Yep, pickup suggestion (humbucker set for strat)

[Zaned]

Hi,

Already a happy owner of a CS set, but now looking for pickups for the 2-humbucker strat that will be built for my
brother.

Ok, to the point. The guitar will very much be a typical strat construction wise:

- Normal stratocaster body and neck shape
- Alder body
- 25,5 inch scale, bolt-on neck.
- Neck and fretboard both maple.
- Hipshot US flat tremolo (like a Fender 2-point or a Wilkinson)

He plays a lot of hard rock, like Whitesnake and Dio. NOT a scooped mid tone. But he plays a variety of music, so
versatility is a definitive requirement. He really likes the tone I get with my Paul Reed Smith McCarty and Cold
Sweats, but that guitar leans very much to the Les Paul department. So same kind of tonal attributes, but with the
physics of a bolt-on strat thrown in. In a nutshell:

-Organic, not sterile.
-Output is not much of an issue, his amplifier is versatile (H&K
 Switchblade)
-Clear and singing
-Aggressive attack and tone but no screech.
-Coil tapped mode in addition to normal humbucker tone. A 5-way switch
 with different configurations will be used, or a push-pull pot for a
 straigh coil-tapped humbucker.

So basically a very versatile guitar. We both really like the tone that Tim gets on his demo of the Nailbomb (but that was with a Basswood-bodied Ibanez). And Doug Aldrich gets a great humbucker+strat tone on the DIO DVD 'Evil or Divine'.

Thanks for the suggestions! I already mailed this to Tim also.

-Zaned

[badgermark]

I usually recommend the Holy Diver here, I have one and i love it. The best clean tones I've heard from a humbucker and very versatile under gain. Though to make things more confusing, I bet the Nailbomb will do you just as well, albiet less fat with more bite (as i understand it)

For the neck, the HD is more clear, bit more open and with more top end, whereas the Nailbomb is a bit more vintagey in the neck position. Check out the players forum, I think Antag did some clips just of the neck pickups in a shootout style.

[Twinfan]

VHIIs will work really well here I reckon, or Holy Divers if you want something with more oomph.  They were the two I was looking at for a similar guitar/music taste.

I got the VHIIs for my Jackson and they rock.

[Fikealox]

I think Holy Divers would be great, too :)

[Zaned]

Thanks for the replies, guys!

The comparisons between Holydiver and Nailbomb were (well, are :D) great info! Based on that and on the fact that Tim recommended Nailbombs in his reply, we'll probably go with them. Well, I don't think any of the 2 other suggested pups (VHII, Holydiver) would have been a poor choise either.

-Zaned