Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: orionz06 on May 02, 2017, 03:02:46 PM
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Looking at upgrading a new Les Paul that was an impulse buy. It has the 57/57+ set that isn't too terrible for lots of stuff but most of what I enjoy playing there is a little to be desired. With the gain up it's really thin and the bottom end is flubby with a shrieking top end. I'm playing into a Mesa Mark V:25 and a vertical 2x12 that is typically full of oomph, so much so that I'm looking at at a 1x12 to tame things for times when I want to disturb a few less people. I also have a Gibson Explorer with 496R/500T that really gets things moving and I want to get the LP closer but still leave it to be quite versatile.
Sent an email off and got a few suggestions and with a phone call settled on the Black Dog Bridge and Riff Raff neck in my 2017 LP Classic (9 hole weight relief).
I hope to cover classic rock, alt rock, punk rock, and approach some classic metal sounds. My ideal metal sound would be Jon Schaffer of Iced Earth. Punk tone by way of The Offspring, Pennywise, NOFX, and Bigwig. Pennywise being the only one to not use a Mark amp (recto) so I feel my bases are surely covered there. Classic rock would be Pink Floyd/Gilmour, Led Zeppelin, and so on which aside from the Gilmour clean seems to be the least demanding though I could be wrong. Classic metal like Iron Maiden, UFO, and the like are also desirable. To muddy the water a bit the wildcard sounds I love are Tool and the Scorpions, both using German amps that have a distinct sound but still requiring kinda the same thing, I feel, of the bottom end (tight, precise).
The initial suggestion was a Nailbomb or Nailbomb/Cold Sweat combo. In talking and my browsing it did seem that the Black Dog might offer me more towards the brunt of what I want sound wise and leaves room to toss Nailbomb C/Cold Sweat, or Nailbomb C set in the Explorer as those do sound really killer.
Ben was killer on the phone and almost makes me want another guitar just to get another set. Anyone have anything to add before I pull the trigger?
In addition to the V:25 I have a Dual rec and run a few distortions for different flavors as needed. I have a Buffalo FX Patriot which is unreal for the Pulse era Gilmour dirt sound and a JHS Angry Charlie V3 that gets me the Brit bite, or enough of it, to satisfy that.
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How hot/cold you like your pickups? The Black Dog is low output and won't slam the input much more than the 57-set. It has middy-middy mids, but still quite a present topend and a tigh bass which makes it ideal for downtuned stuff. Your Mesa has a lot of gain, so I guess you don't need a hot pickup. In that respect I understand the recommendation. RiffRaff-neck should do the trick in the neck, brighter than the Mule-neck.
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How hot/cold you like your pickups? The Black Dog is low output and won't slam the input much more than the 57-set. It has middy-middy mids, but still quite a present topend and a tigh bass which makes it ideal for downtuned stuff. Your Mesa has a lot of gain, so I guess you don't need a hot pickup. In that respect I understand the recommendation. RiffRaff-neck should do the trick in the neck, brighter than the Mule-neck.
I'd be OK with a hotter output assuming I don't lose too much. I know it's a stretch to get all of what I want, perfectly, into one pickup but I'd certainly give up a little one way or the other.
The initial suggestion of Nailbomb/Cold Sweat seemed a touch hotter than what I felt was needed but that's partly due to the lack of videos showing the Nailbombs off as anything other than a metal pickup. This video really helped sell me on the Black Dog set for heavier stuff: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AO3VY8Fylk
I'm wide open on suggestions though.
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If you go low output but require tightness, the BD is the way to go. Personally I think: Gibson + lower outputs -> highgainamp = definition and control.
Nailbombs are the other side of the spectrum: modern metal, hot, aggressive, hairy.
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Ordered! Thanks much!
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Ordered! Thanks much!
I hope that combi works for you. Let us know wat the results are.