Les Paul; Warpig/Nailbomb/Holy Diver

[Acolmiztli]

Which one of these pickups for a Les Paul? I play in this band:

www.myspace.com/tacomanarrowsbridgedisaster

We have two guitarists. Cutting through isn't my main concern. Having a phat sound is though! I have an Ibanez with a Nailbomb, but I don't know how it's going to sound in a Les Paul. I suck at soldering, so haven't been able to test it out.

[Vilches3]

i dont think youd need anything out of those options for that style of playing. Maybe something vintage hot? if not hmmmmm Coldsweat or nailbomb Id guess, warpig sounds too massive for the myspace clip you sent. Not sure about the holy diver.

[murraymurray]

always have trouble reading bandnames on myspace links.
thought it was something about a taco man arrow initially

[shaman]

what type LP?also, what type amp?I am dropping some bombs in a LP Custom tonight myself...!

[Antag]

I only had a brief listen to the clips at low volume (at work currently ;)) but of the 3 you mention I'd say Nailbomb.

Although I've never tried a Warpig in a Les Paul myself, other posters on here have said it's "too much" for an LP.  I can imagine how the low end would get a bit "boomy" with a WP in such a huge slab of wood...

Not sure about the holy diver.

I've had mixed results with the Holy Diver in Les Pauls so I'd say "be careful" :)

The first LP I put HDs in was my Goldtop & it just didn't work.  Too rounded, lacked clarity, didn't like the sound at all.  So I removed them, installed them in my Vintage Burst instead & was absolutely bowled over - they sound sensational. The VB remains one of my favourite guitars (clip here, though the second attempt is better...)

The difference between the 2 LPs is weight - the Goldtop is nearly 11lbs, the VB <9.  So to generalise, very heavy LPs with dense wood & a big booming bass do NOT suit the HD, but lighter LPs (NB: neither of my LPs are chambered) made from less dense wood with a "snappier" midrange can suit the HD very well.

[Acolmiztli]

This is from the email I sent Tim, still waiting for his response:

The situation is this; I have a Nailbomb in my Ibanez, and I love it. Although the Ibanez isn't my preferable guitar, I also have a Gibson Orville Les Paul Custom from 1991. Anyway, I'm trying to decide whether to get two Nailbomb's for my Les Paul, or something else. I'll be using the guitar with my pedalboard, into a Laney VH100R. Initially I was thinking about taking the Nailbomb out of the Ibanez and putting it into the Les Paul, but I don't want to do that now. The Les Paul's electrics need to be totally redone, regrounded, due to noise.

I like quite a sludgey tone, and I am inspired by bands such as ISIS, Tool, Mastodon, Cult of Luna, Russian Circles.... and other post-metal/post-rock style bands. I play with both the bridge and neck pickups, but never at the same time. One song we have calls for the neck pickup, the rest call for the bridge. I'm not a thrashy player at all really, I'm quite into just letting huge chords ring, and coming up with complex rhythms that still have a groove to them. I play almost always in drop-C tuning.

I'm wondering also, whether getting uncovered or covered pickups makes much of a difference to the tone? My Nailbomb has the camo cover. I think what I like about the Nailbomb is that it kind of has a natural scooped feeling, but not too much where it gets undefinable. We use a lot of clean tones in our music, and at points we blast into heavy riffs. We're quite a dynamic band, and don't just have one sound going on.

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I suck at soldering, so I was planning on getting the pickups, and then getting a London based guitar tech to handle the work for me. I was going to get all my pots replaced and wiring, etc.... at the moment, it's my noisiest guitar.

[Acolmiztli]

Currently the guitar does tend to be quite dark sounding. It's not a hollow guitar, it's a huge plank! Weighs around 11lbs I reckon. I bought it in Japan. It's Japanese made, and I swear when I measured it, it was over 9lbs at least!

[shaman]

after a few hours with the bombs in a 91 Custom/500 k pots-if I wanted to play a TOOL song, I would not hesitate to grab this guitar now-very huge sounding,while maintaining those trademark BK harmonics/open qualities-I cant imagine another pup sounding BETTER in a LP Custom-and the cleans are sweet-the neck isnt muddy....just enough bite for me-I am a fan of the John Sykes late 80's tones...think Whitesnake/Blue Murder...I happen to have a Boogie C+ Coliseum...and,"oh yeah"..its Sykes city with Alnico pups..very warm and well balanced..powerful...pinch harmonics with ease-quick response as well..when I played a tapped passage, it was very accurate-notes didnt slur-excellent for quick passages(articulate, I suppose...)

[Acolmiztli]

Hey Shaman, thanks for the response. A few questions;

For what reason are you using 500k pots?
Would you say the nailbombs have a leaning toward modern or retro tones? I'm more interested in modern day metal tones, rather than 80's metal tones. I'd settle for early 90's, but I really don't want the whole hair-metal thing.

[Acolmiztli]

I went for the Nailbomb set, with gold covers to match my hardware on my Les Paul. Gonna be great I hope!

[dheim]

you did the right thing!  :)

[Acolmiztli]

hehehe. Well what swung it was I did some recording with my Ibanez the other day. Did some today too, with the same amp and cab and mic position, but different guitar, this time I used the Les Paul. The Ibanez just had more of the qualities I wanted, which I put mostly down to the pickup.

Either way, I'm sure it wont sound bad!!

[shaman]

hey ac..it nails TOOL in my book, so I would say modern tone,as opposed to , say , a Mule....I use 500 k pots so it doesnt muddy up,esp. in the neck position..a Custom can be  a bright axe, and the Mules I had in it actually needed 300K pots, but I bought a set of 500k reverse linear taper (I am a lefty...) from RS Guitarworks, specifically to get more mileage out of my pots when I back off
-do a search for Chris George, or go to youtube and look for Chris George...he is playing a LP Custom with Bombs....it sold me,and after  talking to Tim, he reassured me it would be a wonderful match...my axe sounds like CGeorge's now :)..check out the cleans as well on his vids....can get nice blues tone
-I am really happy with the cut and treble in the neck pup...isnt muddy at all..not too bassy....I love a sweet neck pup with a little bite to go with the fat!

[Infliktor]

Maybe Im mistaken, but I thought Id read several times that NB's in a Les Paul would probably be too dark sounding and muddy?

[sebby123]

They wont sound to dark if the les paul has a maple cap if the guitar is ALL mahogany then it might come out rathe dark,