Pickups for RG 7620!!

[jthompso]

Im going to put some Bare Knuckles in my Ibanez RG 7620 and am just wondering if anyone knows a good match for this guitar? Im playing progressive metal through a Framus Cobra and want something articulate and warm. The guitar body is American Basswood - what would you suggest?

[DimeZakk]

What music styles do you play? So far I would say Nailbomb or Holy Diver for Basswood...

[jthompso]

What music styles do you play? So far I would say Nailbomb or Holy Diver for Basswood...

As stated above Im playing progressive metal. Im looking for something with a tight, punchy bottom end, warm and articulate. Ive ordered a set of Miracle Mans for my Schecter Hellraiser as I heard they were great with Mahogany, not sure about basswood though.

[Lord Blakers]

I use Cold Sweat 7s in a korina Flying V which pretty much fit what you've described.
Not sure how they'd work in basswood - if it's any help, Chris Broderick used these in his RG1527 before he defected to Dimarzio.

[dheim]

i'd say nailbombs, they're very versatile and adapt well to every genre... cold sweats are great all-rounders too, but i suspect you'll find the bridge a bit too cold (it's ceramic, after all...) in basswood... warpigs would also be an obvious choice (i use them in my RG and they're very warm) but maybe they sound too aggressive and raw for your music style... in general i found every BKP very articulate.

[ericsabbath]

I have a Framus Cobra too

the Diver works great with a bright boost in front of the amp, like a SD-1, Wylde OD (this one is wonderful for metal) or tube screamer
without a boost, the Cobra lacked a bit of sustain with the HD

[jthompso]

Mmm, so the cold sweats might be a bit to "cold" in basswood!! From what Ive read I think the War Pig might be a bit too raw for my needs, the Cobra is a pretty raw sounding amp to begin with. Im not really into boosting my amp so the Holy Diver probably isnt right. Im wanting something warm and organic sounding that is articulate with a good, tight bottom end.

[LP_LOVER]

I have a Framus Cobra too

without a boost, the Cobra lacked a bit of sustain with the HD

That not only depends on the amp you're using, but mainly because of the guitar itself. Naturel sustain
has to do with the guitar you're playing and using it the 'right' way. I never have any secrets in my set-
up; one amp, one guitar (no mid boost from the amp or pedals, just a pure and honest rocking Les Paul
tone). It's a personal thing.

[Axe Palace]

Im going to put some Bare Knuckles in my Ibanez RG 7620 and am just wondering if anyone knows a good match for this guitar? Im playing progressive metal through a Framus Cobra and want something articulate and warm. The guitar body is American Basswood - what would you suggest?

Without question, the Cold Swear or Miracle Man. I've sold countless sets of pickups to folks with basswood Ibanez 7s, and those are the models that always seem to respond best. The Cold Sweat is brighter with a bit more high-mids, super tight and clear with cool growl. The Miracle Man has more fluid upper mids, thick low-mid chunk. With some amps the voicing of the MM wins out, in others the CS or others are more favorable. It really depends.

The Holydiver and Nailbomb can sound great in basswood too but in my opinion aren't an ideal match for a basswood 7-string due to the loose bottom end. If it was a 6-string tuned standard then I think it would be okay, but I strongly recommend going with the ceramic for a basswood 7.

I would go with the Cold Sweat personally.

[Roobubba]

Im going to put some Bare Knuckles in my Ibanez RG 7620 and am just wondering if anyone knows a good match for this guitar? Im playing progressive metal through a Framus Cobra and want something articulate and warm. The guitar body is American Basswood - what would you suggest?

Without question, the Cold Swear or Miracle Man. I've sold countless sets of pickups to folks with basswood Ibanez 7s, and those are the models that always seem to respond best. The Cold Sweat is brighter with a bit more high-mids, super tight and clear with cool growl. The Miracle Man has more fluid upper mids, thick low-mid chunk. With some amps the voicing of the MM wins out, in others the CS or others are more favorable. It really depends.

