Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: Tahoebrian5 on September 30, 2015, 04:14:37 PM
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I've decide to pull the cold sweat bridge pickup out of my alder/maple j custom ibanez. It just doesn't have enough upper to medium mids and sounds too scooped. I like the amount of crunchiness and the output but just need a slightly different voicing. I like the voicing of the holy diver in my other jem guitar but want something ceramic for variety so a bit more modern tight and crunchy but not too much. Im thinking racer X type crunchy tone. C bomb?
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A Bomb
C Bomb is thin in non LP type guitars i think
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Now that i think of it, Gilbert uses PAF type pups
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painkiller
my first thought was actually the miracle man, but it's not a middy pup
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Now that i think of it, Gilbert uses PAF type pups
Right, they were around there, weren´t they? So maybe the vintage hot range would be it for recreation.
Thing is then the OP wants ceramic. So we do have a bit of a clash here. I would recon C bomb then, but it is a bit tricky.
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Gilbert used Super Distortions in the early Racer X days.
I would go for a Holy Diver probably, but I see what Eric means by going for the Painkiller
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Hmmm, keep the comments coming! Hoping to nail it this time. It doesn't need to nail PG, just using that as an example. I think the CS would be perfect in a middy les Paul, but this thing is more nuetral. T ch support recommended the C bomb so just fishing for more info.
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Juggernaut is amazing in alder guitars! Hopefully I will receive my set tomorrow to put in my Suhr Modern, I will let you know how it works out.
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My first thought was the Painkiller too
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When you speak of Racer X tone, do you mean the early tones like on "Second Heat" or the later ones like on "Superhero"? Very different tones to my ears. If it's the Second Heat tones you're after I am a bit surprised that you cannot get them with the Cold Sweat bridge. Holydiver bridge would be too smooth for these tones, unless you have a bright and biting amp/speaker cab combination.
For the Superhero tones Holydiver could work as these tones are more middy to my ears.
Cheers Stephan
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Didnt Paul use the Tone Zone in those days?
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Didnt Paul use the Tone Zone in those days?
He had one specified in some of his signature models I believe.
The DiMarzio website states "Paul Gilbert used to use two Super DistortionŽ pickups wired in parallel when he was in Racer X."
It also has a list of the DiMarzio's hes used, and it seems like he went through most of the range over the years!
Painkillers would good to create that note attack he gets. I still lean towards Holy Divers for the overall spirit.
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...If it's the Second Heat tones you're after I am a bit surprised that you cannot get them with the Cold Sweat bridge...
^^^
I just listened to a couple of songs off that album and would agree. Second Heat isn't the best Racer X tone for me to be honest though ;)
Furthermore I've listened to a bunch of songs from every period of the band and the tones always have brutal attack, and I change my recommendation to The Painkiller.
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So the cold sweat feels right and has the right amount of output but it's too scooped for the jem. The holy diver sounds fantastic but the bass is not tight enough, it does iron maiden to old Judas Priest dead nuts though. But neither of these are perfect for my second Ibby. Btw, I have access to a prototype Paul Gilbert guitar, it's a red sparkle with painted f holes, and it has what I've been told by a member of racer X, but not Paul, that it was a custom wound DiMarzio. It sounds stunning and is my inspiration for my pup search. I've got to get these ordered soon, leaning torwads tech supports recommendation of the c bomb.
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another random thought -
his neck tone sounds like a parallel wound bucker.
i don't get that the bridge is though.. it sounds like a very bright serially wound pickup to me.
but hey - what do I know :) Gilbert is a guitar god and I'm some guy on the internet!
Tahoebrian5: you should post a picture of the PG prototype!
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Well I just found a steal of a deal on a pain killer full set on reverb so I jumped on em. After reading the description, they do sound like the ticket, lots of pick attack and mids. Fingers crossed! Will report back.
I'll get a pic of that guitar for you guys. It might be a week or so before I'm back up to the studio though.
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The pg guitar can be seen (and heard!)if you go to this Facebook page, then watch the children of the damned video. I think this is a public page so it should work.
https://www.facebook.com/Fortress1515
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A good deal on a Painkiller set is a great start I think, good you got that. Look into getting push pull pots though to have a series / parallel switch for the humbuckers. That should, as others noted, seriously help too.
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I'm interested in the parallel thing. Having a hard time finding any video examples of what they sound like in parallel vs series. Got any go to vids?
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Second Heat isn't the best Racer X tone for me to be honest though ;)
I love the rhythm tones - they are so raw. The lead tones are a bit bitey indeed.
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I'm interested in the parallel thing. Having a hard time finding any video examples of what they sound like in parallel vs series. Got any go to vids?
What it does is make it sound more like a single coil, which when Gilbert is involved is a good option to have. With a high output humbucker like the PK that should just be a great option to have. I do not have a video showcasing it with the PK, but I say definetly get it. Often holds up better than a split if you are not going for cleans with a comp.
If you were to go all out I´d even say get a 3 way superswitch so that you can have the middle be an autosplit of bridge and neck, Petrucci style. Also a great SC sound, bit like a 2 or 4 on a strat.
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I love parallel wiring in the neck. All the guitars I use regularly on stage are wired like that permanently now.
As Kiichi says, it makes sound more like a single coil. Another key advantage of that wiring
is that it is hum cancelling.
I don't really like (full sized) serially wound neck humbuckers anymore live. I like their warm jazziness at home.. but on stage I find that position needs all the cut I can get.