Pickups in neck-through guitar

[Deadlock]

Hello all! A while back I got recommended a Nailbomb bridge (ceramic) and a Holy Diver neck for my current guitar.

Thing is, I'm changing to a similar guitar (also mahogany body, strat-ish guitar), but the main difference is that the new one is neck-through, while my current guitar is a bolt-on neck. Also the one I'm looking at is a 'regular' weight guitar, while my current is a pretty light guitar.

Will the same pickups work in this guitar, or maybe the mids could be too pronounced with a neck-through? I read this concern somewhere else, and wanted to get the people's opinion and experience :)

Bonus question: I was maybe considering a Holy Diver set instead of the NB/HD combo. If playing with high gain, what would the main difference be comparing a HD bridge with a NB bridge? And most importantly, would it work with a neck-through style guitar?

Thanks in advance!

[Ephemeria]

Well if your worried about the Nailbomb have too much pronounced mids, I'd stay away from the Holy Diver bridge. The Holy Diver works best in lighter/brighter guitars. That's not to say there isn't exceptions. What kind of music you exactly wanting to play?

[BigB]

Thing is, I'm changing to a similar guitar (also mahogany body, strat-ish guitar), but the main difference is that the new one is neck-through, while my current guitar is a bolt-on neck.

On a neck-thru guitar, the neck wood has *much* more influence than the side's wood, so whatever the sides, so if it's a maple neck-thru, you can consider you have a maple body with a bit of mahogany on the sides.

IMHO, you'd better wait until you have played that new guitar enough to know how it sounds both plugged and unplugged.

[Deadlock]

I'm just doing some research, so I'm not worried about anything in particular. :)

Yeah, I will see how the guitar sounds first before deciding on anything! I will find out the neck wood later tonight.

Writing from my phone, so its taking a while to write and research at the same time :)

[Philly Q]

I seem to recall threads saying the Cold Sweat is a good choice in a neck-thru, although I'd have thought it would be rather bright.

(Must admit I've never actually owned a neck-thru, so I'm not familiar with their tonal qualities)

[Deadlock]

From what I can gather, then it is a maple neck through a mahogany body. What does this mean, I don't really know the properties of maple. :)

[Ephemeria]

Maple is a very bright wood. But the Mahagony wings should even out the tone a bit. I love Maple-neck through Mahogany guitars.

[Telerocker]

A Diver should work in a maple-neck thru/mah. comb.

[Deadlock]

Thanks for all your input :)

A Diver should work in a maple-neck thru/mah. comb.

Cool stuff :D What about the Nailbomb I originally set my mind on you think? From the EQ chart, the ceramic option looks like it has alot of treble, with the Alnico5 option a little less. Or maybe like I said before, a set of Holy Divers.

To answer the very first question I got in this thread; without going into specifics about what tone I'm really after (I could probably mention alot of very different bands and styles I play), progressive metal and rock fascinates me. So basically need two pickups that can cover a lot of different sounds, and thus my original thought of NB+HD.

But like I also said, I will wait with the decision until I know more. This is just research - need to do something to pass the time, right? ;)

[Ephemeria]

I'd say an alnico Nailbomb and Cold Sweat neck. The Ceramic Nailbomb is really good for progressive metal tones, such as Dream Theater. But the alnico still gives you a lot of tightness, but provides you with a pickup that can achieve very good rock tones too. The Cold Sweat neck is a very popular pairing, it provides a very fluent tone :)

[Deadlock]

I'd say an alnico Nailbomb and Cold Sweat neck. The Ceramic Nailbomb is really good for progressive metal tones, such as Dream Theater. But the alnico still gives you a lot of tightness, but provides you with a pickup that can achieve very good rock tones too. The Cold Sweat neck is a very popular pairing, it provides a very fluent tone :)

With the CS supposedly being a pretty bright pickup, combining that with maple - wouldn't that make it too bright?

Sorry about all my questions ;)

[Ephemeria]

Not at all. Sometimes the EQ can be misleading. I've got the nailbomb/cold sweat combo on an Ibanez S Series. That's maple neck and mahogany body. But the body is very thin so it doesn't have that much depth, and the the Cold Sweat sounds awesomeeeee! The high treble misled me at first into thinking it'd hurt your ear. But its more that your tone cuts through in a very pleasant way, each note has definition which is why it's great for sweeping and shredding. That's all down to the higher treble, I think. You will not go wrong with that combo. You've still got to remember you have mahogany wings and the neck pickup always takes out some treble as well. It will balance your guitar perfectly. :) Feel free to ask anything else. I've had this pickup combo in 6 different guitars, so I know how it reacts to certain ones :)

[BigB]

From what I can gather, then it is a maple neck through a mahogany body. What does this mean, I don't really know the properties of maple. :)

Bright highs indeed,  rich hi-mids and harmonic content, very tight lows, sharp attacks and lot of sustain. Mahogany should soften and warm it up a bit and add more density in the low-mids.

From experience, hi output ceramic pickups can easily sound harsh on a going-thru maple neck. Abomb ? Why not, but it might get a bit abrasive. The Crawler bridge works wonder on a going-thru maple-neck, but I'm not sure it would fit your needs.

[Telerocker]

I suggest the Diver, bec I like the clips of this pu in brighter guitars. Beefs up the sound and sounds organic. Personally I'm not a fan of the Nailbomb, but this opinion is merely based on clips and threads. I have the Crawler in a swampashstrat and works great (in bolt-ons with brighter tones), but that's a different guitar and I think it's a bit too vintagehot PAF-character for what you would like. Maybe I'm wrong.

[Deadlock]

Writing from phone again :)

I have a question though. How is the cold sweat neck with the cleans?  And how does it compare with the holy diver neck, also clean?

By the way, I really appreciate all your help - of course!