Hey guys, new member.

[Chiliphil1]

Hello everyone, I'm Phil from the us.

I'm looking to add some BKP's to the stable and am hoping to get some advice. My 2 main guitars are currently an ibanez rg1570 and a Gibson les Paul custom. I've had the Gibson for a while and I just got the ibanez. The Gibson is running the stock 498r/490t combination and the ibanez has the dimarzio crunchlab/liquifire combo. Honestly, the ibanez just kills the Gibson. To me the Gibson pickups have a very harsh and almost fizzy character to the tone whereas the ibanez is smooth, round, and thick.

I'm running through a dual rectifier tremoverb and find the Gibson to be almost excessively bright. It lacks note definition and just has this annoying cacking fizz sound. I want to get that 498 out of there and put something in that's going to work better.

I'm primarily a rhythm player and hardly ever go into the lead range, my style is harder edge rock. Some of the bands I like to play are Metallica, ac/dc, some 80's things like dio just as a small sample. Every now and again I may do something like hatebreed or avenged sevenfold. I don't really do anything with modern metal, death metal, etc so I've sort of eliminated something like the warpig from my list.

I emailed BKP and they suggested the holydivers but when I went back and listened to the sound samples I just didn't like that pickup too much. I listened to the "modern metal" sound clip for each pickup as that riff sounds like the style I would play and to me the holy diver had a bit of that "fizz" that the Gibson pickup has. When listening to everything I found that the cold sweat stood out the best to me. At this point in planning to keep the 490r in the neck as I don't really have any issue with it and honestly I don't use the neck pickup much at all.

So, do you guys think the cold sweat would work for me? Or should I stick with the given advice and go with the holydiver? Or is there another option I should consider? The main thing I need is a super tight bottom end, no fizz, and the ability to handle classic rock though metal. Running the dual rec I don't really need a pickup that's going to push the amp too much, it'll do that on its own.

Thank you.

[JimmyMoorby]

The holy diver is a good recommendation and in a Les Paul it's way off being fizzy in fact its firmly more on the warm side.

It really is like a warmer JB but better in many ways.  In a Les Paul it's ideal for those Les Paul/JB type tones ala Adam Jones from Tool or Jerry Cantrell AIC.

It's not fizzy.  It'll be tight enough for black album era metallica but the full on super fast thrash stuff something else might be more suitable.

[Axe Palace]

Hello everyone, I'm Phil from the us.

I'm looking to add some BKP's to the stable and am hoping to get some advice. My 2 main guitars are currently an ibanez rg1570 and a Gibson les Paul custom. I've had the Gibson for a while and I just got the ibanez. The Gibson is running the stock 498r/490t combination and the ibanez has the dimarzio crunchlab/liquifire combo. Honestly, the ibanez just kills the Gibson. To me the Gibson pickups have a very harsh and almost fizzy character to the tone whereas the ibanez is smooth, round, and thick.

I'm running through a dual rectifier tremoverb and find the Gibson to be almost excessively bright. It lacks note definition and just has this annoying cacking fizz sound. I want to get that 498 out of there and put something in that's going to work better.

I'm primarily a rhythm player and hardly ever go into the lead range, my style is harder edge rock. Some of the bands I like to play are Metallica, ac/dc, some 80's things like dio just as a small sample. Every now and again I may do something like hatebreed or avenged sevenfold. I don't really do anything with modern metal, death metal, etc so I've sort of eliminated something like the warpig from my list.

I emailed BKP and they suggested the holydivers but when I went back and listened to the sound samples I just didn't like that pickup too much. I listened to the "modern metal" sound clip for each pickup as that riff sounds like the style I would play and to me the holy diver had a bit of that "fizz" that the Gibson pickup has. When listening to everything I found that the cold sweat stood out the best to me. At this point in planning to keep the 490r in the neck as I don't really have any issue with it and honestly I don't use the neck pickup much at all.

So, do you guys think the cold sweat would work for me? Or should I stick with the given advice and go with the holydiver? Or is there another option I should consider? The main thing I need is a super tight bottom end, no fizz, and the ability to handle classic rock though metal. Running the dual rec I don't really need a pickup that's going to push the amp too much, it'll do that on its own.

