Pickup names - list of decodes and suitable guitars?

[Twinfan]

OK, so I can work some of them out myself but what do they all refer to and what guitars were they desgned for?

Humbuckers:

Riff Raff - AC/DC, designed for SGs.
Warpig - Black Sabbath, designed for metal.
Emerald - Thin Lizzy, designed for Les Pauls.
Black Dog - Led Zeppelin, designed for Les Pauls.
VHII - Van Halen, designed for bolt-on neck superstrats.
Mule - Government Mule.  PAF type for Les Pauls.
Stormy Monday - T Bone Walker classic, designed for 335s and Les Pauls.
Miracle Man - Ozzy Osbourne.  Designed for Les Pauls.
Crawler - named after the band.  Designed for PRS types?
Holydiver - named after the Dio song?  Designed for what?
Nailbomb - named after the band?  Designed for metal.
Abraxas - named after the Santana album?  Designed for PRS types?
Mississippi Queen (P-90) - named after the Mountain song?  Designed for Les Pauls?

Teles:

Country Boy - named after the John Denver song?
Brown Sugars - Rolling Stones
Piledriver - named after the Status Quo Album?
Yardbird - The Yardbirds
The Boss - Bruce Springsteen

Strats:

The Sultans - Dire Straits
Mothers Milk - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Slow Hand - Eric Clapton
Irish Tour - Rory Gallagher
Trilogy - named after the Yngwie Malmsteen album?
The Sinner - named after the Neil Young track "Yonder Stand The Sinner"?
Apache - The Shadows

Anything else?  Have I got most of them right?

[_tom_]

Mules are modelled towards Government Mule tone I think.

[dave_mc]

Humbuckers:

Riff Raff - AC/DC, designed for SGs. Yep.
Warpig - Black Sabbath, designed for SGs? Don't think it matters, it's for metal guitars.
Emerald - Thin Lizzy, designed for Les Pauls. Yep.
Black Dog - Led Zeppelin, designed for Les Pauls. Yep.
VHII - Van Halen, designed for bolt-on neck superstrats. Yep.
Mule - Named after what?  PAF type for Les Pauls? Named after the band, gov't mule- it;s basically a classic les paul tone,from all i hear (i'm not familiar with the band)
Stormy Monday - T Bone Walker classic, designed for 335s and Les Pauls. Not sure. It's definitely a bluesy tone.
Miracle Man - Ozzy Osbourne.  Designed for Les Pauls? Yep.
Crawler - named after the band.  Designed for PRS types? think it's designed to sound good in both strats and les pauls
Holydiver - named after the Dio song?  Designed for what? Dunno- superstrats?
Nailbomb - named after the band?  Designed for what? Metal guitars again, i presume.
Abraxas - named after the Santana album?  Designed for PRS types? probably a more vintage sanatana tone, gibsons, maybe.
Mississippi Queen (P-90) - named aftre the Mountain song?  Designed for Les Pauls? Dunno.

Teles:

Country Boy - named after the John Denver song? Dunno
Brown Sugars - Rolling Stones Yep.
Piledriver - named after the Status Quo Album? Dunno.
Yardbird - The Yardbirds  I assume so.
The Boss - Bruce Springsteen Yep.

Strats:

The Sultans - Dire Straits Yep
Mothers Milk - Red Hot Chili Peppers Yep
Slow Hand - Eric Clapton Yep
Irish Tour - Rory Gallagher Yep
Trilogy - named after the Yngwie Lamsteen album? Think so- and it's malmsteen ;)
The Sinner - named after the Neil Young track "Yonder Stand The SInner"? I thought it was named after a judal priest song, but i'm not sure.
Apache - The Shadows Yep.

I've put in the ones i know (and the ones i think i know), and also, although a certain pickup might be designed to work well in a certain guitar, it doesn't mean it won't work well in another!

[Twinfan]

Cheers - I've updated my original post.  Sorry about the Malmsteen typo :oops:

also, although a certain pickup might be designed to work well in a certain guitar, it doesn't mean it won't work well in another!

Oh yeah, I know that!  Just wondering what the aim was...

[dave_mc]

^no worries on malmsteen!  :lol:

[jt]

:D I`m not sure that Tim designs P/U for particular guitars only. He might have done in some cases but not all. It`s very misleading to just think that a VHII is only for bolt on super strats, in fact the majority of us that use this P/U use it in Gibson/PRS  type guitars. ie glued necks made from Mahogany. Not your classic bolt on super strat types.  I think you`ll find that the Mules are Tims all rounder type P/U good in any guitar. The Crawlers where designed with Geof Whithorn & were made to work in either a Gibbo type or a Strat type.  I`m sure Tim/Steve will chip in with the awnser.

As for what sounds there after.....i think the Sinner was named after the Judas Priest track but again Tim/Steve will confirm this when they chime in..   :D

 :D  8)

[rahnooo]

The Sinner - named after the Neil Young track "Yonder Stand The SInner"?

Neil has always used a '53 Goldtop Les Paul, so I'd be suprised if he was the inspiration for a strat pickup. Could be wrong tho...

[Elliot]

I thought Neil Young had a batterd black Les Paul with a bigsby, P90 neck and Firebird humbucker bridge.

as in: http://www.thrasherswheat.org/sound.htm

I agree that Sinner does not refer to Neil Young though!

[carlaz]

Remember what Tim always says: that the pickup names are more about the feel or the "vibe" than an attempt to identify a technical match to what sort of pickups might have been used by a given band or on a given song.

Like, I'm pretty sure the Warpig is hotter and more brutal than most any pickup Iommi has used (as people point out, he used P90s a lot in the '70s). But it is a vicious beast of a Alnico pickup, with huge output and low end, capturing "what you might imagine in your head" about those big power chords that kick off "War Pigs". :twisted:

And so on .... :)

[rahnooo]

I thought Neil Young had a batterd black Les Paul with a bigsby, P90 neck and Firebird humbucker bridge.

as in: http://www.thrasherswheat.org/sound.htm

He does. It's the same guitar, but got refinished in black back in the mists of time. Started out as a '53 Goldtop before it got a paint job, new pups and the bigsby.

From "Shakey" by J McDonough:

"Cradled in a stand in front of the amps is the fuse for the dynamite, Young's trademark ax - Old Black, a '53 Gold Top Les Paul some knothead daubed with black eons ago. Old Black's features include a Bigsby wang bar, which pulls strings and bends notes, and a Firebird pickup so sensitive you cam talk through it. It's a demonic instrument."  :twisted:

*Rahnooo*

[dave_mc]

The Sinner - named after the Neil Young track "Yonder Stand The SInner"?

Neil has always used a '53 Goldtop Les Paul, so I'd be suprised if he was the inspiration for a strat pickup. Could be wrong tho...

hey, it wasn't me who wrote it was neil young, it was the threadstarter!

I said i thought it was named after a judas priest song, i quoted the guy to correct him!

 :P

[Twinfan]

I've read that Neil Young used strats too though?

[Ratrod]

I thought I saw him play a black Gretsch Duo Jet with Hi-Lo-Trons once.

[Searcher]

The Country Boy pups are probably named for Albert Lee.