HolyDiver.. some comments

[gwEm]

The Holy Diver bridge I ordered for my Flying V90 arrived. I think its exactly the right choice for this guitar and it will be staying until the end of time itself.

It has that 'certain 80s tone' we know and love, but with a modern edge to it for sure. Sounds very George Lynch, even in the V... Not sure I would describe it with the title of 'Holy Diver' - but then again maybe in the right guitar.

I was worried about the pickup being quite bass heavy, but in fact its not at all like that.

To compare with the Rebel Yell in the same guitar:

Alot thicker mids ( \o/ )
Bass response filled out, without being too strong
Similar treble response
Less cut, but greater impact (more cutlass than rapier)
A surprising amount more compressed
Similarly sweet Alinco V tone, and just as punchy, though its at a slightly lower frequency

It still has a great clean tone, and cleans up almost as well. Its the first pickup where I've really disliked the sound of it adjusted close to the strings. With the pickup raised very near the strings it wasnt very nice sounding - harsh and overly agressive. Moving the pickup away from the bridge the tone became sort industrial and Tool-ish, and moving it back a bit further it became a sweeter still. I've left it in the sweeter sounding position (for now)... the pickup is very high output anyway, and it doesn't feel like I'm missing out.

I wanted a Rudolf Schenker tone, its not there... But actually I think I have a better tone - well one closer to my personality anyway. With a modern hi-gain amp i'm sure it would be great for industrial stuff, in my Marshall 2204 its good, thick and 80s - but with a bit of extra agression.

Next I'll put the Rebel Yell in the Feline... Then I'll have a Cold Sweat bridge spare... I wonder...

[Will]

I've really disliked the sound of it adjusted close to the strings. With the pickup raised very near the strings it wasnt very nice sounding - harsh and overly agressive.

Great review, I also prefer it quite a distance from the strings, comparing it to the RY makes me want one, sometimes I find the HD a bit too much output with not enough treble / cut

[Antag]

Nice review!

It's no secret on this forum that I love the Holy Diver :-) but I'd never given much thought to how far it is from the strings - I just kinda adjusted until I found "my" sound. Just had a look at a couple of my HD guitars & the Jackson Kelly (which I used to record my recent 4-channel demo) was set quite close to the strings, but the rest of them seem to be set a bit further away from the strings than my MM or PK equipped guitars, in fact my Charvel (the one that seems to have the most "growl" in the midrange) is set quite a way from the strings.

I guess I like all the sounds that the HD has to offer :D  To me, it brings something different out of every guitar: in my Jackson RR1T it's a massive metal monster with face-ripping aggression, but in my vintage burst LP it has a BIG thick heavy rounded sound (kinda how I always imagined a good LP to sound), in my korina strat a very full, warm tone with effortless harmonic feedback, etc...

[ericsabbath]

and a prophet has spoken:

Holy Diiiiver! Sole surviiivor! Your honour's cleeeeeeeeean! Holy Diver! Holy Diver! Never cut in the middle comin' after you, Holy Diver! Oh, Holy DiveEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeEEEEEeeeeeEEEEEEEEEeeeEEEEeeyyYeaaahhh!

[il˙ti]

Great review. How do you think it'd sound in a maple V? I always pictured the HD as a warm, chunky pickup with smooth singing highs (as I heard from clips) but I'm not so sure about that anymore, since you said it's not that bass-heavy.

[gwEm]

Great review. How do you think it'd sound in a maple V? I always pictured the HD as a warm, chunky pickup with smooth singing highs (as I heard from clips) but I'm not so sure about that anymore, since you said it's not that bass-heavy.

it has bass of course, but its completely balanced. chunky mids with singing highs is basically true.

it would probably sound quite good in a maple V... i have one of those - but i can't be 100% sure yet until i put the rebel yell in it for comparision purposes. was going to do it last night but got side tracked by my girlfriend. the maple V is a bit boomy with the cold sweat thats in it at the moment.

[ericsabbath]

Great review. How do you think it'd sound in a maple V? I always pictured the HD as a warm, chunky pickup with smooth singing highs (as I heard from clips) but I'm not so sure about that anymore, since you said it's not that bass-heavy.

it is bass heavy, but not like the miracle man, for example
the miracle man has a lot less mids, but the bass is earth shaking
the holy diver is plenty of bass (actually more low mids than bass), but very balanced
the miracle man has a strange thing... it sounds very sharp and bright on the upper strings, and dark as hell on the lower strings (it seems to boost the strongest frequency)
i love how the holy diver sounds very consistent and fluid in all situations
i agree about it being a bit compressed compared to some lower output pickups, but that's a price you have to pay for that level of massive punchiness
it is still the most organic bridge pickup i've played

i had both installed in the same guitars
i'm using the miracle man for a while, but i'm taking the holy diver back soon

[solniger333]

So do you prefer it to the rebel yell or are they just different beasts? Can the rebel Yell do metal Deftones style? I have a holydiver which is perfect as it has that thump in the mids and is not too sharp sounding but I'm thinking of ordering a Rebel Yell as a second option in a slightly brighter guitar with less mids.

[IntenseJim]

I find the RY fairly compressed compared to my other pups. I love the RY but more compressed?  Hmmmm.....