Thank you.

Welcome. First of all, be wary of judging the pickups too much based on sound clips. Often in real life, through different rigs and guitars, they sound very different. Best to rely on those with real-world experience with these pickups in similar guitars/amps as you have. I for one can help.

If you're after a tight bottom end but with no fizz in a Gibson Les Paul, I would suggest the Nailbomb set with a ceramic bridge. Its tighter than a Holydiver (which I prefer in brighter guitars, might be a good option for your Ibanez!), but great for Metallica/ACDC kind of stuff. They also play nice with Mesas.

[Dave Sloven]

I replaced a 498T with a Cold Sweat in my SG Standard, but had an alnico Nailbomb in between

The A-bomb was FAR more aggressive than the 498T, whereas the Cold Sweat is probably about the same level of aggression, but clearer, tighter, and more articulate.

The 498T does have a certain quality to it that I wasn't fond of, couldn't quite put my finger on it (and it was not in there for long, so it's hard for me to remember) and it sounded kind of generic.  Maybe fizzy, but I only had a practice amp at the time so it's hard to say.

I would say that the Cold Sweat can definitely do the styles you are after.  The Nailbomb would be good for Hatebreed, but might be a bit too aggressive for some of the other stuff you have in mind.

The Cold Sweat can do Metallica and AC/DC.  The alnico Nailbomb and Rebel Yell could also do AC/DC

I would say that the suggestion of a Holy Diver is not a bad one, but the Cold Sweat could also be good.

I have to admit that I was surprised that you said that a Les Paul Custom was bright.  Seems more like there is an obnoxious frequency that you find overbearing with the 498T in that guitar.  Most people describe LP Customs as dark and I would be careful not to go too dark (e.g., to a Crawler) in that guitar.

[Chiliphil1]

I replaced a 498T with a Cold Sweat in my SG Standard, but had an alnico Nailbomb in between

The A-bomb was FAR more aggressive than the 498T, whereas the Cold Sweat is probably about the same level of aggression, but clearer, tighter, and more articulate.

The 498T does have a certain quality to it that I wasn't fond of, couldn't quite put my finger on it (and it was not in there for long, so it's hard for me to remember) and it sounded kind of generic.  Maybe fizzy, but I only had a practice amp at the time so it's hard to say.

I would say that the Cold Sweat can definitely do the styles you are after.  The Nailbomb would be good for Hatebreed, but might be a bit too aggressive for some of the other stuff you have in mind.

The Cold Sweat can do Metallica and AC/DC.  The alnico Nailbomb and Rebel Yell could also do AC/DC

I would say that the suggestion of a Holy Diver is not a bad one, but the Cold Sweat could also be good.

I have to admit that I was surprised that you said that a Les Paul Custom was bright.  Seems more like there is an obnoxious frequency that you find overbearing with the 498T in that guitar.  Most people describe LP Customs as dark and I would be careful not to go too dark (e.g., to a Crawler) in that guitar.

Yeah, it surprises me too! Compared to the Ibanez with the crunch lab the LP is downright nasty sounding.

In your opinion, given that you seem to have good experience with them, do you think the cold sweat is a tight pickup? My main thing is I want that immediate response and definition. The CL has is but the 498 does not.

The ones I was seriously looking at were the cold sweat, the warpig, and the holy diver since it was recommended by BKP. The CPIG seems awesome but I'm concerned with pushing the recto "too hard" I don't want it to be woofy or boomy and loose definition. I'm also boosting the amp, so the signal going in is pretty hot as it is.

Thanks for the help.

[Chiliphil1]

Hello everyone, I'm Phil from the us.

I'm looking to add some BKP's to the stable and am hoping to get some advice. My 2 main guitars are currently an ibanez rg1570 and a Gibson les Paul custom. I've had the Gibson for a while and I just got the ibanez. The Gibson is running the stock 498r/490t combination and the ibanez has the dimarzio crunchlab/liquifire combo. Honestly, the ibanez just kills the Gibson. To me the Gibson pickups have a very harsh and almost fizzy character to the tone whereas the ibanez is smooth, round, and thick.

