Neck pickup for a Les Paul Classic needed

[grrrpoop]

Hello, looking for some advice / suggestions.

I've got a mid-nineties LP Classic and find the stock pickups to be a bit dull and lacking in sustain.  They also seem to cope quite badly with downtuning and distortion.

I'd planned on fitting a SD 59/JB combo since it seems a popular choice for heavy rock and my fiancée bought me a bridge JB for Christmas.

Since then I've had too much time on my hands and have been agonizing over my choice of neck pickup.  I was torn between the 59 and then the Jazz.

Then I saw a vid of a DiMarzio Air Norton and had 3 choices.

THEN someone on another forum suggested Bare Knuckle, specifically Nailbombs, which I hadn't even considered.  So here I am with 4 choices but eager for more info on the latest.  :D

I've checked the forum for Nailbomb samples and like what I've heard so far but most are in the bridge position.  The few neck Nailbomb mp3s have sounded good though.

I play a variety of styles from clean improv, blues, classic rock through heavier rock and flirt a little with metal / stuff like Killswitch Engage.  If I had to pin myself down more I'd say pretty heavy rock but I'm hoping to find a pair of pickups that allow me as broad a range as possible.


As mentioned, I already have a SD JB for the bridge and exchanging it is pretty much not an option at this point.  It's not yet fitted but it was a gift and bought from a US retailer who don't do refunds, nor stock Bare Knuckle products to exchange for.

I'm also planning on getting it wired up in the Jimmy Page style (4 push/pulls allowing either pickup to be tapped via its respective volume knob, plus series and phase options using the tone knobs).

Would the aforementioned Nailbomb be a good choice to use in the Neck position with a JB?

Can anyone suggest another BK product that may suit my needs better?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,


Grant

[Transcend]

Hello, looking for some advice / suggestions.

I've got a mid-nineties LP Classic and find the stock pickups to be a bit dull and lacking in sustain.  They also seem to cope quite badly with downtuning and distortion.

I'd planned on fitting a SD 59/JB combo since it seems a popular choice for heavy rock and my fiancée bought me a bridge JB for Christmas.

Since then I've had too much time on my hands and have been agonizing over my choice of neck pickup.  I was torn between the 59 and then the Jazz.

Then I saw a vid of a DiMarzio Air Norton and had 3 choices.

THEN someone on another forum suggested Bare Knuckle, specifically Nailbombs, which I hadn't even considered.  So here I am with 4 choices but eager for more info on the latest.  :D

I've checked the forum for Nailbomb samples and like what I've heard so far but most are in the bridge position.  The few neck Nailbomb mp3s have sounded good though.

I play a variety of styles from clean improv, blues, classic rock through heavier rock and flirt a little with metal / stuff like Killswitch Engage.  If I had to pin myself down more I'd say pretty heavy rock but I'm hoping to find a pair of pickups that allow me as broad a range as possible.


As mentioned, I already have a SD JB for the bridge and exchanging it is pretty much not an option at this point.  It's not yet fitted but it was a gift and bought from a US retailer who don't do refunds, nor stock Bare Knuckle products to exchange for.

I'm also planning on getting it wired up in the Jimmy Page style (4 push/pulls allowing either pickup to be tapped via its respective volume knob, plus series and phase options using the tone knobs).

Would the aforementioned Nailbomb be a good choice to use in the Neck position with a JB?

Can anyone suggest another BK product that may suit my needs better?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,


Grant

www.mysppace.com/thefobialeeds

the solo on the lost art is nailbomb neck.

[Scotty477]

I'm not in a position to comment on the Nailbomb  but I'm pretty sure that you'll get plenty of good advice in that respect.

I hear what you're saying about the SD JB but before you commit and have it installed, take a good look, or listen rather, at the Miracleman clips (bridge and neck).

If I was wanting a heavy rock sound, these pretty much nail it dead. I'm not sure if a JB could compete with a MM bridge pup really.

Before finding BKP's I spent a lot of time listening to clips at the SD site, trying to determine what was right for the sound I wanted.

In the end, once I heard a few BKP's the choice was easy.....  :D

[grrrpoop]

www.myspace.com/thefobialeeds

the solo on the lost art is nailbomb neck.

Cheers!

My current neck pickup would melt attempting anything approaching that (as would my fingers), so thanks for the insight. :D

Machinehead: posted at the same time!  Thanks, I'll go check out the Miracleman clips.

[Transcend]

and as for miracle man clips heres one of my more recent ones

www.myspace.com/hategrowth

[grrrpoop]

Thanks!  They seem more aggressive than the Nailbombs.. I read a comment from Tim in the Miracleman clip sticky about Nailbombs being more "organic", which I think appeals to me more than the outright balls of the MMs.  But what I choose needs to fit my style..

To give an idea of what I'm currently playing (and sounding like), have a listen to "Today or Astray" on my page at www.myspace.com/adamantiumass

The Gibson 500T doesn't seem to be handling the open drop-D well.  The strings I used were either 10-52s or 11-54s, so I'm pretty sure lack of string tension wasn't to blame for the soggy sound.

