turn up the volume. I tap a lot and play a lot of really staccato picked parts both clean and gain. I use a Fulltone OCD for sustained gain parts. I suppose I'm looking for pickups that make the guitar scream significantly louder allowing the amp to break up a bit earlier without sacrificing cleans/venturing into saturated shredding territory. 

Best example of what I'm looking for would be Russian Circles and I read that Mike Sullivan uses Cold Sweats, which was what I was thinking based on the description. These 2 songs show the range from clean to distortion I'd like to be able to play with.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzYW1pY3hFA (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzYW1pY3hFA)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm5AzUXCFfo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm5AzUXCFfo)

Any and all help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much.
Title: Re: Need advice for humbuckers on a Les Paul. First time newbie
Post by: darkbluemurder on January 30, 2013, 10:34:26 AM
The examples sound rather like an Alnico Nailbomb than a Cold Sweat to me.

Cheers Stephan
Title: Re: Need advice for humbuckers on a Les Paul. First time newbie
Post by: Mr. Air on January 30, 2013, 11:26:43 AM
Alnico Nailbomb bridge for some aggressive distortion and Cold Sweat neck for good cleans with a modern edge.
Title: Re: Need advice for humbuckers on a Les Paul. First time newbie
Post by: HTH AMPS on January 30, 2013, 12:58:57 PM
If you like that sound and the guy uses Cold Sweats, buy some - job done.

The top end sounds too open for NB's, imo. You'd do fine with a number of pickups in the BKP range - your amp and effects will play a large part here too.  Rebel Yells would be a good choice if you want more mids since the Cold Sweats are quite scooped in my experience.



Title: Re: Need advice for humbuckers on a Les Paul. First time newbie
Post by: TheyCallMeVolume on January 30, 2013, 03:04:50 PM
If you like that sound and the guy uses Cold Sweats, buy some - job done.

The top end sounds too open for NB's, imo. You'd do fine with a number of pickups in the BKP range - your amp and effects will play a large part here too.  Rebel Yells would be a good choice if you want more mids since the Cold Sweats are quite scooped in my experience.

Yeah I'm thinking a RY could be a good fit.
Title: Re: Need advice for humbuckers on a Les Paul. First time newbie
Post by: darkbluemurder on January 30, 2013, 03:50:18 PM
I remember having read that the Rebel Yell is an underwound Nailbomb - or the Nailbomb is an overwound Rebel Yell so I would agree that the Rebel Yell would work well, too.

Cheers Stephan
Title: Re: Need advice for humbuckers on a Les Paul. First time newbie
Post by: Telerocker on January 30, 2013, 05:56:31 PM
I remember having read that the Rebel Yell is an underwound Nailbomb - or the Nailbomb is an overwound Rebel Yell so I would agree that the Rebel Yell would work well, too.

Cheers Stephan

Both will do. Personally I would pick RY's.
Title: Re: Need advice for humbuckers on a Les Paul. First time newbie
Post by: bozojazz on January 30, 2013, 06:26:08 PM
Thanks for the suggestions guys, very much appreciated. I have an idea of the kinds I'll start with.
Title: Re: Need advice for humbuckers on a Les Paul. First time newbie
Post by: TheyCallMeVolume on January 30, 2013, 07:30:01 PM
Research is your best friend!
Title: Re: Need advice for humbuckers on a Les Paul. First time newbie
Post by: ericsabbath on January 31, 2013, 04:02:38 AM
I remember having read that the Rebel Yell is an underwound Nailbomb - or the Nailbomb is an overwound Rebel Yell so I would agree that the Rebel Yell would work well, too.

Cheers Stephan

apparently rebell yell is more symmetrical to keep more upper mids
I wonder how different it is from the cold sweat spec, besides the magnet of course