Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: LucaRenzi on November 17, 2015, 02:11:45 AM
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Hi everyone! First post in this forum :smiley:
I would like to replace my bridge humbucker, but I'm not sure which one to choose. Can you give me some suggestions, please?
The requirements are these:
-I use the bridge humbucker all the time.
-I'll install the humbucker on this guitar:
http://www.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/2015/USA/Les-Paul-Less-Plus.aspx (http://www.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/2015/USA/Les-Paul-Less-Plus.aspx)
It's a full mahogany guitar like all Gibsons are (the body is medium density mahogany, I don't know if it matters), but in comparison to other Gibsons, it has a much more thinner and lighter body (its thickness is 3.2cm (1.3") and the overall weight is 3.2 kilos). So This isn't a regular Gibson and I think this point should be crucial for the final choice!
-I really love the tone of Mark Tremonti so I play a lot of his Post-Grunge/Alternative metal music (Alter Bridge,Creed,Tremonti solo project); I also play almost any kind of speed-picking-driven modern metal style; shred solos; some random Blues stuff and also lots and lots of clean stuff like clean arpeggios, classical music and clean rhythmics from random styles.
-Alinco or ceramic? I really don't know which is the best choice in my case.
So, in the end, I need a pickup that well-cuts fast distorted notes, that is also good on cleans and that compensate the lack of mahogany of my guitar. And just to be more accurate: I like Tremonti but I'm not searching an exact copy of his tone, I want something a little less muddy and more clear then his pickups. I have already sent this question directly to BK and they suggested me the Nailbomb (but they were unsure too about which version to choose, if the Alinco or the Ceramic). What do you think guys? I trust their advice but I would like to hear other opinions before choosing!
Thanks a lot in advance! (And sorry for the long post)
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The Tremonti signature pickup is a high output alnico V, based what I read on a Gibson 500T. The Nailbomb is the closest BKP-equivalent, I think. The ceramic NB will sure cut enough.
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Keeping in mind what you say regarding cleans and blues I would probably go with an alnico Nailbomb. It is a tight pickup
With the body of your guitar being lighter I would avoid the Emerald, Rebel Yell, etc. A Nailbomb would be good.
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What sort of amp are you playing through? If it is your usual modern high gain head with the massive low end, a Nailbomb should work. I have a weight relieved LP Traditional and the A-Bomb sounds very balanced in it. Plenty of top and mids and a phat but super dry and tight low end. Roll off on the pot and you're close to classic LP tones.
The Rebel Yell bridge is a bit thinner sounding but it's more consonant and crunchy, and the harmonics just jump off. It also has a better feel for leads than the A-Bomb does. If you are using a really dark high gain amp with a huge low end, it will work very well. (If I was using the Rebel Yell / Les Paul combination exclusively with my Dual Rectifier, I would have stuck it out) If not, I'd give it a miss.
Given that the guitar is that light and likely transparent in the lows, maybe a Juggernaut Bridge would work. It's an astounding pickup but I think it tuned more for lighter super strats. The Juggernaut Bridge will have a better clean tone and a better feel for leads; but while being clear, it is darker with a lot more weight in the low mids. It goes well with a brighter amp such as a Marshall or Mesa Boogie Mark V.
[edit] It's a 9 hole weight relieved LP just like mine is. Go with the A-Bomb although something a little brighter like the Rebel Yell or darker like a Holy Diver will work equally well in this guitar. Just consider what amp you have as this will impact the sort of result you get.
Question: Why not use the neck pickup for cleans?
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The Tremonti signature pickup is a high output alnico V, based what I read on a Gibson 500T. The Nailbomb is the closest BKP-equivalent, I think. The ceramic NB will sure cut enough.
the tremonti treble is ceramic
tone is somewhere between the c-bomb and painkiller, but not as articulate bk pups
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From PRS's Website:
Tremonti Treble: Stock on the Mark Tremonti Signature model. The Tremonti Treble pickup is specifically wound to Mark's specifications with powerful custom magnets. This is the hottest, most aggressive pickup we currently offer.
