Painkiller bridge... But what in the neck?

[Oromis]

Hey there!

I've been doing some research about changing the pickups in my Ibanez S5470 and after alot of looking around and doubting I think I finally made my decision..

The type of music I play is mostly symphonic power metal (I play alot of other stuff too but that isn't the main purpose of this axe:) ). I want a tight sound with quite some mids, one that remains articulate when slightly detuned. (got the S5470 in Eb Standard now but might tune down to D standard sometime down the road.)

Now as far as pickups go: for the bridge I had a painkiller in mind ,since it seems absolutely perfect for my type of music and the sound I'm after.
In the middle single coil position I was thinking about a trilogy suite (are there even alternatives for what I want?xD)

The main issue though is the neck humbucker.. The easy and logical way out would be getting a callibrated painkiller set and be done with it, but I'm not too sure if the neck painkiller yields the results I'm after..
I find it hard to explain what I want out of the neck pickup so I'll name a few examples of tones I likeXD
The lead tones I want are mainly in the style of Syu (from the band Galneryus), John Petrucci (mainly his solo album) and how sad it may sound, Herman Li... (something about the sound of his lead tone really gets to me, can't explain it:( )

I also tend to use the neck humbucker + midle single coil position for clean sounds, but when it comes to the neck pickup, that clean sound comes as a distant second to the lead tone so no need to really take that into consideration.

The amp I'll be playing trough (don't have it yet, need some more cash first:p) is an ENGL savage head with probably an ENGL XXL cab.

Now some more about the guitar: the S5470 is a HSH configured guitar with a (quite thin) mahogany body, a ZR2 (floyd rose style) bridge, maple neck and a rosewood fredboard.

Sooo.. finally the question this wall of text leads to: what is the best choice for a neck pickup taking into account all the information I gave you? Sugestions for the bridge are welcome aswell incase you know something that might suit me better than the painkiller:)

[Antag]

Hello & welcome to the forum.

I think you're correct in your choice of PK bridge & Trilogy middle (of all the BK singles only that or the Irish Tour would balance with the PK).

Not particularly (OK, at all :oops:) familiar with any of the neck tones you mentioned, but PK neck does have a very good lead sound.  It's the only ceramic magnet neck pickup BKP make so it's quite aggressive & punchy.  Whenever I hear it playing lead the first thing I think of is that pseudo-sweep at the start of the solo in "Painkiller".  Not sure if that helps much...

The other great neck pickup for leads is the Miracle Man neck - powerful, punchy & very clear but smoother & bassier than the PK neck.  It has a much warmer & nicer clean sound than the PK too & splits well if you want to get a parallel single sound in position 4 of the selector.

The Cold Sweat neck is a popular choice with good reason - it's probably the best balance between clean & lead sounds in the neck pickup.  I often refer to it as a fantastic all-rounder.  I have it with a PK bridge in a Jackson KV2 & it suits it perfectly.

A slightly left-field suggestion is the VHII - my favourite neck pickup at the moment.  It is similar power level to the CS, but has a more "vintage PAF chime" to it with a thick flutey neck lead sound, gorgeous clean tone & good split.  Probably not what you're after though...

[Antag]

Sorry, forgot to add links to come clips.

Clean here, Lead here & here (sorry, no PK leads :()

[Oromis]

Sorry, forgot to add links to come clips.

Clean here, Lead here & here (sorry, no PK leads :()

Thanks alot! I'm really liking the Cold Sweat lead sound:p It's also the pickup that Tim suggested for the neck so... :p I guess I'll probably go with that, not 100% sure though... Comon sense tells me to go with the cold sweat, but i got a gut feeling that keeps telling me to go for a calibrated set of painkillers:S

Any more opinions are greatly appreciated!:)

Edit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqbVUL-p2-c&feature=related here's a clip of Syu playing:p He really is an amazing guitarist in my opinion:) He really makes his guitar 'sing' if you get what I mean..

[asianaxeman]

syu uses either a 59 in the neck or a esp ss hot single coil - great tone I agree, mostly from his fingers, I love his signature 'crying star guitar'

funny that you want to play the painkiller through an engl, that's what i do and these new clips i just posted may interest you

http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=21327.0

[Antag]

I'd say CS neck would get you closest to that. Yes, it is mostly in the fingers, but I think the PK neck makes leads "jump" out of the guitar a bit more.  CS gives you a bit more dynamics over the ceramic PK IMHO.

[DimeZakk]

Syu is all Alnico V, even the EMGs he plays sometimes are two 85 and not the 81!

The Cold Sweat Neck is ideal for that kind of sound, the Painkiller is too focused and tight and the Miracle Man Neck a bit to dark...

[Oromis]

Seems like the Cold Sweat really is the one for me:D Is it suitable for getting a petrucci like tone aswell? (more specifically: his solo album)

[asianaxeman]

there's talk of the vhII being a really sweet neck pickup too, prob ideal for petrucci-esque tones (as in lower neck output), the cold sweat has grown on me recently though.

[asianaxeman]

oh by the way oromis...looking at that  syu video...i think the closest you will get to that sound is rebel yell bridge, nailbomb neck! for a little less output from the neck then go for cold sweat as you say.