Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: maxter on May 30, 2007, 09:59:56 AM
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I'm looking for a bridge pickup for my Ibanez S1220 Prestige.
Thin mahogny body, maple bolt-on neck, rosewood fretboard, blocked Edge bridge.
I play alot of metal/hardcore stuff at the moment, which equals: Tight palm mutes, alot of melodies and huge downtuned chords. I want a quite raw distortion and above all, a clear tone under those conditions (I'm pretty certain any hot BKP would give me this though). I'm also quite fond of mids, and the ability to cut it in a mix with huge bass, drums and other dirty guitars. A nice singing lead would also be a huge plus since I do play some solos and whatnot.
I've earlier been recommended the Nailbomb and Painkiller by Tim, but that's when I specifically asked for a pickup that wouldn't be too tight/compressed. Now I kinda draw that statement back and leave it to you what you would consider be the best beast for the job. I don't want palm mutes to sound sloppy, but that's about everything I'll specificy conserning "tightness".
Fire at will.
Oh, and SOME versatility certainly wouldn't hurt, so I'm pretty sure I don't want to go ceramic. I'm currently leaning between the Nailbomb and the A5 Warpig.
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I've got a nailbomb in my ibanez SZ520QM and I've gotta tell you for distortion that thing is unbeatable. It's got all the tightness you want (palm mutes are insanely tight and I play with my fingers) and it really screams lead notes at you. I'm currently playing in drop B and it's still tight-as-you-like (I've got 13 guage strings on this baby too!).
One thing I'd say is that it doesn't clean up that well, the clean is very very brittle and hard. This could have something to do with the fact it's sitting in a massive block of mahogany and I've adjusted it so it's pretty damn close to the strings though, but this sure as hell maximises the brutality when it comes to distortion (which is all you'll really worry about anyway for metal!)
Plus the rust camo looks damn cool too :D
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Nailbomb dude
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Oh, so I redefine my specifications a little and still get Nailbomb as the obvious answer. Now it would just be stupid to get anything else.
Thanks guys, I will hopefully be able to lay the order in a few days. :)
Btw, any suggestions on colour choices for this baby?
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h311/svalgis/3.jpg
I'd love a covered set, but I can't afford a neck pickup at the moment and I don't use it nearly enough to justify the cost either. I don't really like the look of a covered bridge and open neck either, I much prefer it the other way around.
So I'm thinking open creme or zebra atm.
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Covered black with Allen bolts imo :>
Check out the thread labelled "Warpig Pics" for an idea.
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Yeah, I'd love some "custom" cover like that, but preferably in a set then. :/ I do have a basic black cover laying around that I could use for the neck pup then, that might look kinda cool.
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I think the NB lacks tightness compared to the ceramic bks pretty noticably. I like it for its rougher, gutsy sound and great cleans.
I think youre after painkillers.
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Tim also recommended me Painkiller as a little darker, tighter alternativ to the Nailbomb last time I mailed him. Hmm, now this got harder again. I think I'll mail Tim a second time before deciding.
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the nailbomb in my ibanez S absolutely slays. (see avatar)
It's great for everything.
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My bad, it was Holydiver that Tim recommended me. I'm still kinda set on the Nailbomb though, but I may still be spoken out of it.
Just out of curiosity, how does it compare to a Duncan Distortion in terms of tightness, rawness, and tone chart?
Also, why hasn't anyone recommended me the Warpig? Something with it that makes it unsuitable for what I've described?
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My bad, it was Holydiver that Tim recommended me. I'm still kinda set on the Nailbomb though, but I may still be spoken out of it.
Just out of curiosity, how does it compare to a Duncan Distortion in terms of tightness, rawness, and tone chart?
Also, why hasn't anyone recommended me the Warpig? Something with it that makes it unsuitable for what I've described?
all contemporary line BKPs will do a great work for the sound you're looking for
holy diver isn't as tight as a duncan distortion but it's SO MUCH better :oops:
for that kind of "hard" tightness you should go with painkiller or a ceramic warpig, but i'd say a regular warpig would sound wonderful anyway
just watch this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUIQIzMwHPc
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Thanks for the inputs. :)
I think I'm finally starting to settle for something fairly tight, without being way too unversatile. I'm thinking a thicker, more organic and slightly more open EMG-81, with a raw and aggressive edge to it. I think the Miracle Man would still be too cold and clinic for me, so I'm guessing the next step would be the Painkiller and then the alnico Warpig, am I right? Would anyone care to compare the two for me?
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thats a gorgeous S btw
what model is that?
edit: im retarded
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Thanks. I got really lucky that this showed up second-handed just as I had gathered money to buy myself an S520. Very pleased with the guitar, and it really is a beauty. :)
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im going to go with the nailbombs.
your maxter @ ug huh.