Hotter than the HFS, which is a pickup with a ceramic magnet...
Tremonti Bass: Stock on the Mark Tremonti Signature model. The Tremonti Bass pickup features an alnico magnet and is the perfect compliment to the Tremonti Treble pickup. This is the same pickup Mark uses in concert and in the studio for is rhythm sounds.
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I think it depends how aggressive you want it to be. I can certainly see the A-Bomb working for you in that guitar. It's a very tight pickup by any standards, not just for an alnico pickup and is really hairy and aggressive sounding. It will do other things like Rock and Blues as long as you like the tone a bit more aggressive than normal. Cleans I found to be good but I wouldn't say they were spectacular but it's designed as a hot and aggressive pickup so I wouldn't expect the cleans to be up amongst the very best. It's not what I would choose in that guitar, however, I can't think of a better option for what you're after. I found the Holydiver to be far more versatile but I don't think it has the aggressive bite you're after. The Coldsweat is also tight enough and surprisingly versatile for a ceramic pickup but again, I don't think it has the bite you're after. The Juggernaut might also be an option but I haven't tried that myself so I couldn't be sure.
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What about the Painkiller? I think that has been overlooked a bit here.
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The Juggernaut might also be an option but I haven't tried that myself so I couldn't be sure.
Littleredguitar had a great result with the Juggernaut bridge in a LP. In theory, it would do everything the OP wants but it's going to be dark and phat and it is a question of what he is after. The Juggernaut Bridge absolutely BLOWS AWAY the A-Bomb for leads and cleans, no contest. It's also higher output. The real question is whether or not it will give the desired result with that particular guitar.
It is a swiss cheese weight relieved body so if the bridge position is as thin as on my LP, he may be golden.
What about the Painkiller? I think that has been overlooked a bit here.
Probably because the OP wants good cleans. With the requirements he has, he should get a superstrat and throw a Juggernaut in it. Then he'll have all his bases covered tonewise.
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Could use a PK in the bridge and use a HD in the neck for cleans instead of the PK ceramic neck pup.
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I see this on sites of musicshops:
The PRS Guitars Mark Temonti Treble Pickup offers you an excellent bridge pickup for your electric guitar with a large Alnico V magnet. Offering plenty of hot bass and treble output, the PRS Tremonti pickup is shockingly sensitive yet amazingly quiet. Delivering killer sustain, this is the signature lead pickup of Mark Tremonti, who has helped spawn hits with both Creed and Alter Bridge.
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I see this on sites of musicshops:
The PRS Guitars Mark Temonti Treble Pickup offers you an excellent bridge pickup for your electric guitar with a large Alnico V magnet. Offering plenty of hot bass and treble output, the PRS Tremonti pickup is shockingly sensitive yet amazingly quiet. Delivering killer sustain, this is the signature lead pickup of Mark Tremonti, who has helped spawn hits with both Creed and Alter Bridge.
well, PRS site used to say ceramic, now they only say "powerful custom magnets", which makes me think it has a triple ceramic configuration like the gibson 500t and the painkiller
I played the tremonti treble in the same prs mccarty that later had a cold sweat and a miracle man
the tremonti definitely sounds "more ceramic" than the other two, with hasrsher mids and more abrasive attack rather than the clean articulation of the bkps
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I see this on sites of musicshops:
The PRS Guitars Mark Temonti Treble Pickup offers you an excellent bridge pickup for your electric guitar with a large Alnico V magnet. Offering plenty of hot bass and treble output, the PRS Tremonti pickup is shockingly sensitive yet amazingly quiet. Delivering killer sustain, this is the signature lead pickup of Mark Tremonti, who has helped spawn hits with both Creed and Alter Bridge.