-ninja edit-

Just realised I had my guitar tuned down a full step to D, then with a Drop-C in that demo.

What tunings have you used in your recordings?

Thanks again!  :)

[Scotty477]

I have to say I enjoyed all the tracks on your myspace. Nice stuff.

As a LP Classic  user as well I also recognised some of those 500T sounds. I used the 496R/500T for years but I wish that I'd changed them a lot earlier.

On a side note I'm heckled     by Opprobrium 9 to produce a Metal clip with the Emerald set I put into my LP Classic.

The result could be interesting, if I can just get my head round actually playing modern Metal.

Hmmm .... Maybe I can cheat and do a Black Sabbath or early Metallica clip instead ....  :)

[Scotty477]

I have to say I enjoyed all the tracks on your myspace. Nice stuff.

As a LP Classic  user as well I also recognised some of those 500T sounds. I used the 496R/500T for years but I wish that I'd changed them a lot earlier.

On a side note I'm getting heckled     by Opprobrium 9 to produce a Metal clip with the Emerald set I put into my LP Classic.

The result could be interesting, if I can just get my head round actually playing modern Metal.

Hmmm .... Maybe I can cheat and do a Black Sabbath or early Metallica clip instead ....  :)

[Transcend]

I have to say I enjoyed all the tracks on your myspace. Nice stuff.

As a LP Classic  user as well I also recognised some of those 500T sounds. I used the 496R/500T for years but I wish that I'd changed them a lot earlier.

On a side note I'm heckled     by Opprobrium 9 to produce a Metal clip with the Emerald set I put into my LP Classic.

The result could be interesting, if I can just get my head round actually playing modern Metal.

Hmmm .... Maybe I can cheat and do a Black Sabbath or early Metallica clip instead ....  :)

well the first one i posted is my mates band they play in D standard with 9s

mine is in standard with .10 heavy bottoms

[grrrpoop]

I have to say I enjoyed all the tracks on your myspace. Nice stuff.

As a LP Classic  user as well I also recognised some of those 500T sounds. I used the 496R/500T for years but I wish that I'd changed them a lot earlier.

On a side note I'm heckled     by Opprobrium 9 to produce a Metal clip with the Emerald set I put into my LP Classic.

The result could be interesting, if I can just get my head round actually playing modern Metal.

Hmmm .... Maybe I can cheat and do a Black Sabbath or early Metallica clip instead ....  :)

Cheers, nice to get positive comments on it! :D

I know what you mean about modern metal.. whenever I start peddling my right hand up to speed and attempt some triplets and chugging riffs it just sounds cheesy.  You need to have the right frame of mind or something, I can sometimes play along but actually creating it eludes me..

Whatever you come up with, I'll definitely want to check it out. ;)


hate_growth, thanks.  They tune down a step with 9s?  Not something I would do but it certainly sounds fine on their tracks, nice and tight.  

I also tend to use .10 Heavy Bottoms in E standard or Drop-D, though I've dabbled with .11 Beefy Slinky when down-tuning to D standard or Drop-C.  In E standard they're too much - forgot to swap them off for a gig once, ouch..   :oops:


I'm really confused about the JB now.. I'm pretty sure it will be a big improvement on the 500T but the Nailbomb and especially MM would be potentially better units.

My other guitars are a Jap strat loaded with Texas Specials and an Ibanez JS1000BTB (FRED/PAF) so I don't really have a home for the JB if it doesn't get used.  :?

Right now I'm thinking about putting the JB in anyway, pairing it with a Nailbomb and seeing how it goes.. perhaps further down the line I could swap the JB out for a MiracleMan or another Nailbomb if I'm really not happy with it.  I think a MiracleMan in the neck might overshadow the JB?  I'm also thinking that the MiracleMan may not be as well suited for warm clean tones / sweet coil-tapped rhythm as the allegedly more "organic" Nailbomb.  Or am I way off?

[Transcend]

i have both nailbomb and miracle man bridge and personally i cannot stand the cleans i prefer my miracle man

the neck ones in my mates also seem very spiky

[grrrpoop]

Thanks for the help everyone.

Was so keen on going for a BK pickup but I can't work out which one is best.  I don't even know what style of guitar I mainly play so I'm not surprised that there's been so much variation in the suggestions (here and on other forums).

I'm just going to go with a SD Jazz for now (booo, hissss, yeah I know..) and see how that meets my needs along with the JB.  My fiancée can get it for about £35-40 from Guitar Center in LA and mail it over to me.  She actually wants to do that since I apparently spent too much (!) on her this Xmas.

Hopefully it'll work out ok.  If not, I'll be back with a better idea of what exactly it is I need since I'll have more reference points to work from.

Thanks again, especially to the people who've posted links to samples.  I've spent literally hours listening to clips from here, from youtube, from other sources.  I just want to play my guitar, not agonise over it!  

[Scotty477]

I was close to getting an SD Jazz neck with an SD Custom Custom bridge, before I (thankfully) found out about BKP's.

Good luck anyway and hopefully we'll hear from you some time soon.

Cheers   PDT_002