Versatile pickup suggestions

[monkeyboy]

Hi there.

I'm looking to upgrade the pickups in my ibanez s2170fb. The guitar is a HSH mahogany body with a floating trem. The rest of my rig is a podxt live and an atomic reactor 2x12 50w. I also have a peavey rotor with emg 81/85's (so I want a different sound than that guitar). The ibanez has ibz/dimarzio pickups. They're quite nice, but listening to the samples on here, bareknuckles would be a whole lot better.

I play a wide variety of music. Mostly metal based, but I need a variety of sounds... think buckethead or steve vai. I like what the emgs do, but I need something more versatile. I'm going to do some coil splitting and fancy wiring in the guitar, so I'll have the 5 options of a SSS guitar and the 3 of a HH.

I absolutely love the sound samples of the nailbomb in the bridge, so at the moment thats what I'm thinking about. I could be persuaded otherwize. I want something ultra modern sounding in the bridge.... is the nailbomb the most modern sounding, or maybe the miracle man? I don't want something too muddy (i've got the emgs for that!) so I'm thinking the warpig would be wrong.

I want something really modern sounding in the bridge, but something more 80's for the neck. Would the holy diver or the Cold sweat pair well with the nailbomb?

As for the single coil, I want something that'll compliment the coil-split humbuckers.  I'm not that keen on high powered single coils, as I've always seen them being for people who want humbucker sounds without ruining the look of a single coil guitar. I'm thinking something like the slowhand or Irish tour for the middle. I was thinking I might order one of the more vintage bridge single coils for the middle, so I'd have the vintage sound with a little more output. The DC resistance of those is approximately half that of the humbuckers, so it should be a fairly good match to the coil split buckers..... right?

Thanks in advance for any help. :)

[Nolly]

Hi there,

I think a Nailbomb calibrated set would suit you perfectly.

While the bridge NB probably isn't the most modern sounding of the high-output 'buckers, I reckon it would be an excellent choice for the styles you've mentioned.
The neck unit is a beautiful sounding pickup as well-brilliant PAF-y cleans and very defined and smooth under gain.

I have a couple of clips in the Players section. They were recorded with a PodXT so should give a reasonable reference point.
My bridge Nailbomb has a ceramic magnet in though, so sounds a little different.

I haven't tried any of the BK singles yet, but if I were you, I'd leave the stock one in and see how it sounds once you've upgraded the others.

[MDV]

Another vote for nailbombs here.

Very metal, but also very, very versatile indeed.

[monkeyboy]

Thanks for the replies.

It looks like I'm probably going to go for a cold sweat in the neck, and a mothers milk in the middle. I emailed Tim, and thats what he advised me.... I spent ages listening to all the cold sweat necks, and it sounds great. I should be able to get some awesome smooth lead sounds with it.

As for the bridge, It's between the nailbomb and one of the warpigs. I'm leaning towards the nailbomb though. I reckon it'd be more versatile. I've already got a guitar with emg85/81's and I've heard a few people comparing the ceramic warpig to the emg81. I don't want that sound in two guitars, I want something slightly more dynamic and more organic. Would the nailbomb be the right choice?

I want to have crazy artificial harmonics in the bridge. The guitar has a ZR trem, which is a bit more spongy than a floyd rose, and as a result the harmonics and sustain suffer a bit. I've heard people argue both ways...... some say higher output pickups give better sustain and harmonics due to their power....... and others say slightly weaker ones are better because they put less magnetic pull on the strings.

So, to maximise sustain and harmonics, should I go for the nailbomb or warpig? Listening to the clips both of them sound equally great on rhythm, but I can't decide which would have the edge for lead work.

Keep the advice coming!

[ericsabbath]

ask tim for the alnico 8 nailbomb
this magnet would probably work great in a miracle man too
i think it would add a lot of mids and smooth the top end (like it does in duncan custom compared to the ceramic)

[Nolly]

ask tim for the alnico 8 nailbomb
this magnet would probably work great in a miracle man too
i think it would add a lot of mids and smooth the top end (like it does in duncan custom compared to the ceramic)

I'd be very interested to hear that. What would the output be like?

[ericsabbath]

probably a bit stronger than a regular nailbomb, weaker than a ceramic miracle man
someone here has an alnico 8 nailbomb
i think in miracle man it would result in a emg 85 kind of voicing without the plastic tone and less output

[fps_dean]

I have a Nailbomb bridge (with two Trilogy Suite singles) in a ESP Mirage Custom... great pickup, great harmonics!

A lot of people use the Nailbomb bridge with a Cold Sweat neck for a quieter neck, but I would go with the Nailbomb set myself...  if you want a wide range of tones out of it, you would probably want a louder neck to be able to hold a flame to the bridge.

And probably an Irish Tour in the middle, or something even quieter.  Personally, I think having a quieter middle pickup creates many more sounds you can get out of the guitar, and you can play rhythm with the middle and neck and switch to neck and get a perfectly boosted volume for leads as well.

[monkeyboy]

Well, I put in my order!

I'm getting a regular nailbomb in the bridge, a cold sweat neck, and an irish tour in the middle. I ordered the buckers in burnt chrome, so they should make my s2170fb look funky!

I can't wait!!!  How long do you guys think they'll take? Will I get them before the weekend?

[38thBeatle]

You could well do.Welcome to the club!