Help with selecting pickups pretty please?

[justintga]

Hi,

I own a PRS SE Singlecut (mahogany body, maple top) and am having trouble choosing between the pickups.

I mainly play music along the lines of Guns N Roses, Led Zeppellin, Nirvana, Metallica etc.

Keep in mind that i have only been playing for a year and my music taste may differ once my playing gets up to scratch (leaning towards more metal). Could you suggest a pickup combination for me?

I want a pickup that is hot enough (dont even know if that is the right term) for metal but not too hot for things like classic rock. Basically im looking for pickups for the harder side of stuff (not into blues or country etc).

How about a cold sweat neck and nailbomb bridge (no reason at all for me suggesting this combination. just seems very popular around here)?

Thanks in advance.

[justintga]

also i use a blackstar ht5 if that helps?

having a amp with a decent bit of gain, would it be better to have a set of pickups with a slightly lower output like the riff raffs instead of the nailbomb and the cold sweat?

[lyonk55]

If you're leaning towards metal, but want to keep some versatility, the Nailbomb is a good choice. I have the Nailbomb/Cold Sweat set in a basswood guitar and I find the Nailbomb great for Sepultura as well as Coheed and Cambria type stuff as well as having pretty good cleans. The Cold Sweat gives a nice lead sound...a little like Dream  Theater. It's a pretty versitile combination, but I only know it in basswood - someone else will have to say what it's like in a Les Paul type guitar.

For Zeppellin and Guns N Roses, vintage or vintage hot pickups would probably better, but I've no experience with them, so I'll let someone else give more helpfull info.

[Twinfan]

Greetings  :)

You're asking a very popular question, so a search may well help you.  There are lots of clips on the forum of the pickups you're interested in, and all the others, so the knowledge is at your fingertips.

My advice, for what it's worth, is that if you've only been playing a year then I wouldn't bother upgrading your gear just yet.  What you have is good enough quality to keep you going for a while!  I played a Squier Strat and a Peavey solid state combo for several years before I started adding pedals and upgrading to a Fender Strat...

[justintga]

i have searched the forums and identified the cold sweat and the nailbomb option as a possible option. i can play pretty decently for someone who has only been playing for a year (can play the whole stairway to heaven and sweet child of mine solo perfectly - not sure if this is good for someone playing for slightly under a year) so i thought upgrading pickups wouldnt be a bad idea =(

[Roobubba]

i have searched the forums and identified the cold sweat and the nailbomb option as a possible option. i can play pretty decently for someone who has only been playing for a year (can play the whole stairway to heaven and sweet child of mine solo perfectly - not sure if this is good for someone playing for slightly under a year) so i thought upgrading pickups wouldnt be a bad idea =(

The question is 'why?'

Is there something about the tone of your guitar that you're not entirely happy with? Are you playing with a band and gigging? It'd be great for you to concentrate on playing with other musicians, and see where it leads.

Now sure, if money is no object, and you absolutely have to have the best of the best, regardless of whether you need it or would notice the difference (I'm only jealous cos I'm not made of money! heh), then you've pretty much hit the nailbomb on the head with your initial thoughts for good pickups for that axe given your stated styles. :)

Also, we demand pictures and sound clips of your newly BKP-loaded axe when you get them :)

Welcome to the forums!

Roo

[justintga]

haha just bedroom playing my friend. im okay with my neck pickup (though it is a bit muddy and the bass is a bit overwheming - i usually turn down the lows more than usual on my amp when on the neck pickup) but my bridge pickup is overly trebly and bright and i really dont seem to like it.

would a dual cold sweat or a dual nailbomb serve me better instead of a cold sweat/nailbomb combo? cuz its cheaper getting the matched sets =P

[Mr. Air]

If you find your bridge pickup too trebly I would choose the Nailbomb over the Cold Sweat.

Here's a video of the Nailbombs in action in a Les Paul.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKkMxJiCjTU

[gepetto33]

Wow... don't listen to ANYONE who advises against upgrading your gear.  There's no "hierarchy" towards deserving a good tone - you're obviously an adult, one that can afford a PRS, so there's no reason to pay your dues by playing on cr@p, like we did growing up.  If anything, playing on better equipment will inspire you to play MORE.

I've found doing a search on netmusicians.org can yield some quick results on finding clips.  Just look up "nailbomb" or "bare knuckle" in the search bar and check out an guitar/amp configuration that's similar to yours.  It's quite comprehensive you'll see.

[Twinfan]

justintga

I'm not saying your shouldn't upgrade your gear, I was just passing on my advice for your situation  :)

At the end of the day, you will be more limited in your tone quest by your PRS SE and the HT-5 than you are with the stock PRS pickups.  But if you've got £150 knocking about then go for it.

[HairyChris]

I'd.... probably look at the amp situation too.

This might sound like daft advice coming from someone who swapped the stock VB/HFS out of his full fat PRS, but certainly right now that's what I'd be thinking about.

How does the guitar sound unplugged, by the way? Alive or dead?

FWIW I put Cold Sweats in mine, but it has a maple top and rosewood neck so the tonality is somewhat different.

[ericsabbath]

my custom riff raff works great for anything in my prs mccarty
sounds as hot as a nailbomb, but without the compression
fat but solid low end, nice top end edge without getting too bright, balanced midrange
A LOT more output than I would expect

[gepetto33]

Ok, ok, i think you owe us a clip - simply because of the frequency in which you mention this pickup...<wink>

[MDV]

I agree with dave.

You should wait a while. You've got some really nice stuff for someone thats only been playing a year, and I think you should spend at least one more year mucking about with different guitars and amps in shops or that mates own or whatever getting a feel for the kinds of things you like and dont from a 'real' setup (as opposed to a recorded tone: youre never, NEVER going to get a setup that sounds like a recorded sound, ever, because they all also have a mic, mic pre, room, dacs/desk, almost certainly layering and quite probably various kinds of processing involved, on top of the guitar, pickup and amp, and how the guitar sits in the mix mutates how you hear the guitar tone as well).

I generally assume that people asking for recomendations here know that and take it into account, because I generally assume that the poster is an experience guitarist, and give the benefit of the doubt, but I dont know one single guitarist that knew this at 1 year (including me), so back off the pickup change for now.

If youre feeling recalcitrant and want to take no notice of this then fwiw the nailbomb is the best for compromise between all those, but it wont make you sound like any of them.

[ericsabbath]

Ok, ok, i think you owe us a clip - simply because of the frequency in which you mention this pickup...<wink>

 :lol:
I'll try to record something before I move it to my '81 les paul