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And I still have no idea what to go for, haha. Either the Nailbomb to get something a little more open as an alternative to my DD, or a Warpig/Painkiller to get another tight no-bullshitee pickup. I'm sure I'm gonna be pleased no matter what I choose but still. :P
Yeah, I'm called maxter0 over at UG (since someone who I've never ever seen post anything beat me to my nick).
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Alright, I'm pretty sure that I'll stick with my (and Tim's) original choice, the Nailbomb.
Now, I'm probably going to get some more cash than I expected, so I figure I might aswell go all the way and buy myself a nice neck pickup too. Good match for the Nailbomb? I want mainly nice cleans and thick lead tone, but with the ability to handle that downtuned rhythm too without muddying out if possible.
Calibrated set? Cold Sweat?
Also, give me some suggestions on coil colours/covers for the baby. I'm leaning towards covered, probably black. Black with allen wrenches like that custom Warpig-set sure looks sweet, would it suit this darling?
(http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h311/svalgis/3.jpg)
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Covers will round out the sound a bit more so if you want it to cut through mahogany it may be better to go with open coils if you're going with an Alnico V pup. I think covers would work better on a ceramic pup. I only mention this because I wanted my pups covered but Tim told me to go with open coils instead because of the mahogany and mine are ceramic pups anyway! One final point, if you're happy with the way you've described the sound you want to Tim then I'd just buy whatever he suggests as it will be right.
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Oh yeah, can't say I even took the sonic differences of covered pups in consideration there. Thanks for the heads up!
Yeah, I figured that I'm happy with the way I described my wanted sound to Tim so I'll go with that first choice of mine, I'll always have chances to try other BKP's later.
He also recommended me Cold Sweat for the neck, for great leads and fat cleans, and they seem to be very popular for just that so I guess I really can't go wrong with that choice either.
If I'm going open coil I'm considering either creme bridge/black neck or a zebra set, what do you think?
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:lol: I'd go for black covers anyway :P
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wha-hey ; a nailbomb in Ibanez S club is in it's early stages - soon everyone will figure out it's the key to godly tone :D
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wha-hey ; a nailbomb in Ibanez S club is in it's early stages - soon everyone will figure out it's the key to godly tone
Surely you'd get better tone from a thicker instrument - more resonance and all that physicsy stuff. And I know it's personal preference and all that, but I hate the Ibanez neck profiles, they're never the right shape for me to actually be able to play them :P
I need money so that I can get a custom build that has a Fernandes Ravelle body, mahogany/maple neck-thru type thing, the neck profile of my Tele, and a pair of Crawlers with a 5 way switch - now that's a guitar :lol:
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Surely you'd get better tone from a thicker instrument - more resonance and all that physicsy stuff.
HAHAHA you've obviously never played my S series. Thicker than any Les Paul I've ever played, with more bite; and it SCREAMS!
I honestly don't think that thickness plays much of a part on tone; ask Doug from blackmachine about it...
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Surely you'd get better tone from a thicker instrument - more resonance and all that physicsy stuff.
HAHAHA you've obviously never played my S series. Thicker than any Les Paul I've ever played, with more bite; and it SCREAMS!
I honestly don't think that thickness plays much of a part on tone; ask Doug from blackmachine about it...
Fair enough - I can't say I've actually played an S series :P
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well man i only have experience of miracle man pups but i play sort of the same type as you but throw in to black an death metal :twisted:
i find the MM very clear but nice a heavy i just dont have them in th right guitar atm.the've got more bass than i thought they would an nice singin highs but i dont think youll put a foot wrong with any pup judging from all the sound clips ive listened to
.....ceramic 'pig........***drools***
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Alright, I'll order my Nailbomb today! My budget was suddenly a little tightened again so the neck pup will have to wait though.
Just one final question: I want 53 mm spacing for my floyd (original Edge I think) guitar, yes?
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Just one final question: I want 53 mm spacing for my floyd (original Edge I think) guitar, yes?
Yeah, I think so - There's a space on the online order form for you to tell them what guitar you intend to put it in, and they make sure you get the right one ^^
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Just one final question: I want 53 mm spacing for my floyd (original Edge I think) guitar, yes?
Yeah, I think so - There's a space on the online order form for you to tell them what guitar you intend to put it in, and they make sure you get the right one ^^
Oh, okay then, great. :)
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Oh shoooot, I'm having second thoughts about the Holy Diver after all. shite. Have to figure this out quick (though I'm sure I'll be happy with either). I know the HD is darker and hotter (and tighter?), is it also considerably fatter than the NB? I haven't heard any complaints of either being thin sounding though so I should get by alright, but still.
