Replaced CS Bridge With Nailbomb - Input Needed

[WhiteRam]

Hey guys, I just installed my new Nailbomb bridge, it has the black cover.  I have some questions, please:

1.  I use a common plastic medium gauge pick (like a common fender or gibson pick), the black coating on the pickup cover is already chipping off after only 2 hours of play, is this normal?  I've read many threads over the last month and never came across anyone mentioning this.

2.  I had a Cold Sweat bridge in my guitar before I installed the Nailbomb, the CS was open poled.  The CS hit my preamp tubes harder and pushed a bit more gain than my new Nailbomb, is this normal?  Is the difference the cover on my Nailbomb? 

3.  Would the Nailbomb have a noticable increase in gain &/or treble if the cover was removed?

I love the Nailbomb and it has good gain, but I thought it would be at least as strong as the CS, instead it has slightly less gain than the CS.  The upper mid kick in the CS bridge is gone now and I'm loving that.  The high strings are so sweet when bent to hell during a solo with the Nailbomb, the CS was a bit piercing up there. 

I find the string to string definition was a bit better with the CS, the Nailbomb is fire for soloing but I liked the CS a bit better for rhythm/chords.  Anyway, really could use some help with my questions above.

WR

[Zaned]

Owning both pickups, I can provide some info :) I have no experience with the black cover however, someone else should comment on that.

2) In my experience, the CS drives the amp harder, even though it probably has less wire. It must be the ceramic magnet. Being alnico, the Nailbomb however is a bit less compressed, so you might have to hit it harder. It's a different animal.

3) Probably not, the difference is not that big.

A couple of suggestions: play with the pickup height (you probably already have), BKPs are notoriously sensitive to the height they're set to. And the other thing, if you ultimately decide that the Nailbomb is not the right pickup for you, consider a simple swap of the A5 magnet to ceramic. You might or might not know this, but the ceramic Nailbomb is basically an overwound Cold Sweat  8) So, compared to the CS, you'd get more mids and output, less highs and a bit more compressed tone.

-Zaned

[kevinr]

AFAIK BKP still paint the nickel covers black, so yes it will mark when it comes in contact with the pick, as mine did

[Copperhead]

My black MQ is looking quite "road worn" so yes, the black finish chips off very easily.

What kind of guitar?
25.5 scale, maple/swamp ash Parts-o-Caster,  I found the CS to be horrid, but the Nail Bomb is perfection.
What value pot are you running? Nail Bomb is plenty bright with a 500 in this guitar.

[WhiteRam]

Hey thanks Zaned, I was hoping the cover was hardly a difference as I really like the looks of them, and good to know your experience between the two is the same as mine.  It did run through my mind last night to try a C-Bomb in the future.  I do need to play with pickup height today, it was late when I got her up and running so I'm still in the intitial stages, but I will find the sweet/best spot later today, I have it set very low at 6/64" with depressed strings so I know bringing her closer will get that NB talkin'.

Thanks kevinr, I'm cool with it now that I know that.

Hey Copperhead, right on my man, I'll come to love the chips I'm sure, its just I put a brand new custom pickguard together for all this. . . new pot, switch, pickups, etc., so I need it all to start to wear and catch up with the NB cover, which I'm sure it will soon enough.  My guitar is an American Strat alder/maple-maple, I turned it into a Super Strat but with just an H/S configuration (bridge/neck), 1 volume pot & 1 3-way switch (no tone pot) so I use a 250K pot.  It's my dream guitar and I finally am getting it fined tuned. . . it's a sweety, Callaham bridge, use boutique solder, best wiring, switchcraft jack, etc., etc., on and on as you know.   :)

I'll dial this in later today, I bet I fall in love as last night I was digging it and did not want to put the CS back in, just missed some of the CS qualities.  Sincere thanks to you guys, really put it all in perspective for me.

WR

[Copperhead]

That should be a middlin' to moderately bright guitar, most def not dark.
Try a 500K pot and I think you'll be extremely  :D

[Copperhead]

P.S.: If I ever get the time, I'll pull out the MQ, strip it and repaint with aircraft urethane. That should fix it.

[WhiteRam]

That should be a middlin' to moderately bright guitar, most def not dark.
Try a 500K pot and I think you'll be extremely  :D

Ya you hit it right on the head, it's middlin' to bright.  Since I don't use a tone pot I'm afraid to go 500K 'cause of the single coil, the CS was slightly too bright with the 250K, however I may take a suggestion Tim gave me and go to 300K, then possibly from there try a 500K as you say, after I gather the results.

Thanks Copperhead  :)

WR

[ericsabbath]

I didn't try those models in the same guitar, but I have a cold sweat set in my jap les paul and had a nailbomb set in my 73 lp custom
unplugged, they are very similar sounding guitars, the gibson being a bit more punchy
what I could notice is that the cold sweat is definitely crunchier, but that's all
I didn't feel it to be any hotter than the nailbomb
actually, I was very surprised with the nailbomb output, since the holy diver is also a 16k alnico 5 model and didn't push as hard as the cold sweat does
the nailbomb isn't a crunchy pickup, but it was the loudest BK pickup I had
being LOUD and NOT middy, I guess that's a reference for output

also, have in mind that lower resistance pots don't eat only high end, but output too

[Zaned]

I didn't try those models in the same guitar, but I have a cold sweat set in my jap les paul and had a nailbomb set in my 73 lp custom
unplugged, they are very similar sounding guitars, the gibson being a big more punchy
what I could notice is that the cold sweat is definitely crunchier, but that's all
I didn't feel it to be any hotter than the nailbomb
actually, I was very surprised with the nailbomb output, since the holy diver is also a 16k alnico 5 model and didn't push as hard as the cold sweat do
the nailbomb isn't a crunchy pickup, but it was the loudest BK pickup I had
being LOUD and NOT middy, I guess that's a reference for output

also, have in mind that lower resistance pots don't eat only high end, but output too

I kept the gain a bit higher with the Nailbomb, but there's not a big difference in the output between it and the CS. I'd put that difference down to 2 different reasons.

1. CS is a bit more compressed, hence the output doesn't go lower as fast with a lighter attack. NOTE: it still has good dynamics, definitely.

2. More importantly, BKP pickups let the natural tone of the guitar through; the guitar (PRS McCarty) I have the CS set in, has a lot of mids in its tone, and that pushes the amp too. That guitar sounds big. Having heard a NB in 2 different guitars and hearing what the Holydiver did to my custom strat, was only more proof for me how the guitars tone comes through with BKPs  8)

-Zaned

[WhiteRam]

Eric & Zaned, rather than quote your last posts, I'll say that after playing the last few hours. . . I totally agree with and relate to all you both said.  Big thanks and much appreciated guys, I'm on the same page with ya. 

On a side note, these BKP's are amazing, I got more confidence in my tone then ever in my life, feel like I can make all kinds of music now and quit the mad science routine. . . I think.   :lol:

WR