Anyone tried Alnico Cold Sweat's on Bridge???

[gepetto33]

First off, this is my guitar: Spalted maple telecaster - spalt maple top (veneer), mahogany body/neck, rosewood FB, neck-through body design...



So i started out with a Miracle Man.... too scooped, boomy, and compressed, but beautiful nonetheless.  Sold it to a friend with an alder guitar and everyone's happy.

After that had my eye on the Nailbomb, but it seems the wood combination, plus my string/tuning (Db standard w/ 56-12) has been suggesting it would be too dark/boomy.  Heard it straight from the man, Tim.  He and MDV have been suggesting the Cold Sweat, but i really really really want more (MID) midrange and less highs.  According to Tim and others, the spalt top on my guitar rolls off high end, making the darker voiced Nailbomb not the best decision. 

I $%&#in love the mids on the nailbomb though, so it breaks my heart...... and that's what i'm lacking in my desired sound; MID mids.  The SD Pearly gate that came with it sounded scooped, weak, and i just generally did not care for it.  The painkiller is just too much - it's like 'marshall crunch on 10' in a can, and am looking for something more subdued.

So since the NB is what i liked and a CS is what keeps getting suggested, then why not offset by using an Alnico magnet in the Cold Sweat?  I heard Eric Hellstyle describing what a couple different magnet choices might yield in terms of tone, and i liked the idea of an Alnico 8 the best....

Has anyone tried this??? Chances are i might go with a regular Cold Sweat no matter what, but figured i'd see if such experimentation had been done, and to what result...

[ericsabbath]

alnico 8 can sound good in some pickups, but it can also sound dry and less toneful than other common magnets

a regular ceramic cold sweat sounds very growly in low tunings
if you want more growl and mids with a less bright top, get a ceramic nailbomb

[gwEm]

well i like the cold sweat with downtunings - growly is a good description. its a nice tone.

[FELINEGUITARS]

An alnico Cold sweat is pretty similar to the Rebel Yell

[gepetto33]

Man, the rebel yell would almost work.... it's just a little too rock-y

Does this mean you've tried the Alnico Cold Sweat in bridge position??

It's strange how a BK pickup's magnet-swap ends up changing that much character, to resemble a totally different BK pickup.

MDV had a good point about the C-bomb; it sounds very 'clinical' - for that ubertight palm-mutey stuff. Plus he said it was very compressed, which is one of the things i wasn't nuts about with the Miracle Man.  The C-bomb was also directly compared to the character of the MM; having said it sounds more alike with that than the standard Nailbomb.  Frowntown. One day i'll have a guitar to put a NB in, but chances are the Cold Sweat will end up working out - from what i've heard about it's character change with down-tunings. 

I'd almost risk trying the painkiller, with the contrast of my dark guitar to even things out; but the CS just seems safer.  Just wanna play the guitar, there's a big empty hole in it right now (literally). 

Any thoughts on an Alnico Painkiller?  Or will it end up sounding like something completely off the map...?? haha

[gwEm]

tim once told me the painkiller is a ceramic holy diver and visa-versa

[gepetto33]

So cryptic.  From the stats, it looks like the Abraxas is an alnico IV cold sweat... same output at least.  Will look into this...

[ericsabbath]

An alnico Cold sweat is pretty similar to the Rebel Yell

I think they have different wire gauges, but that's just a guess

I guess that should sound more like a brighter and more scooped nailbomb

[gepetto33]

scooped is bad for my guitar.. it's why MM didn't work very well.

Here's an idea; guys let me know if you think this is a good choice -

Change out the pots in my guitar for like 1 Meggers and get a Nailbomb?  Would that be a good solution for my guitar's high end deficiency in contrast with the NB?

[ericsabbath]

the nailbomb was quite bright in my '73 les paul custom
but I found it a bit scooped
what you don't like about the rebel yell?

[gepetto33]

the nailbomb was quite bright in my '73 les paul custom
but I found it a bit scooped

In a Maple Top - Ebony Fretboard guitar... Yeah that sounds about right.

As for the Rebel Yell... i'd say i don't like the voicing.  It's hot and it's middy, but once you get into high gain that mid starts to overwhelm.  It seems to sounds best for that 70's 80's rock sound, or contemporary punk.

This opinion was formed from the many clips i've heard, and whereas they're not my guitar/style/tuning/string gauge there's definitely many other's i'd try first.

I'm discussing some options with Tim right now (he's trying to talk me out of a floor-up custom); because really all of the 'mid-rangy' pickups are more specifically purpose-catered and spiked with eq (Rebel Yell and PK) - whereas i'm looking for something more subdued... at least more so than those particular options.  He might talk me into an underwind option or something to those likes.

Thanks again for the discussion guys, it really does help. Realistically, if i can help it, i'd like to not change pickups 5 times to get what im looking for, heheh.

[gepetto33]

Think i'm very close to a decision (and just now have money, $%&# my life)...

Tim talked me into the Painkiller, which i had been reluctant about because of a such a dramatic mid hike...

To help smooth out the mids a little, i asked him about an underwound version, which he replied -

"Underwinding would reduce bottom end response and mid range while increasing high end."

Could stand to loose a little tightness, as my music does little to no chugging.  I think with moderation this adjustment could be perfect -

...but its also possible the amount of modification to make a difference (in those mids) might throw everything out of whack.  Has anyone done this?

[gepetto33]

Call me apeshite and nuts, but i have a wild hair to try the Rebel Yell in my guitar!!!

Since i hadn't put together the funds (and i'm VERY close now to buying pickups for both guitars - anyone wanna buy an echoplex?!), it's given me alot of time to look around, compare, and ask questions.

I just can't bring myself to love the painkiller, as much as i try.  My intuition tells me it's overwhelming crunch is something that could never be notched out, and i just dont think it will work well with my rig.  As much as i hate to say, it's too metal. 

The Cold Sweat is definitely a resort i know i can turn to if the Rebel Yell falls short.  I've just had a problem finding a mid-range based pickup that's not over-the-top.  Although rare, I found an excellent clip of the Rebel Yell doing heavy, chordy stuff on a Korina Explorer.  I know that isn't quite my guitar's setup, but feel confident it will compensate well in the midrange and give me just enough brightness on top - http://www.netmusicians.org/index.php?section=id&value=509

If anyone has input on using low-tunings/heavy distortion with a Rebel Yell, i'd love to know?????!  It's an Alnico V pickup, which from what i've read could have the possibility of getting loose in low tunings.... or not? hahaha. Help put my weary mind up to a decision, and i'll indeed post some good clips worthy of the tone they manifest!

[MDV]

Nolly did a 'new pickup thread' with his rebel yell where he compared it to a c-bomb in the same chain (different guitar, obviously). Now, his are both double screw pole, which kicks the bass up, but from the comparison (which was handy and sonincally interpretable to me at least because I'm very familiar with the c-bomb, so can hear what it sounds like in his setup, gauge his setup accordingly then make an educated guess at what I'm hearing the RY do in the clip from the difference, but *I havent tried the pickup so I may be talking shite*) it seems that the rebel yell is a much more aggressive pickup than its stats suggest, and its very clear and abnormally tight for an A5, but still with A5 organic character.

I'll see if I can find the thread.

[MDV]

http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=21209.0