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Author Topic: (almost) new pickups... Holy Divers!  (Read 3339 times)

dheim

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(almost) new pickups... Holy Divers!
« on: June 07, 2009, 07:34:41 PM »
i had got an HD set in a thick all-mahogany SG styled guitar, the USM hornet, and they never really caught me. i decided to give the HDs another chance, though, and got ANOTHER set (i'll sell my first set very soon, so stay tuned... :)) for a different guitar, an ibanez S320 (much thinner mahogany body, maple neck... very middy).

these are just preliminar impressions because i had not much time to play it yet, but the result is at least interesting... this new combo sounds COMPLETELY different. much much better, i'd add! the base HD tone is of course there, but it suits much much better the acoustic character of the S, while with the hornet i had the impression to suffocate the guitar's potential with the wrong pickup choice.

the bridge HD now has got a very singing tone on high strings while retaining its howling low and mid midrange on rhythms... pinch harmonics are much easier to get. palm muting isn't too powerful but sounds quite sinister and aggressive... it's very clean compared with other contemporary BKPs (all of them, actually...), but can still sound very nasty if properly driven.

the neck HD still doesn't convince me too much, but i must give it a full test to express a real opinion... the "strange" thing is that its tone doesn't change much when parallel connected... it gets just brighter (and a bit thinner, of course)...

Mule, MQ, Stockholm, CS, RY, MM, PK, ANB, CNB, AWP, CWP, PiG90...

too many? ;)

syr2012

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Re: (almost) new pickups... Holy Divers!
« Reply #1 on: June 07, 2009, 07:49:16 PM »
Glad to see you're starting to come around on the Holydivers :D
It's definitely at home in a bright guitar, I actually wouldn't put it in a mahogany body, but definitely an alder one. I'm considering changing to 1 meg pots (well, a 1 meg pot, since I only have the one left), since the guitar that it's in is definitely darker than alder, I'm perpetually curious, and the guitar could use some new stuff since the HD marks the fourth time I've put a new pup in.
You've sorta described the split when you mentioned the parallel, it sounds similar, much like a P-90 (especially when boosted a little bit), only thinner.
BKP Team: Bridge MQ, Black. Bridge HD, Raw Nickel.
To Do: Bridge Nailbomb in chrome (?)

ericsabbath

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Re: (almost) new pickups... Holy Divers!
« Reply #2 on: June 07, 2009, 10:08:58 PM »
glad you found the right guitar for it  :D
you should try it in a maple topped les paul someday

I'm actually liking mine with alnico 8 in my Gibson SG now
it's got a weird bright, LOUD and crunchy thing with alnico 8, kinda like a Diezel amp (lol wut)
the clean is still awesome
with alnico 5 it was too muffled in that SG
but for straight metal, it definitely needs a boost
I'm using a vintage maxon eq cutting all the bass and boosting the high mids before the amp
Riff Raff, Mules, Black Dog, VHII's, Cold Sweat

juansolo

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Re: (almost) new pickups... Holy Divers!
« Reply #3 on: June 09, 2009, 08:18:36 AM »
I think half of the trick with BKPs is matching the pup to the guitar. They seem very sensitive to what they're put in. I've only had a couple of misses so far. But when you get it right, they just burst into life and usually leave you with a shocked and silly grin on your face.
When you´re racing, it's life. Anything that happens before or after is just pies.

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Dr. Vic

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Re: (almost) new pickups... Holy Divers!
« Reply #4 on: June 09, 2009, 12:50:24 PM »
i decided to give the HDs another chance, though, and got ANOTHER set (i'll sell my first set very soon, so stay tuned... :))

But why buying a new set instead of trying the one you already have in that other guitar, and buy something else for the guitar in which they didn't worked for you   :?: 

ericsabbath

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Re: (almost) new pickups... Holy Divers!
« Reply #5 on: June 09, 2009, 01:02:13 PM »
i decided to give the HDs another chance, though, and got ANOTHER set (i'll sell my first set very soon, so stay tuned... :))

But why buying a new set instead of trying the one you already have in that other guitar, and buy something else for the guitar in which they didn't worked for you   :?: 

cause that's what bkp's do to our common sense  :lol:
Riff Raff, Mules, Black Dog, VHII's, Cold Sweat

dheim

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Re: (almost) new pickups... Holy Divers!
« Reply #6 on: June 09, 2009, 01:04:28 PM »
i decided to give the HDs another chance, though, and got ANOTHER set (i'll sell my first set very soon, so stay tuned... :))

But why buying a new set instead of trying the one you already have in that other guitar, and buy something else for the guitar in which they didn't worked for you   :?: 

i bought a set of RYs for the hornet, and will have them installed by the end of the week... i thought about a cover change for the HDs (they're chrome and didn't fit too well in my satin black S), but spacing is also different (not a big issue, i know) and i would have lost the splitting options on the ibanez (the first HD has got 2 cons, the new 4)... and - last but not least - i'm completely mad. :)
Mule, MQ, Stockholm, CS, RY, MM, PK, ANB, CNB, AWP, CWP, PiG90...

too many? ;)