Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: brennislav on February 13, 2017, 05:42:05 PM
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Hello, this is my first post in the BKP forum, and I am looking for advice on picking between the Juggernauts or Alnico Nailbombs for my guitar and tonal needs. It's a PRS SE Custom 24 (maple top and mahogany back, maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, 24 frets) and I'm looking for a set of humbuckers that are voiced to be versatile (spanning modern progressive rock/metal, more 70s vintage rock sounds, modern blues and blues-rock and jazz), dynamic and articulate, that coil split well (especially neck) and respond well to volume knob rolloff.
I emailed Tim a couple of days ago detailing my needs and styles and he first recommended the Juggernaut set. I like the idea of the Jugg set because of the string clarity and note separation when playing complex chords through high gain, the responsiveness to picking dynamics and also that it seems to have good clean sounds. I also like the low-mid growl and girth that the bridge pickup has, and the lack of mud and wooliness in the neck pickup under high gain. What worried me about the Jugg set is that it might be voiced too 'modern' to give me more old-school or vintage mid-gain sounds (for example, the mid-gain lead sounds on the last two Opeth albums) or sweet, bluesy tones.
When I explained these concerns to Tim, he recommended the Alnico Nailbombs, saying they would be more suited for rock and blues, while the Jugg set would be voiced more modern and be better for progressive metal and jazz. So it's one or the other.
So now I'm torn between the two sets (Juggernaut bridge + neck, or Nailbomb bridge + some other neck) and would like some advice on what would likely work best for me. I understand that no one pickup set can really do everything I've asked for, but I'd like to get as close as I can.
Here are some references for tones I love and need to be able to approach with these pickups.
Rhythm tones in this Plini track. Interestingly, he has Juggernauts in his guitar. The 1:41 riff sounds amazing to me in the creamy growl in the low-mids, combined with the tightness and excellent clarity through the chord voicings.
https://youtu.be/BpOJyPdolck?t=101 (https://youtu.be/BpOJyPdolck?t=101)
Lead tones at 4:11 sound amazing to me for modern progressive. Again, he does have Juggs in his guitar.
https://youtu.be/aqjixbDAwxk?t=251 (https://youtu.be/aqjixbDAwxk?t=251)
But I also love the more vintage, warm and singing neck pickup medium-gain lead sounds at 3:44 here.
https://youtu.be/Kfpnwk-DXrA?t=223 (https://youtu.be/Kfpnwk-DXrA?t=223)
Or 3:47 here.
https://youtu.be/tBQ-b-IajzA?t=228 (https://youtu.be/tBQ-b-IajzA?t=228)
And want a neck pickup that can coil split well enough to approach these blues-rock tones at 3:28.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-l2-Pwlov9A&feature=youtu.be&t=208 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-l2-Pwlov9A&feature=youtu.be&t=208)
It's a pretty diverse range of sounds and obviously much more than the pickup matters, but I'm looking for the pickup set to at least be a good starting point.
Between the Juggernauts and the Nailbombs (or perhaps another option), what would satisfy me the most in this guitar?
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I have both so I can comment. The a-bomb is balanced, bright, and pissed off with a hairy, throaty, midrange growl. The juggernaut bridge is more smooth sounding and more powerful. Definitely better for cleans and .lead as well as equally capable for rhythm. Juggernaut cleans are unbelievable. For more bluesy tones, the juggerneck wired in parallel will deliver. They will likely sound a bit darker in that guitar while the a-bomb will be bright.
What amp (s) are you running?
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I have both so I can comment. The a-bomb is balanced, bright, and pissed off with a hairy, throaty, midrange growl. The juggernaut bridge is more smooth sounding and more powerful. Definitely better for cleans and .lead as well as equally capable for rhythm. Juggernaut cleans are unbelievable. For more bluesy tones, the juggerneck wired in parallel will deliver. They will likely sound a bit darker in that guitar while the a-bomb will be bright.
What amp (s) are you running?
That's great, I'd love to hear more direct comparisons between the two and advice for my choice, from someone who has both.
As for amps, I'm most often playing into backline/rental amps live, through a pedalboard with several high-quality drive pedals. The amps I most frequently have on my rider are Marshall JCM900s, JCM2000s, JVM410H/210H and sometimes Fender Twins. I will admit that at present, I often run into difficulties dialing out some fizz and high-mid harshness from my rig. Nothing my EQ pedal can't fix, but it's something to note.
