Which pickup thread/ Nailbombs vs Rebel Yells

[rmandell91]

Hi
Im almost certain that Ill be buying some BKP pickups soon for my gibson les paul std and I think Ive narrowed down my choice to the nailbomb calibrated set and the rebel yell set. But I also want other opinions from people who know what their talking about before spending £200.

Im looking for a very versatile pickup as I only have one guitar at the moment. I need something that sounds preferably Bright (to contrast with the mahogany body), powerful, focused and pretty modern sounding while retaining great a great tone when playing leads.

The set also needs to sound great clean without sounding too harsh (hence I dont want really want a ceramic magnet).

I cant find any specs on the rebel yell so ive based my decision purely on clips on the players section. But all the clips for the rebel yell ive heard while playing rhythm sound like a sort of mid gain crunch (which sounds brilliant), but can it pull it off super High Gain distortion sound?

Thanks
Look forward to your help

[TwilightOdyssey]

I agree with your gut feeling -- Rebel Yell.

I'm a superstrat guy, however, so I'm sure a few LP people will chime in soon enuff.

Welcome to the forum, btw!

[Philly Q]

I need something that sounds preferably Bright (to contrast with the mahogany body), powerful, focused and pretty modern sounding while retaining great a great tone when playing leads.

That sounds like the Rebel Yell bridge to me.  I can't comment on the RY neck pickup, but if you like a warm, singing neck tone the Abraxas is a really good match.

[rmandell91]

ahh thanks, ill look into the abraxas neck, im keeping my options pretty open. Although I think im pretty keen on getting a calibrated set since Ive got existing pickups that I just mixed and matched at the moment and am not to pleased, + i fancy a change  :D

Any one here got the neck Rebel Yell?
Im really interested in a decription of the tone and whether it sounds good when both pickups are being used together in the middle position on the 3way switch.

[shaman]

yes..I do...perfect combo-I would think it is close to a mule neck(I do not have one..basing this on Warren Haynes' tone..not the actual mule neck...)it does a great Gary Moore "Still Got the Blues" fat singing tone-sounds sweeeeet-I really like the brightness of it-very alive sounding-beats the HELL out of any stock Gibson pup-I had been a Pearly Gates man for years UNTIL the REB came along-I have a MUle bridge and CS neck combo in my Custom that is cool-the mule has that bite..the reb has a more modern tone while retaining , IMO, incredible cleans-I am lucky to own the rarest of Mesa Boogie amps-A MKII C+ Coliseum..I have 2 buddies who own 3 other MKIIC+ amps-these are featured on Metallica/Petrucci/Sykes recordings..let me tell you, the cleans are as good as any I have heard in my life!!!the reb yells turned heads when we hooked them all up one day-both of my friends(tonemeisters) asked me a few times about the pups in my LP Standard-they KNEW they weren't stock and they KNEW they were special-thanks again Tim!

[Catalyst77]

I have a nailbomb and a Rebell yell.

Essentially I think the Nailbomb is just a more powerful version of the Rebell yell with a tad more bottom end.

So I'd say go with the rebell yell.  Its got marginally better cleans too i think.

[rmandell91]

I think you've definately sold me on the rebel yell neck pup and how oood the cleans are on both :D

But my main concern about the rebel yell though is how powerful it actually is, all ive heard all over the forum and in a Steve Stevens interview is that its not as powerful as a nailbomb and I do need a decent amount of power without it being over the top.

Is the rebel yell powerful enough that it can do metal on occasion?
Its not my main genre ill be playing but I dont want to completely block off my options.

Cheers

[Philly Q]

It won't do death metal or anything super heavy (or maybe it will, perhaps someone who's into those styles can comment).  

But if you're talking old-fashioned metal (with tunes, singing and stuff like that), no problem.

[rmandell91]

Ahh yeh, the singing and tune like metal is what I'm talking about.
cheers

[keano]

Do you guys know which has more mids? Crawler, RY, or Holy Diver.
I ahd a JB in my Custom LP. Not bad. Great for leads, and warm. But not quite tight enough on bottom. Little raspy.

