need recommendation - C-pig replacement

[northlane.josh]

Hey guys, hopefully you can throw some knowledge around here.


Recently i took delivery of 2 similar Bernie Rico Jr guitars I'm using in 2 tunings Ab & Bb with 13-66 & 12-60 gauge strings respectively.
They are maple neckthru's with mahogany wings, 25.5" scale. The one in the lower tuning has a maple board & maple top whilst the other has an ebony board and spalted maple top. Both have CWP sets.

I find the CWP to be perfect for the Bb guitar in that tuning, i like a huge, thick, powerful and clear sound and it has everything i need. With both outer coils i get great cleans. Im finding the guitar I'm using for the lower tuning however is sounding a little too thick & dark, the bass isn't quite tight enough and it doesn't have enough bite in the highs. I'm looking at swapping out the CWP's for something else.

The two models I am looking at are the C-bomb and Aftermath. I have used just about every other contemporary-range bareknuckle among others and don't feel as if any other possible contenders are quite what I'm after in terms of voicing and compression. The painkiller would be an obvious choice but i dislike the high-mid spike it has. I like a fairly compressed dynamic in the bridge for live purposes especially because of the way my rig reacts, and the CWP has that. I just need something with a similar voicing but with a tad sharper tone, less, tighter tracking lows, a tad less low mids, more highs and about 75-85% of the output.

As you may have gathered Im playing fairly heavy low-tuned stuff


here are the guitars!





Tim said aftermaths, others have said C-bombs. I'm very pleased with the overall organic midrange bareknuckles seem to have so I won't really be considering anything else aside maybe a lundgren M6. Anyone care to share an opinion?

[ericsabbath]

the aftermath is a lot sharper than a c-pig and also has a TON of upper mids, although they aren't insanely wild like the painkiller
I think they both would sound great in Ab/Bb, but your description sounds more like the c-bomb or a miracle man

but I really think you should order two different sets

[MDV]

C-Bomb

Nice guitars.

[northlane.josh]

thanks guys.
I wish i could order both but I'm afraid funds won't allow.
Going off sound clips, and how these two sound compared to the C-pig i think i'll go for a C-bomb

[northlane.josh]

actually,
i might add i found some people said that the C-bomb doesn't really have a whole lot of top end sizzle to it? I'm looking to get a little more of that than what i get from the C-pig.

Also any suggestions for covers? i think i might go with black/chrome poles (its for the charcoal guitar)

cheers guys

[Slartibartfarst42]

Didn't I read somewhere that the Miracle Man was supposed to be ideally suited to Maple neck-thru guitars?

[northlane.josh]

the miracle man doesn't really have the midrange voicing I'm after. I found they work fantastic in basswood

[Madsakre]

Thicker strings. i use 14-68 for Ab on a 26½ scale guitar.

Try and raise the poles on the bridge side first. this did wonders for my 7 string which also is in Ab.

This is my 7 string with a A5 warpig in Ab.
This is after i raised the poles;
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6647159/Doom%20stuff%20intro1.wma

[Slartibartfarst42]

Fair enough; it sounds like you have a lot more experience than me with BKP. I've only owned one set of BKP before, though I've played a few of the models in the range so take what I say with a pinch of salt but my instinct says Aftermath. My logic is that it's tight enough for the low tunings you use while retaining a surprisingly organic sound to my ears. It also seems to have a bit less of the low end that you said you wanted, the mid range push you're after and a strong top end. In fairness, it doesn't sound as aggressive as the C-Pig or C-Bomb but I wouldn't have thought that was anything that couldn't be addressed by your amp or pedals.

As I said, I'm hardly an authority on this but from a purely logical view, I can see why Tim suggested the Aftermath.

[Madsakre]

Sure sure :)

But i think that he should try out my tip before he go out and uses 240£ on a new set of pickups

[Emperoff]

Nice guitars! I've got a Rico on the way as well  8)

Guitars with a lot of maple tend to have a fairly high mid spike, so maybe the Aftermath would be overkill. Have you considered trying lower output pickups?

[ericsabbath]

Madsakre's tip will make it sound even bassier  :?
tighter maybe, but a lot bassier

[ericsabbath]

the miracle man doesn't really have the midrange voicing I'm after. I found they work fantastic in basswood

have you tried it in very low tunings?
it sounds VERY different than what it sounds like in near standard tunings
the low mids and center mids get a lot more proeminent and growly

[northlane.josh]

I've tried the miracle man as low as drop C, so i guess i cant speak for the tuning I'm going to be using this particular guitar for

I have adjusted the poles as per mentioned above also, this is something I've been doing ever since i started using BKP's a few years ago

[Roobubba]

I have used the miracle man in those tunings or similar (with fatter strings and a longer scale though), but when I switched to the aftermath, I found everything I'd wanted.  To my ears from MDV's clips, the aftermath is no less aggressive than the C-bomb (and personally I preferred the AM tone, but I've not tried the C-bomb in person). I would say aftermath, but equally, I'd look at MDV's experience with both aftermath and C-bomb and suggest you probably won't go wrong with his suggestion. I trust his ears.

Roo