If you had the time to check out the tone samples in my original post, what do you think about the character/voicing and versatility of the Juggs vs the A-Bomb for that wide range of sounds? I understand that the two pickups sound fairly different and my sound examples are vastly different as well, but which of the two would have the flexibility to do them best?
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If fizz and high end harshness is an issue you will love juggernauts. They purr in the top end. There is high end bite but they are not harsh.
I will moment more in depth soon but playing mostly bright amps means that darker pickups will rock hard.
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My opinion is the A Bomb...and an Emerald at the neck...I have the Juggs too, and no doubt they are awesome clean and dirty, but are voiced a bit more modern..especially the bridge. The only caveat with the Abomb it can get hairy on you, but as with all BKP the sensitivity to the volume knob will take care of that...roll it back just a touch and all the clarity will be there...and you have that extra bit of juice left for soloing..
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If fizz and high end harshness is an issue you will love juggernauts. They purr in the top end. There is high end bite but they are not harsh.
I will moment more in depth soon but playing mostly bright amps means that darker pickups will rock hard.
Thanks, a present but not harsh high end sounds good to me.
Really looking forward to your more in depth comments. Would love it if you could check out the tone references when you have the time, and tell me which of the two would work better.
My opinion is the A Bomb...and an Emerald at the neck...I have the Juggs too, and no doubt they are awesome clean and dirty, but are voiced a bit more modern..especially the bridge. The only caveat with the Abomb it can get hairy on you, but as with all BKP the sensitivity to the volume knob will take care of that...roll it back just a touch and all the clarity will be there...and you have that extra bit of juice left for soloing..
A-Bomb and Emerald seems to be a popular combination. When people say the Juggernaut is voiced 'modern', what exactly do they mean?
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Urrggh, I hate typing on my phone.
My thoughts are that the Juggs will nail the Plini and the Opeth tones 100% without question. The blues tone is a little questionable but you gotta pick and choose. I do not think that the a-bomb will get those Plini tones.at all. It is hairy, raunchy, and generally pissed off. They will do blues through a more vintage amp or with rolling back the volume knob, but it is more L.P. territory. I think 50-75% blues with 100% Plini and Opeth is better than 80% L.P. blues and 50% Opeth as well as 0% Plini.
A lot of forumers here are turned off by Djent and modern metal so they overlook how truly exceptional the juggerset is.
To get those strategy blues tones, as well as the opeth ones, running the juggernaut neck pickup in parallel or splitting it will get the Opeth and blues thing happening. Also, rolling back on the volume knob really helps. For This, put a 331 pF ceramic disc cap on the volume pot and you will not lose high end when rolling volume pot back.
RE: the a bomb
I think it is a dirt rhythm pickup primarily. It has these throaty 90s sepultura/ punky mids which are decidedly .not Plini. It just doesn't feel great for leads or solos and I do not care much for the cleans. I use the a-bomb with a rebel yell neck for rock, blues, punk, and generally more classic tones. I have them in a Les Paul and they are particularly suited to this guitar. I use them with a mesa boogie Electra Dyne and the combo sounds amazing. The Electra Dyne is a velvet hammer so the a- bomb agitate it suitably.
I have the Juggs in a Godin Red line III and an Ibanez RG 7421. The pickups sound great in the 'darker' rl 3 but they are particularly suited to the RG. They come .alive in the basswood body and maple neck super strat.
If you want a hairy aggressive and urgent tone, get the a-bomb. Cold sweat neck, vh ii neck, RY, or eve emerald will work.
If you want fantastic clean s, buttery leads, and Plini rhythm for .prog metal then Juggernauts are best. Just do not discount how fantastic ally .well they .split.
(SENT from a Samsung galaxy j3 )
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I do not want to edit my post and risk deleting everything.
What WILL an a-bomb do? Thrash, 80s metal, hair metal, punk, hardcore, modern rock, blues,.classic rock. It is a tattooed biker pickup.