I'm running through a dual rectifier tremoverb and find the Gibson to be almost excessively bright. It lacks note definition and just has this annoying cacking fizz sound. I want to get that 498 out of there and put something in that's going to work better.

I'm primarily a rhythm player and hardly ever go into the lead range, my style is harder edge rock. Some of the bands I like to play are Metallica, ac/dc, some 80's things like dio just as a small sample. Every now and again I may do something like hatebreed or avenged sevenfold. I don't really do anything with modern metal, death metal, etc so I've sort of eliminated something like the warpig from my list.

I emailed BKP and they suggested the holydivers but when I went back and listened to the sound samples I just didn't like that pickup too much. I listened to the "modern metal" sound clip for each pickup as that riff sounds like the style I would play and to me the holy diver had a bit of that "fizz" that the Gibson pickup has. When listening to everything I found that the cold sweat stood out the best to me. At this point in planning to keep the 490r in the neck as I don't really have any issue with it and honestly I don't use the neck pickup much at all.

So, do you guys think the cold sweat would work for me? Or should I stick with the given advice and go with the holydiver? Or is there another option I should consider? The main thing I need is a super tight bottom end, no fizz, and the ability to handle classic rock though metal. Running the dual rec I don't really need a pickup that's going to push the amp too much, it'll do that on its own.

Thank you.

Welcome. First of all, be wary of judging the pickups too much based on sound clips. Often in real life, through different rigs and guitars, they sound very different. Best to rely on those with real-world experience with these pickups in similar guitars/amps as you have. I for one can help.

If you're after a tight bottom end but with no fizz in a Gibson Les Paul, I would suggest the Nailbomb set with a ceramic bridge. Its tighter than a Holydiver (which I prefer in brighter guitars, might be a good option for your Ibanez!), but great for Metallica/ACDC kind of stuff. They also play nice with Mesas.

Ok, that sounds pretty good. Tight is the main thing I want, so I will definately look into the C-bomb.

[Chiliphil1]

The holy diver is a good recommendation and in a Les Paul it's way off being fizzy in fact its firmly more on the warm side.

It really is like a warmer JB but better in many ways.  In a Les Paul it's ideal for those Les Paul/JB type tones ala Adam Jones from Tool or Jerry Cantrell AIC.

It's not fizzy.  It'll be tight enough for black album era metallica but the full on super fast thrash stuff something else might be more suitable.

Thank you for your advice. That does make me less interested in the HD, tight is my main thing.. Also, I honestly hated the JB, so if it's anything like that I'm sure I wouldn't be happy with it. I sure wish there was a way to try these things out before buying!

[Dave Sloven]

The Cold Sweat bridge has a tight, controlled bottom end and a crisp high end with a mid scoop

The mid scoop is useful on an SG, which tend to be very middy

In general I've read all positive comments regarding CS pickups in Les Pauls, and I'd be surprised if you didn't have a positive experience.

I hope this helps

[Chiliphil1]

The Cold Sweat bridge has a tight, controlled bottom end and a crisp high end with a mid scoop

The mid scoop is useful on an SG, which tend to be very middy

In general I've read all positive comments regarding CS pickups in Les Pauls, and I'd be surprised if you didn't have a positive experience.

I hope this helps

That helps a lot. Thank you.

[Chiliphil1]

I have to admit that I was surprised that you said that a Les Paul Custom was bright.  Seems more like there is an obnoxious frequency that you find overbearing with the 498T in that guitar.  Most people describe LP Customs as dark and I would be careful not to go too dark (e.g., to a Crawler) in that guitar.

Not to put a cheap plug of my YT channel out here but I just did a demo video on my rectifier. I use the LP throughout and you can hear the brightness and harshness.. Go to the end of the playing and I switch to my Ibanez with the crunch lab and you can REALLY hear it then.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LY1NY2MgsNU&spfreload=10

[Slartibartfarst42]

I might be able to help here as I've tried most of the pickups you're talking about.

