Bridge match for VHII Neck?

[J-Johnson-93]

Hi to all! First time post so let me know if I'm not clear on things!

Got a godin core hb (more trim, chambered les paul style guitar) which has a lovely natural rich mid presence to it and warmth that mahogany brings to the table, and as far as the high end's concerned, all i can say is that it's sweet but lacks the punch definition you get with a longer scale guitar which i wouldn't mind being simulated by more bite in the highs.

Just wanting to swap from the jb i've got in the bridge right now - it's an improvement on the factory bridge which was quite dull and weak and it impressed with the improvement, but the cleans weren't as capable of sounding "open" as i thought such a popular pickup would be able to and i wouldn't mind more high end to sing through without sounding brittle like they do. Maybe the natural heat to the pickup isn't exactly required but it definitely was compared to the last one.

After all the sweet reviews i've read on this (great) forum, I wanna convert to BKPs no doubt, so from the info on offer and the clips I've listened to, I know for sure I want to get the VHII neck because of all the rich low end and that punchy, percussive pick attack I heard, so I need a bridge that will match without being too similarly voiced so that the middle position will stand out rather than blend.

My style of playing isn't that complex to put it frankly, but i only have this one guitar so with this bridge 'bucker i need to be able to go from rich, shimmery cleans to overdrive distortion which has an "open" quality at lower, more gruff overdrive but can still handle fuzz friendly distortion, and be capable of palm muting nicely when the mood takes me.

It would be nice if there's a bridge 'bucker that isn't so contemporary anyone knows of that might be able to just emulate the initial fullbodied evenness my guitar has without subduing high end (Abraxas, or Black Dog?), even to welcomely extend it without compromising on low end depth if possible (Rebel Yell?). This as well as coping with the vhii necks loudness or hot output as it's been described

Versatility is surely needed cos i use this guitar for recording my own songs and pieces friends right through my jcm2000, and the preamps on my audio interface. Through good fortune i could also see a dr z route 66 heading my way too for those who know or have heard it's characteristics 

Sorry for all the spiel, just thought i'd try and lay out the requirements best I could!

Help if you can guys, Jordan  :D

[Slartibartfarst42]

Mmmmmm...... I can see both the Abraxas and Black Dog working for you. Both are hot PAF style pickups with the Abraxas being balanced and more traditional while the Black Dog is about plenty mids and a more modern twist. To offer you alternatives, I'd simply suggest taking each of these to the next level.

A step up from the Abraxas would be a Crawler. This is a VERY versatile pickup and is beautifully fat and rich. It's darker than the Abraxas but still has enough highs, has the same smoothness and is like a really hot PAF with a real growl to it. I LOVE this pickup as it sounds awesome and has a huge operating window. A Crawler will take you from Blues to 80s Metal quite easily and it has fantastic split tones.

A step up from the Black Dog would be the Holydiver. Plenty mids, nice and smooth, the sweetest lead tone you can imagine and good cleans. Thee a bit more compression here but it's far from excessive. Awesome pickup. The Crawler and Holydiver are the best I've tried so far.

[darkbluemurder]

I have played both the Crawler and Alnico Nailbomb bridge models with the VHII neck. Both match well to the VHII neck from output and tonal viewpoints. But given your tonal requirements I believe you are better served with the Rebel Yell or Abraxas bridge. Abraxas would have more of a hot PAF flavor whereas the Rebel Yell would have a more aggressive voice to it.

Cheers Stephan

[Telerocker]

I have played both the Crawler and Alnico Nailbomb bridge models with the VHII neck. Both match well to the VHII neck from output and tonal viewpoints. But given your tonal requirements I believe you are better served with the Rebel Yell or Abraxas bridge. Abraxas would have more of a hot PAF flavor whereas the Rebel Yell would have a more aggressive voice to it.

Cheers Stephan

I support that. You don't want the Crawler for palmmutes, bec the lowend is loose and mellow compared to other BKP's. Maybe, you migth want to consider a VHII-bridge too. Delivers the punch, is not compressed and has nice chimey cleans.

[J-Johnson-93]

Mmmmmm...... I can see both the Abraxas and Black Dog working for you. Both are hot PAF style pickups with the Abraxas being balanced and more traditional while the Black Dog is about plenty mids and a more modern twist. To offer you alternatives, I'd simply suggest taking each of these to the next level.

A step up from the Abraxas would be a Crawler. This is a VERY versatile pickup and is beautifully fat and rich. It's darker than the Abraxas but still has enough highs, has the same smoothness and is like a really hot PAF with a real growl to it. I LOVE this pickup as it sounds awesome and has a huge operating window. A Crawler will take you from Blues to 80s Metal quite easily and it has fantastic split tones.

A step up from the Black Dog would be the Holydiver. Plenty mids, nice and smooth, the sweetest lead tone you can imagine and good cleans. Thee a bit more compression here but it's far from excessive. Awesome pickup. The Crawler and Holydiver are the best I've tried so far.

Yeah I like the idea of the holydiver and the crawler but i think i'd just rather have those pickups in different guitars once i decide what i'd be happy with them in, but in this one I'm going for the whole vintage hot idea for good cleans but warm, open overdive tones. No need for splitting either, I'll save that for when i get a crawler, something with a maple neck and longer scale :)

I have played both the Crawler and Alnico Nailbomb bridge models with the VHII neck. Both match well to the VHII neck from output and tonal viewpoints. But given your tonal requirements I believe you are better served with the Rebel Yell or Abraxas bridge. Abraxas would have more of a hot PAF flavor whereas the Rebel Yell would have a more aggressive voice to it.

Cheers Stephan

I support that. You don't want the Crawler for palmmutes, bec the lowend is loose and mellow compared to other BKP's. Maybe, you migth want to consider a VHII-bridge too. Delivers the punch, is not compressed and has nice chimey cleans.

Nailbomb would be too much for me, it's too much for my mate jason and he's getting 8 string painkillers! i'm with you on the ry and abraxas though, just concerned whether the alnico iv would be able to cope with the alnico v of the already hot vhii neck, which is why i was considering a black dog and if that's got enough kick to it. I did think about the vhii but it sounded a little more thin than all three of the others i was considering so i thought about different options. Like the idea that it's not compressed though which is kinda what i'm going for on cleans; just want nice open harmonics coming through because i can add compression and eq later if need be plus i've got a fulltone ocd which compresses beautifully when the gain gets going, i just want a tone that i don't have to tweak with my controls that much for my main use.

Thanks for the help thus far though guys :D

[ericsabbath]

everything you said on the first post points to the obvious match: the bridge vhII

big punchy bass, cutting top, great palm mutes, open mids, pretty good cleans, gets mean under gain, but still open
and is one of those models that make truly matched sets (the bridge pickup being an overwound version of the neck pickup)

seriously, that's an easy choice :)

it's definitely not thin sounding for my ears, despite of the slight midscoop
the rhythms sound huge, actually