Brighter neck pup? Rebel Yell vs Holy Diver....

[ztevie]

I've read both of these are among the brightest neck pickups in BKP line? I like bright neck pickups, i often find them too muddy for what i want to play... I understand a part is the nature of neck position itself, but...
For those who tried both, how would you compare them regarding brightness, output, tone and how they differ for different music styles?

Planning for a superstrat with mahogany body and neck, ebony fretboard, 24.75" scale, 24 frets. Musical preferences for the neck is mostly instrumental, progressive rock/metal soloing. Think Marco Sfogli... Clarity and attack but still with creamy,  sustainrich playing. The bridge will probably be Holy Diver.

[Alfi27]

I do unfortunately not have an answer for your question, but may I suggest a Mississippi Queen or Nantucket in the neck position? They are both P90s so they are naturally quite a bit brighter than humbuckers. If you do not have use for coil tapping this is an excellent and quite popular option.

[ztevie]

Oh, I thought P90's were darker by nature?
I do use split or parallel, especially in the neck for glassier clean tones, so I think I'll go with a humbucker.

[Slartibartfarst42]

I haven't tried both of the options you're talking about, BUT, I have owned a Holydiver neck and a Coldsweat neck, which is very close indeed to the Rebel Yell neck. The Holydiver was the brighter of the two, retained far more PAF character and was thinner sounding but I don't mean that in a bad way. Like you I prefer a brighter neck pickup. The Holydiver is a fantastic neck pickup and as great as the Coldsweat was, given the choice between those two, I'd take the Holydiver again every single time without hesitation.

[ztevie]

Thanks! Yeah i have the cold sweat neck in another guitar and it's probably one of the best neck pups I've used. Maybe brighter is not the word I'm looking for here, clearer is a better description? Cold Sweat is indeed clearer than most I've tried and i think holy diver will be fine in this other guitar.

[ztevie]

Does anyone know, holy diver can not be ordered with a double row of screws. In the options for the open holy diver you can choose gold screws, right? But, if i choose gold screws will the slug poles be gold aswell? It doesn't say that clear but I assume this would be the case? 

[Slartibartfarst42]

I don't see why not. I know you can't adjust the standard specification as much as you used to but surely they could do this!

[ztevie]

Should be...  I mean you order gold screws but the slug poles stay nickel. That would look weird. Or maybe so odd it  would become the new hip thing everyone must have!

[Alfi27]

I guess gold screws are made for gold covers where the slug poles are hidden, I have never seen golden slugs... But I might be wrong

EDIT: I'd be damned...

[darkbluemurder]

For those who tried both, how would you compare them regarding brightness, output, tone and how they differ for different music styles?

I had both neck pickups in the same LP Custom. The Holydiver neck is definitely brighter than the Rebel Yell neck, and a little lower output. Both are nice sounding pickups but neither has a tight low end like e.g. a Firebird, a mini humbucker or a P90. And while a P90 is generally a warm sounding pickup its low end is usually much tighter than that of a humbucker. Dang- I should have gotten one of those Gibson BFGs - they had a bridge humbucker and a neck P90 - killer combination. I think a P90 would do what you want. A classic Firebird pickup is very bright and bitey and more akin to a single coil tone. The mini humbucker lies somewhere in between these two.

I just noticed that the guitar you are wanting use the pickup with has 24 frets. In that case I would consider the VH II neck. It's the most asymmetrically wound pickup in the BKP line, i.e. the screw coil is quite a bit hotter than the slug coil. This puts some warmth back (with a 24 fret guitar the neck pickup sits closer to the bridge and picks up a slightly more shallow string movement compared to the traditional neck pickup position), and the asymmetrical coils provide tightness on the low end. I have a VHII neck in my PRS Custom (24 frets).

Cheers Stephan

[ztevie]

Thanks for a thorough walkthru.
I don't know why but i always thought of p90 as more mushy sounding. Here I'm looking for a tight clear pickup that can do shred style soloing.
VHII? But isn't this considerably darker than HD and RY? I will probably wire it in parallel aswell or maybe split together with split bridge...

[darkbluemurder]

Yes the VHII neck is definitely darker than the Holydiver neck (probably only slightly darker than the RY neck).

Cheers Stephan