Guthrie Govan

[Doadman]

I've been listening to a lot of Guthrie Govan recently. What a guitarist! He seems to have a really versatile tone that runs from a vintage style warm and organic tone to a really cutting and modern sound. I was wondering which Bare Knuckle pickup does the same sort of thing (especially for a Jackson SL3  8)). All I know about it is that it has a DC resistance of 17 and some sort of Alnico magnet.

[ericsabbath]

nailbomb

[Nolly]

A Nailbomb set would be my first port of call for that. They have that midrange push Guthrie seems to favour, with an dynamic response and open voicing that belies the contemporary output. The Alnico mags keep the top end getting harsh under all circumstances, and the heat means you get enough output for usable split-coil tones.

Guthrie really rides the guitar controls all the time while he plays. If you set yourself up with a British-voiced tube amp not too far over the point of breakup and a great overdrive pedal (Xotic BB preamp would be a good call for this, and I've seen Guthrie use one many a time) you should have all you need to play and sound like Guthrie... Well, maybe not, but that's all he seems to need!

EDIT: I should add that a middle single coil is highly preferable to get the "strat position 2/4" sounds Guthrie uses a fair bit. A Mother's Milk would sit nicely in there, giving you a bit of a volume drop as you select it to reign back the gain a tad.

[Doadman]

I don't particularly want to sound like him, it's more that the tone not only seemed really good but also highly versatile. Nailbomb was one of the pickups I'd first thought about for that tone but I seem to remember reading a thread once where a guy had a maple thru-neck and Alder winged body like mine and the Nailbomb didn't suit it. The other option that crossed my mind was the Crawler as that seems to be quite organic and middy.

I think I'll concentrate just on the tone of Guthrie as I'm damn sure I'll never play like him!!

[Nolly]

A Crawler could certainly work, though it's a fatter sound than I would normally associate with Guthrie. Still, if it's a bright guitar it'll be a similar vibe. The Nailbomb would be a pretty safe choice in your guitar IMO, but if you're worried then try out a Crawler.
When I've spoken with Guthrie he has said he prefers a bright sound that he can sweeten with the tone knob, than having a dark one and no way of making it brighter without having to resort to fiddling around with the amp.

[ericsabbath]

I disagree about the nailbomb having a mid push
mids sound quite relaxed, open and PAF-like
somewhat like a Riff Raff, but a lot more compressed and with thicker low mids, just a bit less high end
pretty much like Govan's usual tone, but he seems to roll off the knobs most of the time, like Nolly (The Great!) said  :D

I also thought of the crawler as a second option, but I have no experience with that model  :(

[Nolly]

Hmm, I gotta disagree there - to my ears the Nailbomb has a healthy midrange character, with lots of upper mid grind when you dig in.
The funny thing is that we both agree that it's the right pickup for the job, so maybe we have different views on what constitutes midrange  :)

[Doadman]

This actually relates to an idea I started to have on the high output vs. low output thread. The obvious choice for my guitar is a Miracle Man with Trilogy Suites and it's a great pickup that I like a lot but when I started to think of all the guitar tones I liked, they tended to be all of the more vintage/PAF style with that warmer and more organic tone. Wanting a pickup with the cut and articulation of a Miracle Man with the warmth of a vintage/PAF seemed like a contradiction in terms yet in a way, that's what Guthrie seems to use; hence my question. While I've been researching pickups for this impossible job I first hit on an Emerald because the clips sounded good but they were all on a Les Paul and apparently the pickup will be too bright for my guitar. Since then I seem to have bounced endlessly between Crawler, Nailbomb, Holy Diver and Miracle Man depending what thread I read  :?

[Nolly]

Gotcha, yeah I've seen your deliberations.
I feel like the Nailbomb would be a great point to start out of that group and arguably the best match for Guthrie's sound. To be honest I had forgotten just how awesome a pickup it is until a week or so ago. I'm strongly considering putting Nailbomb sets into a few of my guitars now.

[ShredHeadJHJ]

BKP baffles me. I was expecting to hear that the Holy Diver's, or maybe Cold Sweat's, would be recommended to get a Guthrie vibe. I always assumed NB's were 4 teh epicz metalz. I've heard Guthrie say he prefers relatively low output pups so that his playing inflections shine through more.

[Zaned]

Nailbomb really is a versatile pickup, not really a one trick fire breathing pony. For example, Matt Bellamy from Muse uses it.

It has a certain cut in the high end, which gives it an aggressive edge. I've heard it in two different strats and it presented the different qualities of the guitars very well. Cold Sweat I wouldn't really recommend for Guthrie, not unless the guitar itself is middy and warm sounding.

The Suhr SSH+ pickup used by Guthrie in his signature models is pretty high output, so Nailbomb would fit at least on that part. If the guitar is already bright sounding, you MIGHT have a problem with the high end cut. If it's a bit more on the warmer side, the Nailbomb would probably suit you very well.

-Zaned

[Doadman]

My last guitar used a Cold Sweat set and they were really good but that was a mahogany guitar with a maple/walnut thru-neck. I think they'd be too bright in a Jackson but what do I know! What I like about the BKP forum is that I'm learning all the time. So I know that the pickup that cuts the best and has the tightest response is ceramic but the ones that have the rich, organic tone are Alnico. I also know that the most cutting Alnico is the Alnico V but there are also many other factors that I don't understand so well like the effect of different gauges of wire or the winds used. I assume that making a Nailbomb ceramic will add cut and tightness but it would also lose the tone that the Alnico V provides. Could you add a more cutting edge to the bass of an Alnico V pickup by using double rows of screws or allen screws as I've seen people mention things like that on the forum but never really understood what it does or why. It's all a good learning curve  :D

[Nolly]

Could you add a more cutting edge to the bass of an Alnico V pickup by using double rows of screws or allen screws as I've seen people mention things like that on the forum but never really understood what it does or why. It's all a good learning curve  :D

Double rows of polepieces shift the resonant peak downwards a tad, so you get more low end and a smoother treble. Not sure what you mean by "cutting" bass, but going DSP will give a looser bass response (though how much will depend on the rest of the pickup design). I wouldn't recommend doing it without the express recommendation of the BKP lads.

BKP baffles me. I was expecting to hear that the Holy Diver's, or maybe Cold Sweat's, would be recommended to get a Guthrie vibe. I always assumed NB's were 4 teh epicz metalz.

Out of interest, which models out of the range have you owned/played?

[ShredHeadJHJ]

Out of interest, which models out of the range have you owned/played?

I've just been reading the forum like crazy. I haven't actually heard any BKP's in person. I just dropped off my guitar to get MM's put in it last night, so I should know in a few days about that pup at least :)

[Nolly]

Cool, I think once you've played a few you'll understand the range a bit better.

I'd describe the Nailbombs as the "do-it-all" pickups of the range, since they've got a classic voicing combined with a contemporary output. They really reflect whatever a player wants out of them - metal guys who dig in hard and play through modern rigs will find them clear and responsive, with plenty of midrange grind and growl; lead players will find the dynamic range and articulation makes them very expressive and versatile; classic rock and blues players enjoy the sweet alnico top end and open voicing; jazz dudes would probably dig their clarity even with darker clean sounds.

After experimenting with some of the more specialised pickups I had kinda written the Nailbombs off as "jack of all trades, masters of none", but getting to spend some quality time with them again reminded me that they have a really killer sound of their own.