Another "which bridge pickup?" post...

[Antag]

Which pickup out of the Miracle Man, Nailbomb & new Holy Diver has the most mids?

Anyone who's tried all 3 (I've only got a Miracle Man so far) able to post a few lines comparing the NB & HD to the MM?

My Les Paul is going to get new pickups (stock Gibson things are microphonic & make a nice guitar sound like cr@p :roll: ).  Much as I like the Miracle Man, I want something with a bit more "chunk" for the LP.

Compared to a Duncan Distortion the Miracle Man seems smoother, but despite the high output it doesn't make the clean channel "break up" like the DD.  Beautiful thick meaty tone on the lead channel where the DD seems more "mid-rangy". OK, my comparison wasn't exactly scientific - the MM is in an Alder/Maple lamtop bodied strat with bolt-on Maple neck, & the DD is in a mahogany neck-thru V so there are plenty of other factors affecting the sound. YMMV etc...

Anyway, any advice welcome :)[/b]

[TwilightOdyssey]

Hi & welcome, Antag!

I've just been putting a Holy Diver through its paces the past couple of days, and even did a quick video clip of it, also in this forum, in my all-maple ESP M1 Tiger.

I have a Miracle Man, as well, also in an all-maple ESP guitar (Kamikaze). So, on those two, I can definitely lend an opinion. As for the Nailbomb, I've only played it in an Ibanez RG guitar as well as some other super strat style guitar.

The Holy Diver has, by far, the most midrange push out of the three you mentioned. It is also slightly darker/warmer than the other two. The Miracle Man has more low frequency response. The Nailbomb has more high frequency detail.

That's a very simple comparison.

Are you looking to overdrive a single channel amplifier, which is why you want a 'distortion' style pickup? In that case, I would use the Miracle Man and put a boost after it. This will drive a clean amp into overdrive, and an overdriven amp into distortion. I usually do this with a HBE Dos Mos or HBE CPR pedal.

[Antag]

Thanks Twighlight - I've been lurking a while, but only got round to registering today.  Saw your clip - it rocks, nice playing  :)

How would you compare the output of the HD compared to the MM?  I've seen the specs, just wondering whether there seemed to be huge differences in the output levels?

I have a 2 channel amp (Mesa single rectifier), kinda got used to having a slightly pushed breaky-up sound out of the clean channel when using the bridge pickup (the DD has long been a favourite), then a cleaner clean out of a lower output neck pickup.

Your comment about the bassiness of the MM - & the sound it gives me from what should in theory be a fairly bright sounding guitar - makes me wonder if it's not quite the best option for a thick/dark sounding LP...

[TwilightOdyssey]

My go-to response for most metal players has been 'If you don't have a Miracle Man, get it. If you already have a Miracle Man, then go with ...' X, Y, or Z pup, depending on what the person is looking for.

I think that the MM is the best metal pickup out there, and if you're going to have only one BK, and you play metal, then that's the one to get -- it's a terrific, all-around pickup with a natural compression and lots of harmonic overtones.

The Holy Diver, by comparison, is a bit more vintage-sounding. I would compare the two by eras ... the Holy Diver is good for that Diver Down, Pyromania, or Bark at the Moon type of sound. The Miracle Man is good for that Back for the Attack, No Rest for the Wicked, or even Skid Row.

The Miracle Man will definitely work in a Les Paul type guitar without being overly bright. Many people have used MM in their Les Paul guitars.

[Antag]

The Miracle Man will definitely work in a Les Paul type guitar without being overly bright.

It was more there other way round that I'm worried about - i.e. the MM may be a bit too thick/bassy in a Les Paul?

My Warmoth strat sounds really thick/heavy/powerful with a MM bridge :twisted: :D - in theory that guitar should be way brighter than the LP?  I wonder if the MM in the LP might not "cut" through enough - that's what I meant by "chunk", damn it's hard to put this stuff into words :)

Either way I agree that the MM is a great Metal pickup - it's fantastic in my strat.

If the HD has high enough output (anything more than, say, a Duncan JB is probably enough) then I'll go for that.

& just so I know I'm not missing out, a Nailbomb in my next Warmoth project  :twisted:

[Ratrod]

Actually, Tim made the Miracle man with a Les Paul in mind. It'll give you a great Zakk Wylde tone and more.