holy divers/miracle men for korean maple steinberger?

[gwEm]

subject line says it all really ;) i'd basically decided on new-spec holy divers, although i suddenly had 2nd thoughts.

i've basically narrowed my choice down to these two pickups, but i'll listen to other ideas.

i want an out and out modern metal sound, with plenty of friendly agression, and a big dash of the 80s. a suggestion of a half decent clean tone might be nice. i only use standard tuning.

theres no doubt this all-maple guitar is on the bright side - but not overly. i always end up dialing in a bit more bass compared to my other guitars. no problem with that - still sounds perfectly decent, and it might even be a good thing.

the guitar has dimarzio super distortion/PAF at the moment, and they work well with a good tonal balance. the thing is that the steinberger was my number 2 favourite - since then i fitted handwound pups to my other guitars. the steinberger may still be tonally balanced, but its really lifeless, and i end up doing alot of post production when i record it. with bkps i hardly need to do any extra mastering.

thanks

[Philly Q]

Not sure about the pickup recommendations gwEm, but just curious about the guitar - is it one of the little "cricket bat" Spirit by Steinberger models, or something with a full-size body?

[gwEm]

Not sure about the pickup recommendations gwEm, but just curious about the guitar - is it one of the little "cricket bat" Spirit by Steinberger models, or something with a full-size body?

exactly, its a cricket bat spirit by steinberger. its the XP model though, i love its flying v looks. for pics check out the bottom of this way old thread: http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3218&highlight=steinberger even then i wanted to upgrade, although because i was relatively satisfied i put it off... not satisified anymore though.

[Philly Q]

Ah, I forgot the V shaped ones!  I've got one of the rectangular HSH ones, in black.  I quite like it - the neck is huge! - but it's got a couple of loose frets I never got fixed, so it's fairly unplayable.

Still don't know about the pickups, but I'd have thought something powerful as the inherent tone is a bit lacking.  I wonder if the ceramic MMs or old-spec HDs might sound a bit harsh in the maple?  

If I was going to spend money replacing the pickups in mine, I'd be tempted to go for (alnico) Warpigs, I think (If I ever fix it up, I'm actually going to use my old DM MegaDrive and Paf Pro, just because they're lying around doing nothing - I don't think they'll necessarily sound any good though!).

[Catalyst77]

Out and Out modern sounding, but with a hugh dolop of 80'S?

I have a maple guitar and Tim recommended Cold Sweats which I would never have picked out my self.  But are just what I was looking for.  Of the BK pick ups I have/had ~(Mule/emerald/VH2/RY/MM/CS/RIFF RAFF) these are definately the best at combining classic 80's with contemporary Metal

[gwEm]

Ah, I forgot the V shaped ones!  I've got one of the rectangular HSH ones, in black.  I quite like it - the neck is huge! - but it's got a couple of loose frets I never got fixed, so it's fairly unplayable.

Still don't know about the pickups, but I'd have thought something powerful as the inherent tone is a bit lacking.  I wonder if the ceramic MMs or old-spec HDs might sound a bit harsh in the maple?  

If I was going to spend money replacing the pickups in mine, I'd be tempted to go for (alnico) Warpigs, I think (If I ever fix it up, I'm actually going to use my old DM MegaDrive and Paf Pro, just because they're lying around doing nothing - I don't think they'll necessarily sound any good though!).

you wont have any regrets with a paf pro in the neck, i tried that once,  and it was excellent. regarding the lack of tone, i disagree - change those stock emg selects - they are awful - the worst pickups made imho.

i also wonder about miracle men sounding harsh in maple, but twilight oddessy swears by that combo, which is why i'm reconsidering.

benmartin: this is true - maybe i should ask tim about it to be sure. the thing is, the 80s style tone i'm after is that kind of steve stevens, vivian campbell sound, which would seem to fit to the name of the holy diver pup. also some brutal modern sounding holy diver clips in the players room which are in the direction i'm after.

[TwilightOdyssey]

I think you're gonna have to up the output of the bridge pup. Miracle Man or Nailbomb are my first two gueses.

[gwEm]

thanks for the the thoughts and responses. now some follow up:

tim recommened a ceramic bridge to get the best from the maple - cold sweat or painkiller. furthermore, he thought i might like the painkiller neck.

i'm a big judas priest fan, so i think I know the answer to this question now ;)