Warpig or Holydiver

[Slartibartfarst42]

As nobody has posted any suggestions on my other thread I've been trawling through threads and sound clips to try and decide what I'm changing my Nailbomb for tomorrow (today). I have it narrowed down to just 2. Bear in mind this is going in a Jackson SL3 and I'm looking for a sound that is warm, fat, fluid, smooth and saturated. To get that kind of thick, saturated tone when the JB was in the guitar I was maxing out a Super Compressor.

Holydiver
This seems to be the go-to pickup for the kind of late 70s/80s Rock/Metal tones I'm after. By all accounts it is most of the things I'm after, though 'saturated' isn't one of them. It seems to be warm, fairly fat (though not excessively so), reasonably fluid, smooth and moderately saturated. It should work fine with the Trilogy Suites I have.

Warpigs
This is a real surprise for me. Reading about it and listening to the clips, it sounds really good. It's warm, very fat, extremely fluid, smooth and saturated - all the things I seem to want. I certainly don't see me having to use the compressor on this! So, why do I hesitate? The simple reason is that I guess I'm intimidated by the power of the thing and also worried about a lack of versatility as I'm in a Rock Covers band doing songs from Feeder to Metallica and Disturbed. I understand it will do clean very well and it will certainly do Metallica/Disturbed but can it be used for things like Iron Maiden and heavy versions of Thin Lizzy, Saxon, DioUFO and Gary Moore? I can't find anything that would suggest it could do these tones.

Urgent help, ideas, suggestions needed please.

[ShredHeadJHJ]

Shopping for BK's is hard man, I'm right there with you... I too have wondered if the A-WP would suit my needs.

[ElectricTurkey4369]

I'd go with the Diver.

The HD is very fluid, its crazy. I have mine
In a Les Paul and I'm considering taking it out because
It is too fat and saturated for my LP. It should work really well in the Jackson.

[ShredHeadJHJ]

I'd go with the Diver.

The HD is very fluid, its crazy. I have mine
In a Les Paul and I'm considering taking it out because
It is too fat and saturated for my LP. It should work really well in the Jackson.

What kind of music do you play dude?

[Slartibartfarst42]

I'm very much a child of the 80s in terms of music so I grew up to the tones of Whitesnake, Saxon, Iron Maiden, Dio, Black Sabbath, Ozzy etc. I suppose that is the core tone in that it is smooth, fat and fluid, though I tend to use rather more distortion than any of those bands, hence the addition of the word 'saturated'. The Nailbomb was posted back this morning so I suppose theoretically, I have until tomorrow to make a final decision but in the note I put in with the pickup I requested a Holydiver so I hope that's a better option than the Warpig. As the Nailbomb was WAY too tight for me I've also asked for a burnt chrome cover to be added to round out the highs and lows a little and keep it smooth.

[darkbluemurder]

Whitesnake, Dio, Ozzy = Holydiver.

Saxon and Maiden tones are a bit brighter but I believe the Holydiver would do that as well and better than the Warpig.

Black Sabbath would rather lead to the Warpig but on the old recordings the tone is not that saturated.

These burnt chrome covers look awesome!

Cheers Stephan

[Telerocker]

HD fits your style.

[Slartibartfarst42]

As you originally suggested  :D

It's so difficult choosing pickups and describing sound but I knew as soon as the first chord sounded on the Nailbomb that it was wrong. The tone was obviously quality but it just wasn't what I wanted at all and although moving it very close to the strings helped, it was never going to be right. The real killer was when my son came through to say that he thought my new pickups sounded awful but he really liked the JB in the Pacifica, which was exactly what I thought. Nevermind, I'm really looking forward to getting the Holydiver and if it can improve on what the JB sounds like in the Pacifica then I'll be a very happy man. If only the holiday weekend wasn't getting in the way  :shock:

I'll post some pics when it's all complete  :D

[ElectricTurkey4369]

I'd go with the Diver.

The HD is very fluid, its crazy. I have mine
In a Les Paul and I'm considering taking it out because
It is too fat and saturated for my LP. It should work really well in the Jackson.

What kind of music do you play dude?

Prog Metal like Tool, Opeth, Dream Theater, Porcupine Tree...etc

Forget what i said about changing it. I just realized how much i love the tone...HD+a Les Paul= Tool tone  :lol:

[ericsabbath]

Forget what i said about changing it. I just realized how much i love the tone...HD+a Les Paul= Tool tone  :lol:

PDT_003

[ericsabbath]

main difference between the pig and the holy diver is the midrange texture
the warpig has that grainy thing, while the holy diver is rounder and a bit cleaner, less compressed
I felt that the warpig treble is is slightly more aggressive and the bass is bigger, which makes the diver feel middier, but not really a night and day difference
I guess it's a win/win situation in your case
for me, a properly boosted holy diver is hard to beat for most distorted stuff

[Zaned]

As you originally suggested  :D

It's so difficult choosing pickups and describing sound but I knew as soon as the first chord sounded on the Nailbomb that it was wrong. The tone was obviously quality but it just wasn't what I wanted at all and although moving it very close to the strings helped, it was never going to be right. The real killer was when my son came through to say that he thought my new pickups sounded awful but he really liked the JB in the Pacifica, which was exactly what I thought. Nevermind, I'm really looking forward to getting the Holydiver and if it can improve on what the JB sounds like in the Pacifica then I'll be a very happy man. If only the holiday weekend wasn't getting in the way  :shock:

I'll post some pics when it's all complete  :D

I have a feeling you had the same problems with the NB as I. In the end, it had an edge on the high end that started to clash with me. On THAT guitar, I've heard it in another guitar where it sounds thick, punchy and aggressive. Anyway, I replaced it with a HD, and that took away that edge on that particular guitar. It's aggressive, but in a different way, and versatile as hell. So much can be done with changing your right hand touch. A killer pickup for playing leads too! It sings with a thick yet articulate voice.

I have it paired with a Trilogy suite in the neck and an Irish tour in the middle 

-Zaned

[ShredHeadJHJ]

I can't help but keep thinking that the HD would work well for me... But I'm sure there are better BKP's out there for what I am looking for right NOW.