Anyone tried a Stormy Monday neck with a Black Dog bridge

[Perandor]

I'm looking for a good pickup combo.  I am planning a custom guitar with either Hawaiian Koa or Hawaiian Mango as a body with a redwood top (18 lines per inch) and a palisander neck with a monterillo finger/fretboard.  I have either the calibrated Black Dog set to pick (thanks Hunter for your awesome clips) or this which I thought up.  Can anyone help me?  Thanks, Joe  :D

[Philly Q]

Hi Joe, welcome to the forum!  :D

Yes, I have that exact combination.  A Stormy Monday (Alnico II) neck with a Black Dog (Alnico V) bridge.  They're in an all-mahogany Edwards Flying V which is extremely lightweight (just over 6 pounds).

The SM neck is sweet and clear, fairly bright but not piercingly so.  I like it for clean and crunch tones, but I'm not so keen on it with distortion - I'd like more fat midrange for it to really sing.  The BD bridge isn't high-output but it's quite aggressive, with good crunch for chords and a snarly, gritty lead tone (as you've heard from Hunter's clips).  The pickup's always described as having lots of low-mids, but in this guitar it still has plenty of presence - it's brighter than I expected.

As a pair, the pickups match well in volume - I was expecting the BD to be louder, but in fact I've ended up with the SM further from the strings than the BD.  However, for my tastes they don't sound different enough - bright(ish) neck pickup + dark(ish) bridge pickup = not enough variety.

I'm thinking of getting either a Mule or BD neck to replace the SM, but then I might move both pickups into a more Les Paul-ish guitar and get a set of Mules for the V.  Or I might even go to the other extreme and get a set of Painkillers for the V, and make it into my "Metal" guitar.

I don't know how relevant this is to you - I know a bit about timbers but not those exotic ones you listed!  :)  And of course it'll depend on the construction style too.  What kind of music do you play?

[Perandor]

Hey thanks,  I am a beginner, but I plan on playing lots of blues, rock, maybe some metal.:twisted:  The guitar will be all custom, as I mentioned before, also with a Steinberger bridge and headless end on the neck.  It'll definitely be one of a kind.  I also like Mark Tremonti, guitarist of Alter Bridge , and TJ Davis, guitarist of Submersed, so I'll be playing covers of their songs.  Hopefully I can learn some Pink Floyd too.  Is the SM good for blues/rock solos?  Or do you/ anyone think the Black Dog Calib. set is better for my playing?  Thanks.  :?:

[Philly Q]

The SM will definitely do blues and blues/rock - think Peter Green, Allman Bros - if you like clean or just-breaking-up humbucker tones it's a great choice.  

But I don't think it's in home territory playing harder rock or metal - something just a little (or a lot   ) more powerful would be a better bet, IMO.

We've mentioned the Black Dogs, but for your guitar's woods and construction there might be even better choices.  As I understand it, koa is fairly warm-sounding, but a bit brighter than mahogany; I don't know how heavy or resonant it is.  And will it be a neck-thru, a bolt-on?  

If it was me, I'd get the guitar built and see what it sounds like before choosing pickups.  But we have several guitar builders on the forum who can give much better advice than I can about pickup choices for custom guitars.

[Perandor]

Thanks Philly Q!  It'll be a bolt on neck with a tight connection so the vibrations will travel better.  You gave me some great advice.  I'd appreciate it if others would help me too, perhaps?