Full custom guitar: Crawler vs. Nailbomb? (mahog, maple, rosewood, ebony)

[Pierre]

I've got a custom Waghorn being started in a few month, and I'm still hesitating on the pickups. Trying to brainstorm it out...

Body = Mahogany with full maple cap
Neck = Rosewood with ebony board, bolt-on
26"-25" fanned frets
2 x volumes, 1 x tone, 5 way (full bridge, bridge + neck outer parallel, bridge + neck parallel, bridge + neck inner parallel, neck full)

I was originally thinking Nailbomb + VH2. I had a Crawler once in a Strat and it sounded HUGE. Something very, very, very thick, very loud, very expansive.
So I was wondering how it would sound in a guitar with warmer, tighter woods than Alder.

Pair is likely to be a VH2 but I have 0 experience with neck Bareknuckles so suggest away! :)
Looking for versatile but thick sound, clarity is important but not hugely so. I do love the Nailbomb, much more versatile than it appears. But the Crawler is just... gigantic!

Thoughts? :)

[DagleBee]

If that waghorn is thinner than the Les Paul in theory it should get along with the Crawler just fine  ( remember it's designed to perform in a Strat type and in a LP type ) . I would say that will be a little more beefed up than your strat  due to the mahogany body . if you think that your strat tone was just enough , then don't go with the crawler.

    What style of music do you play ?? for what will you use the neck and how do you like your neck tone( brighter/ warmer /creamier /fluid /......) ???

 I don't want to get you confused or discouraged  :)

[Pierre]

It will be for more technical heavier styles; but the construction means it will also have my blues sound, though it certainly won't play like a LP or Strat!

I like my neck tone for cleaner sounds, I very rarely use it for gain tones. I prefer a more fluid-type tone, I really cannot stand the Slash type buttery middy tone. But output is important too, since it will be combined with the bridge pickup for its in-between positions.

[Yellowjacket]

The nailbomb is raw, raunchy, pissed off, tempermetal, ill tempered, bad mannered, and lots of great things! I combined it with a Rebel Yell in the neck and it overs blues type tones, classic rock, and all sorts of heavy stuff as well.  It's a wonderful, WONDERFUL combination.

[darkbluemurder]

I have written a review on both pickups and had them in the same guitar. Totally different animals. Crawler is a huge sounding fat vintage voiced pickup - smooth, aggressive only if you really dig in. Nailbomb is a huge sounding fat aggressive pickup - nothing smooth or polite about it.

Cheers Stephan

[Telerocker]

What about a Holydiver-set? Looks the perfect match for this guitars timbers. Creamy full mids, great solotones, tight bass, the neck is more open than the Crawler-neck, but Stephan can comment better on this one since he has that neckpickup. I think the organic sounding HD can still cover the blues-idiom, just with a little more contemporary voice.

[DagleBee]

I agree with Telerocker on the Holydiver set !! Very accurate suggestion  :) Nailbomb and rebel yell will work too but  the HD will nail it :)

[Pierre]

Ah... you know, I DID have a HolyDiver in a Mahog/Maple guitar with maple/rosewood neck and... it sounded very nice. Thick, a bit less clinical than the other BKPs I tried, so just the right amount of vintage-to-modern ratio. That's a great suggestion!

Would the neck pickup fit the guitar too to get more fluid cleans?

[Telerocker]

HD-neck:
https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=27164.msg392977#msg392977

You might want to look also at the Cold Sweat-neck, which is fluid with a good amount of gain.
Or more vintage: the Emerald-neck.