New guy needs advice.

[tekbow]

Hey everyone,

new guy here, literally joined today, altho i've been lurking round the forums reading up on stuff for a while trying to learn so i dont sound like a complete moron when i finally got the nuts to ask a question..

So, just got back into playing after a 5 year hiatus (skint in uni, kit got flogged to pay the rent) and went for some nice stuff. setup is a soldano hotrod 50+ 212, musicman axis, a PRS mccarty trem and for completeness a THD hotplate. getting nice open vowelly (?) sounds out of everything, articulate clear and defined. I fiddle about with a lot of styles, but always come beck to a high gain thing, altho nothing like what i used to use when i was a kid. tend to prefer a crunchy but smooth mid sound (there is such a thing) to the whole scooped mid thing, with the gain backed off to about 6, and would use the volume pot on the guitar to clean up the sound if i want to.

Thing is, I have never liked PRS pickups in general and the while the guitar is an incredible player it sounds a touch vintage for my liking with the mccartys in comparison to the axis. don't think it has the definition for the kind of stuff i play (think contemporary bluesy heavey rocky widdlynessish, er..). have been hearing more and more about BKP's online and recently from guitarguitar up in edinburgh.

basically looking for something hotter and more contemporary thn whats in there and something that'll not lose the character of the mahogany but open up the sound of it a bit, and bring more mids into the equation, thick tight bass response and will repond well to picked harmonics and gain control from the volume pot.

obviously im not trying to make it sound like the axis (which is my ref. point) as there wuda been no point in buying the PRS. just trying to make it suit my playing a little bit more than it does and make it more modern sounding while still retaining a classicness about it. and obviously something that'l drive the _hit outta my amp if i want it to

so, i was thinking Nailbomb? Warpig and painkiller sound a bit too much on the modern metal metal side (nothing wrong with that, if i ever buy another ESP thats what'll be going into it), cold sweat sounds like its approaching what i want, but from the opposite direction, so leaves me with nailbomb and miracle man.

if you got as far as this thankyou for your patience ;)

so, all opinions welcome!!!

cheers

[PhilKing]

I would get the Miracle Man set.  I have them in a PRS CE Clone and they sound great.  I have also played them in several other guitars and always enjoyed their sound.  The Cold Sweat iset could also be what you want if you are looking for a slightly more vintage tone (think late 70's/80's).  I have Rebel Yells in one of my PRS's and I like them, but they don't have a thick bass.  They do have great mid-range push though and I think they would come through well for bluesy heavy rock, as would the Crawlers too.

[JSHRED]

I'm a new guy to the boards too, but since we're both shopping for similar things, I'll say what I've been looking at, especially since we both favor mahogany archtops.

VHII
Cold Sweat
Miracle Man

All 3 of those seem like a good start for a classic kind of high gain.
Be sure to post what you go with, and how it works out for you.

[Doog]

nailbomb was my first thought.  you won't get a lot of mids from the miracle man.  to be honest, holydiver could be an option for you - imo it's the most 'bluesy' contemporary humbucker, and assuming your guitar has a maple top it shouldn't become too muddy

[tekbow]

hmm lots of idea's there,

so, last nite i went thru my music in an attempy to find a reference "tone" that would approximate what i was after and what i came up with was jerry cantrell/alice in chains, an example tune being die young. its got the crunchy/smooth mids, the tight thick bottom, harmonically rich, and articulate and defined top end. and regardless of what you think of the group i really don't think there's a contemporary rock player more rooted in the blues. funnily enough i went to my lenny kravitz stuff and heard a similar sort of thing with a more vintage edge. now granted jerry's playing a g&l with prob an alder/ash body, my PRS is always going to be a bit darker, specially with the extra mahogany of the Mccarty, but with the right pickup complimenting the wood and the amp im running thru, i dont see why it should be muddier or dark at all. tend to find mahogany can lend the muddy quality or the tite thick quality depending on what else your running..

still strong on the nailbomb, but holydiver sounds interesting. the VHII if its based on the mans early albums mite end up being a bit to nasal and bright because of the amp..

keep em coming if u got time and cheers for the help thus far  :D

[il˙ti]

Reading the above, I'm gonna suggest the Crawler humbucker. It's got the Jerry Cantrel oomph but with a vintage edge. Smooth highs but enough bite to cut through. The Nailbomb has a very notable high-mid peak which is why it sounds bright in some guitars and might not be ideal for the Cantrell tone. Holy Diver will do Cantrell to an A but it's one of the most modern sounding BKPs (from what I've heard) so it might not satisfy your need for a bluesier tone. The Crawler will.

[tekbow]

cheers for that, think we've zoned in on a bluesy sound here, which is definately the background i would be playing from (yay pentatonic on the 12th fret etc) but its not the tone, is why i like cantrell (among many many others) because he's got that blues background and chops, but with a more modern sound. tend to go with the idea thats blues is an style, not necessarily a tone.. if that makes sense.. i understand vintage tones and modern tones, but not necessarily a blues tone or a rock tone as opposed to a rock sound or blues sound. er.. ok getting confusing now.. examle required. look at hendrix. pure blues chops but incredible modern sound (for the time). cantrell, modern crunchy well constructed sound, bluesy style. dude from morbid angel, saturated gain riddled nuclear attack sound. style is very grounded in neoclassical which is coming from classical guitasr flamenco etc. im starting to worry i'm talking b*ll*cks now..

anyway, back to the point. holydiver still sounds interesting as does the nailbomb ( i think the mahogany body on the PRS could stop it getting to bright and screechy). can anyone compare the 2 further or breakdown the sounds a touch. weird comparisons/analogies welcome

cheers  :D

[Doog]

erm... I have a nailbomb in an ibanez rg (basswood body, maple top) and a holydiver in a tele custom fmt (mahogany body, maple top) so I can give you some idea, although I've never been great at describing tones.  the nailbomb definitely has that upper mid peak that ilyti described, and tbh it's boosted even further by the maple top on my rg.  the lows aren't so prominent, but it would probably sound a lot more balanced in your mccarty - you'd get a much beefier tone than I get

the holydiver on the other hand is pretty nicely balanced, if a little on the dark side - but it's nothing a bit of fiddling with the amp eq won't sort out.  produces a very satisfying smooth tone.  tbh I'm considering swapping the pickups between the two guitars because I have a feeling the holydiver would suit the rg more, and the nailbomb would suit the tele more

[tekbow]

actually, thats extremely useful, cheers  :) if you change them over, let me know, cuz i'd be interested to know whether ur feeling pans out.