BKP's for Yamaha Pacifica in Cstandard (Doom/Stoner)

[Riffmagus]

Morning All,

First Post - and long,long time lurker...

I'm on the verge of rescuing my '94 Yamaha Pacifca - and want to turn it into my Doom / Stoner axe in C standard. I have my strat for E and blues/rock - and really want some pickups to compliment the low tuning and tone of the Doom / Stoner bands I appreciate and have grown up with.

Currently, my 'Phoenix' Pacifica is loaded with a Kent Armstrong Rocker in the bridge, Seymour Duncan single coil in the neck (I forget which - they went in some 13 years ago) and what I believe to be a Dimarzio Fast Track (or hot rails?) in the neck.

This guitar was my first love - which is why I chose to clean it up and respray it back in 2009 as it was looking pretty beat up. With a new lease of life - it was reborn with the Pheonix logo and has been my backup axe to my USA Fender.

I'm now looking into replacing the bridge saddles, nut with an Earvana, electrics and of course - pickups! This is where BKP is head and shoulders above the rest. For my playing style I love to still have a warm, organic tone of the guitar come through but with good bass response, pinch harmonics and great sustain for drone/manipulated feedback parts.

Tone-wise - I love playing with the tone rolled all the way off on the middle pickup and bridge and middle selected for a thick 'woman' type tone. Then flicking back to the bridge and adjusting tone for leads and wah parts.

I'm currently torn between just getting a new bridge and neck pickup combo - or swapping out all three. Current tone is a little muddy when in C standard and the harmonics are not popping out like I wish they did.

I am dead-set on Alnico magnets though - neer been a fan of ceramic and the high end it gives. This brings me to considering either a Stockholm HS90 in the bridge or even a Pig HSP 90 if this exists? I really like the extra 'lively' tone of the p90 over the humbucker. But am open to suggestions - the tone still needs to be thick and tight when palm muting and chugging.

For the neck this would be a single coil - as I don't want to do any further routing on the s/plate. Again, something warm and organic would be ideal - for cleans and bluesy/sustaining leads. Suggestions please!

For tone ideas - here are a few youtube clips of artists I admire tone-wise:

Place of Skulls (Victor Griffin) 'Song of Solomon'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udsfSqFtyxA

This is my rhythm tone nirvana - I adore this smooth yeat crushingly heavy tone.

Earthless (Isaiah Mitchell) 'Godspeed'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oB_94-Sz0SY&feature=related

The goodness kicks in at 2:55 after the psychadelic intro. I saw them live @ Roadburn 2008 and they blew me away. Rest of the track is a Strat just wailing away and rocking out with a nice Od on Wah. :)

Cathedral (Gaz Jennings) 'Midnight Mountain'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTXnVlX62fw&feature=related

Yes, it's a cheesy track from the Coventry Doom troupe - but the great 70's tone and riffs are something that always puts a smile on my face.

Soilent Green (Brian Patton) 'Antioxidant'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxcaIKMAJ3Y&feature=related

Sheer brutality and a guitar tone that kills - stop start riffs on a dime and a HUGE Southern swagger.

Well - that's what I adore-and covers all my playing styles. So any suggestions as to what would compliment this tone quest would be very much appreciated!

PS - just previewed this - sorry for the wall of text!!

Cheers,

-Riff

[Telerocker]

Warpig

[Slartibartfarst42]

A mate of mine uses an A-Pig in a Strat so that should be quite similar to the Pacifica tonally. It's tuned to standard yet always sounds detuned anyway to me. I'd say it's thick, organic and brutal so should suit what you're after but I've no idea how it copes with low tunings I'm afraid. The other option that leaps to mind is an alnico Nailbomb. I've not tried it myself, nor do I know anyone personally who has but my impression from things I've read hear and the clips on the website is that it's very tight for an alnico pup so should cope ok with low tunings.

[Mr. Air]

I think the Pig90 would be a good choice. It's often mentioned as being great for doom and stoner. Don't know how it will sit in a strat type guitar though. Hopefully someone with more knowledge will bring it to the table  :D

[Riffmagus]

I have now attached a mp3 giving an example of my current tone. This is with the tone knob on '0' for all pickups - and the bridge h/b and neck pu selected (so pos 2 of my 5 way.)

I love how thick it sounds and the general tone, just would like the pu's to sing more and get as smooth as possible tone whilst still being able to play sledgehammer riffs.

Certainly appreciate any feedback please and further recommendations.