Nailbomb has a bit too much metal edge, replacing.. (update: pickups installed)

[Zaned]

Hi,

I've come to the conclusion that the Nailbomb is not the right pickup for my custom strat (it was the best guess at that point). It sound a bit too METAL. In my brother's strat (alder body + all-maple neck) the Nailmbomb sounds very hard rock, which is more what I'm after. That guitar is warmer and has more middy tone than mine, which sounds harder. I'm looking for a middle ground between Dio+Aldrich strat tone and the old VH tone.

The guitar has an alder body with a maple top, and a maple/rosewood neck. Nailbomb + Irish tour X 2. The guitar has a chimey and bright top, a wonderful acoustic tone with a full but tight bottom.  The Nailbomb brings forth that full and tight bottom, nice mids but there's a certain edge on the top which I don't always like. It sounds great for a more metal type tone, but I'm usually after a more hard rock tone. My amp (ENGL Blackmore) can already deliver an aggressive tone when required.

Mind you, I'm still not looking for the polite and round tone. I like BITE, but would like to get rid of that top edge, and perhaps add a bit more mids too. I've contacted Tim on this matter, and his suggestion was Holy diver. I also asked that if I wanted to keep the Van Halenish thing that this guitar already does so well, but go lower in output (more towards vintage side), and Tim' s suggestion was the VHII. Many people say it's bright, but it's not that simple.

I came to write this post after reading Gingataff's reply on some thread, that the Nailbomb was a bit too metal on his Ibanez Satriani model, and that he is now very happy with the VHII.

I'm trying to decide :) Holy diver  would undoubtedly sound GREAT in this guitar, but on the other hand, VHII would be more old school, which I also love. I would like to hear from people who have had a similar experience with the Nailbomb that I have.

The guitar is also equipped with 500K pots (volume-tone-tone), might also try 250k.

Rambling post ends.

-Zaned

[kevinr]

Have you heard any Crawler clips? they work very well with the woods in your guitar, less "metal" than the NB or HD

[gwEm]

was going to say vh2 or holy diver ;) the diver will keep some of the modern compression, but the vh2 is more classic and old skool PAF in character. both are sweet sounding.

[Catalyst77]

I have a VH2 in an ESP mirage and a holy diver in my Alder wolfgang.  I'm not great at articulating why i like certain pick ups, but given a choice between the two i always end up going for the VH2.  To me it seems more open and expresive.  But i'm not overly keen on that mid 80's guitar sound which the diver is so good at.

[ericsabbath]

the nailbomb was a bit too edgy and aggressive for me too
the diver is a bit less hot, more middy and has a much warmer round top

[Zaned]

This is good! One thing I must add is that I like a certain 'grainy' tone. I guess it's a certain type of midrange thing, and for example the Cold Sweat with my PRS McCarty does that, but without a nasal tone. I love it.

EDIT: maybe a better way to describe this would be 'raunch'. That's what I like, although the Cold Sweat IS a bit grainy, in a very good way. However, the end result is very much down to the amp too. So let's say, that raunch and bite is what I'm after, without that edge that I mentioned :)

-Zaned

[Zaned]

And the Crawler definitely has crossed my mind too.

[Catalyst77]

if you like bite, i woudnt go for the crawler

[Dr. Vic]

Hi,

If's it the bite and presence you're after with less of a metal voice, what about a Rebell Yell here ?

[Zaned]

Hi,

If's it the bite and presence you're after with less of a metal voice, what about a Rebell Yell here ?

Some people have experienced the RY as too bright in LPs, and this is a pretty bright strat. I'm afraid it would be too much..but if someone here has tried it in a strat, please shine in. I don't want to sacrifice fullness and raunch even though I want that bite in there.

-Zaned

[asianaxeman]

Holy Diver without question mate. You're gonna kick yourself if the VH2 is too bright in your alder strat, play it safe!

[Zaned]

Holy Diver without question mate. You're gonna kick yourself if the VH2 is too bright in your alder strat, play it safe!

My initial thought was also that the VHII would be bright, but a couple of things made it a strong option:

1. Tim recommended it when I asked for a lower output humbucker that would keep the VH thing that the guitar already does.

2. Quotes from Gingataff: "First was a Nailbomb, which is a lot more aggressive than the Fred. It has good mid range and great harmonics that work well for Satch stuff, notes really jump out, but I thought it was a bit too Metal for this guitar."; "Finallly I got a VHII set and I'm very happy with that. It doesn't sound like Fred, it's more open and airy, it has good mids but is flatter across the sprectrum. ". My complaint was also that the Nailbomb (in THIS guitar) is a bit too metal for my taste.

3. Quote on the VHII from another Amfisound strat owner, kartar: "Sound: Not weak, trebly or something like that as some users have said. To my ears VHII is pretty powerful, middy, sharp... great, tight sounding pickup. Works great with my modded Marshall 1959 head!".

This is what I mean by raunch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXRfusUGd5I. I'm looking for a tone between that and the old Van Halen tone. Well, the HD might just do the trick :) BUT, I love the old school tonality, why I'm looking towards the VHII.

Need to search for more clips..

-Zaned

[ericsabbath]

This is what I mean by raunch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXRfusUGd5I

still keep the holy diver advice
that strat had a duncan allan holdsworth, which is basically a JB with double screw coils according to duncan forum guys
the Diver is great for Doug's les paul tones as well

[DimeZakk]

100% Holy Diver

[Zaned]

Very well! Holy diver it is then. I will most probably also replace at least the neck single coil, from Irish tour to a Trilogy suite. I mostly use the middle pickup for clean stuff, or some blues things. It'll be interesting to hear how how the IT mixes with the TS neck. If it doen't work, I'll replace the middle pickup too.

Damn business trip, I'm leaving in a week and won't be back home until the end of March.

-Zaned