Author Topic: New Pickup Help (Read 3249 times)

littlemurph7976 · « **on:** October 26, 2007, 11:05:30 PM »

Hello, Im new here, its my first post.
Ive been directed here from the Ultimate-guitar.com Forums.
I have a basswood Ibanez RG350DX which is H/S/H. I would like to put new pickups in it. Ive been haviong a look around the BK site and like all of the sound clips but Im not sure which ones would be best for me.
I play mainly metal, but would like nice cleans and the ability to do some classic rock kind of bluesy, crunchy stuff. I also like quite evenly balanced pickups. I also want to put coil taps on these pickups so would like to know what are best split as well. I also primarily use single coils for cleans.

thanks for all help before hand and sorry if Ive forgotten anything :)

Will · « **Reply #1 on:** October 26, 2007, 11:16:22 PM »

Welcome.

I can't be of any help choosing as I only have one at the moment
but you will probably be asked to define metal a little more, bands etc, what era and the like

littlemurph7976 · « **Reply #2 on:** October 26, 2007, 11:24:56 PM »

Oh thanks, I knew Id forget to specify something.
Im looking for something that will be able to cover most subgenres of metal, from old school Metallica and Maiden to All That Remains or even heavier to stuff like Machine Head (I know they use EMGs but I already have one guitar with them and dont want to go active again). I also forgot to mention that I have a Peavey 5150 mkII so Im well covered amp-wise.

I like the sounds of the Nailbomb bridge and Coldsweat Neck but are they very versatile? And I have no clue about any of the single coils. what would you suggest for a nice, warm single coil clean sound for the middle position?

PhilKing · « **Reply #3 on:** October 27, 2007, 01:03:09 PM »

I have the Nailbomb bridge and Cold Sweat neck in an Ibanez, with an Irish Tour in the single coil position. I put a 3 way mini toggle in to switch the IT in and out (gives in by itself/with the 5-way/out), and then put PRS style wiring on the 2 humbuckers. I am a rock/blues player more than a metal player, however this setup does sound great. I can go from a heavy biting crunch all the way to a Dave Murray lead tone if I run the gain high, or get a great single coil tone with just the IT and the volume backed off, and then go into the more classic rock tones from the humbuckers. The great thing with BK's is that you don't lose clarity when you back off the volume.

I have also played an Ibanez with 2 Warpigs and a Trilogy, which was insane for heavier stuff but could clean up really nicely.

littlemurph7976 · « **Reply #4 on:** October 27, 2007, 11:12:30 PM »

Thanks for that. I was interested in the Irish Tour when I was first looking. Would you say that a NB/IT/CS combo would do well for versatility, but mainly metal? Also will they be balanced output wise?

PhilKing · « **Reply #5 on:** October 28, 2007, 11:57:30 AM »

They are great for versatility and cover a lot of areas. They are very well balanced and also the humbuckers sound good when split or in parallel. Some of the sound depends on what you play, but if you are more of a heavy rock/classic metal player, then overall I think this combo will do it If you want to do the newer heavier end of metal, then using the Cold Sweat bridge instead of the Nailbomb would give a harder attack and tighter bass.

littlemurph7976 · « **Reply #6 on:** October 28, 2007, 09:36:10 PM »

I was very much looking for a more modern metal sound like Machine head/Lamb of God as apposed to a Hard Rock/Classic Metal sound.

Ive heard that the Ceramic Warpig is the best BK for metal, so what would a Ceramic Warpig(B)/Irish Tour(M)/Nailbomb(N) be like?

Then I have metal at the bridge, nice single coil cleans and Ive heard the Nailbomb is very versatile, so Ill have some versatility in the neck pickup.

MDV · « **Reply #7 on:** October 28, 2007, 10:38:18 PM »

Thats a really good combo. Go for that.

Warpigs, ceramic and A5, split really well. Nailbomb neck will basically do anything you want. Irish tours are a great mid-gain pairing with them: it'll keep up volume wise, give really good cleans and a fairly high gain sound with a nice extra kick from its mid push.

littlemurph7976 · « **Reply #8 on:** October 28, 2007, 10:42:44 PM »

Thanks for the reply.
I think Ill go with that combination :D
One more quick question, should I order the pickups from somewhere like GAK.co.uk or should I order them direct from this site? I assume ordering direct from here would be cheaper.

Ted · « **Reply #9 on:** October 28, 2007, 10:46:10 PM »

Just ring BKP direct and tell them what you'd like so you get exactly what you wanted.

littlemurph7976 · « **Reply #10 on:** October 28, 2007, 10:52:38 PM »

Righteo thanks for that.
If I showed the good people at BK a picture of how i wanted the finish to look, dyu reckon they could copy it? (I have an Ibanez RG350EX and it has a wierd chromey/nickel coloured scratchplate so Id like the covers to match that if possible)

P.S thats a nice looking rig you have from what I can make out from the small pic :P