Lead Pickup for HSS? Nailbomb or HD

[Mrbombastic1999]

I play primarily leads on my bridge humbucker in a 'fusiony' style but also some sides of metal. I use a Rosewood board strat and would like a versatile setup (Clean/ cutting single coils, Dirty bridge pup)
i've narrowed down to the Nailbomb (not sure on ceramic or alnico) and the Holydiver. Have u had personal experience with these pickups? i'd love to hear your opinions.

[johnny_rock_it]

Holy diver all the way. It's almost made for lead playing.

Just put in a HD in my strat last week and I'm loving it.

It's a lot more well rounded and I think the nail bomb might be too bright/cutting in a strat.

[Telerocker]

Diver all the way. You might even consider the Crawler if your strat is a tad on the bright side.

[Lucas]

I use ceramic Nailbomb and to be honest I wouldnt say that`s a good lead pickup. It is truly great rhythm pickup without the doubt but leads in my opinion are the weakest point.

[Yellowjacket]

Strat, you say?

For leads you have two options:  Holy Diver or Juggernaut.

The Juggernaut is tighter and more modern sounding.  The cleans on it are excellent as well.

From what I've heard, the Holy Diver is more of your classic hot rodded humbucker. 

A-Bomb sounds better in an LP style guitar or an Explorer imo.

[fps_dean]

I use ceramic Nailbomb and to be honest I wouldnt say that`s a good lead pickup. It is truly great rhythm pickup without the doubt but leads in my opinion are the weakest point.

I have an alnico Nailbomb and I love it for screaming metal leads.  But the ceramic does seem a bit less geared toward lead players to me.  It's also a bit darker in an alder body than in a Les Paul.

[darkbluemurder]

I would take the HD over the NB for this.

Keep in mind that if you use vintage output (read "low output") single coils, either HD or NB will overpower them. This is not to say that this is a bad thing but that's the way it is.

Cheers Stephan

[Telerocker]

I would take the HD over the NB for this.

Keep in mind that if you use vintage output (read "low output") single coils, either HD or NB will overpower them. This is not to say that this is a bad thing but that's the way it is.

Cheers Stephan

Agreed, but when you adjust them right and set the hb not too high (usually sounds better in most of my guitars) the volumedrop is not that big.

[Dave Sloven]

I would follow this recommendation and then maybe save up some dollars for a pair of Irish Tours to go with the Holy Diver later, which would enable you to set the pickups up more optimally.