slew of questions

[ibznorange]

hey guys, BKP noob here, but im pretty well sold on em.
i played a few at a shop when i overheard a guy with 2 guitars he was picking up from the tech say they were bkp equipped. i heard great things, and went over and asked, and he let me check them out. i was really impressed.

now, i think i have my set chosen. this if for a mahogany seven string ibanez s7320. I like high output, but i prefer moderate to high, so ive chosen either a miracle man or a holydiver for the bridge, and im totally sold on the emerald neck.

i've asked around on Sevenstring.org, where i found out about bkp's, but i figured id ask around here, as you guys seem pretty knowledgeable (understandably so) on the subject

what would you guys say would balance better in the bridge, a holydiver or a miracle man?

second of all, has anybody tried these pups in parallel? a neck pup in parallel is my favourite position for leads, and i like a bridge pickup in parallel. actually, im wiring up my guitar with a 3 way tele blade, so its neck, both, and bridge. im removing my tone knob, and adding 2 mini switches, one for each pup to convert it from series to parallel, and a push pull on the volume to switch the middle position from standard parallel to series. any experience with this?

third of all, i've heard it but cant find it on the site, are single coils available in 7 string format?

Thanks a ton in advance guys

[Eric]

I'd go with the Holy Diver over the Miracle Man only because I prefer the fatter more midrange heavy sound of the HD to the mid scooped brutality of the MM.

I have no idea about the pickups in parallel or single coils though. Sorry.

[ibznorange]

also, is it bad that im leaning holydriver just becase im biased against ceramic magnets?

[ericsabbath]

both are awesome pickups and they're my favorite bridge BKP's
i prefer the holy diver... i love the fat lead sound, the powerful chords (but not loose),and the extreme clarity on it
the cleans are wonderful too
the miracle man sounds more original
it has a pretty unique sound
some kind of motorcycle roar on low mids and the leads cut like chainsaw
very crunchy and powerful
the cleans are just ok, but very "linear"

so depends a lot on what do you like in a pickup, what styles do you play and specially what kind of amp/distortion are you planning to use
if you're into Mesa stuff (loose bottom end), the miracle man will your picking sound clearer
if you're into death or metalcore stuff, the miracle man will help a lot too
it's good for bright and sharp hard rock tones too
the holy diver is able to do anything greatly but if want true tightness, miracle man is the way
if you like modern stuff like tool or dream theater, go with holy diver

by the way, Tim makes an alnico version of miracle man too

[dave_mc]

i haven't tried the HD, nor the emerald, so I'm staying out of that part of the question.

But I have my miracle man wired in parallel, and my neck cold sweat. to be honest I don't use it all that much (the parallel), but it's definitely useable- adds a little sparkle, and takes a bit of gain off... nice if you want a more sparkly, lower output clean tone, for example. that's in a 6-string, by the way.

[il˙ti]

Interesting choice of the Emerald neck. I take it you play metal, so I'm looking forward to hear how this one shreds ;) (if it's possible for you to do soundclips of course)

This isn't based on experience, but I think the MM would clash with the Emmy neck. Emerald is a very warm, vintage-y pickup and MM is probably the most modern sounding pickup of the BKP line. The Holydiver is less aggressive I think you can say, but with a thicker, fatter lead sound, which I think would have a much better mid-position sound with the Emerald.
But feel free to call me a noob and say I'm way off.  :P

Oh, also I'm a sevenstring fanatic and based on downtuned clips I've heard of the diver, I'd say a 7-string version of that would take you right into Petrucci-country.

[ibznorange]

ok, well i play alot of foo fighters gauge material, especially the clean parts. i also play a lot of tool style material, but with a more searing hot tone.
i'm currently without a good amp, but im in the paying off process on a nice vintage 1967 plexi 100w superlead modded with an fx loop, which i am setting up with a series of jj goldpin high gain pre tubes, jj kt77s in the power section and an ehx tube to drive the fx loop. Im getting an electricamp 412 cab made (the us end of the matamp debauchle) loaded with celestion g12k100s, which are super tight for low tunings.

"if you're looking at AV or AVIII(which isn't a problem)I'd suggest something lighter in the wind dept as it's going to get very bottom heavy with either MM or HD in a mahogany body.I'd consider a Rebel Yell or possibly the hotter Nailbomb to keep the bottom end clear and tight.
kind regards
Tim"

anybody have experience with the painkiller? that sounds like a really good option too.

Btw, im not a huge shredder, but i'll be glad to get some clips up once i have my rig up and running, which probably wont be till summer or so. I'll try to get over to my brothers house and play with em on his rivera though, and get something up

ilyti, are you on sevenstring.org at all?

[ibznorange]

well tim basically said, if you want a more powerful Rebel Yell, get a nailbomb. same voicing more power. so i guess it was neither of my 2 options