well, PRS site used to say ceramic, now they only say "powerful custom magnets", which makes me think it has a triple ceramic configuration like the gibson 500t and the painkiller
I played the tremonti treble in the same prs mccarty that later had a cold sweat and a miracle man
the tremonti definitely sounds "more ceramic" than the other two, with hasrsher mids and more abrasive attack rather than the clean articulation of the bkps
If Tremonti wanted something like the 500T, ceramic is the obvious choice. It's a bit strange PRS is not quite clear about the current magnet. So ceramic it is untill PRS says no. :wink:
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found these charts on the PRS forum
(http://cjchang.org/PhotoBlog/PRS-PickupsChart.jpg)
(http://i968.photobucket.com/albums/ae168/vintageprsguitars/pickup3.jpg)
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What about the Painkiller? I think that has been overlooked a bit here.
Hey, I totally agree with you. The Painkiller is an awesome pickup, especially for a heavier and phatter sounding guitar. The trouble is that the OP wants a bridge pickup to do everything =-o
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I would seriously just go with an A-Bomb in this case, and pair it with a Rebel Yell neck for shredding.
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I had a great result with this pickup combination. The screw height can be adjusted to fine tune the treble response so that it balances well, provided that this is necessary in the guitar.
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Thank you all for the inputs guys, It was very appreciated!
I'll try to add some more details, answering to Yellowjacket:
Actually my amp is this:
http://www.bluguitar.com/english/AMP1.html (http://www.bluguitar.com/english/AMP1.html)
It's a beast in versatility and comfort; Its sound is not comparable to a real hi-gain head (obviously) but considering the size of the unit it does the job exceptionally well. Because of its single valve, its sound seems to be more oriented to the treble/middle-treble side and less to the bass/middle-bass side...It has lows but highs are just more (And this is another reason why I need a pickup with a rich bass response). if you want to hear it yourself here is a metal demo (not mine):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz50JV1KiSw (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz50JV1KiSw)
I don't know if you have noticed it; but the Less Plus isn't just a 9 hole weight relieved guitar, it has also a slimmer body in comparison to a regular Gibson!
I'm not considering the neck pickup mainly for two reasons:
1)I really don't like the sound of neck pickups...I never felt the need to use them, even in cleans.
2)My neck pickup will be this:
http://www.alittlethunder.com/ (http://www.alittlethunder.com/)
I have supported their campaign on Kickstarter and I should receive this pickup soon.
I'm not looking for a bridge pickup that covers everything....yeah, actually I'll play everything with it :D but mainly I want a pup that does well "only" 2 things: metal stuff(rhythm and solo) and cleans.
Bottom line: I think that the Tremonti Treble is ceramic too :)
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My fear in that case is that the A-Bomb, with all those aggressive upper mids, would be too much. I think you might need a pickup with a stronger presence in the bass. To me, that would suggest Juggernaut, Miracle Man or Warpig.
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You might want to consider a Cold Sweat or a Miracle Man. Both are tight and will do great leads and rhythm stuff. Both have a good amount of bottom end, more with the MM but not as good on the cleans as the CS. Not sure if they might be too bright in the top end for your guitar though. I would recommend them over a Rebel Yell, which doesn't have much bass and can sound thin in a lighter guitar.
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My fear in that case is that the A-Bomb, with all those aggressive upper mids, would be too much. I think you might need a pickup with a stronger presence in the bass. To me, that would suggest Juggernaut, Miracle Man or Warpig.
The Juggernaut seems to fit the bill perfectly re: Cleans, Metal Rhythm & Metal leads.
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Another important thing that I missed:
I often use distorted chord inversions with 3 (or even 4) voices; and I want a pickup that let me hear those voices as clear as possible!
I owned a Gibson Les Paul Standard 2012 with Burstbuckers Pro. They sound much better (for me) than the pups on this Less+ but neither of them is able to separate well all the voices of a distorted chord. My fear with the A-Bomb is that it confuses the chord voices too (because it has a very rich and hairy sound)!
