Pickup suggestion

[RustInPeace]

Hey all, long time listener, first time caller.  Im currently building a warmoth explorer thats made out of black korina with a walnut neck and ebony fingerboard.  My playing style ranges from 80's thrash metal to rock to blues.  Playing through a peavey 5150 block letter and a marshall jvm 2 channel 50 watt.  I know i want to install a Miss. Queen p90 in the neck, but i cant decide between a Nailbom, Aftermath, or Warpig for the bridge.  My favorite pickup is the duncan JB, which is similar to the Holydiver, but im looking for something new.  I love a nice crunchy midrange with an overall tightness to the sound....any suggestions would help me decide!

[ShredHeadJHJ]

I would like to see how this thread develops. I recently got a korina Warmoth Les Paul, but I'm leaning towards putting Rebel Yells in it.

[Slartibartfarst42]

That's a lot of styles! Despite my own problems with it, I'd have to say that the Nailbomb strikes me as the obvious choice. To me, it sits between a lot of other pickups, hence its versatility. It's easily tight enough for the thrash you're wanting but restrained enough to be used with other styles. The Rebel Yell would be another option I'd imagine, though I haven't played one of those myself. Both should be good in a dark sounding guitar.

[Alex]

For such versatility the Nailbomb would be well-suited.

[Telerocker]

NB will work.

[ronjhoser]

After spending way too much time thinking about it, I installed a Nailbomb in my mahogany Tele HH (Korean set neck model) as a replacement for the JB.  It is thicker in the mids, a little darker and tighter in the bottom end.  More importantly, it is more articulate and organic.  More 3D, if you will.  Hope that helps...

[asianaxeman]

if you're looking for more edge than the holy diver then get a painkiller, more aggressive sounding than the miracle man too with a good mid punch. Get your jvm2 with a boost on crunch red (the only good channel with lots of harmonic content and balls), crank the master, and you'll be in heaven, it sounds massive.

[asianaxeman]

That's a lot of styles! Despite my own problems with it, I'd have to say that the Nailbomb strikes me as the obvious choice. To me, it sits between a lot of other pickups, hence its versatility. It's easily tight enough for the thrash you're wanting but restrained enough to be used with other styles. The Rebel Yell would be another option I'd imagine, though I haven't played one of those myself. Both should be good in a dark sounding guitar.

aren't you the dude that returned your nailbomb within a 24 hour period?! sorry but can't take your recommendations seriously mate, esp with the lack of experience you have playing BKP. Hope your HD works out well for you tho.

[Slartibartfarst42]

LMAO - You're a bloody funny guy, even if you are a rather rude one  :lol: How do you know how much experience I have of BKP? I have owned Cold Sweats, A-Bomb, Trilogy Suites and Holydiver now. I have also tried in other people's guitars, albeit sometimes for less time than I would like, Miracle Man, Painkiller, Warpig and Mules

I think we established in my review thread that 24 hours is plenty time to assess a pickup given that most people thought that was the case and found my review to be an accurate appraisal of the pickup but presumably you believe that the only people who can offer an opinion are those who have spent years with BKP and even then, only offer an opinion on those they have actually owned for many years. It's a valid opinion I suppose, though it will be a very limited forum. If I've tried a particular pickup I believe I have a valid contribution to make and if I have no direct experience of a pickup I always make that clear in my posts. I would have thought that was better than posting with no direct experience and not saying so. I do my best to help with the knowledge I have and be polite in the process. The latter part doesn't seem to be something you're good at. You've commented twice on my posts and both times you've been both rude and insulting. If you can't keep things positive and polite why don't you consider simply being quiet?

[RustInPeace]

Thanks all!  Yes the Nailbomb seems to be my first choice in the matter, but the aftermath and warpig also seem very interesting.  Rebel yell seems more geared towards classic rock? They make it so damn hard to choose...

I usually use the orange channel on OD on the jvm205 because the red channel has a midrange cut that i dont particularly like.  The jvm is such an interesting beast.... I found recently that if im running my sonic maximizer through the loop and adjust the loop mix knob...the midrange voicing of the amp changes drastically.

But back to the pickups, yes I do play lots of styles!  Thats why im putting the p90 in the neck for cleans and blues stuff.  Has anyone used the Miss. Queen before?

Whatever pickup i do decide to go with, im pretty sure ill be happy with it.  Besides, if all the sudden my tone was perfect for me, id have no reason to go spend thousands of dollars on more kick ass gear!

[asianaxeman]

Thanks all!  Yes the Nailbomb seems to be my first choice in the matter, but the aftermath and warpig also seem very interesting.  Rebel yell seems more geared towards classic rock? They make it so damn hard to choose...

I usually use the orange channel on OD on the jvm205 because the red channel has a midrange cut that i dont particularly like.  The jvm is such an interesting beast.... I found recently that if im running my sonic maximizer through the loop and adjust the loop mix knob...the midrange voicing of the amp changes drastically.

But back to the pickups, yes I do play lots of styles!  Thats why im putting the p90 in the neck for cleans and blues stuff.  Has anyone used the Miss. Queen before?

Whatever pickup i do decide to go with, im pretty sure ill be happy with it.  Besides, if all the sudden my tone was perfect for me, id have no reason to go spend thousands of dollars on more kick ass gear!

no I meant crunch red (channel 1), brilliant when boosted and tight with a sonic stomp which I use. I find the od orange quite thin sounding and just wonder is a nailbomb will make it sound thinner because of it's treble cut, I've so far had best results with more middier pickups for that channel, but the best results were with a 7 band eq which translated the eq in to more of a marshall style eq, you can get the settings on the jvmforum (marshall designer santiago has given an eq conversion curve), trust me it makes the od channel sound MUCH better! thus far the best tones i've got with the jvm are with the HD and the painkiller. Good choice going for the MQ in the neck for versatility.

[RustInPeace]

In my JVM loop -> Tuner -> mxr micro chorus -> mxr 10 band eq -> ISP decimator -> Sonic Stomp

Lately I have had a hard time using the EQ in the loop....seems to produce an awful amount of trebly overtones even without boosting those freqs.  I'll check santiagos settings, ive been to those forums a few times.   What kind of boost do you use in front?  I love my JVM but it takes alot of tweaking it seems...

The nailbomb seems to have the midrange bite i was looking for...

[asianaxeman]

yeah i've at times even regretting getting the jvm 2 because only later i found out that the OD channel doesnt have the typical marshall eq, but a more scooped brittle tone which is thin and noisy (despite using a noise gate). My fave remains the crunch red cos even with the eq i can't get the od channel to sound as full, but it's harmonic content has definitely increased boosting the mids as per santiago's settings. I use crunch orange boosted with alnico pickups for EVH tone.

In terms of the boost my first choice isa crowther audio double hotcake which is a great tight sounding boost. I've used the YJM308 which is also effective with the marshall esp crunch orange for the yngwie sound (boosted plexi)

You could try the sonic stomp first in the chain from the fx send, since in your setup the maximizer maybe exaggerating treble frequencies from the eq and chorus pedal so i would try the stomp first, as long as it's in the chain it will still sound better than without.

[RustInPeace]

Yeah i need to rip apart my pedalboard and rebuild it anyways.  I dont have a boost pedal but would the eq work in the loop for that? I'll try boosting the mids slightly according to santiagos charts tonite.

[ericsabbath]

move the MXR and the ISP decimator to the front