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First off, I appreciate you taking the time to type all that out on your phone. Thank you very much for your posts, that was very informative and has definitely given me a much clearer idea of what those two pickups will sound like. It really does sound like the Juggernaut set is the closer of the two options, although I can see that the raunchy quality you seem to be describing in the A-Bomb would suit blues, crunchy rock and more biting, gritty tones better. You put it very well when you called the A-Bomb a tattooed biker pickup. While I do have many uses for those sounds, I think I'm more of smooth tones guy than a raunchy tones guy.
As expected, it's a compromise that I'll need to think about, but the Juggernaut set does seem to be a better compromise so far.
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Ok, I am on a proper computer now so this should be far less of a hassle.
Yes, everything is a compromise with strengths and weaknesses when it comes to guitar equipment. This is why I have a Les Paul with an A-Bomb bridge and a Rebel Yell neck as well as a Godin LG with a Rebel Yell bridge and VHII neck, and a Godin Redline III with a Juggerset 6 and an Ibanez RG7421 with a Juggerset 7.
At the end of the day, compromises don't really make for an instrument to shine in any one way. IMO, I try and match pickups that best suit the temperment and tonality of the sort of instruments they are mounted in.
Godin LG is dark and low mid focused being a solid lump of Mahogany instrument with a mahogany neck and rosewood board. In this case, the super bright Rebel Yell bridge pickup and the lower output and warm, but almost single coil quality of the VHII goes REALLY well. With coil splitting, I get from Hard Rock and even early metal right into wonderful classic and blues tones.
Gibson LP Standard. This 2002 LP Standard is a swiss cheese instrument with a boomy neck position and a thin bridge position. Originally housing a rebel yell set, I needed something that would work better with a one channel amplifier. So, to try and balance the pickups, I decided to go with an A-Bomb to phatten up the brdige pickup. The result was great. I actually prefer the Rebel Yell because of the great lead feel and the nice wide pick attack, but the A-Bomb just has extra push to sound really phat, round, pissed off, and snarling in that guitar. It really pushes a LP to the edge of any sort of traditional LP voicing but the essence of the LP tone is still there and the throaty roar really compliments the natural midrange lunk of the instrument.
Redline III: Basically, this instrument is a darker (Balanced sounding) strat with an LFR trem. When I heard Misha talking about his signature pickups I originally bought this instrument on the cheap so I'd have a piece of wood to put them in. I am a huge fan of Godin as a guitar manufacturer, and my trust was not misplaced. The pickups sound dark, powerful, huge, and phat in this guitar. There is also a bit of this scooped mid quality to the tone which I thought was endemic to the pickup design, but apparently I was wrong. 'somewhat'.
I originally tried Misha's wiring with the guitar but I recently tried Ibanez style wiring on my RG and I really have to go with that. It's just superior for what I do and the neck pickup in parallel gives access to those more classic blues type tones. I currently have 331pF ceramic disc capacitors on order. I had to buy like 20 so maybe if anyone here wants some, I could sell them for like $0.50 + shipping haha.
Ibanez RG7421 (Made in Japan) The prestige line, before it was the prestige line. Fabricated in Japan, this was probably the best built guitar I had ever played, but with terrible pickups. When replacing strings on the Redline III, I heard how good the juggernaut set sounds at lower tunings so I just had to get a 7 string.
Well, gone was the theory of the hollow mid tone; that's just with certain wood types. These pickups gain a lot of attack, articulation, and upper mids when combined with a maple bolt on neck instrument with a basswood body. The wood recipe misha likes results in a great fit with the guitar. i.e. the way the pickups were intended to sound. They still have a purring top end but they have way more attack (Djent?) and twang in the upper mids and they still sound supper phat and smooth. As mentioned, I got introduced here to Ibanez wiring when I had a conversation with Ben French. And, it's awesome.
Neck (series) (Parallel) Neck and Bridge (Series) Inside Coils tapped Bridge Parallel. Along with the 331 pF cap on the volume pot and a lower value capacitor on the tone pot, the range of tones this setup can produce is staggering. Sometimes, some of the best tones can be had by dialing back the volume and / or even adjusting the tone.
Well, I think the key here is to possibly go with what appeals to you the most sonically and in terms of feel. For other applications you may want to think of expanding out to a different guitar to cover the most ground.
