Bare knuckle most versatile pup ?

[Telerocker]

I've never played a VHII myself but I believe the Emerald bridge is both tighter and brighter. It really can be used with insane levels of gain if needed. It seems to me that if you want a pickup that's a bit hotter, a bit brighter and a bit tighter, the Emerald is well worth a closer look.

Whether it is tigther I can't tell. I never had an Emerald. The VHII is bright in a good sense that it cuts without being harsh, but the total balance is quite ok. Goods mids and quite some bass. The crunch is to die for and it just screams when you start to dig in.

[Slartibartfarst42]

I based my comments on the fact that most people comment on the Emerald being very bright indeed and my own experience of it was that it was very bright. I also found that it would take as much gain as I could throw at it, which seems unusual for most vintage/vintage hot pickups.

If I were to compare the Emerald to the Cold Sweat and A-Bomb, I'd say that the Cold Sweat is closest. It's not as bright as the Emerald and the cleans aren't as good, though they were excellent compared to most other ceramics. Both are quite open sounding, though there's a bit more compression on the Cold Sweat and the Cold Sweat is a bit more aggressive. The A-Bomb is a very different beast. It's not as bright as the Emerald, though it does seem to have a fair bit of upper mids. The overall sound is 'bigger' and a lot more aggressive. It's really quite a 'hairy' sound on the A-Bomb. It's often touted as being versatile and I can see why as it sits between a number of other pickups but I found its versatility limited because of the extreme tightness, aggression and hairiness. Having said that, in the right guitar I'm sure it could be a versatile option.