which pickup on neck position with painkiller on bridge?

[euga]

Hi guys!
I'm looking for a neck humbucker to pair with painkiller on bridge, the guitar is body and neck mahogany and ebony fretboard...
Would like a pickup with a defined and articulate tone for cleans and solos whit sweep pickin, and if possibile also to suond good when splitted...

I'm italian, pardon my poor english...  :D

[MDV]

Painkiller would be the obvious choice

[Antag]

Ciao e benvenuto :)

The Painkiller neck sounds great for leads - very clear, powerful & defined.  It's OK clean, but being ceramic magnet (it's the only ceramic neck pickup BKP make), it's not the best.  It's not bad split -  a very bright, punchy hot single coil tone.

Cold Sweat neck is probably the most popular choice, great clean sounds, clear, smooth lead sounds & powerful enough to balance with the PK bridge.

Nailbomb neck has a bit less low end than the Cold Sweat & slightly harder in the mids, great for lead work & decent for clean sounds.  Similar level of power to the CS.

Miracle Man neck might work it's great for lead work, very smooth & powerful.  It has a lot of low end & more power than PK, CS or NB, but should not overpower the PK bridge.

[euga]

Ciao e benvenuto :)

Cold Sweat neck is probably the most popular choice, great clean sounds, clear, smooth lead sounds & powerful enough to balance with the PK bridge.

grazie  :)

the cold sweat seems to me the best choice... other opinions?

[Dr. Vic]

other opinions?

Ciao ! mi pare che avete gia le megliore rispose per le vostre sweep picking for the neck pickup :P

Pero se volete.... another suggestion, as the PK is a very organic pickup, you can also match it with those VHII or Black dog neck for a more "vintage" vibe for amazing cleans and enough power to balance well with the PK (and also the ability to handle high gain distorsion).

(I know my italian need more practice!)  PDT_019

[ericsabbath]

Ciao e benvenuto :)

The Painkiller neck sounds great for leads - very clear, powerful & defined.  It's OK clean, but being ceramic magnet (it's the only ceramic neck pickup BKP make), it's not the best.  It's not bad split -  a very bright, punchy hot single coil tone.

Cold Sweat neck is probably the most popular choice, great clean sounds, clear, smooth lead sounds & powerful enough to balance with the PK bridge.

Nailbomb neck has a bit less low end than the Cold Sweat & slightly harder in the mids, great for lead work & decent for clean sounds.  Similar level of power to the CS.

Miracle Man neck might work it's great for lead work, very smooth & powerful.  It has a lot of low end & more power than PK, CS or NB, but should not overpower the PK bridge.

I found the NB neck to be much hotter than the CS and a bit too scooped for my tastes
like a heavily boosted '59, but bright and responsive instead of muffled and dead like the duncan
it reminded me of a less hot version of the bridge model (less compression, less output and less mids)

[dheim]

Dipende dal suono che cerchi... Personalmente adoro il PK al manico, soprattutto per i suoni lead, e se puliti percussivi e mediosi ti piacciono direi che neppure il CS puņ darti di meglio...

It depends on what kind of tone you're after... Personally i really love the neck PK, expeciAlly for lead tones, and if you like percussive and middy cleans i'd say that even the CS can't give you anything better...   

[josep_cla]

dheim, please: could you please (or anybody else  :lol:) can explain better the differences in sound between these two  (PK CS) in soloing?

thanks!

[shogun89]

im in the same predicament as josep. Cold Sweat or Painkiller in the neck. which is more percussive, more note separation, which has a smoother/more biting top end, clarity etc etc...
if the Painkiller is middy but not overbearing or buzzy/distorted than that sounds fantastic. lots of mids without distortion are great clean sounds, however to the Cold Sweats merit it sounds like its more note-to-note separation and clarity for chordwork and sweeping and fast runs.

[ericsabbath]

the cold sweat neck is a vintage hot paf with a bit more midrange and clarity through hi gain than the usual for low outputs
the painkiller neck is a ceramic hot pickup, more into duncan distortion neck or gibson 496r ballpark

[josep_cla]

And a CS neck can have enough volume for pairing well with a PK bridge?

[dheim]

And a CS neck can have enough volume for pairing well with a PK bridge?

absolutely. you can couple vintage, low output neck pickups with bridge monsters like a warpig and never have any volume issue. neck pickups are usually loud, and output is just marginally related with actual volume

[josep_cla]

Quote from: josep_cla on January 25, 2010, 05:04:38 PM
And a CS neck can have enough volume for pairing well with a PK bridge?

absolutely. you can couple vintage, low output neck pickups with bridge monsters like a warpig and never have any volume issue. neck pickups are usually loud, and output is just marginally related with actual volume

I ask because always have had problems pairing my pickups.


And the MM neck? how does it sound like?

[dheim]

do your pickups mismatch in tone or hearable output?

anyway the neck MM is maybe the less discussed pickup here, but it's brilliant... powerful and a bit dark, cleans gracefully and sounds really good on leads. the output is the same as the neck WP, and some say it's the same pickup... it could be.

[josep_cla]

My pickups always mismatch in terms of audible volume.

That's my main fear  :shock:

So I am trying to decide what neck pickup.

I'd like it to be crisp, loud, and let me sound fluid while shredding. Clear, loud and Yngwiy, if that makes sense. And not scooped, not dark and not muddy.

I am about to chose PK or MM on bridge.