Help me pick a BKP! [PRS CU24]

[davidian]

Heya guys,

First post! After reading on and on about a pickup set which i need to replace, I have decided to switch to BKPs. i have been mainly using EMG81/85 active sets in 3 of my guitars and I now have a PRS Cu24 with Vintage Bass/HFS pups which i need to upgrade to get high output passive clarity.

Specs of my Cu24 are

Back Wood     Mahogany
Top Wood    Maple

I usually play categories from alternative rock to metal (occassional grindcore) and I have been hearing a lot of recommendations for Miracle Man sets. I am tossed up between NailBomb and Miracle Man sets, can anyone explain to me if the nailbomb set (which is recommended for metal), will have decent cleans? Will the nailbomb in the neck help me achieve clean high gain leads or is the set mainly for crunching rhythm?

Band example would be Mark Tremonti from Alter Bridge/Creed (his cleans and gain clarity), to Trivium (lead tones) and rarely Suicide Silence grindcore (crunching rhythm)

I'm going to be pumping the PRS through a Randall MTS Bogner all-tube pre-amp so thats my high gain area. I'm also toying with the idea of SD Blackout Actives in the PRS.

Thoughts?

[dheim]

i'd say Nailbombs, for a couple of reasons... they sound great in mahogany, they sound great clean and with gain levels going from classic rock crunch to extreme metal and they're the best lead pickups i've ever played.
oh, and hello to the forum!

p.s. a lot of people here would be quite pissed off to read suicide silence and grindcore in the same sentence, just to warn you... :)

[ericsabbath]

the alnico nailbomb might be more versatile and almost as hot as the miracle man, but I'd stay ceramic, so I'll vote for the miracle man
I can't comment on the ceramic nailbomb
the MM is definitely great for those tones and specially Machine Head's tone
the nailbomb has a similar voicing (strong bass, controlled mids, sharp top, tight low end, smooth leads), but a quite different feel (more vintage warmth and that hollow PAF feel on the mids instead of that ceramic raw crunch)

[BigK]

I've got a miracle man bridge and a cold sweat neck in my cu22 and that combo is great for what you want. although for alter bridge stuff the ceramic nailbomb or cold sweat would be a better fit I would think for the bridge as the are a bit crunchier/ more middy.

I wasn't a fan of the nailbomb in my cu22 as it wasn't tight or crunchy enough. However it sounds great in my schecter 006 elite which is all mahogany. I also find the top end of the nailbomb is a bit fizzier and brighter the the miracle man which I find a lot more controlled.

[davidian]

Just listened to a couple of demos from BKPickups on youtube. In my humble opinion hehe, the MM set sounds a bit like my tone on my EMG81 (bridge) set, bright, high mids, clear crunches not much distorting in the lower bass area.

The Nailbomb ceramic demo blew me out of the water tho in terms of the lower bass area, but in my opinion it could use a little "brightness" during the lead area from my listening to that demo.

What do you guys think of a nailbomb bridge and a MM neck? Or would that be a very weird combo?

Thanks for the replies guys!

[dheim]

no, not too weird, just a bit bass heavy on neck tones, while the neck NB is quite bright... i love my ceramic NB - Cold Sweat combos... CS neck is perfect for a lot of applications, including those smooth leads you're looking for... a bit too middy for cleans but really a top pickup when you put the distortion on.

[ericsabbath]

I'll still insist in the miracle man advice, but with a less hot neck pup

but you should e-mail Tim, anyway

[BigK]

You have to remember that the neck pickups are completely different to the bridge pickups. They are designed complement each other not sound the same.

Also going on from what eric said the holydiver neck is my favourite for cleans, as it has an almost singlecoil like quality to it.

[davidian]

I've seen some people on the forums do the Cold Sweat neck with Nailbomb Bridge and as advice from BigK. It sounds like a winner combo for my style. What do you guys think?