Author Topic: Pickups? (Read 10555 times)

Horlicks · « **on:** May 30, 2008, 08:49:11 PM »

Hi,
I was wondering if you could recommend me some Bareknuckle pickups. I currently play a Washburn X50 pro (Mahogany body) through a Laney VH100R (Bright amp) and a VC15. I play mostly shred, rock and hard rock. At the moment I am looking at the Nailbomb bridge, I don't know about the neck. I like the smooth neck pup tone like Slash and it has to have great cleans. The bridge needs to be pretty agressive sounding and have definition.

dave_mc · « **Reply #1 on:** May 30, 2008, 09:26:30 PM »

welcome aboard horlicks. I think i can guess which website you've come from... :lol:

I'm not much help with the recommendations, as i've tried so few, but do you have any bands' or players' tones you like etc. which you could tell us? rock, hard rock and shred is a little vague...

:)

Doog · « **Reply #2 on:** May 30, 2008, 10:10:56 PM »

the nailbomb would probably work for you in the bridge. as for a slash type neck pickup, the alnico II stormy monday fits the bill perfectly. I've got that exact pickup combination in my ibanez rg (I actually put a stormy monday bridge model into the neck on tim's advice) and it sounds pretty sweet

ilÿti · « **Reply #3 on:** May 31, 2008, 01:27:01 AM »

Quote from: Doog

(I actually put a stormy monday bridge model into the neck on tim's advice) and it sounds pretty sweet

I'm intrigued. I'd like to hear more about this, how does it handle hign gain?

Horlicks · « **Reply #4 on:** May 31, 2008, 07:48:23 AM »

I e-mailed Tim, he suggested the Cold Sweat and the Stormy Monday.
A little more information:
At the moment I have a '59 and a Custom Custom. They are great pups (they came stock). The '59 can sound a bit muddy under gain though and the CC doesn't really have an ''edge'', I have to pick quite hard to get any life out of them. Will the Cold sweat give me a slightly more modern sound, and will the Stormy Monday not get muddy?

Can any of these pick-ups be wired for coil-split?

To dave_mc:
Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Richie Kotzen, Eric Johnson etc. etc.

dave_mc · « **Reply #5 on:** May 31, 2008, 04:51:23 PM »

thanks horlicks. i know what you mean about both the CC and '59. i'm sure there's a bkp which'll fix your problems there. :)

Antag · « **Reply #6 on:** May 31, 2008, 06:20:01 PM »

Quote from: Horlicks

Can any of these pick-ups be wired for coil-split?

Yes - just make sure you order them with 4-conductor wiring (as oposed to 2) & you can coil split them.

Antag · « **Reply #7 on:** May 31, 2008, 06:24:41 PM »

Nailbomb bridge is really aggressive. Whenever I play one of my NB-equipped guitars under high gain at decent volume I just want to go "RAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!", headbutt the wall & hit the strings really hard... :twisted:

At the moment do you have the CC in the bridge & the 59 in the neck?

Horlicks · « **Reply #8 on:** June 01, 2008, 05:19:54 PM »

Quote from: Antag

Nailbomb bridge is really aggressive. Whenever I play one of my NB-equipped guitars under high gain at decent volume I just want to go "RAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!", headbutt the wall & hit the strings really hard... :twisted:

At the moment do you have the CC in the bridge & the 59 in the neck?

Yeah
Can anyone please help me with this?

Philly Q · « **Reply #9 on:** June 01, 2008, 05:35:27 PM »

I'm sure the Stormy Monday won't get muddy in the neck, but to be absolutely certain you could go for alnico IV magnets rather than alnico II, for a slightly tighter sound. Although bear in mind that Slash uses Duncan Alnico IIs, of course.

Can't comment on the Cold Sweat from personal experience, but it's a ceramic magnet pickup so I'd expect it to be edgier and more defined than the Custom Custom (which is, again, alnico II).

Worth having a look at gwEm's comments on the CS bridge in this thread:

http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?p=164560#164560

ericsabbath · « **Reply #10 on:** June 01, 2008, 10:12:00 PM »

Quote from: Antag

Nailbomb bridge is really aggressive. Whenever I play one of my NB-equipped guitars under high gain at decent volume I just want to go "RAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!", headbutt the wall & hit the strings really hard... :twisted:

LOL :lol::lol::lol:

Doog · « **Reply #11 on:** June 01, 2008, 10:19:55 PM »

Quote from: ilyti

Quote from: Doog
(I actually put a stormy monday bridge model into the neck on tim's advice) and it sounds pretty sweet

I'm intrigued. I'd like to hear more about this, how does it handle hign gain?

pretty well, although I mainly use it for slash-style wail-y solos, and it gives you a beautifully thick sound. very rarely use it to play rhythm though. not because it sounds bad; I just don't use the neck pickup that often in general

Horlicks · « **Reply #12 on:** June 02, 2008, 03:58:21 PM »

I'm still thinking of the nailbomb because it's meant to be really warm and my amp is too bright ATM. Neck pup still undecided, what has great cleans and can do Vai style gain and tones?

Roobubba · « **Reply #13 on:** June 02, 2008, 04:04:01 PM »

That cold sweat that Tim suggested should suit you down to the ground for the neck, I would think. But don't take my word for it ;)

(I'd take Tim's suggestions as they are, the man knows more than I can possibly imagine when it comes to this stuff!)

Horlicks · « **Reply #14 on:** June 02, 2008, 04:08:42 PM »

Quote from: Roobubba

That cold sweat that Tim suggested should suit you down to the ground for the neck, I would think. But don't take my word for it ;)

(I'd take Tim's suggestions as they are, the man knows more than I can possibly imagine when it comes to this stuff!)

Quote

The neck pickup is where this set really disapoints, its really really poor. It just sound like a wooly mess, no clarity or string definition what so ever. The low output is really evident here, it doesnt even match the bridge pickup (before you ask, Yes i had them installed proffesionally, by no other than Mansons). To be honest you might as well not even have a neck pickup if its as poor as this.

???