Pickup selection Help!!!!

[irmasil3]

Hi all!!I have a custom guitar bolt-on honduras mahogany body,flame maple top, flame maple neck with ebony fingerboard 24 frets that produces quite a punchy fat sound with real clarity. I want to upgrade to BK but not sure what to get and the price is not error-forgiving.
I ve email BK and they suggested Painkillers or Holydivers. I 've check the sound clips and I like the HD but the PK sound too sterile for me and a bit tremble-y for my taste.
Then I ve checked the nailbomb sound clips and I was WOW!!!ANd then the Aftermaths and I was WOW!!!! BUt, I do not detune so...and are these going to work on my guitar?
Favorite sounds??Well, I play 80s heavy,shred and prog thrash,lead tone in my mind is For the love of God,or Jewel By Friedman....Also, the nailbomb-alnico clip does justice!!!
Treble-y enough but not like a mosquito,with fat accurate bass and a good dose of mids to cut through.
Last, I ve always been a fan of Alnico V and never tried Ceramics, as they all say are too sterile...(rumors???)

[Alex]

I think the Nailbomb would work well. It does for most purposes.

[Telerocker]

The HD has a fatter lead tone. The NB sounds hotter and more aggressive. I would go for the HD, but the NB should work well too.

[Nolly]

The HD is a wicked pickup and should serve you well. Given that the clips for those on the site are done with a Les Paul Custom, you can expect it to sound livelier and clearer in your guitar but still retain the fat midrange voicing and tight low end.

[irmasil3]

I really liked the way the HD sounds in the clips, it just seems to me that nailbomb has a bit more note separation and a bit more oumph....I have always gone for a clean,full-on saturated tone with fat mids so it sounds a bit woody and cuts through the mix.Will the HD be less than what I want?Or should I trust my ears and go for the nailbomb? The WOW factor spins on my mind again and again....

[ericsabbath]

I really liked the way the HD sounds in the clips, it just seems to me that nailbomb has a bit more note separation and a bit more oumph....I have always gone for a clean,full-on saturated tone with fat mids so it sounds a bit woody and cuts through the mix.Will the HD be less than what I want?Or should I trust my ears and go for the nailbomb? The WOW factor spins on my mind again and again....

having tried both in the same guitar, I'd say the diver has better note separation and cuts better
clean tone is clearer as well
the nailbomb is louder, hotter, more aggressive and has a much leaner midrange
the diver mids are a lot more in-your-face, but the nailbomb is noticeably more powerful
the bomb is a very dense and focused sounding pickup
it has a sharper and more aggressive high end, but the overall tone is a bit darker than the holy diver

for Vai and Friedman I'd definitely pick the diver over the nailbomb, but nailbomb will work pretty well too
the nailbomb sounds more like mid 90's crossover bands (biohazard, helmet, silverchair, madball, sepultura) than classic 80's thrash and hard rock, but Tim recommends it for some Satriani stuff, although I personally think that would be overkill

[irmasil3]

Thanks guys! It seems that I will go for the Divers finally. I heard the clips again and again and after all the comments here I am convinced. The overall power of the pickups is a question though!
The guitar has Razors on it!javascript:void(0);
At the time of building it they where considered boutique!Its the THT (with a massive output, about 21kohms) on the bridge and a THVP+(at almost 11kohms) on the neck position. They served me well for many years and I was happy, so thats why I have so many second thoughts...

[braintheory]

what type of les paul were the clips done in?