High output pickups, but which ones?

[Sinner1980]

Hey there,

I'm a newbie when it comes to pickups so excuse me if I ask something stupid.
So here's the deal:
I've got 2 Gibson guitars, a les paul standard and an explorer.
Both stil have their stock pickups which I'm not too happy about anymore and that's why I came to
you guys for advice.
First off, I play mostly rock and metal and when I'm in the mood I'll play some blues.

For my les paul I'd like to have a bit of an allround sound but end of the day it's got to play metal as well so
the humbuckers need to be high output. I put a lot of pinch harmonics in my play and they need to be of the hook.
I must say that I love the 80's metal sound and that's what I'm pretty much aiming for with this guitar (Judas Priest, Ozzy, Motley crue,Skid Row and so on). Before I forget: cleans need to be decent too.

The explorer will be an all out metal machine (like it should be). Think Lamb of God, Slayer, Down, Pantera, Volbeat and so on. High output is the key word. Heavy chugging, pinch harmonics with an alltogether nice articulate sound so not too muddy. Good cleans would be nice but is of less importance since my les paul will cover that. I'll downtune to drop C now and then so they'll have to cover lower tunings as well.

Both guitars are mahagony so warpigs (according to this forum) is not an option since they'll sound too dark and muddy. I've had EMG's before (in a Schecter hellraiser)and got bored withy the sound pretty fast (it lacks soul in my opinion). Haven't tried blackouts yet but I'd prefer to put passives in anyways. I've read a lot of reviews on BKP's and they just seem awesome. Have had contact with Tim before and he seems like a really nice and helpfull person so that's why I'm choosing BKP above the rest.

Can't wait to read your suggestions so bring m on please :D

Thanks

[DimeZakk]

Nailbomb Set for the LP and Painkillers for the Explorer!

[Sinner1980]

Thanks for the reply dude, I hope to see some more though...

[MDV]

A:

For the UMPTEETH $%&#ING TIME (whoever is reading, lurking, spreading nonsense) warpigs are NOT MUDDY, not in mahogany, not in anything. Lots of bass and not as tight or clear as other bare knuckles =/= mud. They still KILL the majority of other pickups on the market for clarity.

Dimezacks suggestion isnt a bad one; the painkillers are in the right place, but I have qualms about the nailbombs in the LP, not because they dont work or bring the versatility, they do, but because if your pinches have to be "of [sic] the hook" then there are much better BKs for it - miracle man, painkiller and c-pig. All are quite versatile (the miracle man probably the least so, actually), all can scream like a 10 dollar whore, all are capable of being heavy as $%&#, but if you want rock and metal and cleans and screaming harmonics in the same guitar, all sounding good as they're going to get from one pickup, thats a painkiller bridge as well.

LP: PK bridge, cold sweat neck
Exp: PK set

And, no, they wont sound the same in the bridge position: BKs let a lot of the guitars sound through, they will still be quite different.

[AdamB]

I'd say for an all round sound in the LP, you should get a Cold Sweat set

[MDV]

I'd say for an all round sound in the LP, you should get a Cold Sweat set

Thats a really good idea actually.

Yes.

Cold sweat set
Painkiller set

[Sinner1980]

Cool, I'll see if ther's some clips on youtube on those pickups. Have to say that the PKset appealed to me instantly while reading about it so PK set for explorer is the way to go I guess (can't wait to get rid of those stock pickups because they're cr@p)

I'll check those cold sweat pickups out , and the nailbombs as well. What's the main difference anyways?(just curious).
I've never checked out BKP's bfore but I bet it'll be a hell of an improvement. It's just a tough call since you can't check them out and all...
Got a nice trip to NYC next month but after that I'll have to make up my mind and at least sort that explorer out (needs a setup anyway) and if the funds allow it my les paul too.(funds will be low after a week of NYC tough I'm affraid...shopping and all, looking forward to it tough, gotta love the US) :)

[99_not_out]

For the UMPTEETH $%&#ING TIME (whoever is reading, lurking, spreading nonsense) warpigs are NOT MUDDY, not in mahogany, not in anything. Lots of bass and not as tight or clear as other bare knuckles =/= mud. They still KILL the majority of other pickups on the market for clarity.

