Rebel Yell (B) + VHII (N) in swamp ash Body + walnut top guitar?

[Denis]

Hello everyone!

I'm thinking about ordering a custom shop guitar in the next couple of month and I am still undecided about what PU's to go with, so I hoped some of you might help me make a decision.
The guitar will (most likely) have the following specs:

swamp ash body
claro walnut top
wenge / bubinga neck
ebony fretboard
25.5" - 26.5" scale lengh (fanned fret)

I will mainly use it for prog and modern metal applications, similar to Celestial Flesh, Tesseract, Red Seas Fire ect. I know a lot of people use Aftermaths, Painkillers or Juggernauts for that kind of music but I'm afraid those might be a little too hot for what I'd like to go for. I've heard nothing but good things about the RY / VHII combo and I'd really like to go with that because I'm looking for a lot of note definition, clarity and dynamics. However, my biggest concern with that combo is that it'll end up sounding too bright and "ice-picky" in a swamp ash / walnut guitar..? What do you guys think? Can I get some "djenty" tones (I only use that term because then everyone automatically knows what general direction I want to go in) out of the RY / VHII or would you suggest something else for that guitar and genre? I'm open to everthing and very curious what you might suggest!

Thanks a lot everyone!

Denis

[Kiichi]

IIRC Red Seas Fire was using that set (or at least something very similar. There was definetly VHII and RY in there), so on that front you should be good.

I donīt know how exactly the woods react tbh. However, definition, clarity, dynamics, and attitude should be found in spades. And with a fitting amp you need not go hotter imho.

[Yellowjacket]

This is really interesting.  Misha Mansoor has said that amp settings & boost / OD make more difference for tone than pickups & guitar alone.  I'm guessing you'll be going to quite a low tuning?

I have a Rebel Yell bridge and a VHII neck in a 24.75 mahogany bolt on neck / rosewood board with a solid mahogany body axe.  I also have the Juggerset in a Super Strat, which I use for metal.

The Rebel Yell bridge is very open sounding with more focus in the upper mids and a nice harmonic sheen.  The VHII neck is really warm when clean but as you add gain, it has a nice bite in the highs.  It's also very dynamic.

Rebel Yell bridge goes really nicely with any modern high gain head, especially those that are darker with a lot of low mids.  Huge clarity and tight / high sounding lows.  Definitely also clear, even with phatter strings. 

I think your result will be very much contingent on the amp you use. 

The Juggernaut set has more weight in the low mids and it really has that smooth, purring modern sound. (It also has significantly more output and compression)  I've had the best result with it when I run it with a Mesa Mark V.  A brighter and tighter amp with more mids and upper mids brings the tone to where it needs to be IMO.  With a recto, it's low mids + low mids which yields a very wide and dark sound.  Definitely comes alive with a boost anyhow.

I say Kudos for you to try and find that 'modern' sound using more unique gear.  Better to cultivate your own tone than to follow all the lemmings off of the same, worn cliff!!! 

[Denis]

Thanks for the replies guys!

I won't tune too low, drop-A will be the lowest I'll go. Everything beyond that just doesn't really do it for me. Yes, it sounds "br00tal" and everything but drop-A is more then enough for my taste.
I guess I'll go with the RY / VHII combo then! The 'right' amp won't be a problem in my case. I recently sold my tube amp and cab and chose to go the Axe Fx route instead... So far I'm not dissapointed, that thing sounds great and I'm super happy with it! I live in a small apartment with cranky neighbours so amp + cab sadly became a real problem in the last couple of month...
If there are any other pick-up suggestions I'm still glad to hear them! Thanks again!

[pcarrion]

I won't tune too low, drop-A will be the lowest I'll go.

Maybe it is the language barrier, that I am older than 40 and not much experienced with downtuning but... you consider drop A not too low!!!???   

[Yellowjacket]

nowai!  A 7 string turned in standard with the low string a whole step down.  It's (an octave above) the lowest note on a steinway piano ^_^