The Holydiver and Nailbomb can sound great in basswood too but in my opinion aren't an ideal match for a basswood 7-string due to the loose bottom end. If it was a 6-string tuned standard then I think it would be okay, but I strongly recommend going with the ceramic for a basswood 7.

I would go with the Cold Sweat personally.

I have a miracle man bridge in an ibanez RG470F. Warm is one word I wouldn't use to describe it! Articulate, very, very tight, fat bottom end, great low mid grind and singing highs on the upper strings. Cleans aren't wonderful, but
certainly serviceable. I'm not convinced it's right for the given music preferences, though - I use it for hardcore/downtuned punchy metal.
Nailbomb sprung to mind, but as you say, the NB with low tunings might not work so well as a cold sweat.
Painkiller might be worth considering, but again this may be a touch too raw and potentially cold. It's very, very tight, though.

Let us know what Tim suggests, too!

Roo

[jthompso]

Thanks for the responses guys! It seems as though most of the pickups are being characterised as being either articulate, punchy but not warm - or warm but not as articulate and very raw. Im really wanting something that is warm but not overly raw, more smooth. Think Pettrucci's tone on Awake (I know amp etc have a lot to do with this as well). Should I even consider a "Vintage hot" or "Vintage" humbucker? I am playing pretty heavy stuff though - think Nevermore, Opeth, Dream Theater, Scar Symmetry, Andromeda etc

[ericsabbath]

I have a Framus Cobra too

without a boost, the Cobra lacked a bit of sustain with the HD

That not only depends on the amp you're using, but mainly because of the guitar itself. Naturel sustain
has to do with the guitar you're playing and using it the 'right' way. I never have any secrets in my set-
up; one amp, one guitar (no mid boost from the amp or pedals, just a pure and honest rocking Les Paul
tone). It's a personal thing.

not really
an amp can react completely different depending on how you set things before it
my les paul has a ton of sustain
but the cobra has a ton of headroom in both preamp and power amp sections
it does have a huge amount of gain, but it's a forced dry gain from using high gain level settings, not from straight gain stages compression like most amps
it has twice the preamp voltage of a bogner or laney, so the stages always sound very open and don't get compressed (too much headroom), and that affects a lot the sustain
some amps just need more push in front of it to force it
not to increase the gain, but to get that tube compression that makes your leads sustain way longer and makes everything sound meatier
I always used the crunch channel with gain 5-6 and a "clean" boost
sounds way better and more defined than using the lead channel unboosted with a ton of gain
I use a late 70's Maxon 6-band EQ boosting the mids in front of it, but that's a bit more noisy than using an overdrive

[ericsabbath]

The Holydiver and Nailbomb can sound great in basswood too but in my opinion aren't an ideal match for a basswood 7-string due to the loose bottom end. If it was a 6-string tuned standard then I think it would be okay, but I strongly recommend going with the ceramic for a basswood 7.

no pickup will sound loose through a Framus Cobra
not even if you want it to
it's a very clean, stiff and defined type of high gain
like a way tighter SLO100
it's actually an annoying quality sometimes

[jthompso]

Hey Erik,
Do you have any tips to smooth out the raw, abrasive growl of the Cobra?

The Holydiver and Nailbomb can sound great in basswood too but in my opinion aren't an ideal match for a basswood 7-string due to the loose bottom end. If it was a 6-string tuned standard then I think it would be okay, but I strongly recommend going with the ceramic for a basswood 7.

no pickup will sound loose through a Framus Cobra
not even if you want it to
it's a very clean, stiff and defined type of high gain
like a way tighter SLO100
it's actually an annoying quality sometimes

[Axe Palace]

Hey Erik,
Do you have any tips to smooth out the raw, abrasive growl of the Cobra?

Bias it, use a pickup with a low-mid rather than high-mid emphasis (WP, HD, etc), preferably speakers that aren't too brittle or buzzy like V30s tend to be.