Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: aris17561 on January 09, 2014, 09:36:00 PM
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Hey guys let's say we have the amp that can play lot of different styles and we are seeking a bridge pup that will have very nice cleans , jazz blues funk , light rock , hard rock , metal , thrash , power etc ...
Lot of styles but I do believe there must be the one that can do every style good !!!
Which you opinion ?
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Well, use the volume/tone pots on a hot pickup and you can play anything. IMO.
Would love to hear from more experienced people.
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You want a bridge pickup that can go from jazz and funk to thrashmetal? I think that is asking too much. In a set that is somewhat possible, but with a single bridge HB it will be nigh impossible to get them all going good.
For starters bridge PUs are not exactly known for a good clean sounds. Parallel and split wiring can help, but still good cleans are ususally neck stuff. Just going by what has good cleans on the bridge one could suggest the Crawler, as it is nicely full, powerful, has great character and is very versatile. With the proper wiring you can take it from cleans to metal, however it is perhaps the least tight BKP (which does not exactly mean loose, still pretty good compared to other stuff out there, but it has a rather warm bottom end), so thrash and power metal would be somewhat of a stretch I think. It is however extremely versatile for all the other things, partially cause it splits better than anything else out there, huge bonus.
Alternatives could be the Abraxas, which is, to be quite general here, somewhat of a pumped up mule or toned down Crawler, depeding on how you look at it. Can handel the high gain easier as it is brighter and tighter compared to the Crawler.
I also always say that the oposite of a one trick pony is a Mule, as it really works with sooooo many things, but it might be a bit too low in output here, especially lacking power for splits which you could really use I think.
The Holydiver can also cross ones mind, as it also has rather good bridge cleans, but the voicing strickes me as too rock and metal for these here needs.
I would guess the Crawler or Abraxas would get you close, but keep in mind this is a pretty tall order here.
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As usual, I'm with Kiichi on this one. The Crawler or Abraxas would be my choice, depending on the guitar they're in. You might also consider the Mule.
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It depends very much on which guitar you want to BKP.
In an ash or alder strat the Crawler is versatile and splits well.
In a telecaster one the Blackguards.
In a mahogany setneck guitar I would pick Mules.
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I have heard good things about crawler but the tightness klichi mentioned before I guess it's a problem . Cause according to my taste , I want it very tight ... Now I have vh2 !!!
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I wouldn't say the Crawler lacked tightness, it's more that it's not as obvious as the other pickups in the contemporary range. This REALLY depends on the guitar it would be going into. If it was a darker mahogany guitar I'd say try the Emeralds as they're very tight, quite hot and produce an awesome tone. The Holydiver would certainly be an option in pretty much anything except an SG.
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I wouldn't say the Crawler lacked tightness, it's more that it's not as obvious as the other pickups in the contemporary range. This REALLY depends on the guitar it would be going into. If it was a darker mahogany guitar I'd say try the Emeralds as they're very tight, quite hot and produce an awesome tone. The Holydiver would certainly be an option in pretty much anything except an SG.
Horizon is a dark sounding guitar. Even though is an alder body , maple neck guitar , the sound is too dark. Only with the vh2 has a brighter cut.
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Of the BKPs I have I would say either Abraxas or Black Dog are the most versatile, with the Crawler closely behind.
Cheers Stephan
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I wouldn't say the Crawler lacked tightness, it's more that it's not as obvious as the other pickups in the contemporary range. This REALLY depends on the guitar it would be going into. If it was a darker mahogany guitar I'd say try the Emeralds as they're very tight, quite hot and produce an awesome tone. The Holydiver would certainly be an option in pretty much anything except an SG.
I think this tightness-debat returns more and more often due to the growing metalclan here on the forum. For them the Crawler might feel a little loose. For me it's quite tight, though the VHII I have in my other strat is a tad tighter.
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From my limited experience, I think the Black Dog is really versatile.
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I think this tightness-debat returns more and more often due to the growing metalclan here on the forum. For them the Crawler might feel a little loose. For me it's quite tight, though the VHII I have in my other strat is a tad tighter.
I agree completely. Maybe that's why Tim has so many pickups aimed at that area of the market. It always amazes me when people say they want something tighter than an A-Bomb when to me, it's already so tight it's on the limit of what I could tolerate.
I'm surprised any guitar that's alder/maple could be described as 'dark' but if that's the case, the Emerald could be a great option. It's open sounding so can be used for lighter gain styles and is tight enough to take shed loads of gain without turning to mush. The Abraxas could be another option, though it's darker and not as tight as the Emerald.
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To my taste a pup like VHII with a bit more power and a bit more tightness should be perfect . Does the emerald do this ? VHII seems bright an I like but I think that ( not sure about that ) that is not for metal ... My amp is a Marshall jvm . Has plenty of gain but I have the pup as close as possible to strings to sound brutal ...
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I've never played a VHII myself but I believe the Emerald bridge is both tighter and brighter. It really can be used with insane levels of gain if needed. It seems to me that if you want a pickup that's a bit hotter, a bit brighter and a bit tighter, the Emerald is well worth a closer look.
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I've never played a VHII myself but I believe the Emerald bridge is both tighter and brighter. It really can be used with insane levels of gain if needed. It seems to me that if you want a pickup that's a bit hotter, a bit brighter and a bit tighter, the Emerald is well worth a closer look.
Thank you very much... I also see the cold sweet and nailbomb. Whats you thoughts compared to emerald ?
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I've never played a VHII myself but I believe the Emerald bridge is both tighter and brighter. It really can be used with insane levels of gain if needed. It seems to me that if you want a pickup that's a bit hotter, a bit brighter and a bit tighter, the Emerald is well worth a closer look.
Whether it is tigther I can't tell. I never had an Emerald. The VHII is bright in a good sense that it cuts without being harsh, but the total balance is quite ok. Goods mids and quite some bass. The crunch is to die for and it just screams when you start to dig in.
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I based my comments on the fact that most people comment on the Emerald being very bright indeed and my own experience of it was that it was very bright. I also found that it would take as much gain as I could throw at it, which seems unusual for most vintage/vintage hot pickups.
If I were to compare the Emerald to the Cold Sweat and A-Bomb, I'd say that the Cold Sweat is closest. It's not as bright as the Emerald and the cleans aren't as good, though they were excellent compared to most other ceramics. Both are quite open sounding, though there's a bit more compression on the Cold Sweat and the Cold Sweat is a bit more aggressive. The A-Bomb is a very different beast. It's not as bright as the Emerald, though it does seem to have a fair bit of upper mids. The overall sound is 'bigger' and a lot more aggressive. It's really quite a 'hairy' sound on the A-Bomb. It's often touted as being versatile and I can see why as it sits between a number of other pickups but I found its versatility limited because of the extreme tightness, aggression and hairiness. Having said that, in the right guitar I'm sure it could be a versatile option.