If you want to go the A-Bomb and Rebel Yell / Emerald / Cold Sweat / VHII route with your PRS, maybe you should pickup a used Ibanez RG621 for a second guitar -in due time-, and swap the stock pickups out for Bare Knuckles. (Or maybe MIJ RG7421 or RG7621. Just note that with a 7421, the pickup cavities will need to be routed)
If you want to try Juggernauts in a PRS, maybe you want to track down a used Godin LG and put an A-Bomb / Rebel Yell combination in it? I can tell you that this pickup combination would sound ludicrous in this particular guitar design. Huge and immense. Or, I LOVE the Rebel Yell Bridge and VHII neck in that guitar. Or, get a Les Paul Studio used for Rebel Yell & A-Bomb goodness?
But so far, based on listening to the clips and our conversations surrounding this exchange, I would recommend the following:
Since you typically use BRIGHT amps and you roll off the treble to smooth out the sound, go with Juggernauts. They naturally have a bit of a rolled off tone in the upper mids with a nice bite in the presence. I think their natural tone, dynamic articulation, and note compression would go very well with the sort of amps you play.
I strongly recommend the treble bleed mod to the volume pot (s) and you can run 550k pots at least. Open up the top as much as possible!
The neck pickup is articulate and is pretty much a more powerful version of a VHII. It's not a shredder's pickup and it should get you in the ballpark for what you want for blues tones. When split or run in parallel, it will be somewhat stratty but the effect will obviously be enhanced if the pickups are installed in a fat strat or in a super strat. With the PRS, it will still sound like a PRS. More importantly, being able to roll back on the volume pot to reduce output will really help take the 'contemporary' edge off of the sound.
The A-Bomb set is awesome but for you, I just don't see you getting anywhere near Plini with them. It's just such a different voice. More like this, perhaps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mjtsXaYRV8
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I would tend to go for the Juggernaut set in this PRS
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Ok, I am on a proper computer now so this should be far less of a hassle.
Yes, everything is a compromise with strengths and weaknesses when it comes to guitar equipment. This is why I have a Les Paul with an A-Bomb bridge and a Rebel Yell neck as well as a Godin LG with a Rebel Yell bridge and VHII neck, and a Godin Redline III with a Juggerset 6 and an Ibanez RG7421 with a Juggerset 7.
At the end of the day, compromises don't really make for an instrument to shine in any one way. IMO, I try and match pickups that best suit the temperment and tonality of the sort of instruments they are mounted in.
Godin LG is dark and low mid focused being a solid lump of Mahogany instrument with a mahogany neck and rosewood board. In this case, the super bright Rebel Yell bridge pickup and the lower output and warm, but almost single coil quality of the VHII goes REALLY well. With coil splitting, I get from Hard Rock and even early metal right into wonderful classic and blues tones.
Gibson LP Standard. This 2002 LP Standard is a swiss cheese instrument with a boomy neck position and a thin bridge position. Originally housing a rebel yell set, I needed something that would work better with a one channel amplifier. So, to try and balance the pickups, I decided to go with an A-Bomb to phatten up the brdige pickup. The result was great. I actually prefer the Rebel Yell because of the great lead feel and the nice wide pick attack, but the A-Bomb just has extra push to sound really phat, round, pissed off, and snarling in that guitar. It really pushes a LP to the edge of any sort of traditional LP voicing but the essence of the LP tone is still there and the throaty roar really compliments the natural midrange lunk of the instrument.
Redline III: Basically, this instrument is a darker (Balanced sounding) strat with an LFR trem. When I heard Misha talking about his signature pickups I originally bought this instrument on the cheap so I'd have a piece of wood to put them in. I am a huge fan of Godin as a guitar manufacturer, and my trust was not misplaced. The pickups sound dark, powerful, huge, and phat in this guitar. There is also a bit of this scooped mid quality to the tone which I thought was endemic to the pickup design, but apparently I was wrong. 'somewhat'.
I originally tried Misha's wiring with the guitar but I recently tried Ibanez style wiring on my RG and I really have to go with that. It's just superior for what I do and the neck pickup in parallel gives access to those more classic blues type tones. I currently have 331pF ceramic disc capacitors on order. I had to buy like 20 so maybe if anyone here wants some, I could sell them for like $0.50 + shipping haha.
