Holydivers?

[syr2012]

Hello all.
As usual, I'm feeling impulsive, and instead of going with the pig-90 AS I HAVE PLANNED OUT FOR A WHILE NOW (feeling a bit ashamed of my flakiness) :x, I'm interested in trying a holydiver for my strat instead. I'm ditching a tone pot for sure, and will be installing a DPDT switch (or whatever the hell it's called), so I want to know what it sounds like split, as well as the basic rundown, that being sustain, harmonics, crunch, cleans, palm muting. (Perhaps dheim would care to sound off?) Thanks!

[Twinfan]

I really like the Holydivers I have in "Slash" - a McCarty Rosewood.  Here's what I've found

Sustain - depends on the guitar in my experience, not the pickup

Harmonics - great for pinched harmonics, they come easy to me and I'm not a metal guy.  More rock/hard rock.

Crunch - Quite a full sound, nice and punchy.  Cleans up nicely with the volume pot, but still says quite fat.

Cleans - As crunch really.  A fat clean sound, but nice and useable.  Not ideal for blues styles for example, but certainly very useable.  Not quite enough highs to give you that sparkle you get from a lower output pickup.

Palm muting - Like I said, I'm no metal guy and I usually suffer from "boomy bass" on palm mutes due to way I play.  The Holydivers keep things pretty tight, and really good sounding.  We play All My Life by the Foos and Holy Diver by Dio and they chug away nicely with a full yet tight tone.

Split - Slightly more P90-ish than Strat on the splits, nice and chunky.  I use the bridge split for Wanted Dead Or Alive and Crazy Bitch - it works great!

Overall - they're quite a thick sounding pickup but with a nice clear top end to give some cut.  Think of a McDonalds milkshake with extra ice  ;)

"Slash" is the guitar on the left...

[syr2012]

Oh, I should've been more specific. I meant that fake sustain that comes with using a hot pickup. I think the HD's gonna happen, especially considering that its sound is basically what I'm after ATM. As for the split sound, I can say that as a strat user, I'm honestly not feeling the stratty sound so much. I tend to find it kinda thin and lacking, but then again, I haven't tried a BKP strat pickup. Lemme sleep on it and I'll put the order in soon.

[Antag]

Oh, I should've been more specific. I meant that fake sustain that comes with using a hot pickup.

IMHO, the HD will give you absolutely bucketloads of effortless musical harmonic feedback due to the huge fat midrange.

I am a "metal guy" :twisted: & I love the HD.  It's just so fat & powerful, with a gorgeous full warm clean tone.

Palm muted riffs have a real "chunk" to them with the HD.  I'd say that there are tighter BKPs (CS/PK/MM), but for anything less than ultra-technical death metal kinda riffage, the HD is tight enough.

[Twinfan]

The split HDs are certainly chunkier than your average strat but still very stratty.  I really like all the pickup combinations in that guitar, which is why it's so great for gigs  :)

[syr2012]

Not to completely throw off the primary purpose of the thread (which is to get me in the direction of an HD PDQ), but how does the nailbomb compare to the HD? It was honestly my first humbucker choice, but I'm assembling a guitar and my planned pup set for it is a nailbomb and p-92, so I didn't want two of the same pickup when there are so many to choose from.

[syr2012]

So, my bridge HD has been ordered in raw nickel with allen bolts instead of screws. Naturally, the anxiety is driving me insane. There does, however, exist one small dilemma. Since I have to relocate my bridge queen, I'm not sure about where I should put it. Since it's hotter than a "stock" MQ, Tim told me that it might be a bit too bassy at the neck. I could put it in the bridge of my other strat, but I don't know if I want to do that, since putting such an epic pickup in that strat is gonna remind me endlessly that it sorta needs a new neck and tuners, and I'm no longer on speaking terms with my bank account. My plan C is to try to find a pickguard that would allow me to place the MQ and HD side-by-side, but I do have to consider cost and time. Suggestions?

[dheim]

So, my bridge HD has been ordered in raw nickel with allen bolts instead of screws. Naturally, the anxiety is driving me insane. There does, however, exist one small dilemma. Since I have to relocate my bridge queen, I'm not sure about where I should put it. Since it's hotter than a "stock" MQ, Tim told me that it might be a bit too bassy at the neck. I could put it in the bridge of my other strat, but I don't know if I want to do that, since putting such an epic pickup in that strat is gonna remind me endlessly that it sorta needs a new neck and tuners, and I'm no longer on speaking terms with my bank account. My plan C is to try to find a pickguard that would allow me to place the MQ and HD side-by-side, but I do have to consider cost and time. Suggestions?

MQize your other strat, see if you like it and when you've got the possibility change hardware... it's better than nothing!

[syr2012]

So, my bridge HD has been ordered in raw nickel with allen bolts instead of screws. Naturally, the anxiety is driving me insane. There does, however, exist one small dilemma. Since I have to relocate my bridge queen, I'm not sure about where I should put it. Since it's hotter than a "stock" MQ, Tim told me that it might be a bit too bassy at the neck. I could put it in the bridge of my other strat, but I don't know if I want to do that, since putting such an epic pickup in that strat is gonna remind me endlessly that it sorta needs a new neck and tuners, and I'm no longer on speaking terms with my bank account. My plan C is to try to find a pickguard that would allow me to place the MQ and HD side-by-side, but I do have to consider cost and time. Suggestions?

