Pickups for a new Legra Superstrat (HSH, Holy Divers + Irish Tour?)

[dave_mc]

Hi everyone,

As I'm sure you read in a thread a while back, Bob at Legra is going to be making some CNC/hand-finished superstrats at a pretty attractive price, and needless to say, I'm pretty interested. I figured it'd be worthwhile to ask to see which pickups would be a good match for the tones I'm after and the woods and hardware which are going to be used.

Rough spec: Superstrat shape, swamp ash body, maple bolt-on neck, either maple or rosewood fretboard (haven't 100% decided yet :lol: ), Kahler Tremolo, HSH pickup layout with 5-way switch.

For the bridge humbucker, I want something with decent (but not modern metal) power, I guess somewhere between medium to medium high output. I want it to be versatile- everything from classic rock up to and including 80s metal (hair metal, shred, and thrash, that type of stuff). I'd like it to have nice warm lead tones too- more guthrie govan or andy timmons than george lynch, if that makes sense. I've currently got a Miracle Man in my V, and while I like its smoothness, I'd prefer something with a bit less output, something which is more organic, and more versatile for the lighter stuff (the MM's a bit too hard-edged for classic rock, for example)- I'm assuming alnico V would be the way to go, but I could be wrong. Decent (or even good!) cleans would be a bonus, but not if it makes the overdriven tones worse. To summarise, then, something warm, organic, clear and tight (but not to the point where it's clinical and sterile) for a wide range of overdriven tones, with nice cleans a bonus, if not a necessity. I was possibly thinking of the Holy Diver, as I think, based on what I've read, it matches closest to what I want, though the Nailbomb and VHII might be worth considering too- could anyone describe the differences for me? Or is there something else in the BKP range which might suit me better?

Middle: Just basically something which is pretty stratty, I guess. The volume drop between singles and humbuckers wouldn't be a major problem (I'd be likely to use the middle pickup for cleaner tones anyway, so less output could actually be advantageous), but I'm guessing it wouldn't be too wise to go for the lowest output option either. I guess the best way to describe it would be the "hottest strat pickup BKP do which still sounds 100% like a strat pickup"- I *think* I've heard the Irish Tour described like this before, but I could be wrong. And does it work ok with a maple fretboard? I seem to remember reading that it worked better with rosewood, but I could be wrong. Again, if there's anything else which you think will work better, please feel free to suggest it.

Neck: Not 100% sure what I want for this one... :lol: In my V I've got a cold sweat neck pickup, and I asked Tim for "good overdrive (with the ability to do shred) and decent cleans"... I guess for this one, again, I'd prefer it to be a little more versatile- more like a 50:50 split between good cleans and good overdrive. I'd play everything from jazz, to blues, to classic rock, up to heavier stuff (I'd still like it to be able to handle shred-style solos), so I think I'd want something a little more vintage-sounding, warmer and more organic than the cold sweat, with possibly slightly less power and a bit more "air" and sparkle to the tone (but still able to handle high gain shred solos, when I need it to). Other than that, I have no idea what to go for- please suggest something! :lol:

My amp is an Engl Savage SE, if that's important.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give, and sorry about the length (it didn't look as long when i was typing it, honest! :oops: ). :)

[Will]

The Holy Diver may suite your needs for the bridge, the cleans are thick and very warm.

[dave_mc]

Thanks Will :) I've been reading that it's very warm and thick, which is what's drawn me to it. But i've never tried it :lol:

Output is the other concern I'd have- I'd be concerned that the Nailbomb would be too hot (I don't want foot-to-the-floor distortion all the time, just the ability to do it when that type of tone is needed), and that the VHII would be too low output, and maybe too bright as well. How hot is the Holy Diver?

:)

[Simon D]

The HD bridge is medium hot - my bridge model was pushing about 15k output - but it never sounded overpowered and the cleans were some of the best I've heard from any bridge pickup. That's not to say the overdriven tones suffered in any way - it had plenty of warmth, clarity and precision for both rythym and lead work, and harmonics on tap when required. In fact, I almost didn't like it for the first few days because it showed up the almost total lack of precision in my playing! Seriously though, it's a very good pickup for exactly what you're describing. The Nailbomb brigde is slightly hotter than the HD (mine was anyway) and seemed to drive the amp a bit harder. I liked it a lot, but I'd say for what you're looking for, the HD may well be better suited.

