BKPs for my Ibby RG7620

[andrew11]

Looking into swaping the pickups in my Ibanez RG7620, currently running Lundgren M7 and PAF7. Guitar is Basswood body, maple neck and rosewood fingerboard. I play through a Peavey Valveking 212 combo using a Amptweaker tightmetal or a Wayhuge Green Rhino running through the clean channel. I'm just a hobbyist playing at home, no gigging for me, so mostly lower volume playing.

Although the M7 and PAF7 sound great I would like to go a little more vintage and definitely alnico. Really like a big fat sound, lots of body to it, not thin or overly bright, kind of want to go for that classic Les Paul type of sound ( I know it will be difficult in a Basswood superstrat). Want it to be able to cover a wide variety of genres including Jazzy stuff, blues, classics rock and modern metal. I know nothing about Basswood so I hope you guys can help me out. Open to anything really, weather vintage, vintage hot or contemporary as long as its alnico.

[Telerocker]

I have Mules a bolt-on mahogany Saint Blues and they cover everything from deep round cleans, blues, classic rock, hardrock and (maybe with a boost) even metal. They ooze the classic 59 PAF-vibe. I don't know how they will do in basswood though. If you want more mids have a look at the Black Dogs.

[Kiichi]

I have Mules a bolt-on mahogany Saint Blues and they cover everything from deep round cleans, blues, classic rock, hardrock and (maybe with a boost) even metal. They ooze the classic 59 PAF-vibe. I don't know how they will do in basswood though. If you want more mids have a look at the Black Dogs.

I thought the same, but already going further favoring the BDs. I feel like that fat midrange will be what he wants wanting that fat sound.
Both very possible and insanely versatile though.
Kinda depens where your prioritys lie.

[andrew11]

Have considered both mules and black dogs. Love the idea of a sweet PAF but it may lack some balls. What do you guys think about the Emeralds and the Abraxas?

[metale]

I've heard that the Emeralds match well with basswood, and I think I'm going for them on a similar RG7.

[Loomer]

Yeah, I remember Nolly being absolutely over the moon with the Emeralds in his Daemoness. Haven't tried them myself though.

Generally my opinion here is best left ignored, since I don't really play "Music" :lol:

[Kiichi]

Lacking balls is a thing....give Godsized a listen. Black Dogs right there and it does not feel like lacking balls to me.
Thing is that you got a OD which does a lot. The BD for example is recommended for baritone axes as well due to its sound and those are quite often used for heavy stuff.

But the vintage hot range like an Emerald would be just as well, maybe better. I always feel that you just canīt go wrong with the vintage hot line and mostly the emerald as they will just about do anything.

[andrew11]

Lacking balls is a thing....give Godsized a listen. Black Dogs right there and it does not feel like lacking balls to me.
Thing is that you got a OD which does a lot. The BD for example is recommended for baritone axes as well due to its sound and those are quite often used for heavy stuff.

But the vintage hot range like an Emerald would be just as well, maybe better. I always feel that you just canīt go wrong with the vintage hot line and mostly the emerald as they will just about do anything.

Funny you say that because Godsized is one of my favourite bands, and since I heard they use Black Dogs I've been just dying to try them. Just don't know how they would react in Basswood.

Anybody try the Abraxas? From the specs they look like a overwound Mule? Might be interesting.

Question, am I worried about the wood too much, how much does it really affect the sound?

[Kiichi]

Yeah, Godsized are awesome. Knew nothing about them and saw them opening for Black Label Society. They rocked so hard and had amazing tone. BLS could not keep up at all.

Yes if I recall correctly the Abraxas is somewhat of a hotter overwound version of the Mule.

The wood does affect the sound a lot. Everything has an effect, somethings more, somethings less, but the wood is a pretty essential part. A lot of things can be concidered as they affect tone: strings (material, construction method, thickness of core wire and wind, etc), pickup height, woods (quality, combination), contruction method of the guitar, hardware, etc....
Some PUs sit very well in certain woods, less in others. Like the HD is said to exell in basswood and in all mahagony the Riff Raff is very nice.
It is about complementing qualitys and iron out shortcommings of the wood.

Donīt know enough about the BD or basswood to though to make a proper judgement about that combo though, gotta leave this other guys.

[ericsabbath]

I'd pick the alnico nailbomb
massive mahogany guitars like les pauls and explorers tend to push a lot more into the amps input than a basswood rg, so I wouldn't expect a low output model to make it sound les paul-like, despite of being a fatty voiced model
also, les pauls have a quite wide range, as they have a deep low end response, full midrange and are plenty of top end (at least regular maple topped les pauls with brighter voiced pickups)
the nailbomb has lots of output without getting overkill and has a wider frequency range than most of the other models, and is also one of the most proven good matches for basswood superstrats
defintely not a vintage sounding pickup, but still retains some of its ancestors DNA, specially on the midrange
it has a lot of the riff raffs character, if you ask me, but in a modern and aggressive shape

as a second less balls to wall option, I'd think of a crawler, but I can't comment on this one

[andrew11]

Thanks Eric,

That really Makes alot of sense, origanally I was thinking Warpig because a thin super strat is going to need a big fat sounding pickup to sound remotely close to a les Paul. A nailbomb is probably going to be alot more versatile though.I never knew they had good reviews in basswood.

[andrew11]

Heard back from BKP and there saying Nailbombs. Think thats what I'm gonna do.