So I got now a Suhr Aldrich bridge. Similiar to JB but more clear, tighter funny enough pinch hamronics don't fly as easy on low E and I have no problem with pinch harmonic as far as technique. So I am curious about the 3 I mentioned.
Thanks!

[Philly Q]

Do you guys know which has more mids? Crawler, RY, or Holy Diver.

I believe they all have a fair amount of mids, but RY has the emphasis on the upper mids, HD on the lower mids and Crawler somewhere in between.

If that's wrong I'm sure someone will correct me.

[ericsabbath]

Do you guys know which has more mids? Crawler, RY, or Holy Diver.

I believe they all have a fair amount of mids, but RY has the emphasis on the upper mids, HD on the lower mids and Crawler somewhere in between.

If that's wrong I'm sure someone will correct me.

+1
but... always ask our master anyway

i almost bought the aldrich set too, but when i read "our pickups are handwound by computers" it really turned me off  :lol:
but it's probably a great pickup
the description reminds me of a nailbomb
a mid booster or overdrive pedal will help you

the holy diver isn't middy like a gibson 500t or duncan jb, but it does the job pretty well
http://youtube.com/watch?v=T1RafxMYU5w

[solniger333]

I think you've definately sold me on the rebel yell neck pup and how oood the cleans are on both :D

But my main concern about the rebel yell though is how powerful it actually is, all ive heard all over the forum and in a Steve Stevens interview is that its not as powerful as a nailbomb and I do need a decent amount of power without it being over the top.

Is the rebel yell powerful enough that it can do metal on occasion?
Its not my main genre ill be playing but I dont want to completely block off my options.

Cheers

Did you ever make a decision between the two? I'm facing the same dilemma

[LP_LOVER]

I'm also facing that dillema for my gibson lp custom.

I'm not quite sure whether I should go for rebel yells or cold sweats. I already have the cs set in my other les paul custom and I'm already playing through a modern high gain amp, so I think going something lower in output is just a better choice overall. The amp already has a tendency to scream in the highs, which can be 'too much' with the Cold Sweats at times.

I think Rebel Yells will make more sense for my new lpc after all. A bit sweeter in the highs, but still bright and cutting (which I like) + great cleans as well.

[IntenseJim]

I have several Les Pauls with Rebel Yell, Black Dog, Crawler and I had the Cold Sweat but exchanged it for the Crawler.  The LPs are different: Standard from the Custom Shop, R68 Custom, and a 71 Deluxe routed for buckers and they all vary in their inherent tone.   I have an R4 goldtop with Lollar P90s and a 79 maple neck Custom with god only knows what pickups are in it. I have a love hate relationship with them. But I digress.

I play though a Soldano SLO which is a high gain amp that can be on the bright side if you don't take some time to think outside the box with the tone controls. All that being said ,of these bridge pickups here I my perceptions. I like a hot 80s 90s rock sound with the pinnacle of tone generally being Steve Stevens.:

Crawler has the smoothest high end of the pups above and , as said all over the the forum, is a beefed up PAF sound. You really can't go wrong with this pup but it's not as distinctive sounding or flavored as some of the other BK humbuckers. That's not a good or bad; just my perception of it.

Cold Sweat seemed to bright or scooped for my needs with my amp; sounded like a better Gibson 57 on steroids. A great pup but not for me.

Rebel Yell are amazing and really shine in a band context; perhaps my favorite albeit not as sweet on the high E & B strings as the Crawler. But it sounds so exciting when you play; the upper mids are like a shot of Redbull...take intravenously.  My band goes nuts for this guitar. Steve Stevens is one of my biggest influences and this really gets me close to his tone, especially with 5ths and double not stops.

Black Dog  is lower output and  nails the tones on BLACK DOG and Jimmy Page which has pluses and minuses, depending on your musical style. It's a great pup for blues and hard rock; it can do metal but that's not it's forte in my opinion.

The Rebel Yell neck pickup is to die for. Period!

My Gibsons; the R4 Custom black beauty was just sold.