As for the neck pickup, in my opinion your description of what you're looking for is the HD neck pickup. My experience of the HD in the neck will do all you are looking for (although in all honesty I never played jazz through mine, aside from a few half-arsed octave which sounded very nice).

I'd heartily recommend the Holy Divers - the only reason I got rid of mine was that I'm selling the guitar they were in, and I had nothing else to put them in. They're now housed in one of Twinfan's PRS McCarty Rosewoods, so it might be worth asking him what he thinks of them, as I think he's using them in a band mix quite a bit, which I sadly never had the chance to do. Hope this helps Dave.

[dave_mc]

excellent, that helps a LOT, thanks very much simon! :)

now you mention it, I don't really play much jazz either, i guess i mean more of a jazzy tone... :lol:

I don't really have a problem with going either with a different neck pickup, or the calibrated one- whichever will do the tones I want better, basically. have you tried the cold sweat neck, simon? if you have, i'm just wondering if the HD neck is slightly less modern than it. If you haven't, no problem, you've already helped a lot. :drink:

Hopefully dave will see this of his own accord, i'll message him in a few days if he hasn't seen it. Antag too, isn't he another resident HD lover too? :)

EDIT: oh, i changed the title slightly, I thought it was a little ambiguous.

[CaptainDesslock]

EDIT: oh, i changed the title slightly, I thought it was a little ambiguous.

good lord, I thought from your title post Bob was building three BKP board members custom guitars at the same time (myself, yourself, and MDV)...sheesh we keep that man busy

[PhilKing]

Another neck pickup to consider is the Abraxas, it is cabable of great sustained leads and excellent cleans.  It can keep up with a Cold Sweat bridge and so would be fine with the HD in the bridge. 

The Irish Tour is definately what you want in the middle.  Strat tones, with work well with both the bridge and neck and depending if you use split coils on the HB, can produce great split tones when mixed with one HB coil.

[Simon D]

Unfortunately I haven't tried a Cold Sweat neck, but I believe Twinfan has had one, and possibly Antag as well.

[dave_mc]

^ ^ ^ haha :lol:

^ ^ thanks, phil. I probably will be using the irish tour combined with one humbucker coil, so that's good to know that it'll work well. will the irish tour work with the maple fretboard ok? that's interesing about the abraxas too, I'll keep that in mind, i'm guessing it's a little more vintage-sounding than the holy diver neck? if so, it's probably worth considering...

^ no worries, thanks simon. :)

[Twinfan]

As I now own Simon's HDs, I can only echo what he says.  He sums them up perfectly  :)

Compared to a VHII, the HD is fatter and warmer.  Clean tones aren't as nice, as the VHII has less mids and more top end which makes it more single coil-like.  When adding 'classic rock' gain, the VHIIs sound like a fatter Tele, the HDs like a Les Paul (if you get what I mean).  With VHIIs you have to dig in a fight and bit to get 'more' or everything, whereas it all comes easy with the HDs.  I like them both and some days I prefer one over the other, then the next I change my mind again  :lol:

For what you're after, I would choose either:

HD - Slowhand- Slowhand

or

VHII - Irish Tour - Irish Tour

[dave_mc]

excellent, thanks Dave. :) From what you've said, it sounds like I'd prefer the Holy Diver in the bridge position, then. (By the way, it's HSH, not HSS. :)) That's interesting that you've suggested the Slowhand- I was under the impression that they were a bit warmer and not as "stratty"? Could be entirely wrong, though, I'm only going on what I've read. :lol:

How's the holy diver in the neck, by the way? Have you tried the abraxas? I did a quick look on the forum, and I've been really liking what I've been reading about the abraxas neck pickup...

:)

[Will]

I can't comment on the HD neck, but from having the bridge in a LP, I would recommend a bright neck (which the HD is apparently) to get a decent mix sound

[gwEm]

That's interesting that you've suggested the Slowhand- I was under the impression that they were a bit warmer and not as "stratty"?

you obviously haven't tried my wez necked 70s reissue - it sounds pure strat :)

[Twinfan]

It's gwEms I'm going from re. the Slowhand.  It's a bit fatter and warmer than what I'm used to and I think it would go well with an HD set.  So I'd say go for:

HD - Slowhand - HD

[Denim n Leather]

I'm gonna buck the trend after reading all of the above:

Cold Sweat - Trilogy Suite - Cold Sweat is my recco. In a swamp ash body, the Cold Sweat PWNS for metal and it is very organic sounding for a ceramic pup; you can dial down the gain and get a very good hard rock tone, tho it will have a lot of push.