Ibanez RG7421 (Made in Japan) The prestige line, before it was the prestige line. Fabricated in Japan, this was probably the best built guitar I had ever played, but with terrible pickups. When replacing strings on the Redline III, I heard how good the juggernaut set sounds at lower tunings so I just had to get a 7 string.
Well, gone was the theory of the hollow mid tone; that's just with certain wood types. These pickups gain a lot of attack, articulation, and upper mids when combined with a maple bolt on neck instrument with a basswood body. The wood recipe misha likes results in a great fit with the guitar. i.e. the way the pickups were intended to sound. They still have a purring top end but they have way more attack (Djent?) and twang in the upper mids and they still sound supper phat and smooth. As mentioned, I got introduced here to Ibanez wiring when I had a conversation with Ben French. And, it's awesome.
Neck (series) (Parallel) Neck and Bridge (Series) Inside Coils tapped Bridge Parallel. Along with the 331 pF cap on the volume pot and a lower value capacitor on the tone pot, the range of tones this setup can produce is staggering. Sometimes, some of the best tones can be had by dialing back the volume and / or even adjusting the tone.
Well, I think the key here is to possibly go with what appeals to you the most sonically and in terms of feel. For other applications you may want to think of expanding out to a different guitar to cover the most ground.
If you want to go the A-Bomb and Rebel Yell / Emerald / Cold Sweat / VHII route with your PRS, maybe you should pickup a used Ibanez RG621 for a second guitar -in due time-, and swap the stock pickups out for Bare Knuckles. (Or maybe MIJ RG7421 or RG7621. Just note that with a 7421, the pickup cavities will need to be routed)
If you want to try Juggernauts in a PRS, maybe you want to track down a used Godin LG and put an A-Bomb / Rebel Yell combination in it? I can tell you that this pickup combination would sound ludicrous in this particular guitar design. Huge and immense. Or, I LOVE the Rebel Yell Bridge and VHII neck in that guitar. Or, get a Les Paul Studio used for Rebel Yell & A-Bomb goodness?
But so far, based on listening to the clips and our conversations surrounding this exchange, I would recommend the following:
Since you typically use BRIGHT amps and you roll off the treble to smooth out the sound, go with Juggernauts. They naturally have a bit of a rolled off tone in the upper mids with a nice bite in the presence. I think their natural tone, dynamic articulation, and note compression would go very well with the sort of amps you play.
I strongly recommend the treble bleed mod to the volume pot (s) and you can run 550k pots at least. Open up the top as much as possible!
The neck pickup is articulate and is pretty much a more powerful version of a VHII. It's not a shredder's pickup and it should get you in the ballpark for what you want for blues tones. When split or run in parallel, it will be somewhat stratty but the effect will obviously be enhanced if the pickups are installed in a fat strat or in a super strat. With the PRS, it will still sound like a PRS. More importantly, being able to roll back on the volume pot to reduce output will really help take the 'contemporary' edge off of the sound.
The A-Bomb set is awesome but for you, I just don't see you getting anywhere near Plini with them. It's just such a different voice. More like this, perhaps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mjtsXaYRV8
This sounds good, and the Juggernaut set seems more versatile the more I read about it. For a PRS with a maple top, mahogany back, maple neck and rosewood fingerboard, is the Jugg set a good match, for the woods? A lot of people talk about the laid back upper mids or high-end on the Juggs, so I'm hoping it works well in this specific guitar.
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This sounds good, and the Juggernaut set seems more versatile the more I read about it. For a PRS with a maple top, mahogany back, maple neck and rosewood fingerboard, is the Jugg set a good match, for the woods? A lot of people talk about the laid back upper mids or high-end on the Juggs, so I'm hoping it works well in this specific guitar.
You use marshalls which are bright and upper mid dominant amps, so I think the result will be awesome. You can run them with v30s as well if you need even more upper mids.
My Redline III is probably similar to your PRS in terms of tonality and the pickups totally rock in that guitar. With a Dual Rectifier Revision F, a Mesa Boogie Electra Dyne, and even a Mark V; they rock. They're killer. The powerful, somewhat compressed, and smooth nature of these pickups will likely slay with marshalls since they tend to be bright amps with a more anemic low end.
