bridge pickup help

[karx]

Hello guys!

My guitar is a Gibson Les Paul Custom RI 68 with 57 classics and I am interested in a bridge pickup. The band whose tone I like is Tool and secondly Isis. I play mostly post-rock, post-metal.

I use a lot of distortion but I don't play with the full gain of the preamp distortion. I like to keep the preamp volume and gain down and master volume up to have more definition and not lose the harmonics and dynamics of my playing. I play a lot with the volume of the guitar, so cleaning up is an important factor.
I like dark tones with crunch and I would like the notes to sound fatter. Especially one thing I would like to avoid are ear piercing highs. I don't need a super tight bass, just more than the stock pickups. Also don't like upper mids.

In some clips I liked the nailbomb and in a few the holydriver (though in some not at all), the problem with the holydriver is that it sometimes sounds very 80s and I don't like that. Can it sound more modern or would the nailbomb be better? And does the nailbomb have a lot of upper mids?

I would prefer an alcino 5 magnet. Would an open poled pickup sound brighter than a covered?

Thank you!

[lulusg]

Hi there Karx! Welcome ! Holy Diver has come out in past conversations about Tool. I have read their description very similar to what you are looking for..!

[Catalyst77]

Cant' say that i know what sort of tone tool have, but from you're description i'd be tempted to go for either a mule or the hotter crawler - especially if you're into dynamics and riding the volume. 

[shaman]

to me, a key ingredient here for TOOL is the amp-I have a Dual Rec and 2 Mk IIC+ amps and I am a big fan of the A Jones tone-there is a very crisp ,less compressed sound going on here to me(a lot can be attributed to Chancellor's bass tone and playing as well...)-for me, the MULE wins here -it sounds great with the dropped D tuning-my Rebel Yell is more compressed sounding, so it loses some clarity-the Mule allows for more bite/clarity,especially with the open D riffs/chords that Jones plays  higher on the neck-my mark amps are simulclass, and that helps(both el 34 and 6L6)-I have had a Holy Diver , Miracle Man, and Crawler, and I would rank my experience via Tool as follows: 1-Mule(its an AIV)   2. crawler  3.  Rebel Yell.....my amps,however, are a big part of this "tonal experiment"
enjoy your quest!

[il˙ti]

I agree that the Mule is bang on for Tool sound. However, you said you wanted one that could clean up with the volume control, so it might work better for you with higher output. The Mule does much better clean on the clean channel IMO. Crawler is my recommendation. It can do a really good hot-PAF sound and it's got very smooth highs so unless your amp is a scream machine, you wont get your ears pierced.

[karx]

Thanks for your replies.
Shaman, really helpful things what you just said about adam jones' tone. I agree with all that you said and especially the amp's factor.
What i don't like about his tone , is that crisp tone, sometimes shrill in the higher notes (did notice that when I saw them live). I would like a little beefier tone, warmer. That's why i ruled out the mule and was thinking more about the holydiver and  nailbomb.

Tim emailed me and said the nailbomb would be the choice for the tone i'm looking.
What bothers me, is that reading through the forum, some people say that the holydiver has more low mids and the nailbomb more upper mids. So I'm a little confused. My guitar is quite bright with the gibson 57 classics. Would it become darker,warmer with the nailbomb in the higher notes? Or the holydiver would do that?

[TwilightOdyssey]

I still own an original 88' Gibson Les Paul Standard Silverburst (maple cap/ebony fretboard) with factory EMG 85 pickups and it's an awesome guitar to get that 'Tool' sound. The bridge pickup is tight, deep, scary and dark with an amazing sustain and cut, both clean and distorted (I'm playing through an Engl).

It sounds 100% like for example the intro from 'Schism'. You CAN'T get that sound out of the lower output BKP pickups, my two cents.

I think you really have to take a look at EMG 85 pickups, despite the fact that you probably love BKP pickups (like me and many others).

The Alnico V EMG 85 pickups are just plain awesome if you want to get instant 'Tool' vibe.

Edit: I don't know what the 'F' happened, but I've made a new topic by accidence. Sorry for that! It was meant for Karx, as a reply to his topic about finding the right bridge pickup for his Les Paul Custom.

Fixed ... sorta PDT_008

[lulusg]

If you want an "organic" tone BKP is just the right pickup. A Jones has gone thru different amps and different tone/experimentation thru the Tool years. BKPs do  not only fit an specific tone but they are versatile.  Needless to say any of the BKP pups would sound way better than the SDs AJs uses on his Silverburst.  You might go the way of Tim Mills, give it a try.

[Yamhammer]

It's so difficult to give the right advice, as we all play through different amps/pedals etc.

[shaman]

Thanks for your replies.
Shaman, really helpful things what you just said about adam jones' tone. I agree with all that you said and especially the amp's factor.
What i don't like about his tone , is that crisp tone, sometimes shrill in the higher notes (did notice that when I saw them live). I would like a little beefier tone, warmer. That's why i ruled out the mule and was thinking more about the holydiver and  nailbomb.
?

...cool..I was strictly referring to his riffing/chugging..NOT his lead work...good thing is, the MULE rules with lead work as well-I do not play in a TOOl cover band(who can find a DAnny Carey anyway>>???)but I do dig that chuggy tone AJ gets :D

[Yamhammer]

The Mule is alnico IV which sounds woody/punchy by nature. I can imagine it would sound great for the bridge position of the LP Custom, if you want to warm it up there.

[karx]

Thanks for your really helpful answers! This forum is cool with all you guys!

At least, I'm down to 3 pickups. The mule, nailbomb and holydiver.
I bet all of them are amazing.

I guess I'm going to listen again to some clips with lespauls, or just go with what tim said.

@shaman how would you compare the holydiver to the mule? In the eq especially. Does the holydiver sound a little too 80's?

@yamhammer thanks you for all your help. I'm more into the undertow tone, when his was playing with his marshall superbass. Amazing tone! It was kind of dark with a beautifull gain

[karx]

Also what do you recommend to get the post rock tone, like isis, with the above pickups?

[Yamhammer]

In the players room you can search: 'Holy Diver improv in Les Paul'. That should give you an idea about how it sounds like in a Les Paul Standard.

[HairyChris]

Adam Jones uses a Duncan JB -> Diezel + Marshall. I'll add my 2 cents by saying that amp choice and his use of the bridge volume pot has a lot to do with his sound. The Diezel VH4 has a lot of thump. Isis use Marshalls, don' t they?

Can't help with the HD, but the Mule is a fantastic pickup although it's not high output enough to drive the preamp too much which is something that you may want to think about. The Nailbomb is a good call and if Tim's recommended it then it's hard to argue!