+1e10

Maybe the Rebel Yell bridge in the LP? Just thinking '80s metal ...
Otherwise agreed (as he knows better than I) with MDV :)

[yellowv]

I'm thinking Holy Divers for the LP as they do the 80's sound perfectly as well as tons of other stuff, and Definately Painkillers for the Explorer.

[Antag]

I'd say for an all round sound in the LP, you should get a Cold Sweat set

Thats a really good idea actually.

Yes.

Cold sweat set

Yep, that was my first thought too.  Don't be fooled by the specs: the Cold Sweat bridge has some serious power (same sort of ballpark as NB/HD), tons of clarity, but a really nice useable clean sound too.  Cold Sweat neck is a very popular match with all the high gan BKPs for a reason - it's a great allrounder equally at home doing clean or noodly neck leads.

I also agree with Painkiller bridge for the Explorer.

However, rather than a PK set, I'd consider another Cold Sweat neck, or perhaps even a VHII neck.  VHII & CS necks have similar levels of power (i.e. balance well with all the high output bridge models), but are voiced totally differently.  The VHII has more of a vintage vibe, slightly darker, "chimes" a bit like a single coil on the clean channel & more rounded than the CS under gain.  It's probably my fav neck pickup at the moment.

Thinking a bit outside the box, perhaps CS bridge/VHII neck in the LP & PK bridge/CS neck in the Explorer?  No reason why you couldn't/shouldn't split the CS set unless you were getting different covers/colours...

[Antag]

I'm thinking Holy Divers for the LP as they do the 80's sound perfectly as well as tons of other stuff, and Definately Painkillers for the Explorer.

I'm always wary about recommending HDs for Les Pauls because of my differing experiences.

In my Goldtop they sounded awful - lacked clarity & too dark.  So I moved them to my Vintage Burst & they sound absolutely wonderful.  The big difference between the 2 guitars is weight - Goldtop is ~11lbs with a very big boomy bass, but the VB is only ~8½lbs with a much snappier sound.  FWIW, I ended up with Cold Sweats in the Goldtop & it's everything a rocker/metaller's Les Paul should be now :)

So as a general rule, I'd say that heavy (>10lbs) Les Pauls with lots of bass are a poor match for HDs, but light ones (<9lbs) work well with them.  None of my LPs are chambered, so no idea how they go in one of those...

[Dr. Vic]

I'm thinking Holy Divers for the LP as they do the 80's sound perfectly as well as tons of other stuff, and Definately Painkillers for the Explorer.

I'm always wary about recommending HDs for Les Pauls because of my differing experiences.

In my Goldtop they sounded awful - lacked clarity & too dark.  So I moved them to my Vintage Burst & they sound absolutely wonderful.  The big difference between the 2 guitars is weight - Goldtop is ~11lbs with a very big boomy bass, but the VB is only ~8½lbs with a much snappier sound.  FWIW, I ended up with Cold Sweats in the Goldtop & it's everything a rocker/metaller's Les Paul should be now :)

So as a general rule, I'd say that heavy (>10lbs) Les Pauls with lots of bass are a poor match for HDs, but light ones (<9lbs) work well with them.  None of my LPs are chambered, so no idea how they go in one of those...

I'd add that when I mentioned the HD to Tim for my Fly Mojo (full mahogany body + neck + stainless steel frets and carbon epoxy fretboard........5lbs !) he said the HD could still being little too boomy in that mahogany.....and he said nailbomb as an alternative choice.

(Of course we were discussing on a particular situation, wanting to reach the tones I wanted...so dunno if what I say here is much of an help !  :lol: )

[Sinner1980]

Cool, thanks guys. I'll have to see what Tim recommends as well when I order them later on this year since you can't deny the gods, can you :D
Any more suggestions, bring m on. As of now the pks for explorer and coldsweat for les paul sound pretty good to me