Misha has PRS guitars and he put Juggernauts in them. Nolly wrote a post here today that the Juggs have taken to every guitar he has put them in. Forum member LittleRedGuitar has used them in a Les Paul Custom with a good result, and this is a block of mahogany so I think you'll be ok.
If they end up being a bit dark you can try the following: You can run the pole pieces higher, or even use bright strings like Diadario NYXL. I'm going to try some of these on the Redline III. I'm not sure how handy you are with electronics but Misha likes a push pull tone pot to bypass the tone circuit.
That being said, it probably won't be a problem whatsoever with those marshalls.
One way to double check is to listen to the sound of the guitar unplugged. How does it sound? It is dark and bassy, thin and trebley, or more balanced. Or you can order them and try them. BKP has a very awesome exchange policy so you can familiarise yourself with it ;)
At any rate, after playing my Redline III today I honestly don't think you'll have a problem whatsoever.
One question: What tuning are you using and what guage of strings do you use?
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I'm in standard tuning or drop D, and use Elixir 10 - 46.
I've been doing some reading around the BKP forums and have reading a lot of people talk about scooped mids on the Juggernaut bridge, which worries me. I don't generally go for a mid-scooped sound for most of my tones. On the other hand, the BKP page for the Juggs shows the mids to be far from scooped, as per the EQ chart. What's the deal with the midrange on the Juggs?
You're right about the Marshalls being strong in the upper mids and lacking some low end and low mid thickness, it's one of the things I don't like about them, but manage to fix with an EQ pedal. Then again, the popular rental amps here are Fender Twins or Marshalls, and I find Twins much harder to dial in for my drive pedals, so I prefer the Marshalls, generally. Doesn't stop me from having to deal with Fender Twins being the only amp available as backline, though.
Most of my gigs are fly dates where I have to rely on rented amps, but when I'm playing at home, I'm generally plugged into S-Gear for modelling on my computer, or my pedalboard through a small solid state practice amp.
Thanks for the Juggernaut set up tips, I'll keep them in mind.
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I'm in standard tuning or drop D, and use Elixir 10 - 46.
I've been doing some reading around the BKP forums and have reading a lot of people talk about scooped mids on the Juggernaut bridge, which worries me. I don't generally go for a mid-scooped sound for most of my tones. On the other hand, the BKP page for the Juggs shows the mids to be far from scooped, as per the EQ chart. What's the deal with the midrange on the Juggs?
You're right about the Marshalls being strong in the upper mids and lacking some low end and low mid thickness, it's one of the things I don't like about them, but manage to fix with an EQ pedal. Then again, the popular rental amps here are Fender Twins or Marshalls, and I find Twins much harder to dial in for my drive pedals, so I prefer the Marshalls, generally. Doesn't stop me from having to deal with Fender Twins being the only amp available as backline, though.
Most of my gigs are fly dates where I have to rely on rented amps, but when I'm playing at home, I'm generally plugged into S-Gear for modelling on my computer, or my pedalboard through a small solid state practice amp.
Thanks for the Juggernaut set up tips, I'll keep them in mind.
10 to 46 strings in standard tuning will yield plenty of mids and I think that you will probably be able to ditch the eq pedal.
With my redline iii, The drive tone on the juggerbridge has a bit of a hollow character to the mids but this was only with my dual rectifier which has no mids haha. The Juggs definitely have mids. Center mids and percussive low mids with a tight bottom. The rg7421 doesn't exhibit this hollow mid voicing with a Recto and it has articulation and bite in the upper mids. Sounds very balanced. But don't get me wrong, the redline III is also absolutely killer with these pickups. They would pound the front end of a Marshall and phatten up the sound like crazy. They are still very tight and lack tubby and flubby frequencies. If you want to hear this hollow mid character, Check out the BKP Juggs demo clips. It was recorded with a l.p. so this tonal effect is greatly amplified. The Plini track rhythm track is Juggs in their native habitat. If you love that tone, there will be no surprises.
Juggernauts in Red line III sound fantastic with mb Electra Dyne which is a more mid dominant amp which is voiced like a superbass.
Marshall are bright and mid dominant amps so I anticipate that the Juggernauts will slay in it. The Plini tone you love is Juggs doing what they do best!