Tightness and definition might be a deciding factor though since I've come to like my tone tighter the more I think about it.
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Yeah, I'm called maxter0 over at UG (since someone who I've never ever seen post anything beat me to my nick).
:lol:
that happened me over at HC, i had to go with Dave_Mc_2. For shame.
:lol:
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Haha, that's such a bummer. I was pleased to see that I could stick with "maxter" over at HC myself. :)
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Oh shoooot, I'm having second thoughts about the Holy Diver after all. shitee. Have to figure this out quick (though I'm sure I'll be happy with either). I know the HD is darker and hotter (and tighter?), is it also considerably fatter than the NB? I haven't heard any complaints of either being thin sounding though so I should get by alright, but still.
Tightness and definition might be a deciding factor though since I've come to like my tone tighter the more I think about it.
Bump from previous page, sorry.
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Haha, that's such a bummer. I was pleased to see that I could stick with "maxter" over at HC myself. :)
:shock:
:lol:
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Oh shoooot, I'm having second thoughts about the Holy Diver after all. shitee. Have to figure this out quick (though I'm sure I'll be happy with either). I know the HD is darker and hotter (and tighter?), is it also considerably fatter than the NB? I haven't heard any complaints of either being thin sounding though so I should get by alright, but still.
Tightness and definition might be a deciding factor though since I've come to like my tone tighter the more I think about it.
Bump from previous page, sorry.
i'd still say go with the initial recommendation.
and regards to colour/covers of them... get a cream and black zebra on there!
(if thats possible...? lol)
the cream would set off the binding nicely.
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I think I will go with the initial recommendation, but goddamn if reading this forum isn't making it a hard time! xD
Atleast I've decided to go with open-coil, zebra to be precise. My Duncan Distortion in my Cort is zebra and I thought it would be cool to have a theme, plus the creme does complement the binding like you said.
I also tried some photoshopping to see what it would look like and yes, it will look fabolous.
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Well, the order is put, zebra Nailbomb it is, I just hope my credit card information was entered correctly :roll:
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everyone is saying go with the nailbombs, but i have a Flying V and had an ibanez S Series at one point. thin mahogany bodies are hard to drive, and i believe an overwound A5 pig will do the job perfectly.
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Besides the automatic order confirmation, when do Tim contact me next? Once the pcikup is wired and on it's way? I'm a little worried I might've screwed something up when entering the credit card information since there where some fields I was uncertain about etc, so I'd really like to hear from him as soon as possible so I know everything is working out. How long does it usually take?
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he will e-mail you if anything is unclear. he did me when my amex didnt go through.
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Nice. Again, about how long does it usually take between you lay down the order and the pickup is finished and mailed (not delivered, just sent)?
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i dont know, mine took about 2 weeks, but that was at a pretty busy time.
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Alright, that's good to know. I'll just be patient then. Thanks. :)
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hmm, I've always heard the nailbomb wasn't a very tight pickup. I think if you emphasized that part more in what you wanted, you would've been recommended something else. the miracle man and the ceramic warpig are supposed to be much tighter
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i don't think the nailbomb has a particularly tight sound, although it does react to your style - if you play tight it is definately easy to make sound tight.
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Hey guys, I have been reading this thread, and I was going to put a NB that I already have in an rg4ex, but I scored a Japanese S with OFR on evilbay, and it blows the RG away in lots of ways. ( V pickups sound way better than the ibzs) specially cleans, but my question is to indysmith. When you replaced the stock pickups, were the low strings brighter and tighter with the Nailbomb install? How would you describe before and after, if you will?
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Put a set of Nailbombs on my RGT and they transformed it, from a guitar that played superbly but was sonically nuetered by the Ibanez pups, into a total tone monster. I don't know if the through neck and mahogany wings add to the difference but I can get pretty much any tone I want...apart from maybe Tele like jangle. I did have to take a drill to the body and add a couple of extra pots for insependant pup tone and volume though....well worth the sweat when I first put the sharp pointy drill up against the body finish :roll:
No question....Nailbombs Rule
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My Ibanez came with quantum pickups the QM1, S1 and QM2 - which isn't what yours came with is it?
Anyway the nailbomb added a lot of clarity, definition, articulation, but i wouldn't say it tightened up the sound at all. The Quantum pups are ceramic as far as i know, so werealready very tight. The Nailbomb has a far stronger midrange, which really brings out the best in the S, and like pagan said - made it Incredibly versatile. It's like it's added a third dimension to my now FAVOURITE guitar.
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Well, clarity is the main thing the v1 & V2 p/us need. And I thank you guys for the descriptions. I already have a nailbomb, (see quote :lol: ) so it's going in. Mostly likely getting a Cold sweat for the neck. Thanks