MQize your other strat, see if you like it and when you've got the possibility change hardware... it's better than nothing!

I like your thinking dheim... I've been wanting to try my MQ in a guitar with a trem for quite some time now (the red strat has five springs in the back, it's basically my hardtail), I'm dying to play knights of cydonia with it. Also, the black strat seems to have a better sound (it made a hot rails that sounded meh in my red strat better in the black one) even though the red one's my favorite. So, according to your signature, you have a bridge HD and nailbomb, how do you think they compare?

[dheim]

my HDs are a case of mismatching with a dark guitar, so i never really loved them... i'm about to swap them with a set of Rebel Yells and i'll put them in a brighter axe...
anyway, to go back to your question, they have got a completely different tone. the bridge is fatter, someone says more aggressive, i'd say less - but they've got both a peculiar "thing" going on on midrange (upper NBs and lower HDs) that makes them sound quite heavy with highly distorted sounds. not the most tight and definite BKPs (but enough for 99% of existing applications...). both sound very good on cleans, the HD being a bit fuller and rounder. what HD bridge lacks in comparison with the Nailbomb is that hi-mid "screaming" attack on solos, they've got an overall smoother sound. less open and more powerful on rhythms.
neck units are two completely different beasts... the NB is bright and articulate, with an almost single-coilish character on cleans, great dynamics and cleans up very well. the HD is more scooped, with acoustic-like cleans (i prefer NB's cleans but it's a matter of taste)

i did a small clip some time ago based mainly on HD lead tones...

http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=16280.0

[syr2012]

my HDs are a case of mismatching with a dark guitar, so i never really loved them... i'm about to swap them with a set of Rebel Yells and i'll put them in a brighter axe...
anyway, to go back to your question, they have got a completely different tone. the bridge is fatter, someone says more aggressive, i'd say less - but they've got both a peculiar "thing" going on on midrange (upper NBs and lower HDs) that makes them sound quite heavy with highly distorted sounds. not the most tight and definite BKPs (but enough for 99% of existing applications...). both sound very good on cleans, the HD being a bit fuller and rounder. what HD bridge lacks in comparison with the Nailbomb is that hi-mid "screaming" attack on solos, they've got an overall smoother sound. less open and more powerful on rhythms.
neck units are two completely different beasts... the NB is bright and articulate, with an almost single-coilish character on cleans, great dynamics and cleans up very well. the HD is more scooped, with acoustic-like cleans (i prefer NB's cleans but it's a matter of taste)

i did a small clip some time ago based mainly on HD lead tones...

http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=16280.0

I was never a huge fan of metal, but I'm slowly coming around. I like the clip, and definitely don't intend on putting the HD in a mahogany guitar, since Tim told me in an email that it would only be advisable to overwind it if the guitar is substantially bright, which was a reasonable tip-off, since I'm not big on underwinding to compensate for a dark body. I might relent on an alder or ash build and try this little mahogany maple-topped guitar I saw online. How do you think the NB work in that sort of application?

[dheim]

i've got my NBs in a light mahogany guitar with maple bolt-on neck (ibanez S) and in a thicker mahogany guitar with set-in maple neck and maple top (ibanez SA), and they sound great on both. so i'd say absolutely yes!.

[syr2012]

i've got my NBs in a light mahogany guitar with maple bolt-on neck (ibanez S) and in a thicker mahogany guitar with set-in maple neck and maple top (ibanez SA), and they sound great on both. so i'd say absolutely yes!.

Sounds like something to look forward to. I'm debating whether to get a DPDT switch for coil splitting or to just use my five-way, 'cause the HD is pretty much going to be the only working pickup in that guitar. Tone pots are coming out for added brightness anyway, so replacing one with a dedicated switch won't be a problem, or I could use this wiring diagram I found and keep everything on the 5-way. Either way, I'm just gonna put a smiley face sticker or something like that over the holes.

[dheim]

i'm not sure but i suspect you could keep both for serial/parallel or true coil split options... no need for smileys, though... you could simply disconnect the pots and keep the knobs just for aesthetic purposes!
my HD equipped guitar hasn't got coil splitting options, so i can't say how it sounds, but in the SA i've got a miniswitch in place of the tone pot and it's very handy.

[syr2012]

i'm not sure but i suspect you could keep both for serial/parallel or true coil split options... no need for smileys, though... you could simply disconnect the pots and keep the knobs just for aesthetic purposes!
my HD equipped guitar hasn't got coil splitting options, so i can't say how it sounds, but in the SA i've got a miniswitch in place of the tone pot and it's very handy.

I might just try to expand my kill-switch option that I'm working on, especially since I replaced the black knobs with chrome ones, borrowed from my bass, and the bass isn't too happy about it... but we'll see. It just might make my life easier to add a miniswitch.