This reminds me of when I was looking for pickups for my Godin LG. I bugged Ben French so much. I was convinced. Rebel yells would be bright, anemic, and harsh in it - just like a prs hfs I tried in it before. Boy was I wrong. When I put the a-bomb in my L.P. standard, I put the rebel yell in the LG just to try and the results were ludicrous. My wife heard it and exclaimed 'that sounds HUGE'. My brother tried it when he was visiting and his comment was that the guitar now sounds as it was meant to sound. What is otherwise a bright, tight, and thin sounding pickup sounds colossal. The clarity, harmonic s, and wide pick attack .are preserved but the low end is open, clear, well balanced, but also .enormous. It is a way cool and very balanced sound. I would love to try a RY in a more metal shaped lump of mahogany for metal. Like an explorer, for instance.
If you have money for amps, try the tube amp of your choice through a torpedo live :)
With bkp's return policy you might as well try them. If you do not like them you can return them and try the a-bombs. I will be extremely surprised if this happens though.
(Ugh typed on the foen again)
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To expand on the rebel yell story, the rebel yell was bright, a bit thin, and lacking output in my Les Paul. It sounded very good but I had the pole pieces cranked down and pickup set very high.
The A- Bomb is noticeably hotter, thicker, phatter, warmer, and aggressive than the RY is in that same guitar.
Since the a-bomb was better in the .Les Paul, I moved the displaced Rebel Yell bridge pup to the Godin LG.
The ry bridge in the Godin actually sounds bigger, phatter, and more open than the a-bomb in the .l.p.. , which gives a clear indication on how much guitars impact tone. (I wonder how an a bomb would sound in an LG. Probably mammoth)
Man I love the RY bridge in that guitar. My advice to any guitarist is to get a used Godin LG and put .in an RY bridge and VHII neck.
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Thank you for all the detailed responses, Yellowjacket, appreciate it. The Juggernaut bridge does indeed seem to tick most of my boxes, but I'm just a little wary of the 'too modern' idea with respect to its voicing.
I was listening to the new Opeth album today and it struck me how much I love a lot of their warmer, medium and low gain tones that they've had since Ghost Reveries or so (I'm not sure how familiar you are with their music). I'd say those kinds of tones are a big part of my style and I'm just a bit unsure that the Juggernaut can do those comfortably as well. The ideal situation as you've mentioned earlier would obviously be owning different guitars for these two very different styles and sounds, but I'm not at a point where I can afford that yet.
This may all be a completely misplaced and purely psychological worry based mostly on the semantics of things here, with a lot of these low/medium gain, warm tones commonly being described as 'vintage' and the Juggernauts often being described as 'modern'.
On the other hand, many of these sounds tend to be neck pickup sounds, and the Jugg neck seems to be voiced less far away from that world, if I understand the descriptions correctly.
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The warm, lower gain tones are achieved by rolling back the volume pot. The nice clean tones with the Juggerset as a whole means that the amp transitions into clip in a really lovely way.
I think reviews will only take you so far and that eventually you need to simply try something and see if it works for you. With the 10 day return / exchange policy, BKP has you and your tone covered so there is really little risk involved.
I mean the Nailbomb set is also great but it is brash, hairy, articulate, throaty, ill tempered, and covered in tattoos. Good fun!
The Juggernauts are powerful, aggressive, but also refined, smooth, and cultivated. And yeah, the neck pickup is close to the VHII so it isn't super compressed.
The Holy Diver may be another option but we're talking more of an 80s hot rodded humbucker sound. I love the Rebel Yell bridge pickup and the VHII neck but we're really talking classic rock, blues, 80s rock, hair metal, 80s metal, hard rock punk rock territory. I still think that the Juggernaut set is the best option and that you need to experiment with the pickup selector, amp settings, volume pot, tone pot, and try to see what you can get the pickups to do. So many people just select either the bridge or neck pickup and just run the pickups on 10. The volume and tone pots are there for a reason. Just some ideas of things to try.
At the end of the day you will just have to try something and it may be awesome or you may need to try something else. I personally believe the Juggernauts are some of the best pickups I have ever tried which is why I rave about them so much. Brian Tataryn, a guitar tech from WPG, Canada, also loves them and he's into a lot of older music such as classic rock.
