Newb confused by too much choice

[Lurch]

Evening all. Having just accepted a job form the year in industry part of my degree, thereby guaranteeing some cash, I thought I'd celebrate with new pickups for my Ibanez RG1550. I've looked over the forums and listened to clips, but frankly they all sound so much better than the stock pickups that I can't decide on any one of them  :oops:

I'm looking for a H/S/H set to cover all bases, though the single coil will only really be used clean and in combination with the neck. I listen to (and attempt to play) everything from SRV to Pantera, though this axe is definitely a high gain widdle plank so I'm looking for a bridge pickup with plenty of output and tight bass response, but not too mid scooped.

I was thinking maybe a Painkiller or ceramic Warpig bridge with a Cold Sweat neck and an Irish tour, but what do you the wise forumites think?

Apologies for the long post.

[ailean]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

I'm not much good at this, but my wife has an Ibanez FW2170 HSH and uses a Nailobomb bridge, piledriver middle and a Mississippi Queen in the neck. This combo works very well. However I don't know if it will achieve what you are looking for!

[Transcend]

i can say the miracle man set could easily do what your asking.

[Twinfan]

Nailbombs are supposedly excellent in RGs - I'd chose a set of those and and maybe an Irish Tour middle single coil??

If you drop an email to the BKP guys, I'm sure they'll recommend something suitable too  :)

[Nolly]

Nailbombs or Painkillers would be great I reckon. It seems that people always go straight to the CS neck for shred, but don't forget the others - the Nailbomb neck is awesomely fluid and clear, and the Painkiller neck is a 14k ceramic beast with stupid amounts of clarity and sustain.

[Antag]

I was thinking maybe a Painkiller...bridge with a Cold Sweat neck and an Irish tour, but what do you the wise forumites think?

That combination would work well.  I just got a PK bridge/CS neck in my Jackson & can tell you that it's a really good combination - balances well, the PK melts faces & fries small animals :twisted:, the CS give you a great clean sound & plenty of definition for lead work.

Irish Tour is a good single, also consider the Slowhand (tried one in the middle position of an Ibanez at LGS '07 & it was nice) or the Trilogy (plenty of output & punch to keep up with the powerful buckers, yet still sounds like a single coil).

[Antag]

Nailbombs or Painkillers would be great I reckon. It seems that people always go straight to the CS neck for shred, but don't forget the others - the Nailbomb neck is awesomely fluid and clear, and the Painkiller neck is a 14k ceramic beast with stupid amounts of clarity and sustain.

Good point, but he did say "the single coil will only really be used clean and in combination with the neck" which IMO rules out the PK neck.  It's a very aggressive, powerful neck pickup (great for lead work), but IMO the Cold Sweat is far superior for clean work.

Nailbomb is a good neck pickup too, probably sits somewhere between CS/PK in output terms yet still sounds good clean.

[Nolly]

Nailbombs or Painkillers would be great I reckon. It seems that people always go straight to the CS neck for shred, but don't forget the others - the Nailbomb neck is awesomely fluid and clear, and the Painkiller neck is a 14k ceramic beast with stupid amounts of clarity and sustain.

Good point, but he did say "the single coil will only really be used clean and in combination with the neck" which IMO rules out the PK neck.  It's a very aggressive, powerful neck pickup (great for lead work), but IMO the Cold Sweat is far superior for clean work.

Nailbomb is a good neck pickup too, probably sits somewhere between CS/PK in output terms yet still sounds good clean.

Good point, maybe not the PK neck then. I guess I'm just trying to say that Tim goes to painstaking lengths designing the combination for his calibrated sets, and it seems that people overlook the matching pickup. I'm certainly guilty of doing that, but once I talk to Tim, I always end up with calibrated sets..

[Lurch]

Cheers for the input guys. It seems like the general consensus is either Nailbomb or Painkiller bridge and Nailbomb or Cold Sweat neck (paired in that order if you see what I mean). Possibly leaning more towards the calibrated Nailbomb set at the moment, but I'll probably have changed my mind several times before tomorrow. What's the bass response like in the Nailbomb? That's probably going to be the deciding factor, there's almost none at the moment, weak and flabby, like a fat kid eating jelly. Warm jelly at that.

[Transcend]

i always found my nailbomb to be too bassy and loose.

But that couldve been the guitar that it was in