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Any BKP is way more transparant, dynamic and has better noteseparation than Gibson-pickups.
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Another important thing that I missed:
I often use distorted chord inversions with 3 (or even 4) voices; and I want a pickup that let me hear those voices as clear as possible!
I owned a Gibson Les Paul Standard 2012 with Burstbuckers Pro. They sound much better (for me) than the pups on this Less+ but neither of them is able to separate well all the voices of a distorted chord. My fear with the A-Bomb is that it confuses the chord voices too (because it has a very rich and hairy sound)!
The Burstbucker Pros are good pickups.
For note separation and clarity, you have to look at your tone / amp settings as well as your pickups because the mud may originate somewhere else in the signal chain.
If you want maximum clarity and note separation -even under obscene amounts of gain- the Rebel Yell will do this. It also sounds great with heavy strings and low tunings. The pickup is tight, bright, and clear. It takes tonnes of gain but may be too thin and upper mid focused for your guitar. It has a similar voice to a Burstbucker Pro but with a higher and tighter low end.
The A-Bomb does have clarity and note separation but it is thicker sounding than the Rebel Yell. It may be a great match for a thinner sounding instrument with less low end. I 'hear' that it doesn't handle drop tuning as well but I can't confirm this as I have yet to drop tune it.
The Juggernaut Bridge is even more powerful than the A-Bomb and it sounds thick, but in a different way. BKP says the twin screws will emphasize clarity and give slightly higher output than the twin bolts I have in my Juggerbridge.
Based on what you've been saying, I'm actually leaning towards suggesting a Juggernaught Bridge so that you can do clean as well as rhythm and lead for metal. If you can EQ your setup to emphasize the top end, it should serve you well. If you're worried about complex chord voicings, just listen to Periphery's music; It's essentially a bunch of bad jazz chords lool. Just be sure to get the twin screws instead of the bolts, even if the bolts look better.
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I have an Epi Explorer (a dark guitar) tuned CFA#D#GC and it is fine with the A-Bomb. If I had the option I would consider the RY or Emerald but only because of the darkness of the guitar, not it ability to handle lower tunings. It doesn't sound like a bass in low tunings anymore, which was a problem with the A-Pig in this guitar (by the way the A-Pig is now in an SG Special in the same tuning and it is fine there).
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I have an Epi Explorer (a dark guitar) tuned CFA#D#GC and it is fine with the A-Bomb. If I had the option I would consider the RY or Emerald but only because of the darkness of the guitar, not it ability to handle lower tunings. It doesn't sound like a bass in low tunings anymore, which was a problem with the A-Pig in this guitar (by the way the A-Pig is now in an SG Special in the same tuning and it is fine there).
This sounds like it may require some investigating. :cheesy:
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I should add that I play doom metal in that tuning so 'tightness' isn't a huge issue. I haven't tried playing djent on it or whatever
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I don't like Misha's tone very much...however the Juggernout sounds killer. maybe it's for real the only one that satisfy all my requests, and that fits my gear the best mmmmh
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I don't like Misha's tone very much...however the Juggernout sounds killer. maybe it's for real the only one that satisfy all my requests, and that fits my gear the best mmmmh
You don't need to dial in Misha's tone using his signature pickup. He rigorously tested that bridge pickup specifically for the purpose of sounding good clean, for rhythm, and for leads. It also sounds good drop tuned and it has clarity for extended chord voicings so that's a great plus.
The voice of the pickup is somewhat dark and it has this 'hollow mids' character but forum member 'Littleredguitar' really liked the result with it in a Les Paul style instrument.
The sorts of tones I dial in with the Juggernaut set are more 'prog rock / prog metal' sounding than they are 'djenty'.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGFeGtEwcsI
This being said, pay attention to the 'voice' of the pickup. Form a utilitarian standpoint, it will do what you want. Whether your like the tonal contribution from the pickup is a different story. Sometimes this is hard to determine until you get the pickup in a guitar and play the thing.