I hope this helps.
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I agree with everything said by Yellowjacket.
I've had both and the Juggs are the best pickup I've ever tried. More versatile, with a shade of modern that is not too overwhelming. I was advised to get a Nailbomb if I wanted versatility to play Opeth, Ne Obliviscaris, Mastodon, DT and the like and that was a mistake. Maybe the guitar I installed them into wasn't the right one or maybe it's just not my pickup (always talking about the ceramic) but the Jugg is completely different. I feel I can do whatever style I like with it, rolling up or down the volume creates a huge palette of sounds, and if you have the possibility of splitting them, it's even more versatile.
Bear in mind though that these pickups are perfect in lighter wood guitars, I don't see them working in mahogany.
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I agree with everything said by Yellowjacket.
I've had both and the Juggs are the best pickup I've ever tried. More versatile, with a shade of modern that is not too overwhelming. I was advised to get a Nailbomb if I wanted versatility to play Opeth, Ne Obliviscaris, Mastodon, DT and the like and that was a mistake. Maybe the guitar I installed them into wasn't the right one or maybe it's just not my pickup (always talking about the ceramic) but the Jugg is completely different. I feel I can do whatever style I like with it, rolling up or down the volume creates a huge palette of sounds, and if you have the possibility of splitting them, it's even more versatile.
Bear in mind though that these pickups are perfect in lighter wood guitars, I don't see them working in mahogany.
What would you think of the idea of them in a PRS SE Custom 24, which is maple top, mahogany back, maple neck and rosewood fingerboard?
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I agree with everything said by Yellowjacket.
I've had both and the Juggs are the best pickup I've ever tried. More versatile, with a shade of modern that is not too overwhelming. I was advised to get a Nailbomb if I wanted versatility to play Opeth, Ne Obliviscaris, Mastodon, DT and the like and that was a mistake. Maybe the guitar I installed them into wasn't the right one or maybe it's just not my pickup (always talking about the ceramic) but the Jugg is completely different. I feel I can do whatever style I like with it, rolling up or down the volume creates a huge palette of sounds, and if you have the possibility of splitting them, it's even more versatile.
Bear in mind though that these pickups are perfect in lighter wood guitars, I don't see them working in mahogany.
What would you think of the idea of them in a PRS SE Custom 24, which is maple top, mahogany back, maple neck and rosewood fingerboard?
Misha uses them in his PRS guitars and forum member Littleredguitar used one in a Les Paul Custom, which is a set neck mahogany body and mahogany neck guitar with a rosewood board.
Keep in mind that you are playing primarily through marshalls, not Mesas, Engls, etc. Bright and upper mid dominant amps with less low end will sound positively amazing with Juggernauts.
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I agree with everything said by Yellowjacket.
I've had both and the Juggs are the best pickup I've ever tried. More versatile, with a shade of modern that is not too overwhelming. I was advised to get a Nailbomb if I wanted versatility to play Opeth, Ne Obliviscaris, Mastodon, DT and the like and that was a mistake. Maybe the guitar I installed them into wasn't the right one or maybe it's just not my pickup (always talking about the ceramic) but the Jugg is completely different. I feel I can do whatever style I like with it, rolling up or down the volume creates a huge palette of sounds, and if you have the possibility of splitting them, it's even more versatile.
Bear in mind though that these pickups are perfect in lighter wood guitars, I don't see them working in mahogany.
What would you think of the idea of them in a PRS SE Custom 24, which is maple top, mahogany back, maple neck and rosewood fingerboard?
Yeah, what YellowJacket recommended should be fine, I'm not an expert in BKPs, only tried Csweats, Juggs, Cbombs and now Cpigs. They differ a lot depending on the guitar, but I think the amp, as YJ suggested, is even more important. Using Cbomb in a mahogany guitar might sound crazy for tech death metal purposes but through an EVH 5153 it's not so much.
So, if you are using mid to trebblish amps there, I think the Juggernauts would be my go to for sure. I had a little time to get used to them, as I came from other less dynamic brands and active pickups, mainly alnico, but now I fully appreciate all the richness and versatily you get out of them.
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All right guys, I think I'm clearer on my choice now. I'll drop by the stores this week and pick up a set of Juggernauts. Thank you all for the advice!