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Author Topic: Pickups for Warmoth soloist  (Read 1547 times)

krisonic

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Pickups for Warmoth soloist
« on: September 02, 2009, 08:15:01 PM »
Hi everyone!

This is my first(!) post on this forum.

I am in the process of assembling a "custom" type guitar. The body is an alder back with padouk top (supposedly in maple territory sound-wise) and I am putting a maple neck with pau ferro fretboard on it. It's going to have a floyd trem and I am running it through a Mesa/Boogie DC-10 amp with a Bogner 2x12 oversized cab.
So now I am wondering which pickups to go for and wanted to chime in here. I play mainly metal in my band (sort of Mastodon/Tool-inspired), and want pickups that retain the guitar's sound, but which also clean up well. Other inspirational sources are i.e. Jerry Cantrell of Alice In Chains and Dimebag Darrell...several more, but these are the most relevant for what I'm going for I think.

Any opinions here would be greatly appreciated! :)

MDV

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Re: Pickups for Warmoth soloist
« Reply #1 on: September 02, 2009, 08:28:20 PM »
Holy divers should do well.

And welcome to the boards.

krisonic

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Re: Pickups for Warmoth soloist
« Reply #2 on: September 02, 2009, 08:41:48 PM »
Thanks!
Hm, funny I hadn't even considered those. How are they compared to i.e. painkillers? I have even been eyeing the VHII's, but I am not quite sure if they will get me what I'm after. I would like the ability to retain the "wooden" tone of the guitar though. Usually I play with a good amount of gain and tend to like to pull off "pick harmonics" or whadyammacallit from time to time. How is this with the HD's?

ericsabbath

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Re: Pickups for Warmoth soloist
« Reply #3 on: September 02, 2009, 09:42:51 PM »
the Diver has the fattest and loudest harmonics I ever pulled off (even considering EMGs)

it's just perfect for Cantrell and Tool
the rhythm tone doesn't sound like Dime, but the leads are awesome for Pantera too

I gotta add that Jerry is a long time Duncan JB user and now he's using a Motor City Afwayu in his maple guitars, which is also a midrange fat 16k alnico 5 scatterwound pickup
Riff Raff, Mules, Black Dog, VHII's, Cold Sweat

MDV

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Re: Pickups for Warmoth soloist
« Reply #4 on: September 02, 2009, 09:51:57 PM »
They arent terribly sharp pickups, from what I've heard, but youre making a very bright guitar there. They should do pinches just fine. Dont rely on pickups for that, its mostly technique, (some pickups make them leap out, but they arent actually a requisite for them) but I'm confident they're capable of getting them across well so long as you are. Painkillers will have an unholy $%&#load of top end and high mid attack in that guitar, and very tight bass (all things being equal quite a lot of it, but probably not so much in your guitar)

Save the dimebag tones, and then assuming pantera and not damageplan or reinventing the steel, you want really thick, quite dark sounds from a really bright guitar. That doesnt make much sense to me. I advised HDs because they're the darkest of the high output BKs and none of the tones you want are terribly tight, which they arent either. Were the question not on just pickups I would advise you to change the guitar. Too much bright wood, not enough darker wood. Something with a maple neck and mahog body would be better (though with a floyd the influence of the body is diminished).

Most of the tones you want are from all mahogany guitars or les pauls. The only exception is dime (mahog/maple/rosewood, FR) With the FR a neck thats a maple and mahogany composite (1/3 maple, the rest mahogany would be my guess) and a mahogany body might get the compromise you need. In that case I'd go for nailbombs.

MDV

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Re: Pickups for Warmoth soloist
« Reply #5 on: September 02, 2009, 09:53:17 PM »
I defer to Darth hellstyle on the HDs harmonics. I'm going off clips and descriptions. They're the only high output BK I havent had.

krisonic

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Re: Pickups for Warmoth soloist
« Reply #6 on: September 02, 2009, 10:08:37 PM »
I can see that my goals here may be conflicting. I am not so much trying to capture a Pantera tone, it's just that I have a hard time narrowing myself down on what I want. :? Bright guitar, I get that. Floyd making the body wood have less impact on tone; I get that too. What I'm trying to find is a pickup that matches my setup the best that it can, and in this case that would mean as you say a somewhat darker sounding one to make up for a guitar on the brighter side. I am also going for a brass big block for the floyd, to try and retain some "fatness"...I have a Les Paul type guitar (upgraded Epiphone with Bill Lawrence bridge pu etc.) and I understand that I am not going to get my Warmoth to sound like an LP, I just want to get the best possible out of it for what I play.

So far, thank you very much, it's exactly those kinds of things I want to hear about so I can take it all into consideration when finishing my axe. :)

Vilches3

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Re: Pickups for Warmoth soloist
« Reply #7 on: September 04, 2009, 08:59:44 PM »
i have a guitar thats got an alder body, maple top, maple neck and pau ferro fingerboard and it does the dimebag tones well even through a cheap amp.....I don't know about cantrell though, i never tried that one. Its tough because Darrell and Jerry's tones are in completely different ranges. You'd probably be better off with a Warpig or a Nailbomb because of how much range those two have. Im sure some will disagree with me for the warpig, but mine gets me to just about any territory I want, that's why I suggest that as well.

Sweat for Dime

Diver for cantrell

Pig or Bomb to compromise I'd say
« Last Edit: September 04, 2009, 09:07:51 PM by Vilches3 »

krisonic

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Re: Pickups for Warmoth soloist
« Reply #8 on: September 04, 2009, 09:06:17 PM »
That's funny.

I e-mailed them and got a response from Tim directly. He, without hesitation he said, recommended the Nailbombs for what I want. Lots of people here say to go with his recommendations, so I guess I will do just that.
Thanks for all input so far!
-Kristian

ericsabbath

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Re: Pickups for Warmoth soloist
« Reply #9 on: September 04, 2009, 09:25:58 PM »
the Nailbomb works pretty well for those stuff too, but I liked the Holy Diver better, specially for Jerry's tones
it's fatter, more fluid and middier than the Nailbomb
I actually bought the nailbomb intending to play mainly Alice, but it didn't work as awesome for that as the Diver did
the Nailbomb is great for Facelift stuff, but the Diver does a better job for the rest of their main tones
I guess a Rebel Yell would be awesome for that in mahogany too
the bomb works better for Pantera, though
« Last Edit: September 04, 2009, 09:43:37 PM by Eric Hellstyle »
Riff Raff, Mules, Black Dog, VHII's, Cold Sweat

krisonic

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Re: Pickups for Warmoth soloist
« Reply #10 on: September 09, 2009, 10:11:47 PM »
I'm quite divided now as you probably can understand, as for what I should choose. You all have good arguments for your recommendations, and still Tim recommended something else, but you guys go all out explaining how and why, so I'm tempted to go for the Holy Diver set...I understand that they have a good "chunk" as well? I need tightness and oomph for chugging parts, but still clarity on single notes. I have read several threads where people are very satisfied with both HD's and NB's, guess I can't go wrong with either, but am leaning towards the HD's...Aargh, I need to make a choice!! :x

James C

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Re: Pickups for Warmoth soloist
« Reply #11 on: September 10, 2009, 08:09:09 AM »
Nailbombs will still give you oomph and tightness for rhythm and clarity for leads, I have them in both my Alder Vigier and a Basswood Ibanez RG7321. FWIW I have no experience of the Diver so can't compare
Formerly "ManOnTheEdge"

Using a Nailbomb 7 Set in Ibanez RG7321