The 498T can sometimes sound 'harsh' or 'fizzy' and certainly 'aggressive' because it runs with a lot of upper mids. For a lot of what I played at the time, that was fine and I really quite liked it in a way but a lot of aggressive upper mids can be difficult to control and can be a bit limiting. I wanted a bridge pickup that was similar to the 498T but with those aggressive upper mids toned down a bit. I eventually gave up getting something off the shelf so I had a pickup made to my own specifications and it works a treat so my Les Paul is now my 'go to' guitar as it will cover the most ground and sounds awesome at everything. Bsed on my experience and your comments, I'd forget about the Holydiver as I think it's too smooth too soft in the bottom end. I'd equally dismiss the Nailbomb as that also has a lot of upper mids and is even more aggressive sounding than the 498T.

The pickups that are closest to mine would be either the Cold Sweat or Rebel Yell. The main difference between mine and the Cold Sweat is that mine uses an AV magnet, which I find makes it slightly less cold and sterile than a ceramic magnet, though the Cold Sweat is extremely good for a ceramic pickup and I suspect that this will suit you very well indeed. Based on what I see on the forum, the Cold Sweat bridge pickup isn't used anything like as much as it should be and is absolutely killer in a Les Paul. The Rebel Yell does, of course, have the AV magnet and is the one usually suggested as an alternative to the 498T but it also carries more upper mids than the Cold Sweat so I'd be wary of you ending up closer to the 498T than you actually want. Overall I'd go with the Cold Sweat from the contemporary section and is probably your safest bet.

[Dave Sloven]

Yeah listening to the video I'd say it's the abundance of aggressive upper mids that is the issue.  I'd back Slarti's advice and say stay away from the Rebel Yell if that's not what you want

I think you will definitely get a better tone for, say, the Judas Priest stuff you play in the video with the Cold Sweat

[Chiliphil1]

I might be able to help here as I've tried most of the pickups you're talking about.

The 498T can sometimes sound 'harsh' or 'fizzy' and certainly 'aggressive' because it runs with a lot of upper mids. For a lot of what I played at the time, that was fine and I really quite liked it in a way but a lot of aggressive upper mids can be difficult to control and can be a bit limiting. I wanted a bridge pickup that was similar to the 498T but with those aggressive upper mids toned down a bit. I eventually gave up getting something off the shelf so I had a pickup made to my own specifications and it works a treat so my Les Paul is now my 'go to' guitar as it will cover the most ground and sounds awesome at everything. Based on my experience and your comments, I'd forget about the Holydiver as I think it's too smooth too soft in the bottom end. I'd equally dismiss the Nailbomb as that also has a lot of upper mids and is even more aggressive sounding than the 498T.

The pickups that are closest to mine would be either the Cold Sweat or Rebel Yell. The main difference between mine and the Cold Sweat is that mine uses an AV magnet, which I find makes it slightly less cold and sterile than a ceramic magnet, though the Cold Sweat is extremely good for a ceramic pickup and I suspect that this will suit you very well indeed. Based on what I see on the forum, the Cold Sweat bridge pickup isn't used anything like as much as it should be and is absolutely killer in a Les Paul. The Rebel Yell does, of course, have the AV magnet and is the one usually suggested as an alternative to the 498T but it also carries more upper mids than the Cold Sweat so I'd be wary of you ending up closer to the 498T than you actually want. Overall I'd go with the Cold Sweat from the contemporary section and is probably your safest bet.

Thank you. Yes, the harsh (to me) upper mids are the problem. It seems to get ice picky and mushy. The complete opposite of what I am after. The cold sweat was one I was very interested in and I think that it very well could be the one.

It sounds odd but the high upper mid frequency worked well with Marshall but now that I'm playing Mesa it's no good. Too shrill and thin sounding to me whereas with the Marshall it sounded nice and fat.. I would think it would be the opposite but it isn't. I need darker pickups with the Mesa.

In the meantime I tried some magnet swaps and I found that I really like an A2 in the 498 BUT now it doesn't have enough output but it did teach me a lot about what I was looking for.